Environment DEC
From the June 2004 issue
Shellfishing Restricted in Four Towns in Suffolk County
DEC has adopted regulations to reclassify about 3,300 acres of shellfish beds as uncertified, effectively closing them to harvest as of May 13, 2004. The affected areas are adjacent to or within the towns of Babylon, Islip, Southold, and Southampton, all in Suffolk County. New York State's Environmental Conservation Law prohibits the harvest of shellfish from uncertified areas.
Routine water quality monitoring by DEC's Shellfish Sanitation Program has determined that these locations do not meet bacteriological standards for certified shellfish harvest areas. The reclassification of these areas protects the health of shellfish consumers in New York and around the country.
Uncertified Areas
Areas affected and applicable dates are:
- In the Town of Babylon, about 150 acres in Great South Bay near Oak Island will be closed to shellfish harvesting throughout the year.
- In the Town of Islip, about 2,900 acres in northern Great South Bay will be closed year-round and 75 acres in Clam Pond, near Saltaire on Fire Island, will be closed May 15 through September 30, annually.
- In the Town of Southold, a total of 175 acres in Cutchogue Harbor, Southold Bay, Haywater Cove, East Creek, Mud Creek and Pettys Pond will be closed throughout the year and a section of Goose Creek will be closed from April 15 through December 31.
- Next to the Town of Southampton, about 13 acres in Little Peconic Bay, outside the mouth of Fresh Pond, will be closed throughout the year.
DEC's Shellfish Responsibility
DEC's Bureau of Marine Resources monitors water quality to protect public health. Water samples are collected from nearly one million acres of shellfish harvesting areas in the Marine District of New York and examined in DEC's microbiology laboratory in East Setauket. Areas that meet stringent State and National Shellfish Sanitation Program criteria are designated as certified, or open for the harvest of shellfish. Areas that do not meet those criteria are designated as uncertified, or closed for shellfish harvesting.
Shellfish harvesters and the public may comment on these regulations until July 19, 2004. DEC has mailed notices with detailed descriptions of the new closures to everyone holding a New York State shellfish diggers' permit and to residents of the affected towns. For more information about these new regulations, call DEC's Bureau of Marine Resources at (631) 444-0475.
