Can Oysters Solve This Long Island Town's Water Problems?

The Town designated three parcels of underground land as conservation management areas for the preservation, seeding, rehabilitation of shellfish including the use of community oyster gardens, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino announced Thursday, Aug. 1.

The areas in Town waters include one along West Shore Road in Bayville, one at Laurel Hollow Beach, and one in Oyster Bay Cove.

The locations throughout Oyster Bay Harbor come to about 50 acres total, and will eventually lead to the creation of a self-sustaining oyster reef in the watershed.

This shellfish gardening program is under a partnership with the Oyster Bay-Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee, Friends of the Bay, and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Oysters and clams are filter feeders and are capable of filtering up to 50 gallons of water a day, which will help clean and improve water quality in the area," Saladino said.

The partnership will utilize a portion of the Laurel Hollow conservation area as needed to facilitate and encourage Community Shellfish Gardening in an area conducive to the sustainability and propagation of oysters. 

Volunteers will be trained and given equipment and support to help facilitate the successful grow out of juvenile oysters, under the program which expects to raise 85,000 oysters in 2019.

Click here for more information on the program or call 516-677-5811.

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