Schools

Mt. Sinai Students Participating in Shellfish Mariculture Program

Referendum adopted to continue program for Mt. Sinai School District and Western Suffolk BOCES students.

On June 29, 500,000 soft clam seeds arrived at the Town of Brookhaven’s Mariculture Facility at Cedar Beach for a Shellfish Mariculture Program designed to educate students in Mt. Sinai and Western Suffolk BOCES on how to raise these clam seeds for planting at public restoration sites.

The soft clams were provided with algae-rich water from Mt. Sinai Harbor and will be given time to grow over the next few weeks and when they get large enough they will be planted in areas of Mt. Sinai Harbor that will support their continued growth.

A resolution to continue the program was approved at a July Town Board meeting.

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"We are very happy to continue working in cooperation with the Town of Brookhaven on the Mariculture Shellfish program," Mt. Sinai High School Science teacher David Chase said in a release. "It's an opportunity for our students to get involved in their community, as well as a great learning experience that benefits the students, the baymen, the environment and the local economy."

The Town will provide materials for the Mount Sinai School District BOCES to construct new shellfish rafts, mooring supplies to anchor the rafts in Mount Sinai Harbor and shellfish to stock the rafts.

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The students will be supervised by their teachers and Town of Brookhaven personnel as they work on the project. 

According to the Town, the total cost of the program will be $3000 in 2011.


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