September 13, 2012 - Updated July 10, 2014
The people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation have been harvesting shellfish from the waters of what is now Southampton for millennia.
Tony Ernst, Sustainable East End co-producer talks with Ruben Bess Valdez, of the Shinnecock Shellfish Hatchery about the challanges to developing the oyster business in the face of increasing
pollution of the waters surrounding the reservation.
July 10, 2014:
Here is an update on activities at Shinnecock:
According to the Southampton Press, as part of a
federal aid package awarded last month for restoring reservation shoreline
damaged during Superstorm Sandy, the tribe, will receive funds to
repair the crumbling shellfish hatchery building.
In addition to restoring the shoreline, other projects
intended to dampen the effects of future storm-driven waves are being
considered. Restoring eelgrass beds in the near-shore waters of eastern
Shinnecock Bay could act as a dampener for waves and storm surge, as could an
oyster reef the tribe would like to create along the tidal shallows
off its shores.
More information about the Shinnecock Nation and the shellfish hatchery is available at www.shinnecocknation.org/trustees-corner
More information about efforts to clean up the waters of the east end can be found at www.peconicbaykeeper.org
Sustainable East End is produced by Tony Ernst and the program host, Francesca Rheannon.
from shinnecocknation.org:
Shinnecock Shellfish Hatcheries
Back
in the 1980’s, the Shinnecock Indian Nation ran a Tribally owned and
operated shellfish hatchery which was successful for approximately 10
years, until much of Long Island was adversely affected by the Brown
Tide that devastated much of the shellfish industry on the Island. The
building from which this Tribal economic development project ran also
was one of the first solar paneled buildings on Long Island and was
noted for its high-energy efficiency. In the summer of 2004, a small
group of determined Shinnecock Tribal Members decided it was time to
reassess and evaluate the possibility of beginning a new shellfish
hatchery based on re-seeding of the Shinnecock Bay with oyster spawn.
With initial funding from the Long Island Community Foundation, and
later on the Horace Hagedorn Foundation, Kraft Environmental Family Fund
and finally, the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) DHHS,
Washington, D.C., the Hatchery was re-born. Today, the Bay has produced
thousands of succulent and healthy oysters as well as clams and other
shellfish. With pending funding requests, there is a lucrative market
for the Shinnecock shellfish whereby once re-established and operational
will provide the Nation with a self-sustaining and culturally relevant
source of Tribal income. In addition to being a source of economic
development, the Hatchery will contain an environmental component of
educating Shinnecock and non-Native students alike to the important
field of aquaculture and related sciences