Oyster Bay to open up more underwater acres for shellfishing, designate some as off-limits

The Town of Oyster Bay will expand public access to hundreds more acres of underwater land for shellfishing, while also restricting areas to restore dwindling clam and oyster populations.

The measure divvies up formerly leased grounds that were exclusively harvested by Frank M. Flower & Sons, which covered roughly 1,400 of the town's 5,405 underwater acres in Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbors. A judge last week dismissed the company's claim to the land after its lease with the town expired Sept. 30.

Commercial fishermen have been pushing for those acres to return to the public. Town officials and environmentalists have sought to strike the right balance and find locations where shellfish can grow without the threat of being harvested.

The town board approved the measure during its meeting Tuesday. The changes will take effect Oct. 8, when the town’s current shellfishing moratorium expires, said Marta Kane, a town spokeswoman. 

"This is a momentous day," Christine Suter, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Bay, said in an interview after the town's meeting Tuesday. "Hopefully these sanctuaries will eventually help restore shellfish populations to sustainable levels that can filter water, support a vibrant, healthy ecosystem, as well as commercial shell fishermen."

Opening up additional acreage

Of the 5,405 acres the town has jurisdiction over, state regulators allow for year-round fishing in 4,336 acres, which includes the formerly leased territory.  

When Frank M. Flower & Sons' lease was in effect, 2,874 acres were open to fishing for the public, while 55 acres were set aside for conservation. The new makeup will open up an additional 1,192 acres to public harvesting.

The town also will set aside 185 acres as shellfish sanctuary areas, where harvesting is prohibited. It also will restrict 372 acres to marine management areas, where harvesting is off-limits initially but may be opened up under a future pilot program. Some of those areas are in lands currently not certified for shellfishing by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. 

Marine management areas are a protected underwater zone for marine habitat like kelp, which the town is growing to remove nitrogen pollution from the bay. Shellfish sanctuaries, meanwhile, are designated underwater acres suitable for clams and oysters to grow without the threat of being harvested, Newsday previously reported.

Robert Wemyss, secretary of the North Oyster Bay Baymen's Association, said during a phone interview that commercial fishers are looking forward to having access to new grounds. He cautioned that shellfish populations on the formerly leased plots remain barren. 

"We're happy to get it back, and we hope that it can set up naturally and begin to produce again," Wemyss said. "But the history around Long Island with areas that have been mechanically dredged was that they don't come back in the short term." 

Wemyss said two areas near Laurel Hollow and Cove Neck previously used by the baymen to harvest steamer clams have been converted into management areas. He said the baymen "didn't think they needed to take" those lands away from public fishing but said the group didn't oppose the overall plan because of the issue. 

The town instituted a shellfishing moratorium last fall, when Frank M. Flower & Sons’ lease spanning 1,400 acres came to an end.

Colin Bell, deputy commissioner of the town's Department of Environmental Resources, said the town’s moratorium allowed officials to study the underwater lands and determine the best locations to establish sanctuary areas for long-term population restoration.

“That was the first time in a very long time we were able to assess the bottom of the harbor there,” Bell said in a phone interview.

Shellfish populations have 'declined significantly'

Assessments of oyster and clam populations on the bay bottoms is bleak, scientists, town officials and local advocates have said.

“It’s a depleted shellfish population and requires considerable attention to try and remedy this,” Bell said. “It will take some time to achieve our goals.”

The town consulted with scientists, baymen and local environmental groups to determine the protected areas, which will allow Oyster Bay to expand shellfish restoration activities, according to town documents.

Ryan Wallace, an Adelphi University professor who has been involved in underwater studies of the Oyster Bay and Cold Spring harbor complex, said hard clam populations have “declined significantly” over the past few years and that “oyster production within the bay is essentially, over the last number of years now, pretty much nonexistent.”

State DEC data shows a stark decline in oyster and clam populations over the past decade, Newsday reported.

Wallace said replenishing those populations will generate economic and ecological benefits by minimizing harmful algal blooms. The new restoration areas, he said, will improve shellfish numbers. 

The shellfish sanctuary areas were selected because they contained ideal sediment composition and water flow that would improve the chances that young shellfish grow to a mature size, he said.

“I think it’s something that’s necessary for this bay,” Wallace said. “It’s not only necessary to increase the population of oysters for both commercial and recreational purposes, but it’ll aid and improve the overall ecosystem.”

The town continues to mull over the location of a shellfish hatchery capable of producing 100 million oysters and clams, according to Bell. The town previously relied on the commercial operation run by Frank M. Flower & Sons to seed the bay with young clams and oysters. 

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ