Community, conservationists establish small oyster reef in Sag Harbor

The slow, careful work of restoring Long Island’s bays took a small but important step forward in Sag Harbor on Wednesday, as conservationists teamed up with community members in the establishment of a small oyster reef.

The effort, led by the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Back to the Bays marine program, saw some 50,000 oysters planted in a bayfront area of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park in the village. Back to the Bays works with communities to help identify and implement projects  and fundraise to cover the costs. 

About 75 children, parents and community leaders teamed up with the Cornell shellfish experts to count and measure the oysters, already established on reclaimed clam and oyster shells, before setting them in shallow waters in the park.

Projects like this, re-establishing shellfish beds and critical eel grass habitat, are underway in waterways across Long Island. The Back to the Bays program has community-assisted reclamation projects in Shinnecock Bay, Quogue, Greenport and Shelter Island, among others, with more planned over the next year, said director Kimberly Barbour. The plan is to have 10 such projects in place by the time the program celebrates its 10th anniversary next year.

“The goal is to get at least 100,000 oysters in every year over a 10-year period,” said Barbour. “We’re going to put in a million oysters.”

Just as important, she said, is the community involvement, giving kids the chance to learn and do the work, while the community helps raise funds to make it happen.

“We’re giving people a chance to help give back to the bays,” Barbour said. “That community stewardship component is really important to us.”

Just as important are the oyster beds themselves. Spat-on-shell oysters planted in the bays grow to larger-scale oyster reefs that filter large amounts of bay water each day. A grown oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water daily, and restored eel-grass beds provide critical habitat to help bring back iconic shellfish such as bay scallops, which have seen a half-decade of die-offs. 

“We’re looking to bring back those oyster beds that used to thrive in these coastal waters,” all around Long Island, said Cornell aquaculture coordinator Kate Rossi-Snook, who led the educational program that saw five large crates of spat-covered shells put into the bay on Wednesday. Sag Harbor village mayor Thomas Gardella said projects like this demonstrate the effectiveness of community involvement. “You’ve got to be proactive,” he said, noting local Kidd Squid Brewing Co. helped with donations. 

Shawn Sachs, a Sag Harbor resident who helped organize the event and fundraise, attended with his two daughters, Isabella, 7, and Rosie, 4. “We’re checking all the boxes,” he said of the good the program is doing — teaching kids, involving community, raising funds, cleaning the bays, maybe even inspiring future environmentalists. “Someone here is going to be a marine biologist.”

Sag Harbor is a “water town,” Sachs said. “In sometimes overwhelming times, leaning in to the local community gives you back so much.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.