Suffolk County pushes to preserve fishing industry with bill protecting farmland
Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi, in front of the Greenport Yacht and Shipbuilding Company on Carpenter Street on Dec. 12. Suffolk County is exploring ways to keep the fishing industry intact. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
A decades-old Suffolk County program designed to preserve county farmland may soon be expanded to include another heritage industry: commercial fishing.
The Suffolk County Legislature is exploring a measure to allow property owners of commercial fishing businesses to apply for a conservation easement that would restrict future development. Officials say the goal is to protect what remains of the "working waterfront" — largely centered on the East End — as the shrinking industry faces pressure from developers.
Officials and industry experts say losing access to the waterfront creates a ripple effect of economic losses and makes it harder for Long Islanders to enjoy fresh, local fish.
"Fishing and farming, and to an extent old-time tourism, are three heritage industries that belong to Long Island," said Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Montauk-based Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. "The ability to continue is getting harder and harder."
The proposal would expand the existing program that has preserved about 20,000 acres of farmland to include the working waterfront. Under the program, a property owner receives monetary compensation in exchange for restricting future development.
Any type of business that contributes to working waterfronts, from gear storage, aquaculture, docks, boat repairs, can potentially benefit, officials said.
The legislature was expected to vote on the bill at its upcoming meeting, but it will now be tweaked to broaden the scope, according to a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who is credited as the bill's co-sponsor.
”It has been determined that this important program may be applicable in much broader situations, providing additional economic development opportunities across Suffolk County," Mike Martino, Romaine's spokesman, said in a statement.
Under the current bill, a property owner seeking a conservation easement would submit a proposal that is reviewed by Suffolk County Parks Department's board of trustees. The board can then recommend it to the legislature, which is required to hold a public hearing before it can vote on the measure, according to the legislation.
Legis. Ann Welker (D-Southampton), whose district includes New York’s two largest fishing ports in Montauk and Hampton Bays-Shinnecock, called the measure “critically important.” She pointed to some changes happening in Southampton Town, where two oyster farmers with aquaculture leases were evicted, a situation she called "very unfortunate."
The proposed measure is part of a larger push by county officials to keep its agricultural industry thriving.
Earlier this year, Romaine signed a bill to increase the budget used for farmland preservation to $15 million per year. The source of funding for purchasing development rights on working waterfront properties was not immediately clear.
Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, said businesses that support the commercial fishing industry face the risk of becoming “townhouses and condominiums.”
“A lot of these are family-owned businesses that go back generations and they get to a point where they can’t afford to maintain those operations, similar to farming,” he said. “This gives them the ability to keep those operations going.”
Access to water
The issues impacting the commercial fishing industry — which Suffolk County says spans 400 years — date back decades. When the county formed a Fisheries Task Force in 1988 to aid the industry in finding new financing for large fishing vessels, one problem cited was increasing pressure for dock space that was driving fishermen farther east, according to Newsday archives.
In 2021, the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development & Planning co-published a report on the state of the commercial industry on Long Island, and found the lack of waterfront access as one challenge currently facing the industry. One recommendation to fix the problem was the purchase of development rights for working waterfront properties, a proposal that mirrors the legislative bill.
The decrease in dock space has translated to fewer fish being caught in some of Suffolk’s largest ports, including Montauk and Hampton Bays-Shinnecock. The two are part of the state’s commercial fishing industry, in which about 25% of New York’s food fish and crustacea dealers and shippers license holders are based in Suffolk County.
From 2010 to 2019, Montauk processed an average of 12.19 million pounds of fish each year, which has dipped post-pandemic to 9.8 million average between 2020-23, according to NOAA Fisheries data. The drop-off has been even greater for Hamptons-Shinnecock, where from 1990 to 1999 the port landed an average of 13.6 million pounds compared to 3.82 million during the past 10 years.
Brady said it’s a natural progression to include the waterfront on legislation first written to protect farmland.
“You can’t farm without land and you can’t fish without access to the water and access to the types of infrastructure that allows you to maintain an industry,” she said.
The proposal received positive feedback at a public hearing on Nov. 26 before the legislature. The Environment, Parks and Agriculture Committee adopted a resolution Monday in support of the legislation.
Eric Koepele, an oyster farmer who co-owns North Fork Big Oyster in Southold, supported the bill and said stewardship of local water is “super important.”
“Being stewards of our water means being able to access the water with gear and equipment and boats and whatnot that allow us to do things to help clean up the water and in my case, grow oysters,” said Koepele, who’s also president of the Long Island Oyster Growers.
'Enormously helpful'
In Greenport Village, once a maritime hub on the North Fork, the link to commercial fishing has largely faded in recent decades, giving way to a booming tourism industry with restaurants and bars.
Kevin Stuessi, the village mayor, said the proposed legislation “would be enormously helpful.”
“Money is flowing quickly out to the East End and it’s really our last chance to preserve what little we have left of fishing and maritime history,” he said in an interview.
Last year, the village adopted changes to protect its maritime history with zoning that restricts new hotels, bars and restaurants in the waterfront commercial district, among other changes. Stuessi said he sees the county proposal as complementary to the village’s efforts to “keep some of the businesses alive for generations to come.”
One village business that could potentially stand to benefit would be Alice’s Fish Market operated by the Phillips family.
Mary Bess Phillips, an owner and village trustee, said while it’s an “interesting concept,” it’s important to be cautious since losing the development rights are in perpetuity.
“You have to be extremely careful as to what you ask for so that you don’t curtail yourself for any new economic opportunities that may come along,” she said.
Phillips, whose husband Mark is the last commercial fisherman operating out of Greenport aboard the Illusion, said it's too soon to say if the county proposal makes sense for them.
Protecting the waterfront
Legis. Catherine Stark (R-Riverhead), another co-sponsor of the bill along with Welker, credited Sarah Lansdale, the county's director of the Division of Planning & Environment, for crafting the program that’s modeled after a similar effort in Maine.
The state's Working Waterfront Access Protection Program allows property owners to be compensated for agreeing to restrict the development rights of their property, according to Maine's Department of Marine Resources.
Officials have cited the recent news that Gosman's Dock in Montauk has been sold as an example of the risk facing the working waterfront. Gosman's Dock, an 11.6-acre waterfront property that includes a wholesale and retail fish business along with a restaurant and other amenities, had operated under the same family for eight decades, Newsday previously reported. The future of that property remains unclear.
Brady, of the Montauk-based Long Island Commercial Fishing Association who has urged the legislature to approve the change, said there has been a "strange silence" on Long Island for many years when it comes to protecting the commercial fishing industry.
“I only wish they had done this 50 years ago when fishing was at the top of its game,” she said.
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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