State officials reopened several shellfishing areas on the East End of Long Island Friday after shutting them down to protect public health after Hurricane Sandy unleashed a massive storm surge more than two weeks ago and caused partially treated sewage to spew into some bodies of water.
Eighteen days after the storm, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said it collected additional water samples out east for testing, which showed that water quality in some areas was “suitable for harvesting shellfish.”
The DEC rescinded emergency shellfish closures in the towns of Southold, East Hampton and Southampton. Several other shellfishing areas will remain closed through Nov. 21, the state said.
The state listed shellfishing areas now open to the public:
Town of Southold: All the normally certified shellfish lands in Orient Harbor lying southerly of a line extending easterly from the landward end of the jetty on the east side of Spring Pond to the western end of the long dock at the Orient Yacht Club, including all the normally certified shellfish lands in Hallock and Little Bay; and, all the normally certified shellfish lands in Pipes Cove, Southold Bay and Shelter Island Sound, lying northerly and easterly of Paradise Point on Great Hog Neck; and, all of the normally certified shellfish lands in the creeks, harbors, bays that are tributaries of Great Peconic Bay and Little Peconic Bay.
Town of East Hampton: All the normally certified shellfish lands in Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, Napeague Harbor and Lake Montauk.Town of Shelter Island: All the normally certified shellfish lands in Shelter Island Sound lying northerly and easterly of Crab Creek Point.
Town of Southampton: All of the normally certified shellfish lands in Shinnecock Bay, Sag Harbor, Cold Spring Pond and North Sea Harbor, including all of the normally certified creeks, harbors, bays, ponds and tributaries along the north shore of the Town of Southampton.
Areas that remain closed: The northern portion of Orient Harbor in the Town of Southold; all of Accabonac Harbor in the Town of East Hampton; outer Hempstead Harbor adjacent to the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay; southern Cold Spring Harbor in the Towns of Oyster Bay and Huntington.
Also, Hempstead Bay, South Oyster Bay, Great South Bay, Nicoll Bay, Patchogue Bay and Bellport Bay remain closed.
