HomeMy WebLinkAboutBassett, S 6.2025 AQUACULTURE NOTES
FOR SOUTHOLD ZONING BOARD FOR CONSIDERATION
Our sector of Agriculture is really growing and is still in the development stage,
however currently it is the only upward trending form of Agriculture. Southold has
an opportunity to really take the reigns and push our industry to a level that our
neighboring states are far beyond and ahead of.
While we appreciate the efforts put forth including Aquaculture, we feel we should
define it a bit more and discuss what needs we need for our business to thrive
and be successful. Aquaculture is such a unique form of Agriculture with
specialized considerations. There are two major issues...
1. Access to working waterfront
2. Opportunities to diversify sales
1. Working Waterfront- Waterfront access to on-land working facilities don't exist
anymore.
We see Aquaculture allowed within many zoning parcels but the definition of what
that means is still unclear. For parcels that allow Aquaculture, could a commercial
dock for aquaculture be considered an accessory use if only used for and by that
shellfish farm? Being able to pull a work boat up to the on-land facility is critical in
aquaculture. The only way around that right now is asking for a zone change to
becoming a marina which many of the parcels would never be or be able to be.
Without a dock, aquaculture cannot exist. This would need to be worked out with
the Town Trustees as well as right now it seems that new residential docks are not
allowed to be built on Peconic Bay. Peconic Bay and Gardiners Bay are the only
bodies of water Suffolk County allows us to farm within their Aquaculture Lease
Program.
2. Sales- Sales is also a tough thing for oyster farmers. There are two ways to sell
an oyster. First way is through distribution. Each oyster is sold anywhere
between .50 and .85 cents per oyster. You need to grow a heck of a lot of oysters
to make a living off that. It also takes three years for an oyster to come to market
size so we are growing three years of product at a time. The gear required for the
amount of oysters to grow to be able to create a sustainable business is putting
farmers out of business or in serious debt (in our case) year after year. The best
way to sell our product would be to shuck them and sell them anywhere from
$2.50 - $3.50 per piece. The only way to do that now is to shuck our oysters at
other businesses. That is dependent on their schedule, their success and of
course we have to pay fees to those businesses as well. For parcels that allow
Aquaculture, would the addition of a restaurant be considered an accessory use?
Submitted By:
Stefanie Bassett
Little Ram Oyster Co
stef@littleramoysters.com
917-239-7032