Oyster Bay may change town code to protect shellfish zones and rebuild oyster, clam populations
Oyster Bay Harbor in Oyster Bay. Credit: Newsday /Staff
Oyster Bay is considering changes to its town code that would strengthen its ability to protect areas where shellfish can reproduce — an effort nonprofit leaders and town officials say is essential to rebuilding the diminished oyster and clam populations in the harbors of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor.
The Town Board on May 7 unanimously voted to hold a hearing on May 21 to consider the new law that is part of a “a long term plan to rehabilitate the harbor for many generations to come,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said during a phone interview on Wednesday.
The proposed change would, among other steps, grant the town more control over which areas can remain closed to shellfish harvesting, enable the town's Department of Public Safety to enforce the new policies and add definitions of “marine management area” and “shellfish sanctuary” to the town code, Saladino said.
Marine management areas will provide a protected underwater zone for marine habitat like kelp, which the town is growing to remove nitrogen pollution from the bay, according to town documents. Shellfish sanctuaries, meanwhile, are designated underwater acres suitable for clams and oysters to grow without the threat of being harvested.
Currently, 75 of the 5,532 underwater acres of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors are set aside as conservation management areas, town officials said. Although the zones are currently protected by the town, they could be opened to harvest by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said Oyster Bay Department of Environmental Resources Deputy Commissioner Colin Bell.
“In making this change, these remain closed to harvest regardless of the DEC's certified or uncertified determination,” Bell said, referring to shellfish sanctuary areas that are located in town waters.
Shellfish sanctuaries, said Eric Swenson, secretary of the nonprofit Friends of the Bay, “will be areas that are designated that are really good not only for planting, but good for the larvae to land and grow.”
“Once they’re established, it becomes much easier to build more and more population to the point where they will build up around the harbor,” he said.
Traditional rod and reel fishing would not be affected by the proposed changes.
Robert Wemyss, secretary of the North Oyster Bay Baymen’s Association, called the changes to the code “premature” and suggested alterations should have been made with a more collaborative effort.
“The town should have set up a committee and developed a comprehensive bay management plan that recommended changes to the town code as part of their work product,” Wemyss said.
The Town of Oyster Bay relied on the commercial hatchery operation run by Frank M. Flower & Sons, which has an ongoing 30-year underwater shell fishing lease with the town that expires on Sept. 30.
However, the company ceased hatchery operations in 2019 when it became unclear whether that lease would be renewed. The vendor's hatchery produced 50 million clams and 50 million oyster seeds annually, the company’s lawyer, James Cammarata, previously said.
The town sued the shell fishing vendor last summer in an effort to end Frank M. Flower & Son’s lease for alleged contract breaches. The company denied violating its lease with the town, saying it made payments to the municipality instead of providing a million clam seedlings for annual planting in Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors.
Oyster Bay's current hatchery, a smaller operation on the east end of Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park, this year produced 12 million shellfish seeds, Saladino said. The town, however, is “taking a strong look” at building a new hatchery at Ransom Beach that would produce 100 million shellfish in the bay annually, Saladino said Wednesday.
Bell, the town's deputy commissioner of Environmental Resources, said the proposed code change would work in tandem with the new hatchery by enhancing protections for the shellfish seedlings it produces.
“When we make large investments in infrastructure like shellfish hatcheries, we have to make sure that's coupled with the regulatory rules and policies of the town so as to protect our investment,” Bell said during a phone interview Wednesday. He sees the proposed changes “as a complement to the forthcoming hatchery.”
Oyster Bay is considering changes to its town code that would strengthen its ability to protect areas where shellfish can reproduce — an effort nonprofit leaders and town officials say is essential to rebuilding the diminished oyster and clam populations in the harbors of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor.
The Town Board on May 7 unanimously voted to hold a hearing on May 21 to consider the new law that is part of a “a long term plan to rehabilitate the harbor for many generations to come,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said during a phone interview on Wednesday.
The proposed change would, among other steps, grant the town more control over which areas can remain closed to shellfish harvesting, enable the town's Department of Public Safety to enforce the new policies and add definitions of “marine management area” and “shellfish sanctuary” to the town code, Saladino said.
Marine management areas will provide a protected underwater zone for marine habitat like kelp, which the town is growing to remove nitrogen pollution from the bay, according to town documents. Shellfish sanctuaries, meanwhile, are designated underwater acres suitable for clams and oysters to grow without the threat of being harvested.
WHAT TO KNOW
Of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors' 5,532 underwater acres, 75 are set aside as conservation management areas, town officials said.
Marine management areas will provide a protected underwater zone for habitat like kelp, which the town is growing to remove nitrogen pollution from the bay, according to town documents.
Traditional rod and reel fishing would not be affected by the proposed change to the Oyster Bay town code.
Currently, 75 of the 5,532 underwater acres of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors are set aside as conservation management areas, town officials said. Although the zones are currently protected by the town, they could be opened to harvest by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said Oyster Bay Department of Environmental Resources Deputy Commissioner Colin Bell.
“In making this change, these remain closed to harvest regardless of the DEC's certified or uncertified determination,” Bell said, referring to shellfish sanctuary areas that are located in town waters.
Shellfish sanctuaries, said Eric Swenson, secretary of the nonprofit Friends of the Bay, “will be areas that are designated that are really good not only for planting, but good for the larvae to land and grow.”
“Once they’re established, it becomes much easier to build more and more population to the point where they will build up around the harbor,” he said.
Traditional rod and reel fishing would not be affected by the proposed changes.
Hatchery operation
Robert Wemyss, secretary of the North Oyster Bay Baymen’s Association, called the changes to the code “premature” and suggested alterations should have been made with a more collaborative effort.
“The town should have set up a committee and developed a comprehensive bay management plan that recommended changes to the town code as part of their work product,” Wemyss said.
The Town of Oyster Bay relied on the commercial hatchery operation run by Frank M. Flower & Sons, which has an ongoing 30-year underwater shell fishing lease with the town that expires on Sept. 30.
However, the company ceased hatchery operations in 2019 when it became unclear whether that lease would be renewed. The vendor's hatchery produced 50 million clams and 50 million oyster seeds annually, the company’s lawyer, James Cammarata, previously said.
The town sued the shell fishing vendor last summer in an effort to end Frank M. Flower & Son’s lease for alleged contract breaches. The company denied violating its lease with the town, saying it made payments to the municipality instead of providing a million clam seedlings for annual planting in Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors.
Oyster Bay's current hatchery, a smaller operation on the east end of Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park, this year produced 12 million shellfish seeds, Saladino said. The town, however, is “taking a strong look” at building a new hatchery at Ransom Beach that would produce 100 million shellfish in the bay annually, Saladino said Wednesday.
Bell, the town's deputy commissioner of Environmental Resources, said the proposed code change would work in tandem with the new hatchery by enhancing protections for the shellfish seedlings it produces.
“When we make large investments in infrastructure like shellfish hatcheries, we have to make sure that's coupled with the regulatory rules and policies of the town so as to protect our investment,” Bell said during a phone interview Wednesday. He sees the proposed changes “as a complement to the forthcoming hatchery.”
Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the City of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com.
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