Photo: Bricher, Alfred Thompson | Wikimedia Commons
The Shinnecock Kelp Farmers Hatchery off Long Island, New York, is a project to restore ocean health that grew out of a strong relationship between two groups of women—the Shinnecock Indian Nation and the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, whose 200-acre-plus campus sits on the bay. In 2021, the sisters offered the waters for farming, harvesting, and space in property cottages for kelp incubation. After incubation in the hatcheries, the kelp is grown in the bay waters, which is then harvested, dried, and sold to local farmers as a rich, organic "soil amendment." Sugar kelp combats ocean acidification by sequestering carbon and extracting nitrates caused by overdevelopment and lack of municipal sewer systems. The six women hope that cleaner bay waters will bring fish back, while the sisters see their participation as "a witness to those who live around us, that we use the bay but we care about its health and its restoration."
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