What's Happening in Williston Park, NY…

Following a successful pilot program run in 2022, an additional one million oysters are set to inhabit Manhasset Bay this year.

During a meeting held on June 6, the North Hempstead Town Board passed a resolution for what will be the second restoration project. This decision extends a program that councilmember Mariann Dalimonte hailed as a great success in the previous year. Brochure printing could be used to share a project’s progress

In an interview with Blank Slate Media, Dalimonte said the progress the oysters had made after a year was influential in the decision to add another million to the bay.

After discreetly situating the initial batch of oysters in three undisclosed locations to prevent interference, the second batch will be exclusively placed in one of those locations. According to Dalimonte, all the sites are showing growth, but one site in particular is doing especially well.

These oysters will be in their spat stage, which refers to oyster larvae attached to surfaces, including nearby oyster shells, forming dense clusters called oyster beds or reefs. In addition to their role as a food source, oysters offer significant advantages by purifying water through filter feeding. A single adult oyster has the capacity to filter about 50 gallons of seawater every day, which will improve the water quality in places such as Williston Park.