Oh How Our (Oyster) Gardens Grew!

Save the Great South Bay Oyster Project Sanctuary & Community Oyster Gardens 2023/24

Prepared by Andy Mirchel, Program Chair on 09/20/24

Oyster Sanctuaries

In 2023, Save the Great South Bay initiated two test Community Oyster Gardens (COGs) in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk. On July 6, 2023, we planted at Babylon Yacht Club and Bay Shore Yacht Club. Both sites showed promising growth.  On October 11, 2023, at the end of the growing season, we transplanted eight crates worth of baby oysters from those oyster gardens to the Islip Sanctuary with the help of CCEs Gregg Rivara and Demetrios Caroussos. The Sayville Yacht Club Oyster Garden provided an additional 20 crates of seasoned spat on shell (sSoS) and planting help from their leader Drew Baldwin. 

2023 was a busy year indeed. Besides initiating the oyster gardens, we free-planted 20 cu ft of SoS on July 10, 2023 in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), 10 cu ft each at two sites that looked promising. 

Carl LoBue of TNC provided the boat and local knowledge that guided site selection. On October 27, 2023, we hand-planted 20 cu ft of Spat on Shell to test viability of the proposed Unqua Spawner Sanctuary under temporary permit from the Town of Babylon and with the approval of Village of Amityville. 

Community Oyster Gardens

In 2024, Save the Great South Bay’s Community Oyster Garden (COG) program was scaled up significantly. Additional locations were set up at Unqua Corinthian Yacht Club and Saltaire Community Marina on Fire Island. From four crates per site in 2023, we expanded to ten crates per site with the help of a cadre of dedicated weekly volunteers curated through Sign Up Genius. 

All sites showed really great growth. Crates were all deployed June 21, 2024, two weeks earlier than in 2023. Conditions and great care resulted in tremendous growth. In September our amended permit, including the new Unqua Spawner Sanctuary, was approved so we were able to plant our COGs at both Islip and Unqua. 

Site Surveys – Unqua & Islip

Several site surveys were done in 2024.  On May 25, 2024, Todd Shaw and Andy Mirchel surveyed the test planting at Unqua. Survival improved eastward from the bulkhead to about 75%. Growth went from 7mm planted in October of 2023 to 15-20mm by May 2024. This encouraged us to to proceed with permitting the Unqua site. 

We then surveyed the Islip site and recovered numerous clusters of spat on shell planted at 6-8mm which grew to 40+mm. Carefully hand-planting amid and around concrete rubble resulted in good survival and intact plantings.

Site Surveys – Nature Conservancy Acreage

On July 26, 2024, we surveyed the two Nature Conservancy (TNC) sites with Cornell Cooperative’s Gregg Rivara, a certified scuba diver. We located a mark left at TNC WEST and found numerous clusters of spat on shell free-planted a year earlier. Remarkable growth, some upwards of 90 mm! Astounding. We found this great location to be suitable for continued planting. 

The TNC EAST site proved subject to wave action resulting in dispersion and beaching. We have decided to test a different site at the next planting.

New Plantings

On August 6, 2024, we accepted delivery of 40 cu ft of spat on shell. We hand planted approximately 25% at the Unqua test site and another 25%  at at the Islip Sanctuary. At the TNC sites, with the help of Carl LoBue and Rob Vasiluth, we free planted at the TNC West site and a new ‘east’ site notable for a hard bottom with debris.

On September 21, 2024, Oyster Gardens at Saltaire and Unqua Corinthian YC were transplanted to the new Unqua Spawner Sanctuary. Next the Babylon Yacht Club and Bay Shore Yacht Club were transplanted by hand into the rubble area of the Islip Spawner sanctuary.

Additional late season plantings are possible depending on supply and budget.