Three boats tied together anchored outside of Oyster Cove Marina caught fire Wednesday morning and were quickly extinguished.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the South San Francisco Fire Department reported on the fires, which started in a boat that was tied to two others. During the fire, whatever was holding them together failed, Deputy Fire Chief Matt Samson said.

Through interviews, fire officials are trying to determine the number of occupants but several jumped into the water and one was taken to the hospital with a minor injury. The cause of the fire is under investigation. There have been two boat fires off the South City Bayfront in the last two to three years, Samson said, and they were determined to be accidental.

The fire was extinguished by 9:20 a.m. and crews remained on scene until after noon to place oil booms and other environmental protections around the damaged boats so contaminants on board wouldn’t spread before a salvage company removes them from the water, he said.

Multiple fire agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the incident.

The post A number of boats broken by hearth close to Oyster Cove Marina in South San Francisco | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Scientists, researchers, and volunteers are working on an Olympian quest – to restore the Olympian oyster to once-historic levels at a coastal wetland along the Monterey Bay, an effort that may help to curb the impacts of the warming climate.

At the legendary Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, the line forms early. If you’re lucky to get a seat at the seafood counter, you’re in for a treat: the restaurant just got a fresh shipment of the only oyster native to the West Coast of North America.

The Olympia oyster, native to the Puget Sound area and named after Olympia, Washington, is as small as a silver dollar but big in flavor. They are described as slightly briny with a coppery finish.

“I grew up eating these oysters and I think they’re just fantastic,” exclaimed Swan co-owner Steve Sancimino

Olympias are not endangered, but their once-abundant numbers have dramatically declined, largely due to overharvesting and mining practices during California’s Gold Rush, as well as persistent problems of pollution and loss of habitat.

Scientists, researchers, and volunteers are working to restore the Olympias to their historic levels in the wild. At this point, the Olympia oysters are not able to reproduce at numbers that can be self-sustaining.

One Bay Area restoration site is located at one of California’s largest estuaries.

“We are here to bring back oysters to Elkhorn Slough where they have lived for millennia,” explained Dr. Kerstin Wasson, who heads up the pioneering restoration project at the slough and works for NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve. “We’re doing it with optimism and hoping that if we can bring back a million oysters to Elkhorn Slough, they’ll be self-sustaining. And today is one step towards that goal.”

In the slough, because of agricultural runoff from the Salinas River, the restored oysters won’t be harvested. But their intended role is big and critical: to filter water, stabilize the shoreline, sequester carbon, and provide habitat for other creatures – all big benefits as the planet warms.

“It’s really important that we help to restore this population,” said Dr. Luke Gardner, who works for California Sea Grant as an aquaculture extension specialist. He also works for Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, which is administered by San Jose State University.

At the lab’s aquaculture hatchery, specialists “borrow” adult Olympias from the wild at Elkhorn Slough and bring them back to the hatchery to breed baby oysters that will be involved in the restoration effort.

“In a hatchery, we can control a lot of the environment and we can make sure those little babies make it through to being juveniles,” noted Gardner.

The baby oysters require tender loving care: micro-algae for food, the right temperatures, protection from predators, and plenty of fresh water.

“They’re very needy and very dirty so they are really fun to take care of, but they need a lot of attention,” said Moss Landing Marine Lab scientist Jacob Harris.

Harris told CBS News Bay Area that when the baby oysters are ready, they attach to hard surfaces, including large clam shells that are also collected from the slough. Gardner and Harris carefully gather the oyster-encrusted clam shells, put them in special mesh bags, and pack them in a cooler.

They also collected baby Olympias from their water-filled silos and put them in plastic tubs to be loaded into the van headed to Elkhorn Slough There, scientists and volunteers enthusiastically jumped into action to unpack the precious cargo.

California State University, Monterey Bay student Taylor Garcia is aware of the world’s warming change and says she wants to be part of the solution.

“There always has to be optimism when it comes to this line of work,” said Garcia. “I guess because without it, you really wouldn’t get anywhere.”

The work is unusual but makes a lot of sense. Each volunteer is tasked with counting each baby oyster stuck to a shell or floating in a small container of water. They then measure the largest one that they can spy on each shell. They then record their findings on an iPad and secure each clamshell to PVC pipes tagged with a unique identifying number.

Once all the oysters are counted, secured, and tagged – there were about 80,000 baby oysters on all the shells – the volunteers picked up the PVC pipes, and now clad in rubber boots, caravaned with their treasures down to the estuary. There, the volunteers formed a brigade, carefully passing the pipes down to the scientists, who planted them into the muddy goop and low tidal waters of Hester Marsh. The scientists will continue to monitor these sites and record what happens with each group of oysters.

“The oysters have been here for 7,000 years and on my watch, I don’t want to see them disappear from Elkhorn Slough,” said Wasson, as she lined up the pipes.

Back at Swan’s, patrons thought the effort was well worth it. If they can restore the oysters in the wild at Elkhorn Slough, perhaps they’ll see more of all kinds of oysters growing in the wild.

“I think it’s a great initiative. It benefits not only the environment but also folks who truly love oysters. So, I think it’s a win-win for everybody,” said customer Phirun Pheap.

It didn’t matter to Sancimino that these oysters were not intended to be harvested and eaten. He said that was not the point, and applauded the scientists and researchers involved.

“I’ll be honest with you, if what they’re trying to establish down in the slough works, that’ll be one step closer to reviving a native species and putting it where it belongs in this state,” declared Sancimino, as he offered fresh Olympias to his happy customers.

The post Revival of once-abundant Olympia oyster inhabitants might assist struggle results of local weather change | Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A new hotel is arriving at Oyster Point in South San Francisco, with the city agreeing last week to sell 4.7 acres of land on the Bayfront to a developer for the project.

Ensemble Investments LLC will raise $ 1 million for its own property at 367 Marina Blvd. pay, with plans to build a 12-story hotel with 350 rooms. The project is now beginning the entitlement process, which will see concrete plans for the hotel approved, and construction is expected to begin in 2024 and be completed in 2027.

“The community benefits that come into our city, the tax dollars that flow into our school district, are beneficial and transforming us in South San Francisco,” said Vice Mayor Mark Nagales. “I’m looking forward to the day when we can cut the ribbon.”

The hotel is expected to bring $ 194.1 million in taxes and fees to the city budget, $ 27.6 million to the city’s school district, and $ 12.5 million to the county over the first 25 years. The income is largely due to the city’s temporary occupancy, which takes 14% of the rent for space.

The site planned for the hotel is a topped landfill that was closed in the 1970s and approved for development in 2011 as part of a comprehensive plan for the area to be spread across 10 buildings.

“It was a dirty landfill and we are currently looking into a planned project to significantly transform this site,” said Ernesto Lucero, the city’s economic development coordinator.

Given the “existence and production of methane, other landfill gases and other volatile organic compounds,” as described in the purchase agreement, the land was valued by the city at -33 million US dollars. In return, the city commits to a 50% discount on the TOT for the first 15 years, effectively reducing the hotel’s taxes by $ 44.5 million for that period.

The project has been in progress since at least 2018, when the city agreed to work exclusively with the developer. Several delays, attributable to the site’s environmental challenges, have pushed the project well beyond the original estimates of a groundbreaking ceremony in 2019.

“We are at the right time and this is indeed the right place,” said Councilor Eddie Flores. “This is indeed an important project for South San Francisco and an important opportunity for our region as well.”

Councilor James Coleman agreed, pointing out the benefits the hotel will bring to the area, including a lobby, grand ballroom, conference room, restaurant and rooftop lounge that will be open to the public.

“I’m excited to see that there will be amenities that will benefit the public and, for many of the people who enjoy the Bay Trail, maybe a destination to stop at during their walk,” said Coleman.

The works also include improvements to part of the Bay Trail, and the hotel grounds could eventually be connected to the adjacent ferry terminal as part of a future Oyster Point transit hub.

“We are very pleased that you have accepted us,” says Michael Moskowitz, Managing Director of Ensemble Investments. “More importantly, we are committed to delivering something great to the city.”

The post Oyster Level resort undertaking strikes forward in South San Francisco | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

While massive commercial development is transforming Oyster Point in southern San Francisco, officials are also working to improve access to the area through improved ferry service.

A committee of officials from South San Francisco and the County Harbor District discussed the future of developments on the waterfront, the surrounding marina and other facilities during a meeting on Monday, September 28.

The discussion hit when Kilroy Realty is building a huge business campus with planned office and biotech space of nearly 3 million square feet on 10 buildings spanning 50 acres.

The first phase of development is in space, which will serve as the headquarters for Fintech Titan Stripe and Biotech Cytokinetics. With the expectation that the buildings will be ready for occupancy at the beginning of next year, another round of development is to begin on the next 900,000 square meters of the campus.

The upcoming phase of construction is expected to be the most intense and likely to include the main equipment, which in addition to the work area will include food and beverage facilities, public art, fitness center, a sunken amphitheater and improvements to the Bay Trail.

Officials largely praised the vision, particularly for improvements to the Bay Trail that are enhancing the experience for those who work on site and others who come for outdoor recreation.

The development east of Highway 101 is adjacent to Oyster Point Marina / Point, which is owned by South San Francisco but operated by the Harbor District under a joint property agreement.

As the project reconfigures the bayfront, city officials are planning ways to make it more accessible to the influx of workers and visitors to the commercial hub.

Mike Futrell, City Manager for South San Francisco, explained the possibility of improving ferry and water taxi service along the water by developing a new terminal on the spit next to the marina.

He said officials would need to invest heavily in the area to protect it from the threat of sea level rise. With the expectation that the infrastructure work could cost up to 20 million US dollars, the officials see an opportunity, according to Futrell, to improve the transport services as well.

He said the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which oversees water transportation and ferry service, endorses the city’s vision. And he noted that the developer of the Oyster Point project, as well as other large local companies, are also involved in the proposal.

Such support is essential, Futrell said, as input from partner agencies and corporate partners will be critical to funding protection from sea level rise. He said approximately $ 5 to 7 million has been identified to fund the improvements, but city officials need to consider strategies to fill the huge gap.

In order not to overly ambitiously envision the future of the site, an immediate plan includes spending approximately $ 750,000 to test the feasibility and then determine the next steps, according to Futrell.

With a view to the future, he presented a schedule in which the construction concepts for the new ferry terminal should be presented by next summer.

The new facility and more frequent ferries and taxis could result in an hourly service connecting South San Francisco to Mission Bay and the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Additional trips to San Francisco are important, according to Futrell, because that’s where such a large portion of Oyster Point’s workforce resides.

The new terminal could be further accentuated by plans to build a new 350-room waterfront hotel, Futrell said, as officials envision even stronger development along the Bayshore.

While officials broadly supported Oyster Point’s broad vision, at least one resident was critical. Regarding the plans to build the office campus, Roberta Prohaska questioned the need for intensive development in an area that has traditionally been reserved for more passive uses.

“I don’t like it when these tall buildings go up,” she said.

The post Officers look at progress at South San Francisco’s Oyster Level | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.