Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trail aims to promote local fish
James Wylie, with Rotary Environmental Action Coalition of Huntington, chooses condiments for his fresh Long Island oysters at the Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trail launch at the Snapper Inn in Oakdale on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
Long Island’s waters are teeming with seafood, yet a lot of the fish served in local restaurants is imported — sometimes from thousands of miles away.
New York State officials and others are looking to change that as they launch a Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trail on
Suffolk County's South Shore to highlight local restaurants serving locally caught fish and shellfish.
"We’re on an island, we’re surrounded by water and delicious fresh fish in our waters and yet so many restaurants, it’s not on their menu,” said Kristin Gerbino, a fisheries specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program based in Riverhead, which helped create the trail. With imported fish, "you don’t always know where it came from, their regulations, their management.”
"Why not try something locally harvested that doesn't have to travel across the world to get to your plate?” she said. On the Cuisine Trail, fish "can be caught that morning and end up on your plate later in the day for your dinner.”
State and local officials, along with representatives from fishing, shellfish and restaurant groups, launched the new program on Wednesday with an event at the Snapper Inn in Oakdale — one of 25 restaurants that will be on the trail, which extends from Bay Shore to Montauk.
Richard Ball, the state's agriculture commissioner, thanked the group for "being billboards for local food."
"It's a way of life on Long Island," Ball said of the region's storied fishing industry. "You've been at the forefront of the eat-local movement and local food for centuries."
Another trail on the North Shore will open within a few months, stretching from Oyster Bay to Greenport.
To qualify for the trail, a restaurant, fish store or clam and oyster bar must prove it is using substantial amounts of local fish or shellfish including oysters and clams. Businesses also were selected based on who responded to inquiries from Gerbino and others about the new program, she said.
Officials plan to promote the trail with a website, an app and advertisements or posts on social media and in traditional media.
"The Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trails highlight the amazing fish and shellfish harvested locally, showcase our outstanding small businesses, and attract more visitors to this incredible region,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
Long Island is the focal point of the state fishing industry — 99% of fish commercially caught in New York State are landed on Long Island, state officials said. "Commercial fishermen on Long Island sustainably harvested over 16 million pounds of finfish in 2023, worth over $28 million,” the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which is helping to lead the new trail, said in a statement.
Montauk is the state’s largest commercial fishing port and is 51st in the nation for wild-caught seafood based on weight, the department said.
Some leaders of the fishing and shellfish industries praised the new program as a potential boost to their business.
"I think it’s great,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. "It’s going to I believe really open people’s eyes to the variety of seafoods that are available right here on Long Island.”
That variety includes squid, scup/porgy, fluke, whiting/silver hake, tilefish, black sea bass, striped bass, skate and bluefish, Gerbino said.
Eric Koepele, president of the Long Island Oyster Growers Association, said the trail may help the industry rebound as it seeks to rebuild from a low point five years ago, when oyster harvesting was minuscule — 1.3 million in 2020. By 2024, some 9.4 million oysters were harvested from oyster farms in Long Island waters, he said.
Still, Canada exports 100 million oysters to the United States alone every year, with two-thirds of them delivered to the East Coast, including many on Long Island, he said.
The Long Island Oyster Growers' goal is to reach 100 million oysters in 10 years.
Right now, "we’re not playing in the same ballpark” as Canada and the Chesapeake Bay, which also harvests about 100 million oysters a year, Koepele said. Canadians are "taking our lunch and the Chesapeake region is, too. I want at least parity with those guys.”
The trail may help oystermen here reach their goal, he said.
Long Island’s waters are teeming with seafood, yet a lot of the fish served in local restaurants is imported — sometimes from thousands of miles away.
New York State officials and others are looking to change that as they launch a Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trail on
Suffolk County's South Shore to highlight local restaurants serving locally caught fish and shellfish.
"We’re on an island, we’re surrounded by water and delicious fresh fish in our waters and yet so many restaurants, it’s not on their menu,” said Kristin Gerbino, a fisheries specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program based in Riverhead, which helped create the trail. With imported fish, "you don’t always know where it came from, their regulations, their management.”
"Why not try something locally harvested that doesn't have to travel across the world to get to your plate?” she said. On the Cuisine Trail, fish "can be caught that morning and end up on your plate later in the day for your dinner.”
State and local officials, along with representatives from fishing, shellfish and restaurant groups, launched the new program on Wednesday with an event at the Snapper Inn in Oakdale — one of 25 restaurants that will be on the trail, which extends from Bay Shore to Montauk.
Richard Ball, the state's agriculture commissioner, thanked the group for "being billboards for local food."
"It's a way of life on Long Island," Ball said of the region's storied fishing industry. "You've been at the forefront of the eat-local movement and local food for centuries."
Another trail on the North Shore will open within a few months, stretching from Oyster Bay to Greenport.
To qualify for the trail, a restaurant, fish store or clam and oyster bar must prove it is using substantial amounts of local fish or shellfish including oysters and clams. Businesses also were selected based on who responded to inquiries from Gerbino and others about the new program, she said.
Officials plan to promote the trail with a website, an app and advertisements or posts on social media and in traditional media.
"The Long Island Seafood Cuisine Trails highlight the amazing fish and shellfish harvested locally, showcase our outstanding small businesses, and attract more visitors to this incredible region,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
Long Island is the focal point of the state fishing industry — 99% of fish commercially caught in New York State are landed on Long Island, state officials said. "Commercial fishermen on Long Island sustainably harvested over 16 million pounds of finfish in 2023, worth over $28 million,” the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which is helping to lead the new trail, said in a statement.
Montauk is the state’s largest commercial fishing port and is 51st in the nation for wild-caught seafood based on weight, the department said.
Some leaders of the fishing and shellfish industries praised the new program as a potential boost to their business.
"I think it’s great,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. "It’s going to I believe really open people’s eyes to the variety of seafoods that are available right here on Long Island.”
That variety includes squid, scup/porgy, fluke, whiting/silver hake, tilefish, black sea bass, striped bass, skate and bluefish, Gerbino said.
Eric Koepele, president of the Long Island Oyster Growers Association, said the trail may help the industry rebound as it seeks to rebuild from a low point five years ago, when oyster harvesting was minuscule — 1.3 million in 2020. By 2024, some 9.4 million oysters were harvested from oyster farms in Long Island waters, he said.
Still, Canada exports 100 million oysters to the United States alone every year, with two-thirds of them delivered to the East Coast, including many on Long Island, he said.
The Long Island Oyster Growers' goal is to reach 100 million oysters in 10 years.
Right now, "we’re not playing in the same ballpark” as Canada and the Chesapeake Bay, which also harvests about 100 million oysters a year, Koepele said. Canadians are "taking our lunch and the Chesapeake region is, too. I want at least parity with those guys.”
The trail may help oystermen here reach their goal, he said.
Top Stories
Most Popular
