Jamaica Bay Oyster Restoration Pilot Project

Oyster restoration pilot projects in Jamaica Bay help determine the feasibility of large scale restoration to improve water quality and help protect vulnerable shorelines from erosion.

Biohabitats led the implementation of a range of ecosystem restoration pilot projects within the Jamaica Bay watershed in New York City. The pilot projects were first identified in the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan, which focuses on cleaning the Bay’s water and restoring ecological habitats.

Oysters, which serve as natural water filters, once thrived in Jamaica Bay. Due to overharvesting and other human disturbances, self-sustaining oyster populations are no longer found in the Bay. Working with our joint venture partners, Biohabitats led the effort to implement oyster restoration pilot projects within Jamaica Bay in New York City. To research the potential for restoring oyster habitat, NYCDEP installed an oyster bed off of Dubos Point in Queens and 12 oyster reef balls in Gerritsen Creek in Brooklyn.

The clam shells and reef balls were set with oyster spat and placed in Jamaica Bay in 2010. Comprehensive monitoring, to determine whether oysters can survive, reproduce, and provide water quality and ecological benefits to the Bay, was completed in 2013. Annual monitoring events indicated that individual oysters continued to thrive at the site of the Gerritsen Creek Pilot.

Data collected throughout the monitoring process has informed subsequent attempts to restore this significant habitat type to Jamaica Bay. The team also coordinated with other organizations and researchers undertaking similar efforts in the New York/ New Jersey Harbor Estuary.