June 1, 2015
An East End environmental group and local officials have announced plans to expand oyster beds in Moriches Bay.
Officials from the nonprofit Moriches Bay Project, which first planted an oyster garden in the bay three years ago, said they plan to plant 20,000 seeds off Westhampton Beach and West Hampton Dunes Village, and plant eelgrass, which provides habitat and protection for fish and shellfish, this summer while studying the bay’s water.
Rebuilding oyster beds — which were depleted by decades of overharvesting and environmental hazards such as brown tide — will improve water quality, officials said. One adult oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day, they said.
