DEC Reopens Shellfishing Areas in Huntington

Approximately 2,200 acres of shellfish harvesting areas in the Town of Huntington was been reopened, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC announced the reopening of the harvesting areas which were closed May 12 when saxitoxin, a naturally occurring marine biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, was discovered in shellfish harvested in Northport Bay.

Effective at sunrise on June 10, "the biotoxin closures for shellfish (clams, mussels, oysters) will be rescinded and all normally certified shellfish lands Northport Bay, Duck Island Harbor and Centerport Harbor will be designated as certified (open) for the harvest of shellfish," said the DEC press release.

Biotoxin closures affecting approximately 5,300 acres of shellfish harvesting areas in Huntington Bay and Lloyd Harbor, as well as approximately 3,900 acres in western Shinnecock Bay, in the Town of Southampton, were previously rescinded on June 6, according to the DEC.

"The decision to reopen these areas was based on the results of extensive testing of shellfish samples. DEC's microbiology laboratory has tested more than 140 shellfish samples for biotoxin since March and 90 samples since the first closure in early May," said the DEC.

Extracts from approximately 25 percent of the post-closure samples were sent to the Maine Department of Marine Resources biotoxin laboratory for additional testing. The Maine laboratory confirmed DEC's results which showed that biotoxins levels no longer pose a significant public health threat in the reopened areas, according to the press release.

Additionally, the prohibition on the taking of carnivorous gastropods (conch, whelk and other marine snails), implemented on May 20, has also been rescinded for all those bays and harbors.

According to the DEC, the New York State Department of Health strongly recommends that people not eat the soft green material (mustard, tomalley, liver or hepatopancreas) found in the body section of crabs and lobsters from any waters because cadmium, PCBs and other contaminants as well as toxins produced by some marine algae concentrate there. Because contaminants may be transferred to cooking liquid, people should also discard crab or lobster cooking liquid.