Oyster Gardening with Friends and Family
Help Keep The Oyster In Oyster Bay!
This Saturday, May 8th, come down to The WaterFront Center with your friends and family and join us, Friends of the Bay and the Oyster Bay Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee, for the first meeting of our 2021 Community Oyster Gardening!
Raising Oysters improves water quality and enhances marine habitat while establishing a sustainable Oyster Population. Not only will you learn about Oysters and create a safe environment for them, but you’ll spend time with your neighbors and get to know your community while outside enjoying the weekend!
The Community Shellfish Garden program provides participants basic training, equipment, and ongoing support necessary to successfully grow out juvenile oysters in floats on community moorings or their own docks for enhancement purposes only (i.e., not for consumption).
The shellfish gardening training consists of: a review of the historical, ecological, economic, and cultural value of shellfish; shellfish biology (i.e. habitat, nutrition, predators); shellfish culture (i.e. broodstock, spawning, larval rearing, post set), health considerations (i.e. water quality, viruses), and grow-out (i.e. location, gear, maintenance, fouling organisms, FAQ). Juvenile oysters (i.e. seed stock) are acquired from Cornell Cooperative Extension’s hatchery in late June or early July and are grown out in “gardens” (floating cages) located in areas approved by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Each shellfish garden consists of 1,000 oysters.
Participants work together to clean their floats and measure a sampling of their oysters at least twice per month from July through September when they are released into the spawner sanctuary. The Community Shellfish Gardening program is designed to increase appreciation of our local waters among residents while supporting the public benefits of oysters. In exchange for returning their oysters for seeding in the spawner sanctuary, gardeners have an end-of-the-year celebration. At this celebration, they receive mature shellfish from a certified local vendor to show appreciation for their efforts. No shellfish in the gardening program is consumed directly or sold commercially.
Even if you can’t participate make sure you spread the word! To date, nearly 200,000 oysters have been released into and around a spawner sanctuary in Cold Spring Harbor!
Day: Saturday, May 8th
Time: 8 am - 10am
Location: The WaterFront Center, 1 West End dr. Oyster Bay, NY 11771
In this first session of Oyster Gardening, we will be building the cages the oysters will be housed in.
Here some facts that you may want to know!
Nothing is mandatory – if you miss something your fellow gardeners will fill you in on what you may have missed or tend your cage in your absence.
Gardeners and volunteers eager to get going please RSVP for one of the upcoming Cage Inventory and Repairs days.
All dates and times are subject to change especially the Oyster Deployment day(s) so keep an eye on your e-mail.
The Oyster Gardening Online Training scheduled for Thursday, May 20th will answer many of your “how do I” questions
Please continue to spread the word among family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others via e-mail, social media or however you reach out.
View the introductory presentation on Bayville Free Library’s YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIf6c4wWHIM.
To learn more, get involved, or sponsor a cage for others visit www.oysterbaycoldspringharbor.org
Or contact: Rob Crafa, Coordinator Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee
