Boating is a great way to enjoy our natural resources but boating and boat yards are also potential pollutant sources if not managed effectively. It may be hard to visualize how boat yards contribute to pollution outside of the occasional small fueling mishaps, but boat yards and marinas still have to stay on guard to prevent pollution. For example, parking lots and storage areas can displace stormwater, while boat use and storage allow for potential pollutants to collect and be carried off site. Moving boats in and out of the water will also track sediment and non-stormwater materials straight into a waterbody. Because of this, boat yards still need BMPs (Best Management Practices) to stay compliant with local and federal environmental regulations.
Luckily for boatyards, there is a clean, renewable, and natural BMP that can do a lot of good: Oysters! Oysters are the darker and more jagged relatives of the clam, and they have amazing capabilities. They can filter sediment out of water, for free! One adult oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons a day. Oysters use the sediment as building blocks for their shells and other needs. This means that a boat yard could use oysters to counter any sediment that could be tracked or moved into the water. Additionally, oysters can grow on nearly any surface – dock pylons, cages, rocks, or even structures specifically made to house and encourage oyster growth. They are a natural, aesthetically pleasing, and low-cost BMP.
Minimizing pollution is not always an easy task, but natural BMPs like oysters make it that much easier. Oysters can grow on almost anything and clean the water at zero cost. Most boat yards or marinas are suited to implement oysters as a BMP for environmental compliance. You can learn more about boatyard and marina compliance by checking out KCI at our website.