Coco, Liz and I have decided to become the proud mothers of a thousand oysters (in the meantime only 650) by joining the NY/NJ Baykeeper - River Project - Harbor School Oyster Gardening Volunteer Program. When we signed up after a lecture by the very knowledgeable Meredith Comi of Baykeeper, we got a bucket with tiny oysters, called spat, which we proceeded to put into a multi-storied net and submerged in the New York Hudson River. The oysters will grow in our net for a year until they are big enough to be placed on one of the newly established oyster reefs by Baykeeper.

Oysters are quite amazing little creatures. They are tough. They can live out of the water for quite a while (if the temperature and humidity is right and you put them deep shell down). They grow really old (if we would let them, some say 12 others say 50 years). But most amazingly, one adult oyster filters 50 gallons of water per day, removing suspended particles from the water making it clean & clear. As most of you know the Hudson could use some clean and clear, as it used to be when it boasted the largest oyster beds of the world. New York was the oyster capital until the early 20th century until the human population and its waste grew dramatically and killed the oysters (raw sewage, oil spills, over-harvesting, other ‘new’ industrial pollution).

The oysters we are growing now could help revive the Hudson’s ecosystem. Clearer water allows for more biological activity at greater depths. Oyster reefs make for a safe great home to baby fish and other marine creatures. Oyster reefs also prevent coastal erosion and with higher tides coming at our vulnerable coast line (due to global warming and isostatic rebound), it’s a very good thing. Anyone who is interested can help grow oysters at different locations in the city. Important things to remember, contact Baykeeper first ; ), they have permits for putting floats and nets. The floats and nets have to be at locations where regular folks cannot get to them or see them because if anyone shall eat one - they will be very very sick and die (maybe). You have to commit to checking up on them once a month and take them out of the net, count some, measure some, remove predators, observe and record other marine organisms (like tons of tiny shrimp, sea squirts, fish etc.).

It’s tons of fun. Click on the image and see more on our flickr page. This one up here shows Liz measuring our babies.

Also if you want to find out more about the history of oysters in New York, I recommend the very interesting, entertaining, fabulous book by Mark Kurlansky, The Big Oyster.