YOU'RE the HERO
Our Initiatives: Clean Water from the Harbor to the Headwaters
For more than fifteen years, The Sag Harbor Oyster Club has restored ecosystems across the Northeast.
Our three active projects — Oyster Reef Restoration, Clyde River Salmon Revival, and Food-Lawning & Bayscaping — deliver measurable, science-based impact.
Oyster Reef Restoration
Rebuilding Historic Reefs in Sag Harbor
Excess nitrogen from increasing population density and outdated legacy systems have kicked the ladder out from natural defenses. We rebuild natural oyster reefs using recycled shell and hatchery stock to filter pollutants, restore habitat, restore natural defenses.Each adult oyster filters ≈ 50 gallons of water per day.
- Reef sections vacuum algal blooms before they blow up and reefs stabilize shorelines.
- Cost per reef module: $25 K (includes materials + monitoring).
Clyde River Salmon Revival
Bringing Atlantic Salmon back to their ancestral home river north of Sag Harbor.
- Decades of acid rain from cities in the northeast lowered river pH, blocking salmon reproduction. We use crushed agricultural lime and lobster-shell crush buffering to restore water chemistry and salmon spawning habitat. Liming raises pH and acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC). This also brings back their frisky, as they know their eggshells have increased survival rates.
- We will be using Remote Incubator Systems, (protect redds & eggs, increasing viability tenfold.
- Salmon runs recover within five years in similar programs.
- Phase I feasibility + baseline chemistry: $250 K.
- Phase II continuous doser installation: $500 K.
Food-Lawning & Bayscaping
Turning Lawns into Living Landscapes
Traditional lawns consume chemicals and pollute bays. We help homeowners and schools convert turf into food gardens and native plantings that absorb carbon and feed pollinators. This includes apple trees, and the best time to plant one is ten years ago.
Impact Facts (Bulleted):
- 1 acre converted = ≈ 5 tons CO₂ sequestered annually.
- Nutrient runoff cut ≈ 70 %.
- Starter micro-grant per site: $2 K.
Measured Results, Real Change
One Harbor, one river, one lawn to start. These initiatives are well considered as keystone and indicator species, each silos strongly, and weave together at any pace. Together they can turn the tide, and keep going. The carbon capture benefits magnify results.
All initiatives follow transparent accounting and third-party scientific review. Together they form a scalable model for clean-water restoration and carbon capture across coastal communities.
