Town Officials Tour Aquaculture Program

Islip Town officials recently toured its new aquaculture program, an initiative that allows entrepreneurs to lease acres in the Great South Bay for shellfish harvesting.

As previously reported by Patch, lessees pay the town an annual $750 fee for each acre leased. Those leasing acreage are also required to purchased all shellfish seed from Islip’s Shellfish Hatchery in East Islip. Shellfish species included in the program are bay scallop, hard clam, American oyster, blue mussel, soft shell clam and razor clam.

During the recent tour, town officials visited the shellfish hatchery, the acreage in the bay that Islip is leasing and received an overview of the oyster harvesting operation run by Blue Island Shellfish.