On Monday June 30th, volunteers from the Brightwaters and Bay Shore communities, along with Save the Great South Bay (a local non-profit whose mission is to revitalize and restore the health of the bay) and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, met at Walker Beach to tend to our new oyster garden.
Why an oyster garden? For many years the Great South Bay (“GSB”) was one of the largest sources in the country for all types of shellfish, however over time, its stock of oysters, clams and other mollusks was depleted through over-farming and nitrogen overload from the mainland. This had a negative impact on the GSB and its ecosystem, and some grassroots efforts, like Save the Great South Bay, sprouted to reverse this trend.
One of the initiatives of Save the Great South Bay is habitat restoration. Oysters serve as a natural filtration system, and increasing their population provides a fast and effective way to clean pollutants out of the water. To date, 4 oyster sanctuaries have been established in the GSB and the goal is to add to them through 6 community gardens this summer.
What is an oyster garden? Oysters need a safe place to develop and mature before being placed in the sanctuaries, and the gardens provide an environment for them to do so. Simply put, our garden consists of 10 crates, each with 2,000 spat (oyster larvae attached to recycled shells), secured along Walker Beach. At the end of the summer, the spat will be moved from our garden to one of the sanctuaries where they will grow into adults.
What will volunteers do? Each week, volunteers will complete the following tasks:
- Remove the crates from the water, empty them into baskets
- Rinse off the spat and return unwanted critters like crabs, shrimp, etc. back into the bay
- Collect sample data by selecting 5 shells per crate, counting all of the spat on them, then measuring 5 spat per shell to calculate an average size of spat on each shell
- Clean the crates, put the spat back in, then return them to the water
Volunteers for the Oyster Garden at Walker Beach meet on Mondays from 12:30 – 2:30pm now through September 15th. If you are interested in participating, go to the volunteer page on Save the Great South Bay’s website (Volunteer) and sign-up. We look forward to seeing you there!
Summary by Jennifer Bartlett