In some parts of the East Coast, specially constructed blocks of concrete that mimic the surface area of an oyster reef are used for oyster settlement along the shoreline. This concrete must be designed to break down, however. Asking concrete manufacturers to make a product designed to break down may seem counterintuitive, explains Dave Bushek, director of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Rutgers University.
HSRL RIOS interns finished their summer internships strong during the capstone poster presentation on Cook Campus in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. All four completed outstanding projects providing data that will advance the research they were involved in, while also learning about the basic process of conducting science and communicating the information revealed.
Molly and Nina were selected by an independent faculty review committee to present their posters at the next Ocean Sciences meeting and Michelle and Aisling’s mentors are discussing presenting their posters to relevant regional conferences. Congrats to all and thanks to everyone that helped support them.
Rutgers University is leading an 18-month DARPA project during its first phase, with options that could extend out to a total of five years.
The Rutgers-led Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project—awarded $12.6 million last fall to develop an artificial reef ecosystem to help project coastlines from storm damage, flooding and erosion—recently conducted laboratory testing of modular oyster reef-mimicking structures for eventual installation in the Gulf Coast.
The Haskin Shellfish Lab participated in the Delaware River and Bay Authority’s (DRBA) second annual World Environment Day celebration, along with over one hundred (100) other exhibitors and vendors with various environmental focuses. The first official World Environment Day celebration was held in 1973, marking 2023 as the 50th anniversary, with over 150 countries participating.
This September, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an order to increase New Jersey’s offshore wind goal to nearly 50 percent by 2040.
A group of 12 Rutgers students, including Sophia Piper (HSRL), is hard at work to help the state meet that deadline.
A final peer-reviewed report synthesizing the current state of science on the interactions between fisheries and offshore wind is now available online.
The inaugural Rutgers Shellfish Research Symposium, in partnership with the New Jersey Aquaculture Association and the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, was held on January 18 at the NJAES Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The Haskin Shellfish Research Lab leads major development for shellfish breeding and genetic analysis through the creation of a high-density SNP array for Eastern oysters. Read about this highly collaborative effort led by Dr. Ximing Guo.
Scallops and clams are likely to get more expensive to harvest off New Jersey, as commercial fishing vessels will soon have to compete for ocean space against offshore wind energy companies.
