Army Corps vessel begins dredging Montauk Inlet to address 'dangerous' shoaling
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel has begun emergency dredging of the Montauk Inlet channel Saturday after weeks of pleas from fishermen, though windy weather paused the work for part of Tuesday.
The vessel, Murden, arrived at the inlet over the weekend and began the weeklong work of clearing the channel of dangerous shoaling which has kept some of the region's largest commercial fishing boats out of the state’s largest fishing port.
A gale warning was in place through Tuesday night, leading to a temporary pause on the work. Officials said the Murden would continue to clear the channel to a depth of 12 feet through Friday or Saturday to finish the work before returning to work in Cape May, New Jersey and moving on to Galveston, Texas.
The price tag for the work is $75,000 a day, Army Corps officials said at a briefing in Montauk Tuesday, or $525,000 for the week. The dredging will remove about 10,000 cubic feet of sand from the channel, before a more extensive dredging of the inlet will take place in the fall to a depth of 17 feet, said Col. Alex Young, commander of the Army Corps' New York district.
U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) — who worked with fishermen, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Republican Suffolk Executive Edward P. Romaine, state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and Democratic East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys to expedite the emergency work over the past four weeks — said he would make sure federal funding remains in place for the full dredging in the fall, regardless of cost-cutting efforts by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
The inlet hadn't been dredged since 2018, said Bonnie Brady, of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, an industry group that pushed for the emergency dredging. Maintenance dredging is supposed to be done every three years, she said. She pointed to the dangers of fishing boats potentially running aground and said, "It matters to everyone who enjoys a seafood meal."
Her husband, Montauk fisherman Dave Aripotch, called the dredging "a big help," after two months of navigating dangerous conditions or waiting outside the inlet for high tide to land fish. "This dock is hurting because of it," he said of boats that off-loaded in Rhode Island rather than risk the narrow gauntlet.
Romaine said it was important that fish caught in New York waters are landed in the state because each year's quotas are set by annual landings. He also said the county would review a separate proposal to open a fish processing center in Yaphank as an alternative to the Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel has begun emergency dredging of the Montauk Inlet channel Saturday after weeks of pleas from fishermen, though windy weather paused the work for part of Tuesday.
The vessel, Murden, arrived at the inlet over the weekend and began the weeklong work of clearing the channel of dangerous shoaling which has kept some of the region's largest commercial fishing boats out of the state’s largest fishing port.
A gale warning was in place through Tuesday night, leading to a temporary pause on the work. Officials said the Murden would continue to clear the channel to a depth of 12 feet through Friday or Saturday to finish the work before returning to work in Cape May, New Jersey and moving on to Galveston, Texas.
The price tag for the work is $75,000 a day, Army Corps officials said at a briefing in Montauk Tuesday, or $525,000 for the week. The dredging will remove about 10,000 cubic feet of sand from the channel, before a more extensive dredging of the inlet will take place in the fall to a depth of 17 feet, said Col. Alex Young, commander of the Army Corps' New York district.
U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) — who worked with fishermen, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Republican Suffolk Executive Edward P. Romaine, state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and Democratic East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys to expedite the emergency work over the past four weeks — said he would make sure federal funding remains in place for the full dredging in the fall, regardless of cost-cutting efforts by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
The inlet hadn't been dredged since 2018, said Bonnie Brady, of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, an industry group that pushed for the emergency dredging. Maintenance dredging is supposed to be done every three years, she said. She pointed to the dangers of fishing boats potentially running aground and said, "It matters to everyone who enjoys a seafood meal."
Her husband, Montauk fisherman Dave Aripotch, called the dredging "a big help," after two months of navigating dangerous conditions or waiting outside the inlet for high tide to land fish. "This dock is hurting because of it," he said of boats that off-loaded in Rhode Island rather than risk the narrow gauntlet.
Romaine said it was important that fish caught in New York waters are landed in the state because each year's quotas are set by annual landings. He also said the county would review a separate proposal to open a fish processing center in Yaphank as an alternative to the Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx.
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
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