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Home My WebLink AboutDEMAULA & KINGSouthold Towu Trustees Nr. Alvah Goldsmith, President 16 South St. Greenport, ~f 11944 Gentlemen: According to the Nattituck Watchman, So~r~hold To~nBaymen's Association has opposed the request of Charles King and Anthony De ~aula for 2~a acres of land in Mattituck Creek for oyster farming. I world like to discuss these objections as reported in the paper. The objection,to leaslng public land zor pre. vate us~s~.not in ~he best interests of Scuthold and its residents because of the x~ollowing reasons: 1. The ~blic is prohibited from harvesting shellfish from more ~public groundsu by polluticn than by leasing such grounds te prmvate~nterests. The only ef£ecti~eway to combat pollut~ is to make it uneconomical. A town is apt t~ have adequate sewage treatmen~ i~ 'the ~.terna~ive is loss ~f business. A man is apt to vote for treatment facilities if the alternative ms loss of ~gtituck ~reek (or anywhere) ~rilI ~e. o~en to ~he ~lic for c!ammmng ~n ~en years than if it all remains public new~ A prosperous shellfish farm will do more toward keepimgboth priv~eand p~licgrounde .free of pollution th~u ardent ~opeals by conser~atior~ststo "save the e~vironment". 2. It will be impossible for Nr. Kine to keep spawn from his shellfish from setting on public grounds. Im Great South Bay,~ Bluepoints Oyster Co. mornltors clam larvae in the plankton. When larvae disappear they plant clams that have not yet spawned to extend the spawni~ season. The clams resulting from these elf ergs ss ~ on both public and private grounds. Oyster drills and mud crabs -removed fr~ privm~ bede will no longe~ kill shellfish on either privat~ or o~bl~c~ .... ~r°unds-. P~blic areas, of ~ttituck Creek may be more productive if par~ ef the area is leased and actively farmed. ~e should not spend public funds for planting broo~ stock to re~.u~l~ ate "p.u.bt~c, grounds when the same effect can be accomplished without cost by permms~mng shellfish farming, ~' h ~. In our overcrowded society the concept of public ownership of a shellzms resource is rapidly becomin~ a myth. Typically so many people enter the fishery it becomes overfished. As a conservation measure :artificial limits are i~oosed and the resource is now restricted to the public. 0nly certain sizes and limited nubers may be collected durin~ ce~ain seasons. Next3 rest~ictive gear regulations · , ....... ~ ~^ ~ ....... ~=~stin~ efficiency and only ~sidents are allowed to of licenses. ?hose without !~¢ense~ m~st el~ther ~y_ an exms~n~ one or waz for cancellat~ion ~nd rei!~SUe *~ ~one. Thus ~ "P~b~ic~! resource has ?ecome .a publicly sunoer~ed,priva~ '~n~ ~t~b. ?he New ?~ng~land tebst.er fi.emery Is - ~ ~"=ic ~l~!e.' :Ye n~ ~e ~siZ~, ~easenal au l~ar restrictions on our sists almost exclusively ,of lgrge slams, man~ o£ o~ch are very large. Long Island slammers catch abes% exclusively small clams. Very large chowder clams ~e rare. ~e all knew that shellfish are not as plentiful as they used to be. ~uch longer will it be before o~r public shellfish resource becomes the exclusive property of a limited number of fortunate license holders? gore pe~ole (the public) cs~ be supported by farming than hunting. Co%Dare t~he number of people that could make a living harvesting wild strawberries from uncultivated public z~lelds to the n%~mber that could make a living from the same fields privately cultivated. With public management of shellfisharies fewer ~opie will be able to make a living from o~r shel]~.ish resources in the future an if even a small portion of the grounds were privately farmed. k. Mm. Verity's contention that the proposed lease would set a orecedent is erroneous. It is my understanding that the town has leased land to private interests in the same general area in the past. I would like to reiterate a few points i mentioned at the January Board meeting. 1. The world does not have enough food to support its h~an population. Industrialization has increased 8~ef~ition for available food, thus hi~her prices. The U. S. alone will req%ire more than 40,000 tons ef food dafly just to suppor~ the increase in population even if we maintain only a replacement birth rate. 2. With' thee longest most productive unfrozen seas{ line in the world end only modest demand for sea food we still mus~ impor~ 2/3 of all sea food consumed. If by some political miracle we could establish an effective 2f~O-mile limit exclusively ~or *~he fishing fleets of this conntry they could not produce enough sea food to meet our presen5 demands, Many oceanic species are already over- fished. Effective international management of these resources does not seem possible. ~As the land was farmed to create civilization, so must the sea be farmed to support its prodigious numbers". 3. Even with the primitive state of present day cultivation from 8 to 50 times as much shellfish can be produced on cultivated grounds as on public grounds, With improvements production could be increased ten fold. This is even more impressive since historically most naturally productive areas have been reserved for public hunting. 4. The technology for far~_ing the sea is ~oorly developed because ~hat little has been learned has been ~n the laboratory or classroom. The gap %ween theoretical advances and practical achievement is incredibly large i~ri- marily because so few people are willing ~o finance and cultivate a crop that becomes public property. We desperately need people to ~ake fa~ng of the sea c~t si° the classroom aud into pro~activity. In summary, the best interests of the most residents of Southotd town vrlll be served by leasing some public ~,ounds to private parties. Leasing may not be the more oopular alternative but it is time that resourc~ manageme~ became practical ama us% political. Again I would like to suggest setting up the mechanism for zoning water usage. There are conflicts of interest now that can only increase in the i~at~re. Zoning or planned e~loitation of land resources has been effective. Planned exploitation of water resources is also needed. / P.S. I have prepared this as a private citizen and not as a repre/seutative of my employer or any other person or persons. I shall be happy to supply references for any data I have used. SHELLFISH FARMERS ~roh 12, 1974 Trustees of the Town o£ Southold Southold Town Hall S outhold, N.Y. Gentlemen: The Long Island Shellfish Famers Association is comprised of businesses, either owning or leasing underwater ground on Dong Island, that use mechanical rigs to cultivate and harvest shellfish. Through one of our members~ I ~,der- stand that the town plans to relay shellfish from closed areas to clean water so that they can be harvested. Nay i extend the Association's wholehearted support for such a plan and offer our assistance, mechanically or technically, if you might need it. s /mn Very truly yours, Stephen G. Lane President