On August 19th, the Bronx River Alliance participated in the Billion Oyster Project’s (BOP’s) oyster reef installation event! Our Eco and Rec teams woke up before sunrise to paddle the 2 miles from River House down to Soundview Park where they met staff from BOP and NY/NJ Baykeeper. Numerous metal cages filled with young oysters were deployed into the shallow water just offshore from Soundview Park, where the one-acre Soundview Oyster Habitat Restoration Project is located.
Funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), this project will expand the current restored oyster reef from one acre to five acres by 2022. Oysters are filter feeders and improve water quality by taking nutrients and chemicals out of the water, so if this project is successful it will result in cleaner water at the mouth of the Bronx River! We are so excited by this work and can’t wait to be able to invite volunteers and paddlers to participate in the future!
