Islip adds 1 million oysters and 200,000 clams to Great South Bay

The Great South Bay has about 1 million more oysters and 200,000 more clams following a restoration effort by the Town of Islip.

The town’s Department of Environmental Control restored the shellfish to the bay as part of an ongoing program aimed at improving water quality and supporting marine habitats, town officials announced.

Oysters act as natural filters, with a single adult capable of filtering up to 50 gallons of water a day under optimal conditions, officials said. That can help improve water clarity and support underwater vegetation such as eelgrass.

Oyster reefs also provide shelter for fish, crabs and other marine life.

The effort draws on the work of the town’s Shellfish Culture Facility in East Islip, which produces oysters and clams for restoration and local shellfish growers.

“The Great South Bay is one of our community’s greatest natural resources, and protecting it is a responsibility we take seriously,” Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said.

The town’s shellfish operations are also the focus of a larger expansion announced in 2024, when state and local officials unveiled $10 million in state funding for a new regional hatchery to replace the aging facility at the end of Bayview Avenue.

Plans announced at the time called for the new hatchery to supply juvenile oysters and clams to shellfish farmers across New York, while increasing production for restoration efforts.

Officials projected annual production of 100 million to 200 million juvenile oysters and clams, plus approximately 500 million oyster larvae and spat-on-shell oysters for restoration. The existing facility’s annual production was then estimated at 20 million to 40 million clams and oysters.

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Top: Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter, right, helps release oysters into the Great South Bay as part of a town effort that restored about 1 million oysters and 200,000 clams to the waterway. (Credit: Town of Islip)