Oyster Bay extends shellfishing ban in harbors by 6 months

The Oyster Bay Town Board on Tuesday approved a six-month extension of its shellfishing moratorium on 1,400 acres of underwater land.

For 30 years, the shellfishing company Frank M. Flower & Sons held exclusive rights to the plots in Cold Spring and Oyster Bay harbors. The lease ran through September 2024. Town officials said they needed more time to survey the bay bottom to develop a long-term plan for growing shellfish in the harbors.

The town board voted 5-0 to extend the moratorium. The first extension was approved on Oct. 1.

Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in a statement Tuesday after the vote: "Keeping the shellfish moratorium in place gives us more time to go through the state's approval process to set up spawner sanctuaries in the harbor. This will help protect water quality and support the growth of the shellfish population."

The Town of Oyster Bay recently surveyed the area and found few clamshells, Newsday has reported. Town officials said sections of the underwater land need to be reserved as sanctuaries to grow the depleted shellfish population. 

Oyster Bay is in litigation with Frank M. Flower & Sons. In 2019, when the company said it did not know whether the town would renew its shellfishing lease, Frank M. Flower & Sons stopped seeding the bay bottom. Town officials said that in doing so, the company was violating the lease terms.

The town is also weighing plans to build and operate a new shellfish hatchery that each year can produce 100 million clams and oysters.

Also Tuesday, the town board approved a special use permit for a Syosset pickleball facility. 

The Pickle Club, which has a location on Robbins Lane in Jericho, plans to open a seven-court facility in a 27,000-square-foot warehouse on Michael Drive.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ