Oyster sales to help fund the Peconic Estuary
Oysters like this large Peconic Pearl oyster grown by a member of the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative in Peconic Bay, will be available Thursday at the Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. (Undated) Credit: Handout
If you happen to be at the famous Grand Central Oyster Bar on Thursday, stop in and have a Peconic Pearl, a new brand of oysters from the Shellfisher Preserve in Southold being brought to market thanks to National Grid.
No, National Grid is not going into the oyster business, but the company's philanthropic foundation a few years ago gave a $150,000 grant to fund what it calls a sustainable aquaculture facility at the Southold preserve. The oysters harvested there, called Peconic Pearls, will be grown by the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative, independent baymen who operate small oyster companies.
The first launch of Peconic Pearls will be at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in Manhattan. Proceeds from those sales, and possibly others in the future, will go toward preservation of the Peconic Estuary through donations to the Peconic Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation organization.
"The biology isn't any different from any other oyster," said National Grid Foundation president Bob Keeler. What's new is the concept" of growing the oysters and using the proceeds to support the estuary, he said. On Thursday, Grand Central Oyster Bar owner/chef Sandy Ingber will receive a Foundation award called a Globee, presented to people who recognize that global change comes from small local steps.
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