Oyster shucking at Six Harbors Brewing Company, Huntington, NY. Credit: Emma Forbes/NYSG

Contact:

Emma Forbes, NYSG Aquaculture Specialist, E: ef375@cornell.edu, P: 914-285-4620

New York Sea Grant programming is actively engaging communities in support of New York’s aquaculture industry and its oyster farming small businesses.

Elmsford, NY, August 10, 2022 - Oyster farming is a growing sector in New York’s seafood industry and represents the state’s most farmed seafood product. As this sector of the industry continues to expand, it is important to ensure that markets are growing to support it. Community support is crucial to promote the growth and resilience of local small businesses. New York Sea Grant (NYSG) programming actively engages local communities in support of the state’s fisheries, aquaculture and seafood businesses statewide.

In 2021, NYSG initiated a Summer Science Series showcasing New York’s oyster farmers in collaboration with two Long Island breweries. Each of four “Meet Your Oyster Farmer” events held over the course of the summer highlighted the efforts of at least one oyster farm and provided public participants the opportunity to learn from and engage with the farmers. Attendees observed farmers shucking oysters on site and were able to purchase oysters for consumption at each event.

The two local breweries - Six Harbors Brewing Company in Huntington and Destination Unknown (DUBCO) in Bay Shore - hosted the events over the course of the summer. Patrons were engaged and learned about the history and sustainability of oysters and became more familiar with the operation and importance of New York’s growing aquaculture industry. Other project partners shared ongoing research and conservation efforts for NY’s oysters. These events offered farmers the opportunity to market their farm and products, and to interact with their local communities.

Project Partners:

• Seatuck Environmental Association 
• Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences 
• Gino Macchio Foundation 
• Little A’s Oysters 
• The Neguntatogue Project 
• Fitall Shellfish 
• Shellworks
• Shamrock Oyster Company 
• Scrimshaw Oysters

The NYSG-coordinated series of “Meet Your Oyster Farmer” events highlighting the growing oyster industry on Long Island has increased oyster farmer-consumer engagement within local communities and is enhancing the market for Long Island shellfish.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.