The business of oyster restoration: using traditional market‐based approaches to estimate the oyster restoration economy

Abstract

In the United States, restoring oyster reefs is increasingly a priority, due to a desire to return the economic, ecological, and social services the habitat can provide. This growing demand for oyster reef restoration has led to the development of an oyster reef restoration economy. This study was the first to assess it as such, by using similar approaches to private sector market studies. Here, we conducted a market assessment to: quantify the market size in terms of annual dollars spent on oyster reef restoration projects; understand the variation in industry members involved, and market variation by region and state; analyze the distribution of the total market size across the value chain; and document primary factors that will contribute to future market growth or decline. We also used the direct annual spend to estimate the industry's impact on jobs, indirect output, and induced output from the oyster restoration industry on the U.S. economy. In the United States, the oyster reef restoration industry's overall size, measured as annual spend, is $70–90 M, directly supporting an estimated 1500 jobs and contributing $210 M of economic output. Most of the market is directed toward projects whose intended direct result is increased oyster populations versus planning, surveys, or monitoring. The vast majority (85%) of the market resides in the mid‐Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico regions. Practitioners nearly unanimously agree that the oyster reef restoration industry will continue to grow over the next 5 years.