The BESE-mats, an oyster playground!

All over Florida we have set-up small scale pilots with local parties to aid oyster reef restoration. We are starting to gather promising results. Below you will find a short description of the results with the BESE-mats.

The BESE-mats are two BESE-elements clicked on top of each other with shell material attached to it. They are a non-plastic alternative to the oyster-mats designed by Dr. Walters from UCF (University of Central Florida).

Soon after placing the BESE-mats in the intertidal zone (fall 2019) they started recruiting young oysters. Pictures below show the set up and the results after 6 months and 2 years, with already large sized oysters growing on the BESE-mats, which are almost impossible to see!

This summer a new BESE-mat oyster reef will be placed in the Indian River Lagoon, to recruit even more oysters and restore these valuable oyster reefs in a sustainable manner!