Quogue Oyster Reef Deployment
CCE’s Kate and Kim (back row) proudly pose next to the 2025 oyster reef with Junior Ambassador Team Leader, Teagan Lynch (middle row, right), and the rest of our participating Junior Ambassadors
On the water + In the Field with Aquaculture Specialist Kate Rossi-Snook, Back to the Bays Director Kim Barbour, Intern Kacy Sparrow, and our Quogue Junior Ambassadors
On Tuesday July 22nd, our Quogue Stewardship Site oyster reef (established in 2024) received its first round of spat-on-shell of the 2025 growing season. These oysters were spawned by CCE’s Southold Hatchery team and grown in a large set tank onto 5.3 cubic feet of recycled shell.
We met 5 of our Quogue Junior Ambassadors at the Quogue Field Club at 9am and walked down to access the reef site, located in the cove just off the 5th green. The team broke off into 3 groups, and each counted and measured the baby oysters in a 1 liter subsample of the shell. Extrapolation allowed us to estimate approximately 56,000 individual live oysters in total, with an average size of 4 mm at planting.
A cluster of oysters from the 2024 reef
Kate unloading trays of spat-on-shell
Ambassadors deploying 2025 SOS, taking extra care while maneuvering around the adjacent reef
We all took turns loading buckets and carefully pouring the SOS within the designated planting area of the reef. This year, we will be comparing growth and survival in different sections of the reef that ware planted directly from the set tank, like this July round, versus those currently growing out in the restoration raft, which will be deployed on August 19th.
Stay tuned for our next blog from the POV of our Lead Junior Ambassadors!
