11 Million Oysters Added To Hudson River

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — The Hudson River's mollusk population just got a whole lot bigger as 11.2 million oysters were recently added to the body of water in Lower Manhattan to help support marine life and strengthen the river's health.

The Hudson River Park announced Friday the completion of the large-scale habitat restoration initiative.

The oysters were added between Pier 26 and Pier 34 in the Hudson River, which is a space between the bottom of Greenwich Village and into the heart of Tribeca.

The installations, which first started going into the water in July, involved transporting reef balls and gabions (a cage or box filled with rocks, sand, or soil) seeded with oysters in aquaculture tanks.

Collectively, they create a reef-like system that diversifies the river habitat.

Why Oysters?

The oysters within the gabions offer important environmental benefits, including helping to clean pollutants from the waterway, mitigate storm surge and flood impact, and help build shoreline resiliency by dissipating wave energy.

"While visitors to the Park don’t always get to see the wildlife living below the surface – oysters, fish, seahorses and more – Hudson River Park’s Estuarine Sanctuary plays host to these animals, and a core part of our mission entails promoting environmental stewardship and enhancing habitat to ensure the Sanctuary thrives,” said Noreen Doyle, President and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust, in a news release. “We are grateful to New York State and the Department of Environmental Conservation for funding this project, as well as our environmental partners who shared in our mission."

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The Hudson River Estuarine Sanctuary provides habitat to more than 85 types of fish, including American eels and striped bass.