Unique among all the candidates for East Hampton Town trustee, Mike Martinsen spends almost every day of the year on the water. As the owner and operator of the Montauk Shellfish Company oyster farm, now it its 10th year, he keeps up with an ever-greater demand from restaurants and aficionados alike.
Before he began growing oysters, Mr. Martinsen was a traditional commercial fisherman, starting out clamming around Northport when he was 8. He had his own boat by the time he was 11. As he got older, he crewed aboard lobster boats working in Long Island Sound. Later, he had a lobster-distribution business.
After the Long Island Sound lobster population crashed about 20 years ago, Mr. Martinsen earned a degree in biology at Stony Brook University, meeting Mike Doall, with whom he teamed up in early oyster cultivation attempts. A few years later, they set up shop in phytoplankton-rich Lake Montauk, growing out young oysters in floating cages, a new idea at the time. He eventually bought out Mr. Doall and now runs the business by himself.
During that time, Mr. Martinsen also fished offshore on commercial vessels out of Montauk, including the Blue Sea, Misty Rose, Restless, and the Jason and Danielle, spending about 10 years as crew.
Throughout his 38-year career on the water, Mr. Martinsen has been concerned about the effects of pollution, ocean acidification, and fossil fuel consumption on marine resources. “Estuary water quality — that’s my whole claim to fame,” he said.
“I went from a commercial fisherman who took all the clams and lobsters out of the bay to putting it back.”
The overarching issue for the trustees is sea level rise and erosion, he said. “Nobody’s doing anything to change.”
“I’m coming in with an open mind. I’ve got a lot to learn.”
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