For generations, oysters were an important part of the waters surrounding City Island and the western Long Island Sound. Today, a local organization is working to bring them back and involve the community in the restoration of the waters surrounding the island.
Founded in 2019, City Island Oyster Reef brings together volunteers, students and environmental advocates to restore native oyster populations, improve marine habitat and better understand the health of local waters.
The volunteer organization combines restoration work with scientific research and community education.
City Island Oyster Reef recently expanded its work with the installation of an oyster monitoring cage along Eastchester Bay at American Turners New York. The cage provides another location to monitor oysters while giving local volunteers and children an opportunity to take part in environmental research.
American Turners volunteers and children will work with City Island Oyster Reef to collect data on oyster growth, survival and biodiversity while learning more about the ecosystem in their own backyard.
“Partnerships like this are what make restoration successful,” said Sally Connolly, Chair of City Island Oyster Reef. “We are not only restoring oysters, we are giving people an opportunity to understand their local waters, participate in real scientific research and become part of protecting the Long Island Sound for future generations.”
A single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. Oyster reefs also create habitat for fish and other marine life and can help protect shorelines by reducing wave energy and erosion.
City Island has its own long connection to New York’s oyster history. Oysters were once abundant in the waters around the island before pollution and other changes contributed to their decline. That history helped inspire the effort to see what role oysters could once again play in the surrounding waters, this time for restoration rather than consumption.
One part of that work starts at local restaurants. City Island Oyster Reef collects discarded oyster and hard clam shells that would otherwise be thrown away. The shells are cured and prepared so they can eventually provide the hard surface young oysters need to grow. Since beginning its shell recycling program in 2019, the organization has collected more than 60,000 pounds of shell.
The organization also maintains oyster monitoring sites around City Island. Volunteers and students collect information on oyster growth, survival and the marine life found around the cages. They also monitor water conditions including temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity.
“For generations, these waters have been central to our community,” said Flavio Soares, Vice President of American Turners New York.
“A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water every day, but this project is about much more than water quality. It’s about restoring marine habitat, involving our children in real scientific research and giving the next generation a reason to care for the waters that surround them.”
The research cages are one part of City Island Oyster Reef’s larger plans. The organization is working toward larger reef projects around the island, including sites at Delmour’s Point and Pilot Cove. The projects require permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The work also provides an opportunity for other waterfront organizations to become involved. Through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s shellfish gardening program, eligible beach clubs and other waterfront organizations can pursue authorization to establish oyster cages for educational and restoration purposes.
“We hope this project inspires other organizations to get involved,” Connolly said.
“Beach clubs and other waterfront organizations can explore establishing oyster monitoring cages of their own through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s shellfish gardening program. These cages provide an opportunity to educate children and volunteers, collect valuable scientific data and involve more of our community in restoring the waters of Eastchester Bay.”
For City Island Oyster Reef, bringing oysters back is not about returning them to local dinner tables. The oysters are being restored for the role they can play in the ecosystem by filtering water, providing habitat for marine life and contributing to a healthier Long Island Sound.
More than a century after oysters helped define City Island’s waterfront, local volunteers are working to make them part of its future.
