Talking about the future of fishing on Shelter Island: How we can catch, grow, and eat our way to healthy bays
In the 19th century, the waters around Shelter Island thrived with oyster reefs, and for most of the 20th century huge bay scallop harvests were a boon to the economy and the health of our creeks and bays.
As recently as 2018, the Peconics saw annual harvests worth $1.5 million to local baymen. But since 2019 there have not been enough scallops harvested in the Peconic bays to sustain the business of dredging them up and opening them.
Today, large parts of the Peconic estuary are closed to shell fishing of any kind, and most of the clams we buy are farmed somewhere else.
How have fishing and shellfish cultivation, once mainstays of the Island economy, become sidelines? Is there more the Town can do to support and encourage these small, Earth-friendly businesses?
Next Thursday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m., the Shelter Island Reporter will host a community forum at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, on commercial fishing and shellfish harvesting; what it meant to Islanders in the past, and what we can do to encourage and promote it in the future.
We’ve invited a group of panelists to help lead what will be a lively and productive discussion. Tara McClintock will talk about the new wave of shellfish restoration work that Cornell Cooperative Extension has begun in the Peconic Bays. Armond Joseph, chef at Leon 1909 will discuss the tricky business of featuring local wild-caught fish on a restaurant menu; Bert Waife of Eel Town Oysters will talk about the steady resurgence of oyster-farming; and Sawyer Clark, a member of the newest generation of working baymen, will describe the challenges of making a living catching and selling seafood in a time of near-shore land development, complex fishing regulations, and decreasing stocks of fish.
The public is invited to listen, learn and contribute. Make it a point for you, your friends and family to be part of this lively and important discussion.
Thursday, Nov. 14, 5:30-7 p.m., at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, Reporter forum on the future of commercial fishing on the Island.
