Already this year, Brookhaven has taken a straightforward approach to protecting our bays: make developers pay for what they damage.
The Town Board advanced changes to its wetlands and waterways code, setting a specific price for projects that cross ecological buffers. Developers unable to meet the required upland buffer will be charged $10 per square foot in mitigation fees. Building a dock or any unauthorized structure on Town-owned underwater land? That’s $20 per square foot.
“There are many properties with easements to the water,” explained Town Attorney Annette Ernesto during the Town Council meeting on Jan. 29. She pointed to examples in Center Moriches, where residents have been trying to install floating docks within 15-foot easements and have several boats blocking the canal. “So, we are removing that,” she added. “This clarifies the definition of a Riparian right.”
Riparian rights are landowners’ legal entitlement to make “reasonable use of the water,” such as fishing and recreational activities—placing expansive docks that could block navigation and harm habitats are no longer allowed. The town will also require wetlands permits for basement conversion projects. “We have climate change and sea level rise—that needs to be addressed,” Ernesto said.
Every dollar goes into an account managed by the Division of Environmental Protection, earmarked for wetland and shellfish restoration projects—hopefully making life easier for the people who actually rely on our waters.
This kind of environmental news flows through the Great South Bay the way tides move through inlets—constantly shifting, easy to miss if you’re not watching. We have to look no further than another seemingly inconsequential resolution to establish the hard clam endorsement for 2026, maintaining a regulatory framework in Brookhaven that’s been protecting some of Great South Bay’s most productive waters since 2012.
Without this special stamp on your commercial shellfish permit, you can harvest anywhere in Brookhaven’s underwater lands—except the premium zone.
That restricted area extends across central Great South Bay, from east of Homan’s Creek in Bayport to west of Barrett Beach Pier on Fire Island, and up to the William Floyd Parkway bridge between Shirley and Smith Point. It is the most productive hard clam area in eastern Great South Bay, and it is reserved for baymen who can demonstrate their commitment.
The Town Board determines the total number of endorsements by resolution, adjusting based on recommendations from the Division of Environmental Protection. These recommendations consider hard clam census data, annual harvest statistics, baywide population trends, and the total number of endorsements issued by Brookhaven, Babylon, and Islip—the three towns managing Great South Bay’s waters.
For 2026, the Board increased endorsements by 25, bringing the total to 175.
Source: Fire Island News & Great South Bay News
