The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is continuing to enhance and restore oyster reefs on the Peach State’s coast, most recently in a public shellfish harvest area in Glynn County.Contractors working for DNR’s Coastal Resources Division (CRD) in June placed approximately 140 tons of loose oyster shell in Jointer Creek, west of Jekyll Island. This brings the total oyster shell put back into Georgia’s estuaries in the last 14 months to 213 tons.“Oysters, in particular, are very important, as they are ecosystem engineers providing vital services in addition to being a harvest species,” said Cameron Brinton, a marine biologist with CRD. “Oysters help stabilize banks, improve water quality and create essential fish habitat for commercially and recreationally important fish.”CRD’s Habitat and Artificial Reef program receives significant support from everyday Georgians, as well, Brinton said. That support comes in the form of volunteers who help bag oyster shells for deployment, the donation of oyster shells from area restaurants and funds from nonprofit organizations.Over the past several months, CRD has focused on three specific projects in Glynn County: a new artificial reef on the Back River near the Torras Causeway containing 68 tons of oyster shell in 7,200 bags; 140 tons of loose shell on the Glynn County public shellfish harvest area on Jointer Creek; and five tons of loose shell in the South Brunswick River near Blythe Island Regional Park.“The goal of this year’s projects was not only to create new reefs, but also to test new deployment methods,” said Brinton. “In the Back River, we’ve been using bagged oyster shell, which is a method that we’ve successfully used in a number of sites, and at Jointer Creek and Blythe Island, we used loose shell, which requires less manpower and has been very successfully used in other states.”Although to date the Blythe Island site has only five tons, marine biologists from CRD will return to the site and see how effe