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Evaluate and compare spat production factors in farmed and wild oysters in GBE.Replicate spat collectors will be deployed upon and within a 1 km radius of several oyster farms in Little Bay and on natural reefs in Great Bay.Replicate larval samples from waters in the vicinity of each farm and reef will be collected synchronously with checking (and replacing) the spat collectors.This part of the study will provide data on spatial characteristics of spat presence and spatfall relative to individual farms and reefs as well as among these areas, not as an indicator of spat origin(s), but rather to build upon previous research in GBE that suggests repeatable recruitment patterns related to distance from individual natural reefs.Objective 2. Goals / Objectives This research project builds upon prior studies of both ecosystem services and disease to provide new knowledge of oyster recruitment potential in Great Bay Estuary (GBE) and interactions between cultivated and wild oyster stocks.Data will allow assessment of the putative effects of oyster disease dynamics in GBE and will result in a model designed to understand larval transport throughout GBE to predict where larval settlement might be greatest.These interrelated issues are intimately tied to the success of both oyster aquaculture and reef restoration in NH.The overarching goal of this NHAES Hatch proposal is to provide science-based knowledge relating to reproduction of farmed oysters, as mitigated by disease pressure,within the Great Bay estuarine system resulting in data and procedures that will enhance the processes and economics associated with rearing oysters as well as knowledge of the ecosystem services provided by farmed oysters.The interrelated experiments and investigations are designed to provide data relating to the potential recruitment interactions between cultivated and wild stocks and to gather insight regarding disease dynamics within this unique ecosystem.These issues, tied intimately to the success of oyster aquaculture and reef restoration in NH, will be evaluated through the following specific tasks:Objective 1. This project willprovide new knowledge of recruitment interactions between cultivated and wild stocks, assess the putative effects of oyster disease dynamics in GBE, generatea model designed to understandlarval transport throughout GBE, and predict where larval settlement might be greatest.The resulting science willenhance the processes and economics associated with commercially cultivating oysters, allow us to further quantifyecosystem services provided by farmed oysters, and enhancethe success of both oyster aquaculture and reef restoration in NH. Apromising ecosystem service of the Eastern oysterthat has not yet been investigated is the potential for farmed oysters situated in optimum growing areas to produce larvae that can supplement declining recruitment to wild oyster populations.This potential service depends upon the extent to which diseases are affecting cultivated oysters if disease is intense, it could mitigatethat ability of farmed oysters to provide larval recruits to wild oyster populations. Over the last two decades, local conservation efforts have been directed toward reef restorationand concurrently, oyster farming has grown within GBE. During the past century, GBE's wild oyster reefs have been decimated by overharvestingand repeated/ongoing disease challenges. By virtue of their filter feeding of phytoplankton, oysters provided essential ecosystem services includingremoval of excess nutrients from estuarine waters and coupling of pelagic and benthic nutrient processes. Non Technical Summary New Hampshire's Great Bay Estuary (GBE) once hadextensive oyster reefs.