Oyster reef restoration and research

Educators click through for:

The Forgotten Reefs: Shellfish Reefs in NSW, a suite of curriculum‑linked learning packages that bring the story of oyster reefs to life

What is oyster reef restoration?

The natural recovery of oyster reefs is largely thought to be limited by a lack of suitable hard material for baby oysters (known as spat) to settle.

Oyster reef restoration reintroduces materials such as rock or sterile shells to the estuary floor so the baby oysters can settle and start to regrow a new oyster reef.

Ideally, this occurs in areas with good levels of natural spat settlement. Where there’s not enough wild spat, ‘seeding’ of oyster reef bases, with hatchery-reared spat, may also be needed.

Over time, given the right conditions, these young oysters grow and reproduce, creating a self-sustaining vibrant ecosystem with all the benefits of a natural oyster reef.

What are we doing?

The Oyster reef restoration and research project is learning more about the ecology of oyster reefs and restoring oyster reefs in NSW so they can do their job again – naturally.

This includes working with partners to:

• deliver landmark oyster reef restoration projects, including at Port Stephens, Narooma and Kamay/Botany Bay, and evaluate these restoration projects to measure the level of success
• conduct ground-breaking research to learn more about the ecology of the State’s oyster reefs and oyster reef restoration methodology
• map current oyster reefs to better understand where reefs are and identify where they could be restored. You can check out Oyster reef maps for your local estuary via the DPIRD Fisheries Spatial Data Portal
• educate the NSW community about oyster reefs and engage them in the restoration of this long-forgotten ecosystem.

What have we achieved so far?

The Oyster reef restoration and research project is delivering some exciting results across the marine estate.

Monitoring of the Port Stephens oyster reef restoration project is revealing that to date, 34 million oysters have naturally recruited and established on the reefs and the reefs are filtering over 9 million litres or over 3.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water an hour!

Check out the latest monitoring results of our Port Stephens project.

The Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline project at Narooma is kicking many first goals for NSW including the landmark restoration of a subtidal Native Flat Oyster (Ostrea angasi) reef. This included a novel 'remote settlement' restoration technique to settle 2 million baby oysters (spat) onto prepared clean shell (cultch).

Explore highlights of the Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline project with this infographic.

Latest update - reporting period July – December 2025

Progress during the reporting period

Significant planning is underway to support oyster reef restoration in other estuaries to advance restoration techniques, strengthen shoreline resilience, boost biodiversity, support sustainable aquaculture and deliver benefits for local coastal communities and marine ecosystems. Projects in planning phase include the Casuarina Point habitat restoration project and the Optimising Hybrid Living Shorelines project, in the Hastings River estuary (the latter also supported with Flagship Grant funding).

The Flagship Grant–funded Crookhaven Heads Living Shoreline (CHILS) project is progressing well, supported by ongoing discussions with project partners and stakeholders. Our team is actively contributing by attending steering and technical committee meetings, reviewing documents and designs, and carrying out site inspections. Our work is helping to maintain strong collaboration and ensure sound planning as the project moves forward.

A detailed site options assessment for the Tweed River estuary is nearing completion and will identify suitable potential locations for future oyster reef restoration. The assessment includes opportunities for several species, including the Leaf Oyster, whose reefs have never been restored in Australia. The findings will guide our next steps and help expand knowledge of oyster reef restoration techniques.

We are continuing discussions with local councils, state agencies and NGOs about potential collaborative restoration projects and future sites in additional estuaries. A key priority is ensuring oyster reef activities are included in Coastal Management Programs so this ecosystem can be reintroduced to suitable areas and strengthen long-term coastal management.

One example is the Shoalhaven Riverwatch led Robust Oyster Basket (ROB) trial, where our team is providing technical advice and support. We also contribute to a technical advice panel for The Nature Conservancy’s Commonwealth funded Georges River Shellfish Reef Revitalisation project, which aims to restore a subtidal reef at Taren Point and an intertidal reef at Audrey Bay.

Central Queensland University is continuing a Choice Experiment to measure community willingness to pay for oyster reef restoration in NSW. The research will provide important data to support a more detailed cost–benefit analysis of future restoration projects. Survey development is progressing well in collaboration with our team and a DPIRD Senior Economist. The results will help quantify the social, environmental and economic benefits of oyster reef restoration and support evidence-based investment decisions.

We finalised and uploaded the Sydney Harbour mapping to the Fisheries Spatial Data Portal and completed supplementary mapping for the Crookhaven River estuary to support the CHILS project. These oyster reef maps are helping shape estuary specific shellfish reef restoration actions and inform Coastal Management Programs, ensuring future projects are guided by accurate data and strong planning foundations.

The travelling Bidhiinja – Restoring Our Oyster Reefs exhibition and education program reached more than 400 people across northern New South Wales. We delivered 7 school talks to primary students and teachers at Byron Bay Library during Book Week in August, engaging around 210 participants. The program then continued at Grafton Regional Gallery with 2 well attended events: the exhibition launched on 27 September, and the Clarence River Water Talk on 28 September. These activities connected students, teachers and community members with the story of oyster reef restoration, strengthening links between education, art and environmental stewardship.

The Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline (WILS) project video (top of this page) is complete and site monitoring is continuing to ensure we collect robust data. WILS is drawing strong interest from local government and research institutions as a leading example of living shoreline and nature-based solutions.

In recognition of its impact, we worked with partners to nominate WILS for the Banksia Foundation NSW Sustainability Award in the Placemaking category. WILS was announced as the winner at the awards ceremony in Sydney in early December.

Three school education packages focused on oyster reef restoration are undergoing final internal review, with promotion to teachers planned. On 7 August 2025, we delivered a virtual excursion and teacher professional development session as part of Science Week. During the session, we promoted the school packages and highlighted the broader restoration project.

• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

• The Nature Conservancy, Australia
• Eurobodalla Shire Council
• Nature Coast Marine Group
• OzFish Unlimited
• Joonga Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation Divers and Planting team
• Wagonga Inlet oyster farmers
• Worimi Knowledge Holders
• Port Stephens oyster farmers
• Australian National Maritime Museum
• Southern Cross University
• Macquarie University
• University of NSW
• University of Sydney
• Sydney Institute of Marine Science
• Newcastle University
• University of Melbourne
• Port Macquarie Hastings Council
• Shoalhaven City Council
• Tweed Shire Council
• Greater Sydney Local Land Services
• Hunter Local Land Services
• North Coast Local Land Services
• Australian Government
• OceanWatch Australia

• Integrating Sea Country values with nature conservation at the Wagonga Inlet Living Shoreline video
• Port Stephens oyster reef restoration project video - Stage 1
• NSW Shellfish Reef Restoration Project Planning and Implementation Guidelines (PDF, 36507.58 KB)
• How to get involved
• Restoring oyster reefs in Port Stephens
• Infographic - Where have our oyster reefs gone? (PDF, 10947.7 KB)
• Infographic - Benefits of oyster reefs (PDF, 7842.26 KB)
• Infographic - Oyster reef restoration supports local economies (PDF, 7582.64 KB)
• Fact sheet - Oyster reef mapping criteria (PDF, 2138.83 KB)
• Fact sheet - Local Council integration of Shellfish Reef Restoration into CMP Factsheet update 2022
  (PDF, 467.41 KB)
• Summary report - Oyster reef restoration industry survey (PDF, 300.08 KB)