[Added 1-9-2023]
The Southampton Town Trustees are keenly aware of the role the waters of the Town have played over the centuries; the shoreline and bottomlands have provided a bounty that has sustained individuals and families, even in this modern age. It is to that end that this article of the Blue Book has been formulated and made a part of it. The Trustees will continue to engage in activities and programs that protect and preserve an expanding shellfish population, and they view the implementation of a formal program of aquaculture for commercial harvest as a natural step in doing just that stewardship of the natural resources under their control is, first and foremost, the most important responsibility imposed on them as Trustees.
The purpose of this article is to formally establish a program of aquaculture for the cultivation of the Crassostrea virginica (eastern oyster), escallops, hard clams, sugar kelp, and eel grass within the waters and bottomlands under the Trustee's jurisdiction for the benefit of the commercial fishermen who are taxpayers and freeholders of the Town of Southampton.
A. 
Individuals who are not residents of the Town of Southampton shall be ineligible for an aquaculture permit; for-profit corporations, regardless of the residence of its ownership shall be ineligible to hold an aquaculture permit.
B. 
Educational nonprofit, or governmental affiliated organizations may apply for an aquaculture permit or a permit for the purposes of educational or scientific research, or to provide oysters, escallops, hard clams, sugar kelp, and eel grass for sale or donation as breeding stock for local permit holders and other entities legally engaged in aquaculture in the Town of Southampton or elsewhere, provided that they are authorized by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to do so.
C. 
Any applicant must first obtain all the necessary permits required by the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Southampton and the DEC to commercially harvest, sell, and transport shellfish from the Town of Southampton and submit copies of same as part of the completed application.
A. 
The Trustees shall publicly announce the opening of bottomland areas for use in the aquaculture program at least 90 days prior to the date of the announcement of the chosen application(s).
B. 
Applicants shall submit a fully completed application to the Trustees no later than the last date set by the Board as the deadline for consideration to be awarded a one-acre parcel, along with a nonrefundable fee for the processing of the application.
C. 
If there are multiple one-acre lots that are available for cultivation, the applicant shall specify his or her preference for lot location, but the Trustees shall not be required to honor the request if the location has been awarded, or if the applicant shall decline to accept the location awarded.
D. 
Locations available for permit shall be determined by the Trustees whose decision shall be final.
E. 
Awardees of one-acre permits of bottomland must comply with all rules and regulations set forth by the Trustees regarding the way the aquaculture is conducted, as well as any regulations put in place by the DEC governing the activity for the duration of the permit period.
A. 
Successful applicants shall notify the Trustees in writing of their acceptance of an aquaculture permit once they have made a formal application to the DEC for and have been granted a permit to engage in the activity by that agency and submit payment in full of the appropriate durational fee.
B. 
Once notified of the applicant's acceptance, the Trustees will prepare and pass any required resolutions or notifications to the DEC or, if applicable, the Army Corps of Engineers granting the applicant the right to conduct aquaculture activities in the designated area once that agency has issued a permit to do so as well.
(1) 
It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to obtain or complete at their expense any reports, Benthic Surveys, environmental assessments or obtain land surveys of the property that may be required by any governmental agency or authority.
(2) 
It shall be the responsibility of the successful applicant to provide current copies of any personal commercial licenses, buyer's permits, or employee buyer's helper permits to the Trustees upon request.
C. 
Copies of any permits issued by any other agency having jurisdiction or oversight on this permit, as well as any supporting documentation supplied to any entity referred to in Subsection B shall be provided to the Trustees as well.
D. 
Once deemed complete and accepted by the Trustees, the applicant shall submit the signed permit agreement in order to begin operations.
Fees for participation in the aquaculture program shall be set by the Trustees and posted in the schedule of fees promulgated and published by the Board of Trustees annually.
A. 
The Trustees shall establish zones within the waters of their jurisdiction that they deem suitable for aquaculture while balancing their desire to establish a sustainable program that the commercial baymen population will participate in that is in harmony with other programs that they have established (or will establish) focused on other species having a commercial presence in the Town of Southampton.
B. 
All zones and sites shall possess a permanent certification for shellfish harvesting as approved by the DEC.
C. 
Shall not be within the boundaries of areas designated as seasonal areas.
D. 
Must be no less than 100 feet outside of any marked or unmarked navigation channel.
E. 
Nothing in this article shall prevent the Trustees from opening aquaculture areas within spawner sanctuaries or zones established for the propagation of eel grass or other marine sea grass species, provided that the methodology employed by the aquaculturist does not disturb the bottom lands they are contained on.
F. 
At no time may aquaculture take place in waters that are uncertified by the DEC, nor in areas actively being used for the depuration of any shellfish species unless permitted by the Trustees or the DEC in writing.
G. 
Sites will be established using GPS coordinates adopted by Trustee resolution.
Permits shall be valid for a period of one year beginning on January 1 of that year and expiring on December 31 of that year, with four renewals allowed unless terminated earlier by the permittee through a voluntary surrender of the permit, or after a hearing before the Board of Trustees to terminate the permit for violating the terms and conditions governing the permit or the conduct of the permitted activity.
The corners of the lot shall be obviously marked in a manner that will advise boaters that the area contains a navigational hazard. All buoys, markers, etc., must be indelibly and clearly marked with both the NYS on-off bottom culture permit's alphanumeric identifier and the Trustees' aquaculture permit number.
All equipment shall be consistent with applicable regulations of the DEC and shall (with the exception of identification buoys and markers) only be placed in the permitted area, fully submerged.
A. 
The applicant shall be responsible for marking for identification purposes all equipment under its ownership, maintaining the equipment permitted and will be responsible for retrieving any equipment that leaves the permit area.
B. 
The applicant shall be responsible for the employment of waterfowl deterrent devices to prevent waterfowl from landing on aquaculture equipment.
C. 
During the winter months, the buoys must be removed and the bags and culture containers be secured to the bay bottom. All buoys must be removed by January 1 and the system cannot be redeployed until March 1.
D. 
If an area of water that is engaged in aquaculture is temporarily uncertified by the DEC for the sale of shellfish, it is understood all aquaculture activities shall immediately cease, until the area is reopened by the DEC or instructions are issued by the DEC regarding any prolonged closure that will require the transplanting of the affected shellfish to another area.
[Amended 3-8-2023]
E. 
In the event there is a decertification event, it should be declared as described in Subsection D, it is expressly understood by the permit holder that there will be no refund of any fees paid, pro rata or otherwise.
The citizen residential program of aquaculture organized, supervised, and administered by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program in waters under Trustee jurisdiction is hereby continued by the Trustees and Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, who shall have the authority to modify or make regulations concerning the program, subject to Trustee approval; participants in this program are prohibited from selling any shellfish produced by their participation.