A.
Title. This chapter shall be known as the "Shellfish
Management Code of the Town of Huntington."
[Amended 11-9-1999 by L.L. No. 20-1999]
B.
Legislative findings. Dating back over a ten-year
period, a variety of studies have supported limiting access to shellfish
stock in order to prolong, preserve and protect Long Island's shellfish
industry, most specifically by limiting the number of licenses and
permits issued, examples of which are set forth herein:
(1)
1985 State University of New York at Stony Brook report.
On December 23, 1985, the Marine Science Research Center of the State
University of New York at Stony Brook issued a report entitled "Suffolk
County's Hard Clam Industry: An Overview and an Analysis of Management
Alternatives - A Report of a Study by the Coastal Ocean Science and
Management Alternatives (COSMA) Program," which states, in relevant
part, as follows:
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"... unregulated access to common property fishery
resources leads to biologic and economic depletion of stocks...there
is a need for regulations to limit fishing efforts or access... .
Limited entry is primarily a method of allocating revenue to the participants
in a fishery to improve their individual economic performance and
that of the entire fishery... . Entry can be limited directly by establishing
a limit to the number of licenses issued... . Limited entry must be
combined with limits on each individual's catch... ."
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(2)
1987 Suffolk County Planning Department report. In
1987, the Suffolk County Planning Department issued a document entitled
"Strategies and Recommendations for Revitalizing the Hard Clam Fisheries
in Suffolk County," which states, in relevant part, as follows:
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"...The need to control entry into the Huntington
Bay hard clam fishery is...recommended...to sustain harvests over
a longer period, while maintaining a higher standing stock of clams.
Unlimited entry into this fishery contributed to a rapid and dramatic
decline in landings after the production peaked during the period
from 1961-1963... . The Town of Huntington should freeze the number
of commercial shellfish permits... ."
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(3)
1995 Memorandum of the Governor of the State of New
York filed with Senate Bill number 2724-A. On July 19, 1995, New York
State Governor George E. Pataki issued a memorandum filed with the
above referenced Senate Bill, which bill is entitled "An Act to amend
the Environmental Conservation Law, in relation to limiting access
to commercial fisheries in marine waters and declaring a temporary
moratorium on the entry of additional fishing vessels to such waters...,"
which memorandum states, in relevant part, as follows:
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"...New York State's unique commercial and fishing
opportunities are threatened by the overharvesting... . Pressure will
only increase on this diminishing resource unless such harvesting
is at least limited to present licensees... ."
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(4)
1996 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
report. In March 1996, the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation issued a report entitled, "Report to the Legislature
Regarding Commercial Fishing Effort and License Eligibility Requirements,"
which states, in relevant part, as follows:
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"...Fishing effort needs to be stabilized and
controlled to ensure both the biological and the social/economic sustainability
of commercial fisheries... . Unregulated increases in fishing effort
threaten the long term sustainability of marine fisheries. Since nearly
all the region's marine fish stock are currently overexploited...regional
increases in capitalization and fishing effort are inconsistent with
assuring sustainability of fish stock... . Biological sustainability
of fish stocks can be, and for many species is being, addressed through
fisheries management programs which actively intervene in fisheries
harvest to achieve sustainable yield... . The future of New York's
and the region's marine fisheries depends upon the effective development
and implementation of marine fisheries management actions... ."
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(5)
The 1999 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk
County Marine Program report. In May, 1999, the Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Suffolk County Marine Program issued a report entitled
"Huntington Town Shellfish Survey, 1998: Hard Clam Population Estimate
and Management Options for Sustained Yields," which reaffirms and
verifies the concerns and recommendation set forth in the previously
referenced reports and supports the necessity of further restrictions
to protect the shellfish population and the shellfish industry within
the town.
[Added 11-9-1999 by L.L. No. 20-1999]
C.
It is the intention of the Town Board to protect the
legal rights of the public by insuring every applicant under this
chapter receives fair and expeditious due process by providing for
an administrative hearing officer to alternatively preside over license
suspension and application denial hearings. In order to accomplish
this goal, the Town Board is exercising its authority under § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12)
of the Municipal Home Rule Law, § 136(1) and § 137
of the Town Law and any other applicable provision of law now or hereafter
enacted, to supersede and/or expand upon the applicable provisions
of § 137 of the Town Law, and any other applicable or successor
law, in order to permit an appointed administrative hearing officer
to preside over license suspension and application denial appeal hearings.
[Added 1-13-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
A.
CERTIFIED AREA
CONDITIONALLY CERTIFIED SHELLFISH LANDS
MANAGEMENT AREA
NYSDEC
PERSON
PERSONAL USE
PUBLIC TRANSPLANT
RESIDENT
SAIL DREDGING
SEASONALLY CERTIFIED SHELLFISH LANDS
SEED
SHELLFISH
SHELLFISH CONTAINER
SHELLSTOCK
STANDARD MEASURE
TAKE or TAKING
TOWN LANDS UNDERWATER
UNCERTIFIED AREA
Definitions. Unless otherwise stated in the section
where the term is used herein, the meaning of terms used in this chapter
shall be as stated below.
An area designated by NYSDEC to be in such sanitary condition
that shellfish therein may be taken for human consumption.
Any area designated by NYSDEC as certified lands during the
seasons when such lands meet the criteria in 6 NYCRR 47.3(b).
Any area or sanctuary set aside by the Town Board and/or
Board of Trustees for the conservation, preservation, protection,
deputation, purification, aquaculture/mariculture, seeding, spawning
and/or growth of shellfish.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Any natural person as well as any business, firm, partnership
or corporation authorized to do business in the State of New York.
For the use of the taker and his/her immediate family.
Any transfer of shellfish for the purpose of resource management
from shellfish lands in one area to shellfish lands in another area
which requires the issuance of a permit pursuant to Article 13 of
the Environmental Conservation Law.
A person who has his/her principal place of abode and domicile
in the Town of Huntington for at least six months prior to the date
of the submission of a permit application or a business, firm, partnership
or corporation having its principal place of business in the Town
of Huntington.
[Amended 9-16-2014 by L.L. No. 34-2014]
The taking of oysters or oyster sets alone using no more
than one dredge or scrape being no wider than thirty-six (36) inches.
Said dredge or scrape shall be dragged by a boat propelled by no other
means than sail (or oars) when taking oysters. Said dredge or scrape
must be brought aboard the boat by hand without the use of mechanical
power.
Any area designated by NYSDEC as certified lands during the
seasons when lands meet the criteria in 6 NYCRR 47.3(a).
Any of a series of shellfish regulated by this chapter that
are less than the legal size for that species as described in this
chapter.
All types of shelled organisms belonging to the phylum Mollusca
(mollusks) and living in or above town lands underwater. This includes
but is not limited to oysters (Crassostrea virginica), blue mussels
(Mytilus edulis), scallops (Argopectin irradians), hard clams (Mercenaria
mercenaria), soft clams or steamers (Mya arenaria), razor clams (Ensis
directus), whelks (Busycon species) and moon snails (Polynices species
and Lunatia species), or any combination thereof.
Any receptacle for holding, storing, packing, enclosing,
receiving, transporting or shipping when containing shellfish/shellstock.
All shellfish as defined in this section that are unprocessed
and in the shell.
A bushel with a volume of 2,150.42 cubic inches or otherwise
in agreement with criteria set forth in the Agriculture and Markets
Law of the State of New York, Article 16, § 176.
The actual removal and/or harvesting of shellfish from town
lands underwater and/or the area above town lands underwater and all
lesser acts such as attempting to remove shellfish, disturbing shellfish
and using any implements or device to remove shellfish, regardless
of whether such acts result in the actual removal of shellfish.
All lands covered by water at mean high water within the
Town of Huntington and owned by the town or by its Board of Trustees.
Any area designated by NYSDEC not to be in such sanitary
condition that shellfish therein may be taken for human consumption.
B.
Word usage. When not inconsistent with the context,
the present tense shall include the future, and words used in the
plural shall include the singular and vice versa. Furthermore, a masculine
pronoun shall include the feminine. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is
permissive.
C.
Ambiguity. Terms not defined in this article, or terms
found to be ambiguous or improperly defined in this section, shall
be defined by the Environmental Conservation Law of the State of New
York or appropriate rules and regulations pursuant thereto.
