Program would restore oyster beds to Navesink
Residents needed to help re-establish oyster population

SEA BRIGHT - The NY/NJ Baykeeper and the borough Environmental Committee will host a pair of meetings with local citizens interested in conservation and willing to help with a project to plant baby oysters in the Shrewsbury River and farm them until maturity.

The oysters will be harvested after about a year and replanted in oyster beds in the Navesink River. The eventual goal is the re-establishment of a self-sustaining oyster population, but the short time benefits are a cleaner river due to the way oysters filter the waters as they grow.

The first meeting will be held on March 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Atlantic Way home of Sea Bright Councilman Thomas E. Scriven and will be for residents of Belvue Place, Atlantic Way and Willow Way.

This recruitment and planning session will be for neighbors interested in establishing an oyster garden in the waters of the Shrewsbury River at the foot of Atlantic Way. The oysters maturing there will be replanted and replaced after a year in a continuing effort to increase the oyster population.

A second and broader based meeting will be held at the Sea Bright library March 25, 7 and 9 p.m. This meeting will be for all residents of Sea Bright interested in the project and in enhancing the quality of the Shrewsbury River.

Meredith Comi, a representative of the Keyport-based NY/NJ Baykeeper, will chair both meetings. Several local residents are currently active in oyster farming and will also discuss their experience.