Eastchester Bay Restoration Projects

More than 90% of the Long Island Sound salt marshes and wetlands have been plowed under, paved and/or separated from the Sound. These areas are essential sanctuaries for spawning fish and their offspring. Without these essential habitats, there are no naturally-protected spawning grounds and fish stocks disappear. As a result, a disproportionate number of fingerlings and larvae fall prey to natural predators. Those predators, by decimating their own supply of prey, have also nearly disappeared from the area. This depletion of native species is reducing the productivity of Long Island Sound’s one-billion-dollar-per-year fishing industry and undermining ecosystem biodiversity.

The Eastchester Bay salt marsh is located in Long Island Sound in the Bronx (NYC). Eastchester Bay is designated an Essential Fish Habitat by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The exchange is currently cut off from its marine source by a small sand bar that developed as the result of the City Island Bridge.

City Island Park used to be a natural salt water wetland, however, due to development, it was cut off from its saltwater source. As a result, the plant, fish and wildlife it nurtured were unable to survive. These salt water wetlands perform vital functions in local and global ecologies, and this particular area is little known or understood by its inner city neighbors, even though it is available for their enjoyment and enrichment. By regrading and replanting the area, its original beauty and function can be restored.

The ecological importance of a salt water wetland is twofold. First, it acts a filter for land-based run off. Contaminants in the soil are actually cleaned by sea grasses and shellfish. They improve the quality of water in increasingly developed areas. Second, these areas are fish nurseries. Their shallow waters and dense sea grasses allow billions of young fish to survive to a stage where they can enter the global ecosystem. There are only twelve such marine estuaries in the United States with Long Island Sound being one of the larger ones. The marine populations of the Atlantic Ocean are significantly dependent upon what can be bred out of Long Island Sound. The fact that 94% of these wetlands have been plowed under or some how eliminated in the last fifty years is being reflected in the reduced commercial catches in the Atlantic.

The value of these wetlands are key to the global and local environment. Locally, they are areas that protect the quality of water from land runoff. Globally, they are nurseries that populate the world's oceans. Salt water marshes naturally purify water and promote a healthier, cleaner environment. This reduces health risks to people who use the Sound and it promotes a more complete and self sustaining ecosystem.

Fortunately, soil contaminants are not an issue in salt marsh, which gives the habitat an excellent chance for success when reintroduced exchange of seawater. Based on the results of past Soundkeeper restoration projects in the immediate area, we can safely project that nearly all of the native fish and waterfowl species will return to this area and all native plant life will be restored by planting.

This restoration provides community organizations with a unique opportunity to expand their capabilities beyond their historic roles. All groups will now be able to provide a material service to the community that protects the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of Long Island Sound. It also offers the communities around Eastchester Bay a well coordinated, integrated package of services and benefits (physical environmental improvements, education, community involvement) that are otherwise unavailable to them all at one time.

This restoration will enhance the productivity of the following fish species:

  • Atlantic Silversides
  • Mummichogs
  • Striped Bass
  • Weakfish
  • American Shad
  • Tautog
  • Blackfish
  • Menhaden
  • Bluefish
  • Porgy
  • Fluke
The primary flora to be reintroduced to the area:
  • Spartina Alterna Flora
  • Spartina Patens Flora
  • Sea Lavender
  • Black grass
  • Smooth Cordgrass
  • Switch grass
Habitat will be restored for the following bird species:
  • Marsh Wren
  • Snowy Egret
  • Redwing Blackbird
  • Black crown Heron
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Seaside Sparrow
  • Great Egret
  • Barn Swallow

Long Island Soundkeeper Fund recently completed the Pelham Bay/Watt Avenue Salt Marsh Restoration with strong community participation and ongoing community stewardship. Our methodology is proven effective by previous experience with the Eastchester Bay site, and similar restorations done in the Long Island Sound area.

The day after the restoration was complete, observers witnessed hundreds of fish traveling into the marsh where the small stone wall separating it from the Sound once was. The proposed area is the second of four compromised saltwater marshes that Soundkeeper has targeted for restoration. It is an important step in reclaiming many of the wetlands destroyed during the last century. It is a benchmark in continuing the precedent of public/private/community partnerships that make saltwater marsh restorations successful and cost effective.