Baykeeper’s shell game key to healthy estuary Volunteer ‘gardeners’ aiding oyster population’s return to Raritan Bay By gloria stravelli Staff Writer PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI Jim McLaughlin and his daughter, Kerrin (l), 8, both of Keyport, and Marly Stasi, 11, of Red Bank dump oysters in Raritan Bay as part of the New York/New Jersey Baykeeper’s oyster-gardening project. At right, oysters raised in floating cages are measured to see how well they are growing before being dumped in the bay. Friends and family of John English completed a project Saturday the late Fair Haven resident began last summer. Just a short boatride out of the Keyport marina, Beverly English dumped a pail of oysters onto an oyster reef in Raritan Bay, completing her late husband’s part in the New York/New Jersey Baykeeper’s oyster-gardening project. A member of the Monmouth Boat Club, English had tended the oysters in the Navesink River behind the boat club. Members kept his work going after his death in February, and they were among the stream of volunteers who came to the marina on the first summer Saturday toting buckets, pails and coolers laden with oysters they’d tended since fall. School groups, Scout troops, clubs, families and individual volunteers were ferried in and out of Keyport Harbor by a flotilla of boats to dump their cargo at the historic site of an oyster reef which the project aims to re-establish. Volunteers raised more than 100,000 oysters in floating cages since last summer, according to Michael Stringer, who heads the oyster restoration project which is now in its second year. "We’ve doubled the number of volunteers participating and increased our oyster production nearly tenfold from last year." Last year, 10,000 oysters were planted on the foundations of a reef in Keyport Harbor established by New York/New Jersey Baykeeper. Begun with 10,000 bushels of oyster shells, the reef provides a surface where the spawning oysters raised by volunteers can settle and colonize. The reef is located in an area closed to shellfish harvesting due to pollution. "This is the culmination of the whole year," said Stringer, a Red Bank resident and conservation associate for the Baykeeper. "I see the volunteers at a training workshop and then we keep in touch by mail. It’s always fun to get to see them again." The oyster gardening project has 52 sites from the Shrewsbury River to the Hudson River where a few hundred volunteers tend cages or nets where seed oysters are "planted." The oyster gardening project is a collaborative effort of the Baykeeper and the National Marine Fisheries Service Community-based Restoration Program, which aims to involve the public in improving habitats in the bay. VERONICA YANKOWSKI Robert Sabol of Iselin delivers oysters to the dock in Keyport on Saturday. Volunteers who can provide an environment with at least 2 feet of salt water get about 2,000 seed oysters about the size of a thumbnail from the Baykeeper. They keep the oysters submerged in cages or nets to protect them from predators at sites, including private piers and marinas. Each month, they pull the cages out of the water; measure a sample of the oysters; scrub them clean of algae buildup, which impedes water flow over the oysters; and replace them. During warm months the process must be repeated every two weeks. Three generations of a Monmouth Beach family were waiting dockside Saturday with oysters they tended in the Shrewsbury River. "My grandchildren got involved," said Betty Hubbs. "They got to see what happens with Mother Nature." Hubbs, who lives along the Shrewsbury River in Monmouth Beach, tended the oysters as an intergenerational project that involved her daughter and grandchildren. "It wasn’t that much work; we pulled them out once a month and cleaned them," Hubbs said. "It was very educational and interesting for the children." The data that volunteers collect and relay to Stringer is an important indicator of water quality and the ability of different parts of the Raritan Bay estuary to sustain oysters. According to Stringer, 100 years ago oysters were a predominant species in Raritan Bay and an integral component of the bay’s ecosystem. Oysters once grew in massive reefs or beds in the western part of the bay and contributed to the health of the bay in a number of ways. The oyster population declined due to a combination of pressures, including overharvesting, physical changes in the bay bottom, dredging of shipping channels, dumping of wastes and destruction of the reefs. Before the project began, there were only small clusters of oysters scattered throughout parts of the bay. Oysters are important to the ecosystem of the bay because they are natural water filters, Stringer explained. They remove suspended sediment, nutrients and algae as they feed. A single oyster is capable of filtering over 50 gallons of water on a summer day, so restoration of the oyster population is expected to significantly improve water quality in the bay. Improved water clarity will, in turn, promote the growth of underwater grasses. In addition to their filtering function, oyster reefs provide food and habitat for a variety of other commercially and recreationally important species. Todd Edwards, who took over for John English, said results of the projects aimed at restoring water quality in the estuary, like the oyster gardening project, include the return of species of birds like the oyster catcher and endangered black skimmers which have been sighted along the Navesink. "Endangered species are starting to come back," he observed. "The message is, environmental laws are working." To join the oyster gardening project, visit www. nynjbaykeeper.org.