Town Imposes “Shellfish Moratorium” on 1,850 Acres in Oyster Bay

By Rupert Deedes

The Oyster Bay Town Board unanimously voted for a 6-month moratorium on shellfish harvesting over an underwater tract of 1,850 acres in Oyster Bay after a 30-year lease to the commercial shellfishing firm Frank Flowers & Sons expired last week.

“This temporary moratorium will help us strengthen the health of the harbor while not impacting any current shellfish harvesting by local Baymen on the more than 4,000 acres they currently fish,” stated Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

The Town Board said the pause in harvesting will be used to test the underwater land and repopulate it with new oysters and clams. The tests will aim to find what effects the long-term harvesting of the area by Flowers has had on the environment.

While the underwater tract was leased to Flowers & Sons, the town was unable to survey it.

The 1,850 acres are part of the 4,000-acre area where Baymen harvest shellfish.

During the moratorium, harvesting by independent Baymen outside the 1,850-acre area will continue.

“Harvesting in public waters will continue as currently allowed, with no changes to access or regulations, ensuring that local Baymen and recreational anglers/shellfish harvesters can continue their activities without any disruption,” added Saladino.

Frank M. Flowers & Sons’ 30-year exclusive rights to this land expired on Monday.

Many Baymen and in the Town were upset with Flowers, because they closed-down their hatchery operations four years ago - stopping the replenishment of the harbor with new oysters and clams - while still harvesting and scraping the harbor bottom. 

In a Town Board public hearing in mid-August, independent harvesters objected to the moratorium, arguing that leasing out the harbor bed was a better option.

“All the good land was leased out,” one Syosset resident stated. “The town over-leased the bay.”

Friends of the Bay supported a moratorium, saying it will allow for a “once-in-many lifetimes opportunity to help restore the bay and its dwindling shellfish populations for many generations to come.”

“We believe it is important to take the time to survey those lands, their condition, and what remains on them before they are reopened for harvesting,” the organization said.

The Town of Oyster Bay noted that other states have used similar moratorium measures in their waterways.

The town said that the land leased to Flower has a lower shellfish population than in previous years, and that Flowers did not repopulate the land as required by the lease.

“For four years, the company failed to provide a minimum of one million hatchery-produced clams annually, thereby depleting the harbor of crucially important shellfish which provide the necessary water filtration to prevent pollution,”stated Brian Nevin, the public information officer for the town.

During the moratorium period, the town will repopulate the waterways with baby clams and oysters.

The Town has developed an “Oyster Hatchery” on the harbor to raise baby clams and oysters – called “spat” - and then seed them to re-populate the harbor.

Each mature oyster or clam filters over 25 gallons of seawater each day, cleaning the water fresh.