In June, volunteers began working towards the goal of revitalizing oyster habitats on Long Island. Through a partnership between The Rotary Club of Huntington, Community Offshore Wind, and CCE Marine, community members and officials are working together to clean and restore the water in the Huntington-Northport area.
Volunteers will be spending their time cleaning, tumbling, and measuring small oysters until they are big enough to be moved to new oyster reefs. Their assistance and the support of others has been vital in making sure that this project is a success.
“Community Offshore Wind team members will be out on the docks working with aquaculture experts and Huntington-Northport community members on this project,” said Doug Perkins, President of Community Offshore Wind. “The offshore wind infrastructure we are building contributes to cutting emissions, while revitalizing oyster habitats contributes to cleaner waters for marine life.”
The goal of the project is to protect the waters from pollution and algae by adding millions of oyster larvae into these new reefs, which will improve water quality in the area as a result of the oysters ecological value.
The journey begins with the CCE Marine hatchery in Southold delivering tiny oysters to the project team, who will grow them in specially designed nursery docks. Once the oysters have grown to a length of 1.5 inches, they will be transferred to the new reefs, which have already been chosen and approved.
“Most of the heavy lifting had already been done by CCE Marine,” said James Wylie, President elect of the Rotary Club of Huntington. “Government officials on the State, County, Town and Village levels have been very supportive of the work in the Huntington-Northport waterbody for many years.”
While the project is still in its infancy, the groundwork is being laid for a bright future in the region’s water bodies.
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