BULLETIN TEMPLATE (Jan 17, 2017)

Our visiting speaker came a long distance to be with us -from his home on Shelter Island. Mark Cappellino, Marine Youth Educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension, which has its main office in Riverhead, but also a subsidiary office in Southold (Cedar Beach) out of which Mark usually works, spoke to us primarily about water quality and its importance to our lives on Long Island. He grabbed our attention with a few trivia questions (1980 price of gas: 99 cents per gallon; winner of The Stanley Cup: The Islanders; #1 song in the country: Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me") and followed up with comparisons and results of changes in LI's water quality since the 1980's. Mark spoke of the scallop harvest that was once 450,000 lbs. per year and has since seen an 87% decrease- attributed, in large part, to the decrease in our water quality. The first "brown tide" dates back to 1984 or '85. This adversely affected the eel grass, underwater flowering plants upon which scallops depend for their habitat. Also, algae blooms became excessive in our waterways. Scallops, which live up to 2 years, are usually harvested at that age (since they'll die anyway). Most of our scallops have come from Peconic Bay. In the 1980's 1,200,000 lbs. of lobsters used to be harvested in our waters. By 2015, the lobster harvest saw a decrease of 85%. Researchers aren't certain of the reason for this but surmise that the warming of our ocean is at least partially the cause. In 1976, 750,000 lbs. of clams were harvested annually here. Since then, there has been a 97% decrease in the availability of healthy clams on LI. Over-fishing, decrease in water quality, and too much algae have caused die off. The #1 pollutant of our waters: nitrogen. (Algae blooms are caused by too much nitrogen, causing "red and mahogany tides".) Our cesspools and septic systems are probably the main source of the increase of nitrogen in our waterways. The County Departments of Public Works and Economic Development & Planning have teamed up with Mark's agency to create a Stormwater Management Program that might ameliorate our problem with polluted waters. Some sewer districts will be expanded. New, more environmentally friendly septic systems will be introduced to the public, will be required for all new buildings and residences, and eventually will replace the systems currently in use. Some alleviation of water pollution can already be seen in our area, ie., blowfish are coming back. Storm-caused breaches in our barrier islands have also allowed for a brief cleaning out of pollutants in some of our bays. The governmental agencies cited above have put more emphasis on educating LI residents about how THEY can be the solution to pollution in Suffolk. Mark made available to us brochures about how we can help solve this problem, including suggestions on how to properly dispose of household hazardous wastes and litter, how to control bacteria from pets/wildlife and leaking septic systems, and how to lessen harm caused by fertilizers, etc.- all to help restore sufficient oxygen levels to our water and to promote a return of healthy scallops, lobsters, clams, and other aquatic life.