Long Island, NY - March 6, 2018 - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has closed additional shellfishing areas in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The closures were due to the adverse water quality effects of extraordinary amounts of stormwater runoff from the nor'easter storm event that affected the entire Northeast region on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3.
Effective at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and continuing until a determination is made that conditions no longer exist that may make shellfish hazardous for use as food, the following areas in Suffolk County were designated as uncertified (closed) and the harvest of shellfish is temporarily prohibited:
- Town of Brookhaven (north shore): All the normally certified areas of Port Jefferson Harbor, Setauket Harbor, the Narrows and Conscience Bay.
Effective at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 3, and continuing until a determination is made that conditions no longer exist that may make shellfish hazardous for use as food, the following areas in Nassau and Suffolk Counties were designated as uncertified (closed) and the harvest of shellfish is temporarily prohibited:
- Town of Hempstead: All that area of Hempstead Bay and its tributaries.
- Town of Oyster Bay (south shore): All that area of South Oyster Bay and its tributaries.
- Town of Babylon: All that area of Great South Bay and its tributaries lying west of the northbound span of the Robert Moses Causeway.
- Town of Brookhaven (south shore): All of Moriches Bay and its tributaries.
- Town of Southampton: All of Moriches Bay and its tributaries lying west of the Jessup Lane Bridge.
DEC will re-open areas as soon as possible based on the results of water quality testing to be conducted on samples that will be collected from the affected areas over the next several days.
A recorded voice message advising harvesters of the status of the areas may be heard at (631) 444-0480. The message will be updated over the course of these temporary closures, with information about re-openings. For more detailed descriptions of the closed areas, call DEC's Bureau of Shellfisheries during normal business hours at (631) 444-0492.
Additionally, information about temporary shellfish closures will be available on DEC's website.