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The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Restoring The Great South Bay: One Clam at a Time

 

Big pile of healthy clams! © The Nature Conservancy

Bringing Back the Bay

The Nature Conservancy on Long Island is proud to announce a new partnership with long-time Bellport resident, Isabella Rossellini.  Take a look!

What Can You Do to Help?

Improving Our Water Quality
We've lost 10,000 acres of wetlands to development - find out why it matters.

Want to take a swim in fertilizer? Neither do our marine animals! Learn how you can avoid chemical runoff at home.

Protecting Our Beach-dependent Species
With a little extra care, our feathered friends can also flock to our beaches.

Find out why our underwater meadows are so important to the health of the Great South Bay.

Saving our Coasts and Wetlands
Find out how coastal development threatens the Bay - and what you can do about it.

Natural erosion of barrier islands and dunes cannot be avoided...but manmade erosion can. Find out how.

Help Protect New York!

 

Donate Now

Your donation will help us protect areas on Long Island and throughout New York. Donating online is fast, easy, and safe.

Preparing shellfish to return to the Great South Bay © The Nature Conservancy


Did you know that in the mid-1970s more than half of the hard clams eaten in the entire United States came from the Great South Bay? When clams were abundant, they also filtered 40% of the water in the Great South Bay - every single day.

But natural and manmade problems have caused a great decline in shellfish populations, and today there are only enough hard clams to filter about 1% of this vast body of water daily.

A World Without Clams

Without shellfish, water quality declines - and creatures that depend on clams, scallops, and oysters as a food source (that includes humans!) also suffer.

Scientists believe that lowered populations of filter-feeders have disrupted the food web in the Great South Bay, allowing harmful algae blooms (also known as brown tide) to shade out seagrass meadows. This has probably caused further harm to the shellfish population.  

In some areas, shellfish numbers are so low that they are unable to recover on their own.

Giving Shellfish a Fighting Chance

In 2004, The Nature Conservancy acquired 13,000 acres of underwater land in Great South Bay. This land, known as bottomlands, has provided us with an opportunity to restore both shellfish populations and the seagrass communities they depend on.

The Nature Conservancy and its partners are working throughout Long Island to make our waters thrive once again...and here's how we're doing it:

  • restoring shellfish populations by creating "spawner sanctuaries" and shellfish nurseries where clams and scallops can grow, reproduce, and live safely.

     

  • monitoring the role shellfish play in improving our water quality, controlling harmful algal blooms, and enhancing habitat for other marine life.

     

  • engaging partners to help us in our mission to restore the Great South Bay to its former health.

Find out more by downloading our factsheet:  Great South Bay Reclamation Project (.pdf).  To date, we have “planted” nearly two million clams in the Great South Bay - and we're not finished yet!

 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © The Nature Conservancy (shellfish restoration); Photo © The Nature Conservancy (clams).