The East Hampton Town Trustees heard a pitch for the construction of a fifth and sixth oyster reef in Three Mile Harbor on Monday, a plan they quickly approved.
Zoe McDonald and Hudson Tanzmann, rising sophomores at East Hampton High School and interns with South Fork Sea Farmers, the nonprofit educational arm of the town’s shellfish hatchery and its community oyster garden program, proposed the new reefs. Under the guidance of South Fork Sea Farmers’ Bob Tymann, oyster reefs have also been constructed in Accabonac Harbor. One year ago, Mr. Tymann accompanied students from Pierson High School in Sag Harbor who proposed to the trustees an oyster reef off Barcelona Point.
In addition to a trustee permit, construction of an oyster reef requires a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation.
As filter feeders, oysters clean water of excess nutrients and sediments, the students said, improving clarity and quality while mitigating harmful algal blooms. “The previous reefs that we have implemented have been wildly successful,” Hudson told the trustees. “They have been successfully filtering the water column of harmful pollutants, creating abundant habitat to increase additional biodiversity, and have contributed to the greater overall health of Three Mile Harbor.”
The students’ work, he said, “has been hand in hand with the East Hampton Shellfish Hatchery, who have been breeding our oyster spat which makes up our oyster reefs.”
Oyster spat attach to clamshells collected from local restaurants, Zoe said, and are put in biodegradable bags. “We choose a proper location, meaning having a good water flow and a solid bottom,” she said. With the help of slides, she described a cross section of the 2-by-25-yard reefs, each curved to align with the shoreline. “The top layer are shells with spat, and the bottom layer are clams and oyster shells,” she said. “The cross section takes pollutants out of the water,” and “oysters create a natural wall to stop wave energy, resulting in less wave erosion.”
“These were areas conducive to reef development and farthest toward the end of the harbor,” she continued. “This location will be easily accessible for construction and monitoring.”
Carli Stuckart and Wylie Stern, who did not attend the meeting, are also participating in the oyster reef project, their classmates said.
Construction is planned for June 2026, Hudson told the trustees.
Mr. Tymann said permission from the trustees must precede an application to the D.E.C. The trustees voted unanimously to approve the project. David Cataletto, who is also a teacher, asked that they return to deliver a progress report in the spring.