Menantic Creek
Restoration Site
Background + Goals
Initiated in 2023 with private funding from Menantic Creek residents, a spat-on-shell oyster reef is the first of our work at the new Menantic Creek Restoration Site. The oysters were grown and planted in summer 2024, with periodic monitoring to assess growth and survival over the following months. With additional funding, we can continue to build up this new reef site - our goal for each of our restored oyster reefs is to plant 1 million oysters over 10 years - and we can explore the possibility of utilizing multiple species in our restoration work at this site.
The Menantic Creek Restoration Site is part of our larger Shelter Island Stewardship Site, which was started in 2022.
More to Check Out
Related Blog Posts
Shelter Island Events
About Oyster Reef Restoration
The process of setting oyster larvae on clean, empty oyster shells is called “remote setting.” It is performed in a tank with controlled conditions, and only takes a few days for the oyster larvae to find their permanent home. When oysters are set in this manner, it is referred to as “spat-on-shell” (SOS), and oftentimes many oysters will set on a single shell, creating a complex reef structure as they grow larger. These reef oysters are not meant to be harvested, but rather to help enhance the wild oyster population and offer crucial habitat. Working in tandem with our Back to the Bays Shell Recycling Program, we maintain oyster reefs at each of our Stewardship Sites across the East End.
Key Partners + Funders
Residents of Menantic Creek have generously funded the 2024 Pilot year of this new reef site. Please consider donating to ensure monitoring and additional plantings can continue.
The Menantic Creek Keepers group has shared their extensive multiyear water quality monitoring data which will serve as a baseline for analyzing the effects of the oyster reef.
We thank the Town of Shelter Island for their continued support and permission to access public bottom lands for our restoration work.
Business Collaborations
Shell Recycling
We greatly appreciate local Island restaurants, SALT and The Chequit, for being part of our Shell Recycling Program. The shell contributed from these restaurant partners ultimately becomes new spat-on-shell oyster reefs.
Become part of our Shell Recycling Network!
