Oyster operations thankful for a healthier Long Island Sound, but face a warming world

During Earth Week, there is always an emphasis on taking care of your slice of the Earth. One slice we all hold near and dear is Long Island Sound, a resource many benefit from year-round.

The health of the Sound is important, especially for those who rely on it for a living, like oyster farmers.

At Sixpenny Oyster Farm in the Noank section of Groton, healthy oysters are their bread and butter.  

“I think this year we'd be happy to get around, you know, north of 200,000 marketable oysters,” said William Ceddia, one of the owners of Sixpenny.

He and Jason Hamilton are running the show. Like many farmers, they are on a mission to increase oyster production in a sustainable manner.

“You think Rhode Island, you think the clam, you think Maine, you think the lobster. We're trying to say Connecticut -- the oyster,” Ceddia said.  

While they can control some of the aquatic environment the oysters call home, there are a lot of variables they can’t completely control.

“I mean, we've been impacted, and we've been starting as we started and since 2018, we've had precautionary shutdowns almost yearly,” Ceddia explained, “You want to make sure that people know what they're doing, what their runoff, their fertilizers, septic systems. I mean, it impacts us directly and affected everyone.”

According to Save the Sound, a non-profit dedicated to the long-term health of the waterway, wastewater and runoff are two main pollutants.

The good news is that isolated incidents of pollution are becoming fewer, and Long Island Sound year over year, is getting healthier.  

“I do believe, and scientists believe, and the research supports, I think that's the most important part, that the open waters of Long Island Sound are seeing significant improvement in respect to how healthy they are to sustain aquatic life,” said Peter Linderoth, the director of healthy waters and land with Save the Sound.

In a report card released in October 2024, the open waters continue to get healthier. Some bays and inlets dotting the coast continue to be struggle points, along with some of the western sections of the Sound around New York.

The organization said billions of dollars have been invested in wastewater management upgrades, leading to less Nitrogen getting into the Sound, which is where most of the progress stems from.

But there is still work to do, specifically in limiting smaller amounts of “non-point source pollution” such as wastewater line breaks, storm water runoff, and things like lawn fertilizer. Keeping those from creeping into the Sound is critical, and some of it can be tackled at home.

“Consider planting native plants in your yard. Consider a yard care using less fertilizer. You know, letting your grass go a little longer means you want to cut it as often. It's better for the grass. It's also just better overall for a multitude of reasons. Put a rain garden in bio swales, you know, do things on your own property as this you can, but also get involved,” said Linderoth.

Reducing nitrogen in the sound is important, and becoming increasingly important as the body of water warms.

According to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, as of 2023, the average bottom temperature of the sound was about three degrees warmer than the average for the last three decades. They say bottom line, Long Island Sound is warming up.

“We're going to see species changes more cold-water species maybe trying to migrate out, not being able to have quite the holds that they had in Long Island Sound. More warm water species coming in at a physical chemistry level as well, warm water just doesn’t hold oxygen as well as cool water,” said Linderoth.

That means nitrogen concentrations become more harmful, because higher concentrations of nitrogen can choke out species living in the water.

“As temperature warms up the water can’t hold as much oxygen, those nitrogen reductions we were talking about earlier as great as they are, start to lose their positive impacts and we need to cut further to offset the effects of climate change,” Linderoth explained.

Excess nitrogen can also encourage harmful or toxic algae blooms, and warmer water can increase the presence of invasive species. One solution is to lower the amount of carbon dioxide we are putting in the atmosphere.

“Try to reduce your carbon footprint, that can go a long way towards protecting Long Island Sound,” Linderoth said.

The farmers at Sixpenny Farm fear what a warming Sound would mean for operations. Oysters can handle a bit warmer, but it adds stress and increased concerns.

“As the water gets warmer, you know, that's going to lead to more invasive species that can make their way up from the south. It's going to lead to, you know, ocean acidification. It's going to lead to more diseases. These are all things that, of course, as oyster farmers are very important to us,” explained Hamilton.

They noted they will continue to control what they can control. Some more good news is as they and other oyster farmers expand, the oysters themselves are putting in work themselves.  

“They're, you know, filtering everything that ends up in our water. So of course, a cleaner, you know, Long Island Sound is going to equate to a better-quality oyster, an oyster that we want to serve the people you know, around here. So, and the flip side of that, too, the oysters are also helping clean Long Island Sound,” Hamilton said.

Oysters are remarkable filters, cleaning roughly 50 gallons of water a day. Multiply that by the 200,000 on Sixpenny’s watch, and again for all the farms up and down the shoreline with various sized crops, and you have a massive web of filters up and down the Connecticut coast doing their part.

The only question the farmers have left, are you?

“Of course, there's a lot of other people that use the water for fishing, recreational purposes, things like that. And, you know, if we could all kind of work together to keep this water clean, you know, it's going to it's going to create just a better environment for everybody and it's going to draw more people to the area. It’s going to have a great impact on our business and the economy,” Hamilton said.