Okay Second Oyster ‘Garden’

A proposal to expand what has been dubbed a community oyster garden, which was launched in Three Mile Harbor last year, to Hog Creek is a step closer to reality, the director of the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery told the East Hampton Town Trustees at their meeting Monday.

Barley Dunne, who heads the hatchery, which seeds waterways with juvenile scallops, clams, and oysters each year, first proposed a second oyster-growing site, or garden, last month. On Monday, he said property at 124 Water Hole Road in Springs, which the town bought with money from the community preservation fund, could provide access to a proposed 30-by-70-foot area in Hog Creek where 15 to 20 participants could each grow 1,000 oysters annually.

“There’s a really nice area,” Mr. Dunne said, “enough space for people to gather and work on their garden.” As at Three Mile Harbor, only town residents would be eligible, he said.

Modeled on what is known as SPAT, a Cornell Cooperative Extension initiative in waters off Southold, the program allows individuals to harvest half of the 1,000 oysters seeded. The cost, approximately $250 per participant, includes gear and instruction in addition to the oysters. Last year, 15 individuals or families took part in the pilot program in Three Mile Harbor, which was reportedly successful, and Mr. Dunne proposed doubling its size this year.

Diane McNally, a trustee and the body’s former longtime clerk, supported expanding the program, but had a question. “How are your participants going to be chosen? Last time, the only criticism I heard from Three Mile Harbor was that not enough people knew about it before we were reporting that it was starting . . . and more people wanted to get involved.”

Mr. Dunne said he already had “a list of 20-some-odd people” interested in a Hog Creek oyster garden. He noted that word had gone out previously through the media, trustee meeting reports, and word of mouth. “After each article and meeting I get a few phone calls. Hopefully the word is getting out. . . . I’m basically going on a first-come-first-served basis. We haven’t gotten to lottery status yet.”

Mr. Dunne said the program encourages residents to be stewards of the environment. A single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, while the gear provides habitat for crabs, nursery fish, and other marine life, he said. Mr. Dunne, and some of the trustees, said they would like to see a community oyster garden in each of the town’s harbors.

Ms. McNally recommended a two-week wait before the trustees approve the Hog Creek expansion to allow for public awareness. The trustees’ next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 27.

The trustees also heard from Kim Barbour of Cornell Cooperative Extension at the meeting, who proposed a “Back to the Bays” stewardship area for East Hampton, possibly at Napeague Harbor, where a 2014 eelgrass restoration effort was disappointing. The Back to the Bays program encourages community involvement in restoring waterways, often using both public and private money.

Another eelgrass program in a town waterway could possibly be funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation $25,000 grant earmarked for five sites in Suffolk County, Ms. Barbour said.

“There really still is a good amount of eelgrass” in Napeague Harbor, she said, but “it’s very sporadic and patchy.” She suggested that a strong influx of groundwater into the harbor might be responsible, explaining that the existing eelgrass “doesn’t follow a normal pattern. It’s not completely dense in one area. We’re thinking that might be mimicking where that groundwater is coming up.”

She said comprehensive research to map particular areas of groundwater influx could help determine if herbicides or pesticides, for example, are entering a harbor through groundwater. Such research “could have major implications” for waterways that no longer support eelgrass. “If we were to go forward, we’d be really interested in putting test plantings out at certain locations this spring.” Care would be taken not to impact areas used by baymen or others, she said.

“This is something we’ve wanted to look at for years,” Ms. Barbour said. “We’ve just never had the funding to do it.”

The trustees asked for a formal proposal, to which Ms. Barbour agreed. “I think everyone’s very supportive,” Bill Taylor, the trustees’ deputy clerk, said.

The trustees also briefly discussed on Monday an East Hampton Town Board proposal to change the regulations governing driving on the beaches. That is reported separately.