The winter's deep freeze wiped out 30 percent of the oysters, leading to millions of dollars in losses.
Oyster farming has long been a way of life on Long Island, especially in Suffolk County.
On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the USDA issued a disaster declaration for Suffolk County to provide relief for the industry.
"This winter was very rough, it was pretty cold, and a lot of very thick ice," Sean O'Brien with O'Brien Oyster Company said.
He said the severe winter weather was so tough, there were days they couldn't get their boat out into the Great South Bay because the entire marina was iced over.
O'Brien said the company suffered a loss of the crop as well as a financial loss.
"A lot of gear was broken and we lost a lot of oysters to the rough weather," O'Brien said.
To provide some relief for the oyster farmer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a secretarial disaster for Suffolk County and contiguous Nassau County.
The designation allows eligible producers to apply for low interest emergency loans following the deep freeze.
"It wasn't until the snow melt and the ice melt started to happen, that they started to realize the damage that occurred in the bay," Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Richard Ball said.
Ball toured the effected businesses and was one of the people who requested the declaration.
"Some of them really got severe damage, some didn't do too bad, but generally speaking pretty big impact when the oyster industry should be doing really great," Ball said.
The governor's office estimates there was a $2.4 million impact on the shellfish industry on Long Island because of the weather conditions.
Hochul released a statement saying in part, "with this secretarial disaster declaration, the producers who have seen economic loss can now take advantage of low-interest loans to ensure they are able to sustain their operations."
The governor also announced a few weeks ago $3 million in funding for 15 oyster farmers on the island.
The recipients of that funding says they have been working for months to meet the demand of the summer season and it will help their operations.