City Island Oyster Project looks to improve water quality
Volunteers fi ll bags of oysters that will sit outdoors for a year, being
prepared for release into the waters of Eastchester Bay.
Photo courtesy of City Island Drift
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
An ambitious grassroots
effort to restore marine ecology
in local waterways is
gaining traction.
The City Island Oyster
Project held its fi rst fundraiser
at the Harlem Yacht
Club on Friday, May 17 to encourage
a long-term effort to
re-populate oyster beds in
local waterways, stretching
from the county line with
Pelham into Eastchester
Bay around City Island and
Throggs Neck.
Volunteers are currently
in the process of collecting
used oyster shells and placing
them on pallets for curing
purposes before they
are deposited back into waterways,
said Maria Caruso,
a member of the City Island
Drift, a group sponsoring the
effort.
The volunteers have
placed 32 gallon bins to collect
used oyster shells in
seven City Island seafood
eateries: The Lobster House,
Seafood City, Seashore Restaurant,
Sammy‘s Shrimp
Box, Tony’s Pier, Johnny’s
Reef and the Harlem Yacht
Club, said Caruso.
The process requires the
shells be cured for a year so
that bacteria can die off before
they are placed back
into the water, she said.
Oyster larvae, already
present in the local waterways,
would attach to the recycled
BRONX TIMES R 24 EPORTER, MAY 24-30, 2019 BTR
shells and reach maturity.
An adult oyster can clean
up to 50 gallons of seawater a
day, improving ecology and
possibly bring back wildlife
that has disappeared from local
waterways, said Caruso.
“The purpose is to have
the oysters clean the water
and become the basis to bring
a multitude of other marine
species back into Eastchester
Bay, creating an ecologically
bio-diverse corridor,” said
Caruso.
As part of the longerrange
vision, the City Island
Drift’s volunteers foresee
eco-tourism to keep building
on the island’s nautical history
while making full use of
natural resources, said Lois
Wagh, a member of the Drift.
“While we are doing all
of this, we are bringing the
community together,” said
Caruso. “Those who attended
the fundraiser and volunteered
didn’t socialize before
and now they are working
together towards a common
goal.”
The group is relying on
the expertise of a City Island
biologist, Paul Mankiewicz,
and Mike Carew, of the island’s
Captain Mike’s Diving,
to determine locations to
place the oysters in the water
for maximum success, said
Caruso.
Carew told the Bronx
Times that they are considering
places like Cuban Ledge
(which was formerly an oyster
reef) located in Eastchester
Bay between Country
Club and City Island, and
locations off the Chimney
Sweeps Islands, High Island
and Hart Island as possible
locations for a ‘chain’ of installations.
“When we are diving, we
are looking for good areas
for the oysters we are collecting,”
said Carew, adding
“There would be multiple
places to put these shells.”
Carew, a former NYPD
diver, said that he has found
that oysters are growing near
the jetty at Orchard Beach
naturally, indicating that the
water quality in that area is
already improving.
Assemblyman Michael
Benedetto and Councilman
Mark Gjonaj attended the
May 17 event.
Benedetto said he will allocate
the group a $2,000
grant for the project and is
sponsoring state legislation
that would provide tax credits
to restaurants based on
every pound of oyster shells
they contribute to this and
similar efforts.