The Mussels for Clean Water Initiative
Start
3 Hours
Blue Collar Bivalves
2
Ecosystem Engineers
Blue Collar Bivalves
3
Clean the Water
Each adult filters > 10 gallons of water per day
Start
3 Hours
With ShellfishNo Shellfish
Bivalves of the Delaware
Crassostrea virginica
Elliptio complanata
Geukensia demissa
Alasmidontaheterodon
Mya arenaria
Anodonta implicata
Mytilus edulis
Ensis directus
Mercenaria mercenaria
Leptodea ochracea
Headwaters to Ocean Shellfish
Restoration
1. Non-tidal2. Intertidal3. Subtidal
1 2
3
Freshwater Mussel Recovery Program (FMRP)
6
Demonstration Hatchery at Fairmount Water Works http://www.mightymussel.com/
Mussel Propagation Research & Outreach
THE MUSSELS FOR CLEAN WATER INITIATIVE
WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT BY BEDS OF FRESHWATER MUSSELS
• Healthy mussel beds provide critical ecosystem services, such as filtering, removing and transforming particulate pollutants
• Current mussel populations are greatly diminished
• Mussel recovery will require a mix of conservation, habitat restoration, and direct restocking
• An important bottleneck to recovery is mussel supply
• The initiative will supply mussel seed to support mussel recovery, promoting cleaner water in the region
Premise
THE MUSSELS FOR CLEAN WATER INITIATIVE OF THE DELAWARE AND SUSQUEHANNA RIVERS
WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT BY BEDS OF FRESHWATER MUSSELS
Construction Funds
Project Funds,Other Partners
Partners
+ Federal, State, Academic, Non-Profit
Aquatic Research & Restoration Center• PDE• Bartram Gardens• Philadelphia Water Department• Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University• Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center• Independence Seaport Museum
WaterPumping,
Reservoirs, Water
processing
Hallway
FishRooms
SQ
Entr
y
SQ
DRBroodstock
Conditioning
Faci
litie
s
Sto
rage
Pre-Pond Rearing SQ
TransFor
mation
SQ DR Ha
llwa
y
Nu
rser
y
Stai
rs/
Un
der
st
ora
ge
Parking
Entr
y
Stai
rs/
Un
der
st
ora
ge
WC
Storage
Ha
llwa
y
WC
Nu
rser
yTransFor
mation
DR
Mu
d R
oo
m
(Wad
ers)
Trail
56th Street
Entry Intake
Discharge
Schu
ylkill River
Pre-Pond Rearing DR
Potential Addition
(contingent on additional funding)
Wet Mussel Rooms Wet Fish Room Quarantine Trough Drain
Maintenance
The Production Hatchery
Mussels for Clean Water2019-2021
3 Year Plan
2019 Q1
STAFFING
Q2 Q3 Q4
2020
Q1Q2Q3Q4
2021
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2022
Q4
PLANNING
PENNVEST AGREEMENT
BARTRAM’S AGREEMENT
COST CENTER,TECH GROUP,DESIGN RFP
STEERING GROUP,CHOOSE DESIGN FIRM
DESIGN FIRM CONTRACT
COMPLETE DESIGN,PERMITS
REVIEW & FINALIZE DESIGN
CONSTR.RFP
CHOOSE CONSTR. FIRM, CONTRACT
BREAK GROUND
FINISH
CONSTRUCTION
ORDER EQUIPMENTOCCUPANCY & TESTINGINSTALL EQUIPMENT
Mussels in Floating Baskets
Pond Rearing
April
Sept.
Seed Priorities
Priority
Hig
hLo
w
PDE-PENNVEST
Seed(First 500,000)
Surplus Seed
Po
nd
Re
ari
ng,
Sp
eci
es,
Siz
e O
pti
on
s
CORE Uses
(Surviving Cohort)
Ancillary Uses
(Surviving Cohort)
Fundraising Uses
(Surviving Cohort)
Bed Restoration & Mitigation
Bed Enhancement & Farms
Bioassessment & Toxicity Testing
Research & Education
Rare Species Recovery
Ornamental Ponds & Fertilizer
PDE-PENVEST Project
Mussel Seeding Strategy
Production Hatchery
Exhibit Hatchery(FWWIC, 2017)
Pond Grow-Out
Restoration
Targets
Estimated Nitrogen Removal = $14 per Pound
DE
NJPA
Bivalve Benefits
Processes Benefits
Kreeger et al. 2018. J. Shellfish Res.
Research & Management Questions
• Propagation- hatchery design, rearing protocols, biosecurity
• Species- genetics, ranges, climate change considerations
• Restoration priorities
- historic distributions, current viability, carrying capacity
• Restoration methods
- habitat suitability, timing
• Ecosystem services
- interactions with water quality, sediments
• Ecological considerations
- impacts of predators & non-native
Subcommittees
Other Workgroups
Mussel Advisory Group
• ~40 Experts Invited
• Freshwater Mussels- heritage, species recovery, distribution
- propagation and rearing
- genetics
- habitat suitability
• Shellfish Ecology and Management
- disease
- genetics and husbandry
- population dynamics
- aquaculture
• Stream/River Restoration
• Ecosystem services
• Federal (USFWS, EPA, USGS)
• States (DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA)
• Academia
• Non-Profits
• Companies
Conservation/Restoration Priorities
• What Species and Locations to Target?- Historic species distributions
- Climate change and future conditions
- Rare species recovery
- Whole assemblage recovery for ecosystem services
• What Methods to Use?- Conservation (of existing populations)
- Habitat enhancement (for existing or new populations)
- Reintroduction or augmentation (for existing or new populations)
- Juveniles versus adults
• How to be Strategic? - Geospatial assessment of current/future carrying capacity
- Sentinel tests and monitoring a priori
Subcommittee?
Propagation & Rearing
• Hatchery Design & Operation- Water types & systems
- Mussel and fish captive care, nutrition
• Genetics- Genetic safeguards and policies
- Genetic variation surveys
- Studies of intrinsic variation versus phenotypic expression
• Biosecurity & Disease
- safeguard policies
- quarantine protocols
• Pond Rearing
Subcommittee?
Research & Outreach
• Mussel Biology & Ecology- Predation & competition
- Interactions with non-natives, submerged vegetation
- Nutrition, genetics, disease
• Ecosystem Services- Fate of filtered material
- Nutrient processing, biogeochemistry
- Population carrying capacity
• Habitat Suitability
- Physical, chemical and biological factors
- Habitat enhancement, living shorelines
• Aquaculture
- Nutrient bioextraction farmsSubcommittee?
Outreach
• Citizen Science- Volunteer training workshops
- Volunteer surveys
- Mussel gardening
- Project monitoring
• Events
• Social media, video, web materials
e.g. mightymussel.com
• Teaching curricula
Subcommittee?
CTUIR Freshwater Mussel Project
Healthy Bivalves = Healthy Estuaries
Thank You!
24
Danielle Kreeger
Science Director
(302) 655-990, x104 │ DelawareEstuary.org
Connecting people, science, and nature
for a healthy Delaware River and Bay
For More Info:
Mussels for Clean Water Initiativehttp://www.delawareestuary.org/science-and-research/mussels-clean-
water-initiative-mucwi/
Extra Slides
25
The Production Hatchery
BroodstockConditioning
Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery
White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery
The Production Hatchery
Fish Host Care
Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery
The Production Hatchery
Infestation &Tranformation
The Mussel Hatchery at Fairmount Water Works
The Production Hatchery
MusselNursery
Nursery
Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery
The Production Hatchery
Pre-PondRearing
Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery
The Production Hatchery
Algal FoodProduction
Greenhouse