Illegal Clams
On June 24, ECOs Day and Franz responded to a complaint regarding three individuals with headlamps digging for clams in Centerport Harbor, an area in the town of Huntington closed for taking shellfish. The Officers approached the trio as they returned to their vehicle, checked their catches, and observed horseshoe crabs, blue crabs, and nearly 400 hard clams. Some of the catch was outside legal size limits and others would have been legal catches if caught in waters authorized for shellfishing.
Shellfish may not be harvested between sunset and sunrise and may not be taken from closed waters in New York State. The recreational limit for hard clams is 100 per person per day. All three individuals received tickets for harvesting clams from uncertified waters and possessing undersized hard clams. To find an area open to shellfishing in New York visit DEC Public Shellfish Mapper.
Late Night Boat Parol
On the evening of June 24, ECOs Day, Franz, and Pabes conducted a boat patrol out of Eaton Neck in the town of Huntington, Suffolk County. The Officers worked well into the early morning hours, inspected eight vessels, and issued several tickets for violations including undersized and oversized striped bass, tautog, summer flounder, and scup. All the fish were removed from the vessels and returned to the water unharmed. Additionally, ECOs discovered two violations of New York State Navigation Law for an unregistered vessel and no emergency signaling device.
