Brookhaven Clamps Down on Clamming Licenses

A slow-to-recover clam population in the Great South Bay has forced the Town of Brookhaven tighten rules for getting a clamming license, a move that has local baymen steaming.

At the Brookhaven Town Board meeting on May 18,  Patchogue resident Don Smith, a baymen since 1967, and two other baymen failed to stop Brookhaven from passing a resolution that would prohibit anyone from getting a clamming license who did not have one for two out of the last three years. The town also placed a limit on the amount of clams one bayman could catch in a day to 2,000.  

"They said it is only for a year, but it takes five to seven years for a clam to reach the size to be marketed, so one year isn't going to make any difference. Besides, I have yet to see the town rescind a law like this once it is passed," Smith said.

According to Smith, environmental organization The Nature Conservancy blames the clam drought on overfishing. "But 35 years ago the town gave out 3,000 licenses a day. Now it is only 140 licenses a year for any kind of shellfishing."

One Town Board member who voted against the new law is Councilman Tim Mazzei.  "I did not feel that the number of licenses issued; about 100 per year, would impact the situation, but the Conservancy was looking for the cooperation of all three towns," said Mazzei. Babylon and Islip Towns have also voted for a similar law. But according to Smith, there is no clam population left in those towns. 

Smith has three sons in their twenties, two who just started learning the business with him last summer. "My own sons don't meet the criteria for the new law since they only started clamming last year. There aren't a lot of us out there to begin with, so in general there won't be a baymen left under 60 years old," Smith said.  "The new law is really the end of the baymen. It is preventing another generation who might show up down the road,"  he said.

According to Mazzei, the Nature Conservancy brought the clam issue to the town's attention. They have been surveying the clam situation for many years along with the Conservancy to try to increase the clam population. In fact, according to Smith, the Conservancy placed clams in the water to try to help jump-start the problem but all of them died.  So the Conservancy went to the three towns and requested a moratorium. 

"The problem with the clams is pollution," said Smith, who claimed an ongoing leak in the southwest sewer in Babylon - which has been a problem for years - and leaking chlorine in the Patchogue sewer system are pouring into the Great South Bay. At the same time, runoff of different pollutants people use to keep their lawns green "add to the problem," he said.

No one at the Conservancy was available for comment.