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