The second season of oyster gardening officially launched Thursday, June 26, in Manhasset Bay, marking a major expansion in community-led marine restoration efforts spearheaded by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County.
Building on a successful pilot in 2024 that raised over 20,000 oysters, this year’s initiative includes 10 community organizations across the Manhasset Bay area and aims to release more than 50,000 oysters into local waters.
The program is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund and offers a replicable framework to support grassroots environmental stewardship across Long Island. This year, Kiss Products will sponsor the Town Dock oyster garden.
“Oyster gardening is a community-based, volunteer-led program that allows residents, those who care most about their local waters, to take part directly in restoration,” said Christina LoBuglio, community aquaculture educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension. “The oysters don’t just clean the water. They reduce erosion, stabilize the shoreline, and provide critical habitat. They are a reforming organism, turning into reefs that enrich the bay.”
LoBuglio said one adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing pollutants such as algae and excess nitrogen.
Thursday’s event, held at the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, drew local leaders and environmental partners. In attendance were Town of North Hempstead Council Member Mariann Dalimonte, Port Washington North Mayor Robert Weitzner, and representatives from New York Sea Grant, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension Nassau Board of Directors.
Dalimonte spoke about how her partnership with the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor, which placed an oyster garden at North Hempstead Beach Park, led to her partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension.
“Many organizations knew I wanted to bring oyster gardening to Manhasset Bay,” said Dalimonte. “As I was trying to figure out how to make this dream a reality, I received a phone call from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County asking me if I wanted to partner with them.”
Sarah Schaefer Brown of New York Sea Grant highlighted the broader significance of the initiative.
“This program is a fantastic framework, not just here but for other communities around the Sound,” she said. “It’s about clean water, healthy ecosystems, and empowering residents to be stewards of their environment.”
Manhasset Bay was once the largest shellfishing port on Long Island’s North Shore and was known as part of the “Oyster Gardens of Manhattan’s Oyster Forest.” The revitalization efforts aim to restore that ecological richness.
Oysters raised in the program are released into a designated oyster spawner sanctuary reef in Manhasset Bay, where they will continue to support the marine ecosystem and protect shorelines.
