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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/2001 FISHERS ISLAND CONSERVANCY, INe. BOX 553 FISHERS ISLAND, NEW YORK 06390 December, 2001 To All Fishers Islanders: We extend our thanks for your overwhelming support of our lobstermen in returning the postcard ballot we mailed you last week regarding the lobster conservation zone regulation recently promulgated by the NY DEe. This Fishers Island Special Management Area represents the culmination of four years of unrelenting effort by the Conservancy and the Fishers Island Lobstermen Association, with generous assistance from FIDCO, to pro- tect the healthy Fishers Island lobster stock and the livelihood of our lobstermen from the greedy depredations of commercial interests from Connecticut and Montauk. Within days after the new regulation was published, Connecticut's politically ambitious Attorney General held a press conference to trumpet the filing of a new law- suit to challenge one of the key provisions of FISMA, and the Montauk lobstermen announced a political offen- sive against Albany to protest what they regard as a blow against their viability - which is ridiculous since Montauk normally fishes an area of sound and ocean ten times the size of Fishers Island's FISMA. As we close out this old year and prepare to begin the next, your Conservancy finds itself engaged in sever- al major projects addressing the concerns of our fragile Island environment: . With a generous grant from the Luce Foundation we successfully launched our program to investigate the causes of lobster shell disease in Eastern Long Island Sound and, in particular, to determine whether there is a link between the outbreak of the disease in recent years in local waters and the dumping of over a million cubic yards of contaminated dredge spoil from the Thames River at the New London dump site just over a mile from Fishers Island. This rcsearch is being conducted by Dr. Deanna Prince, Ph.D., a leading expert of lobster shell disease at the Lobster Institute of the the University of Maine. The research has also been fund- ed by a generous grant from the Sanger Fund, and gifts from a number of others, but more are needed. We hope to complete the project in 2002. Shell disease is not usually fatal to lobsters, but can be disfiguring. Health authorities do not currently believe that it poses a health threat to consumers. . Late in the year we initiated a program to curb the burgeoning population of feral cats on the Island. These cats, the offspring of pets thoughtlessly abandoned by summer residents, are now found throughout the Island and have been estimated to currently number over 400, with the potential for explosive growth. They are no longer domestic pets, but predators in a wild environment with few natural enemies. They may be useful in holding down the rat population, but they pose a serious threat to song birds, and on occasion to human health. The program will be managed by year-round Island resident Cynthia Riley, and will involve the serv- ices of veterinarians to contain and ultimately reduce the population humanely by neutering and spaying. . The Fishers Island Mosquito Control Program got off to a late start in mid-June because of the problems in resolving a series of hyper-technical violations asserted by the DEC against our DEC-trained technicians that threatened to shut down the program entirely. The program was saved by hard negotiating against the DEe's outrageous demands on the part of our Conservancy, restructuring under the complete control of Suffolk County, and thanks to the hard work of our dedicated crew of college student technicians who applied harm- less biologicallarvacides to the hundred or so Island swamps and ponds, all concerned were again success- ful in controlling the Island's mosquito problem without the use of any environmentally damaging chemical pesticides. Sadly, instead of recognizing the program for the environmentally sound model that it is, the DEC this fall again accused our mosquito crew of violations we believe to be both frivolous and false. Fortunately, this time the main thrust was towards the County, and the County will take over the job of defending them- selves and our capable female mosquito crew from these unwarranted charges. This doesn't make any easi- er, however, the Conservancy's job of recruiting and paying for the training and state-certification of the crew that serves the Island so ably. Have they ever failed the State exam? Never. We wonder at the DEe's atti- tude and fuss. So does the County. . Also, as you know, the Conservancy provides advice and assistance on a variety of other Island environ- mental issues. Problems such as gauging the pollutive impact of the exploding Canada Goose population, causes of harbor pollution, and preservation of rare and endangered species are sample matters frequently brought to our attention. We try to have a common-sensical approach to solving these, and our efforts are all at no cost to the taxpayer. Yet all of this largely depends for success on the generous and vital financial support you have given us over the years. We thank you for these past efforts, and hope that such support can continue as this year winds down and a new one appears on the horizon. As always, your contributions are tax deductible according to law. The enclosed reply envelope and card are enclosed for your convenience. Again our thanks. For the Conservancy, and with best wishes for the Holiday Season, c7"~ 7~-:v cF.' John H. Thatcher, Jr. - President NOTE - A copy of the Conservancy's latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from the Conservancy, or from the Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271. The Conservancy Board Mr. Barry R. Bryan Mr. Edward Crane Mr. Robert Geniesse Mrs. Henry Luce Mrs. Richard Riegel Mrs. William C. Scott Mrs. Paul Vartanian Mr. George Cook Mr. Reynolds duPont, Jr. Mr. Edwin Horning Mrs. Harris B. Parsons Mr. Thomas Sargent Mr. Nicholas Spofford Mr. Robert E. Wall Mrs. Alicia Cleary Ms. Elizabeth Furse Mrs. W. Boulton Kelly Ms. Marguerite Purnell Mrs. Pat Downey Schiestl Mr. John H. Thatcher, Jr. Mrs. Harold Williamson