The Town of Brookhaven wants to double the size of a two-acre shellfish management area in Bellport Bay, and pause fishing there while young shellfish grow to maturity.
Decades of pollution and overfishing have destroyed the bay’s once thriving shellfish population.
The new area would be managed by the nonprofit environmental group, Friends of Bellport Bay.
But local baymen are concerned this will hurt business, claiming there’s no other spot on the bay’s north side that’s open for the commercial harvest of shellfish.
Supporters of the plan say the soil at the bottom of the bay is better for growing shellfish than it is for fishing. The location also leaves an area along the coast open for harvesting.
The town board is expected to vote on the plan as early as next month.
