This year’s Oyster Fest made history by featuring New York oysters, a first for the event. And, continuing a project first recommended by Friends of the Bay three years ago, the Town of Oyster Bay built on, the Shell Recycling Program, an initiative aimed at harbor sustainability, to collect and recycle oyster shells from the festival. The shells will be redistributed in the harbor to help restore local shellfish habitats, extending their environmental benefit well into the future.
At the festival, Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, more than 80 volunteers for the town made their way among the crowds, encouraging attendees to recycle their shells, and there were strategically placed pails and bins as well.
“This is something that we participate in with local restaurants throughout the town of Oyster Bay, and it’s been very successful for us,” Town Clerk Rich LaMarca said. “It’s a program that really started to foster the restoration process for the harbor. We seed millions of baby shellfish throughout the course of the year, and this is designed to help speed up that process.”
This was the third year of the shell-recycling program, and by many accounts the most successful yet. It is in effect year-round, with Oyster Fest being one of the biggest days for collecting shells. LaMarca said that the town collected over 4,000 pounds of shells at this years festival, which will all be recycled and redistributed into the harbor.
Oysters play a critical role in the harbor’s ecosystem, and the town has made it a priority to reverse the decline in their numbers in recent years.
“This environmental initiative is a top priority,” LaMarca said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to water quality here in the harbor, and through that on the South Bend,” he added, referring to part of the harbor. “It’s something that we take great pride in.”
The town has worked with Friends of the Bay, which consulted with town officials on how to carry out the program, to help it succeed in restoring the aquatic health of the harbor.
“I had a chat with our executive director at the time, Heather Johnson, and I told her we need to tell the town they should have their own recycling program and really push it, publicize it, really make it work,” Bill Bleyer, president of Friends of the Bay, said. “So the town looked into it and decided to do it, and we are consulting with them occasionally on how it should play out.”
The shells undergo a year-long process of cleaning and preparation before being redistributed in the harbor. And throughout the year, restaurants around town will continue to collect shells for the project.
“The shellfish in our waters, they’re really essential for the local marine environment,” LaMarca said. “They filter the water through their feeding mechanisms. One adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. Schultz Restaurant, Rothman’s Steakhouse, Teddy’s Bull Bar, Cafe Al Dente, the Coach Meeting House and Cooper Bluff have been participating all year long, and have been very cooperative and willing to help with this program.”
