Baykeeper Deploys Even More Oyster Reefs At NWS Earle

MATAWAN, NJ — Don't you wish you were out in the sun doing fun work like this?! NY/NJ Baykeeper deployed another round of "oyster castles" Tuesday, July 16 off Naval Weapons Station Earle in Leonardo.

This is the third summer in a row Baykeeper has placed oyster castles in Raritan Bay. NY/NJ Baykeeper is an environmental non-profit that has their headquarters in Matawan. Oyster castles are just pieces of concrete cinder block, but they provide an ideal habitat on which oysters can live and grow.

This is part of the Baykeeper's mission to restore the New York Harbor's once-mighty oyster population, and also clean Raritan Bay. Oysters are terrific are cleaning water: They can filter up to fifty gallons of water a day. Not only that, but oyster castles and artificial reefs can also reduce wave damage caused by storms, and prevent soil erosion.

There used to be millions of oysters in New York Harbor and Raritan Bay. However, the humble oyster is now functionally extinct in this area due to rampant development, over-harvesting and pollution.

NY/NJ Baykeeper has been a pioneer of oyster restoration. To date, they have restored more than 3.5 million oysters back into the estuary harbors around New York City.

On Tuesday, Baykeeper volunteers aboard the Baykeeper patrol boat transported approximately 1 million juvenile oysters from Leonardo State Marina to what they call a "Living Shoreline" at Earle. The "Living Shoreline" is term for the .91-acre artificial reef they've created adjacent to Ware Creek at Earle.

In 2011, NY/NJ Baykeeper formed a partnership with the U.S. Navy and Earle to use the naval base for their oyster restoration work. The U.S. Navy agreed that the concrete oyster castles could be dropped into Raritan Bay off the base, creating the artificial reef.

“This is Baykeeper's third year installing oyster castles at our living shoreline at NWS Earle,” said NY/NJ Baykeeper Restoration Director Meredith Comi. “We're proud to be a part of the coastal resilience planning along the Raritan Bayshore by Monmouth County and the Navy.”

For the next year, NY/NJ Baykeeper will monitor how well the oysters are taking and growing on the reef, as well as water quality. They will also be looking to see if biodiversity increases around the reef.

“Baykeeper is known for taking on some of the toughest environmental challenges in NY-NJ Harbor — in this case creating a living shoreline in Raritan Bay — so we are truly thankful to have the extraordinary partnership of the U.S. Navy and the NWS Earle team,” said Greg Remaud, the CEO of NY/NJ Baykeeper.

Article from August 2018: NY/NJ Baykeeper Deploys Oyster Reefs Off Leonardo Marina