Town of Brookhaven, NY Article III Specific Regulations for Protection and Taking of Shellfish

§ 57-20 Hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria).

A. Implements or devices employed.

(1) No implement or device shall be used in taking hard clams except:

(a) Hand-operated tongs having teeth in the heads thereof spaced no less than one inch apart, measured in the clear and having a distance of not less than 3/4 inch between the bars of the basket.

(b) Hand-operated rakes having teeth spaced not less than one inch apart, measured in the clear.

(c) Baskets attached to such hand-operated rakes having bars not less than 7/8 of an inch apart, measured in the clear.

(2) No wire, netting or other foreign matter shall be used between the teeth or bows of such tongs or rakes.

(3) Possession or use of any implement or device other than described in Subsection A(1)(a), (b), (c) and (2) above shall be unlawful and shall constitute presumptive evidence of an intent to illegally take shellfish.

B. Size.

(1) No hard clams measuring less than one inch in thickness, measured at right angles to the shell hinge, shall be taken from Town-owned land. All clams taken which shall not be at least one inch in thickness shall be returned to said lands from which taken and left there. No person shall accumulate or possess more than one bushel of bay cull at any time.

(2) Hard clams which are not permitted to be taken pursuant to this subsection may compose not to exceed 3% per container of the total catch when unavoidably taken. Said 3% may be determined by the measurement of any container of soft clams taken from the catch.

C. (Reserved)

§ 57-21 Soft or steamer clams (Mya arenaria).

A. Implements or devices employed. Soft-shelled clams may be taken only by implements known as shovels, forks, hoes and tongs, except that the propeller of a boat may be used for churning said clams on any bar or shoreline that does not fall dry at the ordinary tide.

B. Size.

(1) No soft clam less than 1 1/2 inches in length, as measured on the longest dimension, shall be possessed or taken from Town-owned land. All soft clams taken which shall be less than 1 1/2 inches in length shall be immediately returned to said lands from which taken and left there.

(2) Soft clams which are not permitted to be taken pursuant to this subsection may compose not to exceed 3% per container of the total catch when unavoidably taken. Such 3% may be determined by the measurement of any container of soft clams taken from the catch.

C. All Town-owned lands from which soft-shelled clams are taken by use of shovels, forks, hoes or tongs shall be restored to their original condition immediately following the taking of such shellfish. This provision shall not apply to soft-shell clams taken by churning with the propeller of a boat.

§ 57-22 Bay scallops (Pecten irradians).

A. Taking prohibited during certain period. Bay scallops shall not be taken from Town-owned lands between April 1 and the Sunday before the first Monday in November, both inclusive, of each year. Should the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation change the harvest dates in New York State waters, the Town's harvesting dates will change to match the state's posted dates.

[Amended 8-12-2014 by L.L. No. 17-2014, effective 8-26-2014]

B. Size. Only bay scallops having an annual growth line or measuring not less than 2 1/4 inches from the middle of the hinge to the middle of the bill may be taken or possessed. All bay scallops which may not be taken or possessed pursuant to this subsection shall immediately be returned alive to the water. However, such undersized bay scallops may compose not to exceed 2% of the total catch when unavoidably taken. Such 2% may be determined by the measurement of any bushel of bay scallops taken from the catch.

C. Limitation on amount of scallops taken. No person shall take or possess in excess of 10 bushels of scallops per day, and where two or more persons are aboard the same boat, no more than 20 bushels of scallops in the aggregate may be taken or possessed per day.

§ 57-23 Oysters (Crassostrea virginica).

A. Taking prohibited during certain period. Oysters, oyster spat or cultch shall not be taken from Town-owned land between May 1 and August 31, both inclusive, of each year. Oysters, oyster spat or cultch taken from Town-owned land during this period shall be returned to said land or water from which taken and left there. No person shall accumulate or possess more than one bushel of bay cull at any time.

B. Size. No oysters under the size of five inches shall be taken from Town-owned land. The length of the oyster added to its width shall determine the size thereof. All oysters taken or possessed which are not five inches in size shall immediately be returned to said lands from which taken and left there.

C. No person, who holds a valid Town of Brookhaven commercial shellfish permit, shall have in their possession nor harvest in any given day, more than 2,000 oysters at any one time. In cases where multiple permit holders are working from the same boat, the total number of oysters which may be possessed or stored on the boat shall be limited to 4,000 per day. This section shall not apply to holders of a valid commercial buyers permit who purchase oysters from approved dockside locations nor shall it apply to Town of Brookhaven residents who are limited under § 57-5A to the taking of no more than one-half bushel of shellfish per day.

[Added 3-5-1996 by L.L. No. 6-1996, effective 3-8-1996]

§ 57-24 Razor clams (Ensis directus).

[Added 9-18-2023 by L.L. No. 7-2023, effective 10-2-2023]

A. Razor clams may be taken only by implements known as shovels, forks, hoes and tongs, except that the propeller of an outboard may be used for churning said clams on any bar or shoreline that does not fall dry at the ordinary tide.

B. No clearing or churning of seagrasses shall occur. A ten-foot buffer must be maintained from all submerged seagrass beds.

C. A fifty-foot buffer shall be maintained around all aquaculture leases.

D. When hand digging or churning in areas adjacent to tidal banks, edges or beach slopes vegetated with spartina grass communities (alterniflora, patens), harvesting may not occur closer than four lineal feet at any point to the seaward edge of primary emergent grass commonly known as "cordgrass" (Spartina alterniflora). Distance shall be measured from the base of the vertical bank, or edge or seaward side of a vegetated slope.

E. The introduction into the wetlands or waterways, by any means, of any suspended solids, sediments, fuels, solvents, lubricants, epoxy coatings, paints, or any other environmentally deleterious materials, either directly or indirectly, because of the action permitted herein, is strictly prohibited.

F. There shall be no unreasonable interference with the navigation of the waterway by the work authorized by this permit. Churning closer than 10 linear feet to the edge of any navigable channel or passage is prohibited.

G. Churning shall only occur from October 1 through April 15 (inclusive).

H. Churning shall be restricted to those areas in the vicinity of Moriches Inlet and New Inlet, as depicted in 57 Attachment 3, Exhibits C-1 and C-2.

I. Bycatch, i.e., hard clams, or oysters, caught during churning, shall be returned to the area from which it is removed.

J. The outboard motor used for churning shall be limited to a maximum of 20 hp.

K. The floating frame that is used to house the outboard engine shall be the only acceptable mounting device when churning. The frame shall be designed to keep the propeller above underlying bay bottom during operation.

L. Only one floating frame that is used to house the outboard engine is allowed per boat, or permit, unless two rigs are set up for the two ends of the tidal cycle and used alternately.

M. A valid permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (shellfish digger permit) for the taking of shellfish shall be onboard the transport vessel at all times when churning or regular shellfishing activity is occurring.

N. A valid permit from the Town of Brookhaven for the taking of shellfish shall be onboard the transport vessel at all times when churning or regular shellfishing activity is occurring.

O. The transport vessel shall have a valid New York State registration.

P. Two deckhand/helpers are to be allowed per permit. Nonresident helpers/deckhands are prohibited.

Q. It is up to the permittee to confirm and satisfy any other state or municipal permitting requirements for a helper on board the vessel.

R. The Department of Environmental Protection may impose additional conditions/limitations based on evaluation of the razor clam population.