Tags Posts tagged with "Setauket Harbor"

Setauket Harbor

By Aidan Johnson

The Setauket Harbor Task Force held its annual Setauket Harbor Day under sunny skies last Sunday, Sept. 17, despite initial concerns over bad weather.

The event included live music, environmental lessons and free boat rides at the hamlet’s dock and beach on Shore Road.

“The purpose of the event is to show people how beautiful the harbor is and the different activities that can happen along the harbor,” said Laurie Vetere, a Setauket Harbor Task Force co-founder with George Hoffman. “We also have a lot of environmental groups, so it [has an] educational purpose as well — to try and get the kids involved and just make everybody aware of the natural beauty.”

Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) attended the event, remarking upon Setauket Harbor Day as a way to help people learn how to preserve Long Island’s waterfronts.

“I think that for waterfront communities like ours, it’s one thing to enjoy it, and it’s another thing to be educated on how to preserve and improve it,” he said.

“This is basically an opportunity for us to get a lot of these educational groups out here and get them to interface with the public so that people … can get on board with some of the initiatives that we’re trying to do to protect the water quality,” he added.

Kornreich also doubled as one of the live music performers during the festivities.

Photo by Julianne Mosher

Members from the Town of Brookhaven, the Setauket Harbor Task Force and other environmental groups headed out on two boats last week to harvest a potentially new aquatic crop — sugar kelp.

On Thursday, May 20, after a several-months-long process of preparing, planting and harvesting, volunteers joined Brookhaven bay constables out of Port Jefferson Harbor to head slightly west in retrieving the brown native seaweed that was brought to two labs for study. 

The project was spearheaded by nonprofit The Moore Family Charitable Foundation — a community involvement group that helps with projects throughout Long Island and the five boroughs.

“Our main goal for this year is to spread the word about kelp and where it grows, the conditions it needs, how to process it and how it can benefit growers on Long Island,” Wendy Moore, benefactor and manager of the sugar kelp project, previously told TBR News Media.

According to the foundation’s lead scientist David Berg, sugar kelp is known to be edible for both people and pets, it can be used as a fertilizer, bioplastic, biofuel, cosmetics and is a method to help improve water quality. 

Collaborating with the Town of Brookhaven, the Setauket Harbor Task Force, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University and Cornell Cooperative Extension, it took a large group of different people to implement a crop that could become a big deal on Long Island.

Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said that when he became supervisor, he immediately knew he wanted to lease out the town’s bays and harbors for projects like this. 

“Not only clams and oysters, but also for things like kelp, which is tremendous,” he said. “And seaweed. I think that we can start an industry and stimulate it to become a major industry.” 

In December, the task force dropped mooring anchors and set up the kelp growing field’s area in Setauket Harbor. In January, members attached the kelp seedlings to a line just under the surface of the water between buoys there.

George Hoffman, a trustee of the task force which helped oversee the sugar kelp cultivation and production, said partnerships like this are critical to get stuff done.

“We’re really thankful to the partnership,” he said. “Between the town and the harbor group, we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing if we didn’t have that partnership. It’s just a great example of how government works with citizens groups.”

Nestled in the water between Port Jefferson and Setauket, more than 200 pounds worth of sugar kelp was retrieved. 

Along with being a sustainable crop, sugar kelp helps take in excess nitrogen and CO2 from harbor waters, improving its chemistry. Hoffman said that excess nitrogen causes harmful algae bloom and excess CO2, resulting in ocean acidification.

“Removing nitrogen and CO2 from the waterways is absolutely critical,” Romaine added. “So, [sugar kelp] shows a lot of promise — and if you worry about methane gas, cows eat this when they feed and have 80% less gas.”

Town Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) joined on the boat, lifting up bags of kelp to weigh. He said that projects like this not only help the environment, but can also make positive changes in the private sector in the future. 

“To me this is the way that government should operate,” he said. “We make investments like this, into scientific research, or ways to develop either materials, or crops or techniques that can have a positive impact on things.”

Eventually, he said, a private sector can take over and make a business out of the crop.

“Government has a role in helping to get that started and making those investments in science,” he said.

Romaine said that Brookhaven has the largest waterfront of any town on the Island. In Port Jefferson, the area surrounding the harbor where the kelp was harvested goes back to the village’s original roots.

“We’re looking around and asking, ‘What could be the new industry for our town? What could give it life? What could be productive? How could we help nature to save clams, oysters, seaweed, kelp?’” he said. “Those industries are the future that we have to be visionary enough to support and to put the muscle of town government behind it.”

Pixabay photo

By Aida von Oiste

In 2018 the Swedes coined the phrase plogging “plock a upp” to encourage picking up roadside garbage. In 2019 Colorado added “plalking while walking” to persuade walkers to do the same.

I live two blocks south of Setauket Harbor. The joy of each morning is walking around the harbor to breathe in the beauty of nature and feast in its seemingly tranquil existence. 

As Spring arrives, I look and listen for the mating call of the red-winged blackbird as they return in mid February, along with the geese who fly in formation above me. Up until the red-winged blackbirds arrival, I often hear the call of the red cardinal and watch its brilliant red flash, along with the blue jays squawking year round and robins and sparrows who have been here throughout the winter.

Summer brings out the mockingbirds singing their varied songs. Wrens and crows surface and an occasional little yellow warbler flies by teasing me with its bright yellow. Summer is filled with nature exploding and reproducing. The swans and geese nest, the hawks and owls terrorize the small birds and chipmunks. You see many a bird fighting to protect its territory and keep its mate. Deer families cross the road, a turkey followed by her babies. Not to be outdone are the geese crossing the road with their babies following stopping traffic. The seagulls are here year round.

Fall brings the departure of the red-winged blackbirds, but the harbor is filled with a swan “convention.” Beautifully colored male ducks and their drab mates, and an occasional crane or heron graze nearby as the boats leave their summer lodgings for winter storage. The gun shot of hunters ring out through late fall and winter. A dreaded sound!

The last few months I’ve taken to walking with a plastic bag to pick up the debris strewn by passing cars who throw their garbage out their windows. Empty cigarettes and cigar packages are the most numerous offenders followed by cans and glass bottles of soda, sparkling water, beer cans, and vodka bottles. Discarded tissues and napkins, McDonald’s meal debris, paper bags filled with leftover wrappings from a local deli and lots of plastic bags. Some are filled with dog waste and dumped on the side of the road.

My bag fills up quickly. Cardboard boxes blown by the wind don’t fit so I put them under my arm. But, I leave the dead fish for the seagulls. 

Once it was an occasional can I could pick up on the side of the road. Now a bag is quickly filled up each way. We can’t stop the “jerks” from throwing out their trash when they drive through, but we can carry a trash bag and go “plalking while walking.” So, please join me in keeping our home pristine!

Task force member Mark Smith at Setauket Harbor installing buoys and lines in Setauket Harbor for growing sugar kelp. Photo from Setauket Harbor Task Force

By Chris Cumella

Rows of sugar kelp – a brown native seaweed — are being planted and will be harvested in Setauket Harbor, not for decoration but to provide cleaner water and other benefits to the community.

Neighboring next to Port Jefferson Harbor, the Setauket Harbor Task Force has installed two 100-foot lines with sugar kelp seedlings in hopes of cultivating them when they are ready for harvesting. There are numerous ways in which the sugar kelp can be benefited from.

This aquatic plant is edible for both people and pets. It can be used as a fertilizer, bioplastic, biofuel, cosmetics and is a method to help improve water quality.

“Our main goal for this year is to spread the word about kelp and where it grows, the conditions it needs, how to process it and how it can benefit growers on Long Island,” said Wendy Moore, benefactor and manager of the sugar kelp project.

Moore, along with her husband, Justin, founded The Moore Family Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit community involvement program.

“To that end, we’ve developed relationships with 11 growers this season,” she said.

Moore attributes her profound interest in the project to the fact that sugar kelp is self-sustaining. It is what she describes as a “low-intensity process,” which has seen nearly no obstacles other than lesser amounts of sun in the winter months. The Town of Brookhaven was one of the first to support the project and even provided equipment to the task force. There are plans to expand the project in the following years.

Even in a continuous pandemic, the project has not been swayed. According to Moore, the gear distribution and outplanting have been outdoors. Everyone on the team has been able to gather safely and follow proper COVID protocols.

“We’re lucky that much of the needed operations at this time are outdoors,” she said.

David Berg, a scientific advisor to the Moore Foundation, said that the cultivation rate would be more likely to increase after the equinox in March.

Besides Setauket and Port Jefferson Harbors, the Moore foundation has set up in other locations including Islip, Brookhaven, Greenport and Oyster Bay.

Two years ago, the Setauket Harbor Task Force began conducting water monitoring in Setauket Harbor. They set out in the spring, summer and fall seasons to take water chemistry readings and samples to document the water quality. With authorization from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the task force has been able to look at what can be done about the water and possibly cleaning it up.

“There’s oyster harvesting and clam harvesting,” said George Hoffman, a trustee of the task force which helps oversee the sugar kelp cultivation and production. “We decided to try sugar kelp harvesting, and they’re cleaning up the water by feeding on the C02 … which leads to water acidification.”

Hoffman describes his feelings about the task force being included in this pilot project as “exciting” and wants to show the public that harbors like Setauket can become productive areas for marine agriculture.

“We’re happy to have a product that will help us clean and improve the quality of the water and likewise providing beneficial food,” he said.

Cultivating the sugar kelp requires attaching the seeds to two 100-feet lines in the harbor, held together in place by mushroom anchors. When the kelp is ready to harvest, it is thick, rubbery, and a glistening shade of brown before it is processed and cleaned into a vibrant emerald green color, ready for distribution.

According to Hoffman, the harvesting sites take up roughly 200 feet of water, and he hopes to see expansion in a couple of years if this project yields successful results.

“The main thing we’re interested in doing is taking the interest that’s already here and helping Long Island along in the momentum of progressing further,” Moore said. “We want to seek out and connect with people and help get the word out about the amazing potential that it has.”

Volunteers for the Setauket Harbor Task Force have monitored the health of Port Jefferson Harbor for the past three years. Photo by Kyle Barr

What does it take to monitor the health of your local waterways? For the people who month after month do just that, all it takes is a love for the place one lives.

The Setauket Harbor Task Force was one of the most active of the 22 groups involved with Save the Sound and its bay water recording initiative. The immense amount of work is taken up by a squad of volunteers, some of whom have been active during the May through October months of the last three years.

Laurie Vetere and George Hoffman, co-founders of the Setauket Harbor Task Force, discuss this year’s findings compared to two years ago. Photo by Kyle Barr

The Setauket Harbor Task Force originated as a way to monitor the health of what they considered the lone “orphaned” bay on the North Shore, but their activities eventually spread over the border into Port Jefferson as well. While the task force originated in 2015 to help maintain the local waterways’ wellbeing, in 2018 the group joined the United Water Study program under the EPA’s Long Island Sound Study, and since then has done monitoring in 10 different locations in Port Jeff and Setauket harbors.

Hoffman, of the task force, said they have dedicated much of their time and energy to the project, especially maintaining rigorous scientific standards. They have gone out in foggy mornings where you could barely see a few feet in front of the boat. Once, their craft’s engine stopped working, and they had to be towed back to harbor. There have been times their small craft has rolled in early morning swells, but they keep on going.

“With climate and environment, there’s so little that most people can do,” he said. “Every day you read about a new thing — ice shelves melting, whales being beached … I find when I talk to volunteers, it’s just being able to do something.”

Every participating organization must take readings of the water twice a month, no less than 10 days apart. Because monitoring must be performed three hours before sunrise, volunteers are up well before dawn, getting into the small craft and wading out into the harbors. Their recording instrument, a sonde meter that records all manor of water quality metrics, costs close to $20,000. 

Steve Antos, one of the task force board members, also owns Setauket Landscape Design. Though he and others in his group have lived in the area for decades, the idea of water quality has really taken a hold on many of its participants. Antos enjoys constructing rain gardens in his regular job, which are critical for preventing water runoff flowing from people’s yards down toward the Sound. 

“In the past, everyone tried to get their properties to drain onto the road … and eventually it just runs into our bays and takes all the pollution and dog waste with it,” Antos said. “A lot of it is way beyond our control, but whatever we can do, just little things, it all adds up.”

Before working with the task force, many of the 10 or so volunteers wouldn’t have known what most of the readings, from the chlorophyll levels or turbidity (the water clarity) meant, but now have become a kind of citizen scientist, able to comprehend measurements using a very technical device. Their backgrounds range from a retired veterinarian to retired teachers, but what brings them together is their long time proximity to the bays and waterways of the North Shore. It’s what drove them to want to make sure the water was being maintained.

Tom Lyon, of Mount Sinai, and Mark Smith, of East Setauket, are the boat captains, and have lent their experience and water crafts to the project. They are small runabouts, one an 18-foot and the other 16. 

Nancy Goldstein, herself a trained scuba diver, got into the project thanks to a friend and has been active for three years. 

“I took marine biology in high school, but I’m totally not a scientist,” Goldstein said. “I care about the earth, and the marine — it’s all one.”

Bert Conover, a retired veterinarian from Port Jeff, said he has always been on the water “from Delaware River to Ocean City.” Long ago, he majored in chemistry and biology, but went to grad school for zoology and then went on to veterinarian school. 

“Now that I’m retired it gives me a chance to give back,” he said. “And hopefully the data will redirect how to approach a healthy harbor.”

Alice Leser has lived in Stony Brook for 49 years, and is a life-long Long Islander. She has taught programs about Long Island waters as a teacher and alongside fellow environmentalists at the Long Island Museum. When three years ago the task force offered her a training program at the Village Center, she snapped up the opportunity.

“I’ve been surrounded by water my entire life,” she said. “I’ve canoeed all the rivers, and I’ve taught programs about Long Island waters, so I really care about the purity of the water.”

Laurie Vetere, the fellow co-founder of the task force, said they have not had anyone drop out in three years.

“When we first started this program, we found that we had more volunteers than we needed,” Vetere said. “People are attracted to the water.”

Hoffman agreed, saying there is something about Long Islanders and their connection to their coasts.

“Long Islanders are coastal people,” he said. “I think what keeps us on Long Island is we all have a love for the water.”