Officially formed in 2005, Coastal Steward Long Island (formerly Coastal Steward) works to preserve and protect Long Island's precious marine environment through Education, Preservation, and Restoration. Through our marine education program we bring students out to the Marine Environmental Stewardship Center at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai to give them hands-on experiences to understand the local marine ecology. Through collecting and identifying marine organisms, touring the Center, observing the shellfish hatchery, analyzing microscopic plankton, and more, students engage in citizen science with the goal of cultivating a sense of stewardship to ensure protection of Long Island's environment for generations to come. We lead cleanups in our local communities to prevent marine debris from contaminating our beaches and injuring local wildlife through our preservation efforts. We work with businesses, community groups, schools, and local government to bring volunteers out for a fun day on the beach where they understand the impacts pollution has on our ocean and learn ways to have a positive impact on our marine environment. Our restoration program involves a partnership with the Town of Brookhaven. We have been running our program, growing oysters and seeding the local harbors, for over ten years. We start out by growing the spat in our shellfish hatchery at Cedar Beach. Then, we work with volunteers to monitor the tanks and measure the oysters throughout the summer season, before finally releasing the juveniles into the harbor at the end of the summer. Our goal is to establish a self-sustaining population of oysters in Long Island's harbors.
