Media Releases and Opportunities

Dozens of oysters have been placed in a waterway near Boat Harbour in Nova Scotia to see if the small mollusks -- dubbed 'ecosystem engineers' -- can survive there and act as a nature-based cleaning solution.

Dr. Ramon Filgueira, an associate professor in Dalhousie University's Marine Affairs Program, is leading the research project that is evaluating the potential of oysters to be used as a filtration system since they naturally filter water, which can increase water clarity and mitigate issues related to nutrient overload and nuisance algal blooms.

Dr. Filgueira is collaborating with the Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN) and will first determine if the oysters survive in the area, how much they grow and their filtration capacity, which will inform site suitability and capacity for an oyster remediation pilot project in the area. It is being funded by the Ocean Frontier Institute, with support from the Centre for Marine Applied Research and ShanDaph Oysters.

Boat Harbour, or A'se'k in Mi’kmaq, was a tidal estuary that played an important role in the life and culture of the Mi’kmaq for centuries. In 1967, it was converted into a treatment basin for effluents from a local pulp mill, which transformed the area and restricted the PLFN's traditional use of the harbour.

Dr. Filgueira and Davonia Augustine, a youth from the PLFN who is working as a research assistant, are available to discuss the project, which is believed to be the first one to use oyster beds as a coastal remediation method in Nova Scotian waters.

                                                                                        -30-

Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca