Tag Archives: Peconic Bay
Peconic Bay Scallops are a legacy at risk
For more than 30 years, Tim Sweat has spent the early morning hours of winter on Peconic Bay. By noon on most days, he would collect thousands of pounds of scallops — enough to cover the daily cost of maintaining his boat, plus put aside some extra money for the holidays. But for the last four years, as bay scallops continue to die off at an alarming rate, he’s finished the season with little to show for his efforts. “I’ve spent most of my life out here on the water; fishing is my whole life. But the future is not looking very promising for the smaller boats like me,” Sweat said. “We’re struggling to make a living out here, things keep dying off.” >click to read< 13:33
Long Island: When will bay scallops once again be plentiful?
After years of up and down harvests, 2021 is shaping up as another potentially poor year for bay scallops. Bay scallops have been a multi-million-dollar crop for the fishing industry, from the baymen or women who work hard to harvest them in, to the markets that sell them and the restaurants that feature them prominently on menus. The loss of this cash crop, such an iconic symbol of our bays, hurts many people and calls into question the present and future health of our bays, as changes in water temperatures and steady sea rise continue. For perspective, consider this: After the huge crops of previous years, a die-off in 1985 caused by algae blooms brought the scallop almost to extinction. >click to read< 11:07
Cuomo requests federal disaster declaration, aid for scallop die-off
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday requested the U.S. Department of Commerce issue a disaster declaration for the Peconic Bay scallop fishery, following a catastrophic die-off of scallops in East End waterways. An immediate declaration of a disaster is needed, he said, to provide “direct economic relief for the New York fishing industry.” In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Cuomo requested that the federal government formally declare a fishery failure in the bay scallop fishery in the Peconic Bay Estuary due to a “fishery resource disaster.” >click to read< 15:19
Scallop die-off in Peconic Bay takes toll on local economy. Experts Search For Answers
Just one week after the opening of the Peconic Bay scallop season, the harsh reality is setting in: Most of the adult scallops in Peconic Bay are dead. “The scallop season, it’s nonexistent,” commercial fisherman Bob Hamilton said. “I didn’t even bother putting the dredges on my boat.” Video, >click to read< 10:59
Experts Search For Answers To Peconic Bay Scallop Disaster – Facing the worst devastation to the Peconic Bay scallop season in more than a decade, experts are searching desperately for answers. >click to read<
‘The Worst In 15 Years’: Opening day for Peconic Bay scallop season was dismal and the forecast is even more grim
Phones were ringing at seafood shops and restaurants across the North Fork and East End Monday with hungry diners hoping to celebrate the first day of Peconic Bay scallop season. But for those who’ve waited months for that much-heralded first taste of sweet goodness, the news was grim: This year’s season is, quite simply, a bust. >click to read< 16:17
Life on the Bays – Stories of beauty and heartache
Once numbering in the thousands, independent baymen have worked in the public waters off Long Island for centuries. Now these clammers and fishermen, many in their 60s or 70s, go mostly unnoticed. So do their daily struggles. Whether in Peconic Bay, Hempstead Bay, The Great South Bay, or others, the baymen share common pains: declining clam and fish populations, lack of affordable docking, increased regulations and catch limits. They cite pollution, fertilizers, global warming and governmental disinterest as culprits. Of course, there is also the literal pain they endure from the repetitive physical stress of their jobs. And then there’s Oyster Bay. 40 minute video, >click to read<10:55
Huge scallop harvest, growth in oyster farming boost East End
Since the scallop season opened with a strong start in early November, fish dealers have been buying hundreds of pounds a day. The surge in volume is keeping fishermen, shuckers, wholesalers and seafood store owners busy, but it has also pushed prices down. Scallops are selling for less than $20 a pound, in some cases as low as $15, down from around $35 last year.,, Nate Phillips, whose family owns Alice’s Fish Market in Greenport, has been supplying the shop with all the bay scallops it can sell. Each morning he takes his small fishing boat loaded with metal dredges and a sorting table to state waters not far from his Greenport shop to catch his daily quota of 10 bushels.Video, click here to read the story 16:26
Rescuing a regional treasure: Biologists, baymen bringing back Peconic Bay scallops
Last week the veil was lifted on a question at the center of the East End’s culture as well as its economy: How many Peconic Bay scallops made it through algae blooms, whelk attacks, underwater landslides and onto dinner tables this season? Sunrise on Monday, November 6 marked the opening of New York State waters for fishing this sweet local delicacy, and by 7 a.m. it was clear there were plenty of scallops to be harvested. There are many ways for a scallop to die before its time, and Long Island University biologist Stephen Tettelbach, is familiar with all of them. click here to read the story 13:34
Peconic Bay scallopers asked to slow down due to plentiful harvest
This year’s Peconic Bay scallop harvest is starting off with one of the strongest yields in years, according to local seafood markets and baymen. “It’s definitely a pretty impressive year,” said Charlie Manwaring, owner of Southold Fish Market. During the first week, in fact, so many baymen brought in their 10-bushel limit that he and other market operators asked them to hold off bringing in more so that they could catch up with the oversupply, which strained their ability to shuck and sell the mounds of shellfish. click here to read the story 15:24
Marine biologists, baymen bringing back Peconic Bay scallops – There is a story in every shell. click here to read the story
