Caribbean-like weather and a strong supply of fish of many species have the retail fish business booming. Roger Tollefsen, president of the New York Seafood Council and owner of the Indian Cove Seafood Shop in Hampton Bays, said the Fourth of July weekend saw the busiest retail trade in over 10 years.

The 15 percent, per year, rate of increase in demand seen throughout the 1980s - until the stock market crash in October of 1987 - looks to have taken a giant leap upward if the weekend of the Fourth was any indication, Mr. Tollefson said on Monday.

He said the free-spending of the 1980s was reflected in the retail fish business - "I don't know if we'll ever see that again."The market stayed flat after "black Monday," however, until last year, "a building year," with a substantial increase this year, Mr. Tollefsen said.

John Haessler of the Seafood Shoppe in Wainscott, Dick Gosman of Gosman's Seafood Market in Montauk, and Charlotte Klein Sasso of Stuart's Market in Amagansett agreed the Fourth of July weekend was aces, much better than last year. The overall supply of fish was good. Swordfish and tuna were in especially high demand, they agreed, because of excellent grilling weather.

Bass Supply Slow

While the striped bass season opened for commercial fishermen on July 1, the supply has been a bit slow, according to market owners, probably because fishermen want to hold back their tags for the larger fish that come later in the season.

The season quota, set by the state in cooperation with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is the same as last season's: 590,000 pounds.

The quota is broken down between full-time commercial fishermen and part-timers. The former are allocated 88 tags each, and one tag must be attached to each bass sold. Eligible part-timers receive 14 tags each. A total of 500 full-time bass fishermen are participating this season, and 140 who fish in their spare time. In the commercial bass fishery, a full-timer is one whose income comes at least 50 percent from some kind of fishing, including running a charter boat.

Large Steamers

Whether they harvest bass by rod and reel or by net, not all commercial bass fishermen run out and use up all their tags. On the one hand, prices are good now during the busy summertime restaurant season. On the other, larger bass (worth more money per tag) are often caught later in the season. Striped bass fillets are selling in the range of $9 to $12 per pound.

Last month, baymen asked and received permission from the East Hampton Town Trustees to use the powering method of digging soft (steamer) clams from a section of Napeague Harbor. Unfortunately, it seems the clams in the set are large. Most consumers prefer smaller steamer clams, which has decreased demand for the Napeague Harbor steamers. Smaller steamers from other local areas are making it to market, however, and selling for about $3.50 a pound.

Efforts are afoot to sell the larger steamers to processors who shuck them to be used as "fryers."

Sushi Lovers

The supply of yellowfin tuna looks as though it will pick up with a large body of fish about 50 miles south of Montauk. These days markets can buy fish caught almost anywhere in the world. A local supply can, but doesn't have to, result in lower prices.

Ms. Sasso of Stuart's explained that "number-one" grade tuna used for sushi always commands a high price, while there is more play in the lesser grades used for grilling. The range at Stuart's is between $9 and $15 per pound, she said.

"Sushi is so popular. I sell the stuff that goes with sushi, the wasabi, the seaweed, and it sells fast. And, a lot of people are eating tuna lean and ask for it cut a little thicker so they can get that pink color in the middle," Ms. Sasso said.

Burgers, Too

Like other markets, Stuart's also offers tuna "kebabs," chunks of good-grade tuna for $7 to $8 per pound. But Ms. Sasso might have the corner on the tuna burger market. She makes them herself out of ground tuna chunks, ginger, teriyaki, scallions, and other spices. They sell for $7.99 and are ready for the grill.

The first half of the commercial weakfish season ended on June 24, stemming the best supply of weaks from pound nets in some time. The season reopens on Aug. 28.

A two-year moratorium on new commercial fishing licenses for lobstering and fin-fishing in New York State ended on June 30, prompting a flood of applications: 382 had been filed as of Tuesday and 500 were expected by press time.

The predicted landslide of applications has prompted an angry response from the industry, from the Marine Re sourc es Advisory Council, and from State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who represents the South Fork.

One official of the State Department of Environmental Conservation said the rush for licenses was "like a half-price sale at the Farmers Market."

Outraged Chorus

The moratorium was imposed in 1995 on fin fish licenses, with the exception of striped bass and fluke (summer flounder), as well as on lobstering licenses and nonresident permits for lobstering.

Mr. Thiele joined the chorus of outraged members of the commercial and recreational fishing industries in blaming Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky of Elmsford, chairman of the Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee, and the Assembly's Democratic majority for not backing legislation that would have imposed a cap on the number of new fishing licenses or extended the moratorium for another year.

The Senate already had approved a bill sponsored by Owen Johnson of Babylon to put a cap on licenses at 1996 levels for three years. The idea was that the complicated licensing issues needed prolonged study.

But the bill failed to get to the floor of the Assembly. As a result there is no longer any limit on the number of food-fish or lobster licenses that can be issued.

D.E.C. Request

The moratorium was imposed at the request of the D.E.C. as part of an effort to impose a fisheries management policy called limited entry, that is, limiting the number of persons who have access to the resource. Summer flounder and striped bass are regulated under separate legislation and already had limits on the number of people who could obtain licenses.

Based on an agency report, the moratorium also was meant to help develop criteria to define who would be classified as engaged in commercial fishing, such as how much of an individual's income was derived from it. An agency spokesman said the D.E.C. had hoped the Legislature would cap licenses at 1995 levels.

Unthinkable even a decade ago, limited entry has become accepted by commercial fishermen as the most efficient way to prevent overfishing.

Blaming Brodsky

The Marine Resources Advisory Council, a state-appointed group representing commercial and recreational fishing as well as environmental and government groups, places blame on Mr. Brodsky, but he and others blame the D.E.C. itself.

"Brodsky is irresponsible in the extreme. He has really hurt the commercial fishermen of New York," Arnold Leo, secretary of the East Hampton Town Baymen's Association, said yesterday.

Mr. Leo, who chaired a committee of the Advisory Council working to define licensing criteria, said the D.E.C. had proposed increasing li cense fees as much as three times more than his committee had recommended. The fees now are $50 for lobster licenses and $100 for food fish licenses. The Senate bill had reduced these fees.

Mr. Brodsky also opposed the fee increases, according to Bill Wise, chairman of the Advisory Council. Moreover, Mr. Brodsky also was said to believe that placing caps on access to fisheries might be unconstitutional, although other states, and indeed the Federal Government, have been using them to manage fisheries for some years. Mr. Brodsky also did not champion a compromise bill that would have kept the moratorium in place for another year.

Not Too Late

The issue is not a simple one. Many inside and outside the commercial fisheries saw the moratorium as the first step in a longer process to legislate limited entry. While the concept of limited entry has been accepted by the industry as a valid conservation measure, no one yet had come up with acceptable criteria for who would be allowed to remain in commercial fishing and who would be locked out.

"If you're above capacity now and you add 500 more boats to the fishery, what do you think that's going to do to the fishing industry and to the ecosystem?" an angry Mr. Thiele said last week.

"We're interested in having this matter resolved," said Jennifer Post, a D.E.C. spokeswoman, who added that the agency would like to see Senator Johnson's bill approved by the Assembly.

Assemblyman Thiele said it was not too late for the Legislature to pass an extension to the moratorium, if nothing else, before legislators leave on vacation in a few weeks.

(An editorial to that effect appears in this issue.)

East Hampton Town has won a reputation as a trailblazer in environmental preservation, and this week it took another pioneering step as officials discussed an ambitious plan to protect wildlife through far more stringent wetlands regulations.

"People complain about insects in the summer here, but think about what it would be like if we didn't have the dragonflies, the damselflies, the diving beetles, the frogs and toads," said Larry Penny, the town's director of natural resources.

Mr. Penny and two others made the case for the conservation measures at a Town Board meeting on Tuesday, urging that the current wetland setbacks be tripled for structures and doubled for septic systems. Board members were receptive to the plan.

Spotted Turtle

The Town Trustees have passed laws to help protect threatened shorebirds, but this would be one of the first local laws that speaks to the protection of wildlife habitats in general. Usually municipalities leave such matters to the county, state, or Federal Government.

There are between 1,000 and 2,000 wetland areas in the town. Some of them are very small and don't offer much in the way of breeding grounds and habitat, some have already been compromised by development, but others, like the ones used by the spotted turtles that John Behler, a biologist, has followed for the past three years, offer prime examples of wildlife.

The East End spotted turtle population includes newborns to 40-year-olds, an amazing range, considering that a population he studies in Westchester County has virtually no turtles under 25 years of age, Mr. Behler said.

Greater Setbacks

That speaks volumes for the condition of the freshwater wetlands in East Hampton Town and is a prime reason to enact greater protections for this resource, Mr. Behler, Mr. Penny, and Andrew Sabin, a metals trader and a founder of the South Fork Natural History Society, believe.

They want the town to create a new "overlay district" where tougher wetlands setback requirements would help preserve critical habitats for freshwater wetlands animals. They argue that a number of wetlands are not adequately protected under current laws.

These laws mandate that structures be set back 100 feet from wetlands, septic systems be set back 150 feet, and clearing not be done within 50 feet of wetlands without special variances. Mr. Penny's entourage proposes a 300-foot setback for all structures and septic systems.

Montauk And Northwest

"Even with the most ambitious setbacks we could entertain, these areas would still have some problems," said Mr. Behler, who served on the Bronx Zoo staff for more than 25 years.

"With a 300-foot rule the majority of species that come to the water to breed and the majority of those that leave the water to breed would be protected," Mr. Penny said. These include not only insects, frogs, and turtles, but salamanders, snakes, and waterfowl.

The town may want to limit not only structures and septic systems within the 300-foot area, but also mowing and the use of hard pesticides, Mr. Penny said.

The proposed overlay district would predominantly cover areas in Montauk and the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton, where most of the town's wetlands lie.

Mr. Penny acknowledged that many properties wouldn't be able to meet these setback requirements. "We want to prioritize so the best systems get the best protection," he said. The wetlands with the richest contribution would be given a greater buffer zone.

The overlay district wouldn't save every animal, but it would be saving enough of the population to keep it going and in fairly good shape, he added.

"We're talking about a whole ecosystem here," Mr. Sabin said.

Mr. Penny and Mr. Sabin urged the town to act quickly. "We need something in place right away," Mr. Sabin told the board. "We don't want a long study and by the time we finish it, all the animals are gone."

Mapping Wetlands

However, the town has some breathing room, since the breeding season for most of the wetlands species is over for the year.

Mapping the freshwater wetland areas, the first step in the process, will take between three and four months. Most of the information needed to create the maps is already on databases of the Natural Resources Department.

The Natural Resources Department and one of its divisions, the Environmental Protection Department, will use these records and field surveys to create an inventory of freshwater wetlands and their uplands buffer areas.

They will then classify the wetlands in terms of their quality and importance as breeding grounds for wildlife and finally will rate each according to its level of value for wetlands fauna.

Getting It Rolling

If the overlay district is created, not all freshwater wetlands would require the maximum 300-foot setback proposed, Mr. Penny said. Some areas where there is just one small pond might not be as high a priority as areas where creatures such as the spotted turtle could move from water body to water body.

An overlay district could start with just the highest-rated areas at first, and then be expanded in the future. The point, Mr. Penny and Mr. Sabin said, was to set the ball in motion.

Town Board members agreed and offered their unanimous support for the plan. Now, the mapmaking begins.

From Wainscott to Montauk, town roads were dangerous as well as clogged during the days preceding and following the Fourth of July. They proved fatal for one motorcyclist, who was struck by a car and killed on Saturday morning.

Four bicyclists and a moped rider were also injured in accidents during the holiday weekend. Thirty-nine accidents, an unusually high number, were reported in all by East Hampton Town and Village police.

The fatal motorcycle accident occurred at the intersection of Springy Banks and Oyster Shores Roads in East Hampton at around 8:45 a.m. The driver of the car, Frances DeMarco of East Hampton, was attempting to make a left turn onto Oyster Shores Road, she told police, when she heard a horn. She stopped and let a motorcycle go by in the oncoming lane, then proceeded.

Motorcyclist Killed

Mrs. DeMarco, 76, told police she did not see a second motorcycle, driven by Kenneth H. Knollenberg of Bridgehampton, come around a bend in the road. The car and the motorcycle collided, throwing the 68-year-old Mr. Knollenberg from the bike. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both Mrs. DeMarco and her husband, Michael DeMarco, 86, who was riding next to her in the front seat, were taken to Southampton Hospital to be checked out, though police said they had no visible injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

A Manhattan law firm specializing in personal injury litigation, Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, announced Tuesday that it had been retained in the case by the victim's family and was "investigating all possible causes to this accident in addition to error of the driver."

Mr. Knollenberg's obituary appears in this issue.

Moped Mishap

A moped accident later on Saturday in Montauk resulted in injuries to the rider, as well his arrest for alleged marijuana possession.

Police said Gary Liepper of Roslyn, riding on Old Montauk Highway, had been changing lanes illegally and trying to ride on the sidewalk when the front tire of his moped hit a hole. The bike flipped over, throwing Mr. Liepper onto the sidewalk.

Suffering from a concussion and numerous abrasions, he was taken by ambulance to East Hampton Airport, then airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

His injuries turned out to be only minor, and he was released the same day after treatment. A search of his bag, however, turned up a half-dozen marijuana cigarettes, according to police.

Mr. Liepper was charged with unlawful possession of the controlled substance, a violation, and given a court-appearance ticket.

Bicycle Accidents

Bicyclists also found the roads unfriendly this week. Police reported four bicycle-versus-car accidents over the weekend, none of which resulted in serious injuries.

The first occurred in front of the Amagansett Post Office Friday afternoon. H. Singleton-Green, driving an Avis rental car, was attempting to pull out of the Post Office parking lot to head east on Montauk Highway when she collided with James Hoopes of Amagansett, who was trying to turn left into the lot.

Mr. Hoopes sustained substantial cuts on his face and was transported to the emergency room, which released him after treatment.

Several hours later, at the intersection of Swamp Road and Route 114 in East Hampton, a bicycle and car collided again.

Bruce Fletcher, the bicyclist, was riding on 114 with his 1-year-old son, Kyle, behind him in a bike seat. At the Swamp Road intersection, the bicycle was struck by a car driven by Paul Curtis of Manhattan, who was trying to turn onto Route 114.

The 1-year-old suffered a minor injury. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

Struck From Behind

On Saturday, Paul Pion of Manhattan was riding his bike along Three Mile Harbor Road in Springs, near Washington Avenue, when, he said, he was struck from behind by a car and thrown to the ground. The driver, Gunter Binkowski of Ridgewood, said Mr. Pion had ridden into the front of his car.

Mr. Pion was treated for bruises to his arm at Southampton Hospital and released.

The next day in Montauk, Mark Davis of Greenwich, Conn., was riding his bike on Essex Street, when, he told police, a car crossed in front of him, turning in to the Mobil gas station. Edith Wright of Montauk was the driver.

The bike and car collided, causing minor injuries to Mr. Davis. He was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Over His Foot

A truck ran over a contractor's foot at a Montauk work site June 30. Peter Maxey of East Hampton told police he was kneeling down working on a catch basin, with his foot in front of a rear wheel. Suddenly the truck began to pull out, running over Mr. Maxey's foot.

The driver, Robert Baker of East Hampton, said he had not seen anyone near the truck.

Mr. Maxey was released after em er gency room treatment.

A rear-end collision on Old Stone Highway in Springs Friday sent one driver to the hospital with minor injuries. Suzanne Beverly of Sag Harbor told police she had stopped to turn onto Red Dirt Road when a car driven by Alan Bourne of Manhattan slammed into the back of hers.

Complaining of neck pain, she was taken to the hospital, treated, and released.

There was a similar rear-end collision Saturday morning at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Devon Road in Amagansett. Douglas Reese of Springs said he stopped his car abruptly to avoid hitting a car in front of him that had also stopped short, when he was hit from behind by another car, driven by Darren DiSanto of Miller Place.

Mr. Reese and a passenger in the DiSanto car, Christopher Barbieri, both complained of neck pain. Mr. Reese declined medical attention, but Mr. Barbieri was taken to Southampton Hospital, which released him after treatment.

In Town Pond

A Southampton youth was charged with displaying a fictitious inspection sticker, a misdemeanor, on Friday after village police pulled him over for allegedly speeding on Woods Lane. Police said the sticker on Eric J. Gallant's 1979 B.M.W. belonged to a 1977 Mercedes Benz.

Police also ticketed the 19-year-old, who lives on Highland Road, for allegedly lacking inspection, insurance, and a front license plate. He was released on $25 station-house bail and given a court date.

Of 19 accidents in the village last week, two resulted in trips to the emergency room; a third ended with a car in Town Pond. Ivan M. Fatovich of Fort Lee, N.J., failed to negotiate the left turn from Woods Lane to Main Street early Saturday morning and wound up with a few wheels of his Jeep in the pond.

There were no injuries or damage, police said, though the vehicle had to be towed from the water.

Village Accidents

William P. Jenkins of Dix Hills was driving down Ocean Avenue July 2 when a car pulled out of Lily Pond Lane in front of him. He could not avoid hitting it, he told police.

The other driver, Alexander Schick of East Hampton, told police he had made a left turn when he was suddenly struck by Mr. Jenkins's car. Mr. Schick complained of minor facial bleeding and a passenger, Nina Schick, complained of minor bleeding on her lower arm. Both were taken by ambulance to the hospital, where they were treated and released.

On June 29, an East Hampton bicyclist was treated and released at Southampton Hospital after an accident on Newtown Lane. Brian King said he was riding against traffic and entering the A&P parking lot when his bike and a car came together. He said he did not see the car until the collision.

Driving the car was Kim Reisman of Manhattan, who told police she was entering the parking lot when the bicycle hit her vehicle.

In The Harbor

In Sag Harbor, meanwhile, police made six drunken driving arrests during the week.

Charged on July 2 was Necole A. Gustauson, 19, of Shelter Island. On Saturday, police charged JoAnn M. Goldberg, 50, of High Point Road, East Hampton, Fatima Z. Rodriguez, 33, of Forest Hills, and Karen B. Friedman, 37, of Great Neck.

Charged Monday were Troy K. Sadler of Swamp Road, East Hampton, 26, and Fabio Pedranzini, 26, of Main Street, Sag Harbor.

Boats Vs. Rocks

Finally, outside the Sag Harbor breakwater, rocks claimed three boats over the weekend.

Ted Sadler, senior bay constable, said James Donaghy's Searay sustain ed $4,000 worth of damage on July 2. Judith Sterboum's 31-foot Tiara will cost about the same amount to re pair.

The rocks inflicted $10,000 worth of damage to George Lilienthal's 33-foot Riveria.

No one was injured in the mishaps.

The community theater enthusiasts Anita and Bill Brown have reached into every nook and cranny of easternmost Long Island to ferret out performers and technicians, carpenters and set designers for their Montauk Theatre Productions and Theatre in Montauk.

Far more than the average local impresario, Ms. Brown, an actress and director, and Mr. Brown, an actor, have made use of down-home talent. And if the unsuspecting citizens they targeted had no theatrical aspirations, well, that didn't stop the Browns.

"At first we didn't even hold auditions," Ms. Brown said of their beginnings 10 years ago. "I'd just go up to people on the street and ask them if they'd like to be in a show. I got neighbors from motels and marinas, laundromats and restaurants, some of whom had never been on a stage in their life."

"Then I'd round up kids and pop them into the cast, too, to make it more fun."

Started A Theater

The Browns had vacationed in Montauk for years and finally bought a house, supposedly for weekends, in 1988. But Mr. Brown turned out to be such an avid gardener, "planting things even in the snow," according to his wife, that weekends lengthened into weeks, and the absence of a local playhouse began to get to them.

"When we saw there were none here, we just went ahead and started a theater," Ms. Brown said. They commandeered the Montauk Community Church basement, and even talked the minister into playing his guitar on their first opening night.

Suddenly, eager co-founders came out of the woodwork, such theater people as the veteran actor Frank Borth, who wrote "Montauk Follies," their first show, Edward Ecker, a community leader with vaudeville experience who did some routines, and Ada Gigante, now in her 80s, who sang French songs.

Shows For Kids

Other talents emerged: Velaine Pfund, a gifted actress and dancer, and Sybil Tuma, who starred in "Montauk Follies." Henry Uihlein of Uihlein's Marina also put on skits, and Mr. Borth's wife, Bobby, who'd done a lot of performing, joined in the fun.

"There was no overall plan," said Mr. Brown. "But the church basement, by its very nature, prevented us from doing anything too heavy-duty, or with less than a G rating. We had no money to build a theater, and trying to renovate the crumbling Montauk Manor[Playhouse] was not feasible."

So they went with the flow, putting on holiday shows with lots of kids for Halloween and Christmas, and staging scripts with large casts written especially for community theater.

Murder And Intrigue

"Meet the Creeps," a send-up of "The Addams Family" and other monster shows, famously starred Joanna Steichen of Montauk as the loathsome Tarantula Creeps. "Phantom of the Soap Opera," an old-fashioned melodrama of murder and intrigue in the backstage world of daytime soaps, also gave community actors some juicy roles.

But like all troupes, they craved their own space and four years ago, they got it. Now operating out of adjoining storefronts on South Elmwood Avenue, Montauk Theatre Productions runs the 40-seat Drama Stage One and a dance and acting studio next door.

Here the Browns have room not only to teach, but also to stage more serious and avant-garde plays and to experiment with readings of works-in-progress.

Recent Productions

Recent productions have included A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters," starring Mr. Brown and Montauk's Veronica Keough; Mark Twain's "The Diaries of Adam and Eve," and, most recently, the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" by Paul Zindel, all directed by Ms. Brown.

Woody Allen, David Mamet, and Elaine May's "Death Defying Acts" was staged over two recent weekends, and Marilyn Sokol's "Mrs. Dally Has A Lover" is scheduled for Aug. 5.

The Browns met, not surprisingly, while acting in summer stock, in New London, N.H. Mr. Brown was taking a break from his first year in law school at the University of Delaware, where as an undergraduate he had studied acting.

Actor And Teacher

Ms. Brown grew up in New York City and got her first professional job at age 16 as a dancer in the Gae Foster Roxyettes at the old Roxy Theater. However, as a near-sighted person in the pre-contact lens era, she found she excelled at ballet rather than jazz and tap dancing, with their fast-paced, demanding routines.

She studied for a time at the ballet school of the Metropolitan Opera, on scholarship, before taking up acting, and has appeared off Broadway, on TV, and in regional theaters.

Ms. Brown also has extensive teaching and directing credits in New York and vicinity, including a long-term association as head of the Double Image Theatre's young people's department and as the director of publicly funded shows for New York City schoolchildren. In Montauk, besides directing numerous shows for M.T.P. and for community functions and benefits, she has regularly taught dance and acting classes.

She has recently discovered another voice, as a singer. "I'm taking lessons," she said. "It's an absolutely thrilling new form of expression."

Blossoming

Mr. Brown, after completing his law degree, became an insurance broker in New York. The couple has an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, where he stays during the week.

In Montauk, he has blossomed as an actor, appearing in numerous local plays and musicals including "The Diaries of Adam and Eve, "Dreamboats," and "Seems Like Old Times."

As a member and former chairman of New York's Caravan Theatre Company, he helped sponsor new playwrights and plays, including productions of "China Dream," "Half Life," and "Full Moon," a role he continues to perform locally.

Shakespeare

"Last summer Will Eno, a fellow from the Edward Albee Foundation, wandered in off the street, and we ended up putting on a short play he was working on," Mr. Brown said.

"He came back in the fall with other new pieces we did readings of. And two weeks ago, another playwright we'd sponsored did a piece for the library."

A year ago Gerard Doyle, director of the London Shakespeare Company, also dropped in, according to Mr. Brown. He gave a series of workshops for actors and nonactors, and a very successful outdoor performance of Shakespeare soliloquies.

"I love new writers and new pieces," said Ms. Brown, "but the weekend crowd doesn't like experimental stuff. Maybe we'll do them on Monday nights."

Upcoming Musicals

In their new venue, Upstairs at the Downs, the second-floor dining room at the Montauk Downs Golf Course, the Browns will produce the musical reviews "Wanted, Dead or Alive" and "The Boy Friend," and the East End premiere of an Off Broadway murder-mystery musical, "Split Ends."

Nor are their ubiquitous community appearances limited to theaters. When the Montauk substation of the East Hampton Town Police Department asked them to enact various types of crimes for the edification of rookie cops, the stalwart troupe threw itself into improv presentations of family disputes, armed drug-dealer holdups, muggings, and hostage crises, among other risky situations.

"We're a resource for many different events: community shows, musicals, new works, cabaret, and performing arts workshops," Mr. Brown said. "It's sort of unfocused, but we like it like that. Our function is to develop talent and make things happen."

Hisao Shiroyama has paved his path to the new Yama Q restaurant in Bridgehampton with culinary gold. As the sushi chef at the East Hampton restaurant Fresno Place in the early 1980s, Mr. Shiroyama and the restaurant's owner, Dean Golden, introduced sushi to this end of the South Fork.

They built a solid base of fans, who followed them to Sen, a wee bit of a restaurant they opened on Sag Harbor's Main Street that made sushi and other Japanese dishes a mainstay. After a year of partnership there, Mr. Shiroyama bought the restaurant from Mr. Golden.

By the early 1990s, sushi had caught on. People were ordering favorite items by their Japanese name - tekka maki, ebi, unagi, wasabi. The fan list grew.

Two years ago, Mr. Shiroyama, whose culinary interests had expanded over his years at Sen, took on a partner and eventually left the Sag Harbor restaurant. Under new ownership, it continues to be popular. However, he reappeared on the restaurant scene this spring after buying the Simple Pleasures Cafe in Bridgehampton. Those who know his cooking thought Bridgehampton might finally have a sushi restaurant to call its own. Not so.

At Yama Q Mr. Shiroyama has teamed with Barbara Smith, a former chef at the Sag Harbor health food cafe, Provisions, to bring Bridgehampton what they call "health oriented" cuisine. Please note that this is not the same B. Smith of the eponymous restaurant in Manhattan.

Not strictly health food, not strictly Japanese, the Yama Q menu contains a little of what each chef is known for and a cornucopia of items inspired by the lightest and most healthful of cuisines.

The dishes share characteristics of Japanese, Indian, and African food and the selections change daily.

The name Yama Q is derived from the "Yama" in Mr. Shiroyama's name and the Japanese character for his first name, Hisao. He began cooking in his native Japan while at college studying religious philosophy. His sushi apprenticeship was in a Japanese restaurant in Connecticut.

Now, well settled on the East End, he brings much of his background to bear on his restaurant in subtle, but noticeable ways. In his kitchen he is an open and willing host, taking time out from preparing for a busy Fourth of July weekend to talk about his hopes for the new restaurant.

Mr. Shiroyama said that for many people choices about food are also choices about broader issues.

"A lot of people are looking for natural foods; they're concerned with the environment, with eating organically and without artificial flavors or chemical preservatives." Not everything served is wholely organic, but the chefs hope their own "honest" approach will fit these concerns.

At Yama Q diners can find fish, chicken, and vegetarian dishes. A classic Japanese accompaniment like miso soup shares space on the menu with roasted beet salad, grilled tuna, and tomato chutney.

Mr. Shiroyama lives in Sag Harbor with his family. Ms. Smith also lives there. Both hope to serve a year-round crowd in addition to summer diners.

Hisao Shiroyama's Soy Lime Barbecue Marinade

(Enough to Marinate Fish, Vegetables, or Chicken for Four)

Ingredients:

8 oz. low sodium soy sauce,

2 oz. lemon or lime juice

2 tsp. ground garlic

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 oz. melted butter or sesame oil

2 oz. rice vinegar or other white wine vinegar

Method:

This is a light, simple sauce that can be modified to suit individual tastes. It works well as a marinade for tuna and other fish and is also nice with chicken, and a variety of vegetables. Mr. Shiroyama also suggests skewers of tuna and vegetables.

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl and marinate chosen meat or vegetables for about 10 minutes.

While grilling, brush fish, chicken, or skewers with excess marinade.

At the Hedges Inn

James Lane, East Hampton

324-7100

Open for dinner daily

As we arrived at the James Lane Cafe on Sunday night, there were two deep tire marks running from Woods Lane across the grass at the end of Town Pond, across James Lane, over the fence, across the restaurant's lawn, and through beds of honeybell hostas right up to the edge of the dining terrace.

Someone had been in a real hurry! Was this, we wondered, an omen that a good meal was ahead of us? And, even though we discreetly used the parking lot instead of driving directly into the dining room, the answer was yes.

The wine list at James Lane Cafe has a lot of variety, but prices are high. Wines by the glass also tend to be pricey - buying by the bottle is the way to go - but there was a very pleasant Chilean merlot for $6.50.

Asbestos Fingers

Appetizers range from $6 for chilled seafood gazpacho to $12 for sauteed shrimp. Entrees start at $16 for crab cakes, are under $25 for most dishes, then jump to $28 to $30 for steaks, veal and lamb chops, and lobster.

While there was a bit of a wait between courses, the service was efficient and thoughtful. The James Lane Cafe, unlike many places, serves hot food on extremely hot plates. Too hot to touch, in fact.

But our waitress carried them to the table without gloves. How did she do it? We award her the 1999 Asbestos Fingers prize.

Memorable Dish

In the summer, the restaurant doubles its size by opening an outdoor dining tent, a romantic space with a stone-flagged floor and a pleasant breeze. There were four of us sitting at a rather large round table and the room was full, but we could carry on a conversation without raising our voices.

We started our meal with an excellent $7 Caesar salad with nice crunchy garlic croutons and some excellent fried calamari with a light, crisp batter coating. This dish is memorable for having received the only criticism we could come up with all evening -the tomato dipping sauce was rather bland.

One of the evening's specials was a plate of sashimi-style tuna and scallops, topped with caviar. The tuna and scallops had the consistency and oily translucency of gravlax and a wonderful flavor, which was enhanced by the salty roe. Lovely.

Sweet, Zingy Gazpacho

But for real value, we recommend the seafood gazpacho. If you grow your own tomatoes, you may feel by now that if you see another one you'll scream, but the divine, ripe, late summer tomato is only with us for a short while and in January you'll look back on missed opportunities with regret.

This gazpacho is one such opportunity - sweet, zingingly fresh, with just a little peppery punch, and laced with shrimp, scallops, and crabmeat.

We doubted that the entrees could be as good. The rack of lamb, at $29, was the most expensive dish we tried. It came with a delicious herb crust and some of the best garlic mashed potatoes around.

Subtle, Delicate Salmon

On the less expensive end of the meal, a large dish of penne with asparagus, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and lots of shrimp was worth every penny of $18.

With salmon being served in all sorts of fancy ways these days, James Lane chooses to serve it poached in an herb broth. Sound dull? Don't you believe it - it was subtly, delicately wonderful.

And as for the lobster corn cakes, another of the specials, they were bliss.

Dreamy Desserts

Well, now it was time for dessert, which is where many restaurants flag and collapse just before they reach the finish line. We were going to catch them here, we were certain.

We ordered a creme brulee and a Key lime pie. The creme brulee had just the lightest of caramelized coatings (too many creme brulees look like that scene from "Alexander Nevsky" when the German invaders fall through the foot-thick ice). The underlying custard was cool and smooth and suffused with just the right amount of vanilla.

The Key lime pie had a wonderful crumbly crust (and this on a very damp evening) and a filling that was an edible song. Do I wax poetic? You bet.

"Everything is wonderful. I almost feel like ordering another dish to see if we can't find something wrong," said one of our guests. But we knew that it was game, set, and match to the James Lane Cafe.

"I know - tell them that the water was very run-of-the-mill."

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky blew it. The Elmsford Democrat, chairman of the Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee, failed last week (undoubtedly with the concurrence of Sheldon Silver, the Majority Leader), to back legislation limiting the number of new commercial fishing licenses, thereby setting the difficult process of fisheries management back at least three years.

In the absence of legislation preventing uncontrolled growth of the fisheries, nearly 500 applications for "food fish" and lobster licenses have come in to the State Department of Environmental Conservation since July 1. A two-year moratorium on new licenses had expired the day before.

The landslide of applications has buried many months of difficult negotiations among the environmental community, state managers, and commericial fishing leaders over the dicey question of eligibility - that is, who would be allowed to continue fishing and who could be locked out. It's called "limited entry," actually capping the number of persons who have access to fish for commercial sale.

Because of the depletion of fish stocks and the failure of other management systems, the industry had come to accept the limited-entry concept. A Senate version of capping legislation, sponsored by Owen Johnson of Babylon, a Republican, passed easily.

But the D.E.C., which helped write the Assembly's capping bill, is not entirely blameless. By insisting on dramatic increases in license fees, the agency angered many and gave the Assembly yet another excuse to take no action. Although the Assembly's Democratic majority seems to have squandered a number of hard-fought, painful gains in fishery conservation, it may not be too late. At the very least, a bill to extend the license moratorium should be written to protect the fish and commercial fishing. The Assembly should climb on board before it goes on vacation.

Summer Hot Spots

And the winner is . . . Club M-80 in Southampton! What's the honor, you ask? Most models per paying customer? Most cigar smoke per cubic inch? No, M-80 has claimed victory in the annual employee-night war - that yearly scramble to corner the weekday crowd into one big night.

Until now, M-80, Jet East, and Flying Point (now Sound Factory) all ran their weekly employee nights on Thursday. But the one at M-80, promoted by Danceteria, has drawn the biggest crowds, prompting the other two big clubs to regroup. The Tavern has avoided the competition all summer by hosting its employee night on Wednesdays.

What does all this mean? Well, basically, those looking to go out on Thursday are bound to find a crowd at M-80. The club, which is at the north end of North Sea Road, still hosts well-promoted "Big" Fridays every week, and sets aside Saturdays for sizable fashion-world-oriented parties.

Sound Factory

Not much has changed physically at the former Flying Point in Southampton, nor has the quota of big bruiser-types without shirts, but the club may have finally found its niche. After 4 a.m. on weekends, Sound Factory puts a lid on liquor and opens a juice bar. Sources tell me the club's dance floor was still rocking well past 7 a.m. this weekend. Sounds like the after-hours scene the club crawlers have been waiting for out here.

Sound Factory is still open Thursday through Saturday, with Saturdays still being promoted by Joey Morrissey and company, who did Flying Point.

The club is on Montauk Highway next to Pier One Imports.

Stephen Talkhouse

Skipping back to Amagansett, the Stephen Talkhouse has a major week in store, spanning everything from folk rock to new wave. To the Moon Alice starts it off tonight with rock-and-roll at 9.

The reunited British new-wave band The Fixx (remember "Reach the Beach") will stop in tomorrow at 8 p.m. (Hey, if Echo and the Bunnymen can pull it off, why not The Fixx?) The Bogmen will follow at 11, bringing their fanatic following and highly original alternative rock. The band managed to give the Talkhouse easily its two busiest nights of the summer last year. The Bogmen are booked for Saturday as well, starting at 8, with the late-night band still to-be-announced.

The folk rocker Steve Forbert will make his yearly appearance on Sunday, after an opening set from Amagansett's own G.E. Smith and Taylor Barton, at 8. Nancy Atlas, Matt Dauch, Gene Hamilton, and the rest of the "acoustic Monday" crew will play their original music Monday, with Ms. Atlas starting an hourlong set at 9.

The ex-Byrd member Roger McGuinn is on deck for Tuesday at 8. Mr. McGuinn has been charming audiences for years at the Talkhouse with sincere and familiar folk music. The Talkhouse's open-jam night, hosted by Paragon, will follow Tuesday at 10. The popular Shock shine handles the Talkhouse's employee night Wednesday with its grinding dance reggae at 10.

Looking ahead, The G.E. Smith Band is lined up for next Thursday at 8, and the boogie-woogie pianist Marcia Ball is on for Friday, July 18, at 8, with Shauna Young opening. The Hotheads will follow Ms. Ball at 11.

Riffz

Live music will complement the late-night menu and busy pool table at Riffz on Montauk Highway in East Hampton this weekend. Bruce Stewart will play acoustic rock and folk tomorrow, starting at 9 p.m. The Fugitives will surface on Saturday at 10 to bring their classic rock and blues.

Riffz is opposite Apple Bank, near East Hampton Bowl.

Wild Rose

It's a good thing Bridgehampton's Wild Rose Cafe is so darn comfortable inside, or people wouldn't put up with the long line to get in on weekends. The Rose is simply too small to hold everyone, but that doesn't keep the faithful from braving parking tickets and long waits to flock to the Rose every week.

Rockabilly from The Lone Sharks sets the tone every Thursday, starting at 9:30 p.m. This weekend's stage goes to the solid Oxford Blues, who play, you guessed it, blues.

The Rose is on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike.

T's Avallon

Dinner and entertainment, in the supper-club tradition. That's the thrust of the newly opened T's Avallon on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike. The Avallon (formerly the Pike) hosts music Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with a DJ and dancing afterward.

The artist and jazzman Larry Rivers will perform tonight, and the popular Phoebe Legere will bring her unique brand of cabaret tomorrow and Saturday.

La Superica

The margaritas have been flowing steadily at Sag Harbor's La Superica restaurant on Main Street. In addition to its jam-packed weekends, the upbeat eatery hosts live music every Wednesday at 11 p.m. This Wednesday, the back room goes to the jam-oriented rock of The Realm. "Monday madness" on Mondays puts La Superica's bartender Aubrey behind the bar and brings in the fun-loving surfer set.

Malloy's Dock

Everyone seems to love Vivian and the Merrymakers. What's not to love? Steel drums, Hawaiian shirts, happy calypso music?

Well, the Merrymakers have landed a new home, at the newly opened Malloy's Dock in Sag Harbor. The restaurant opened several weeks ago in what used to be the Amazon Deck on the Long Wharf. Aside from the Merrymakers on Sunday afternoons around 4, the restaurant also hosts live jazz inside on Saturday nights around 10.

Harbor House

The Harbor House in Sag Harbor has established quite the employee night on Tuesdays, sharing crowds with the nearby La Superica, which also has a Tuesday employee night. DJ 007 usually provides the music to move the young crowd.

Wednesdays still bring the Harbor House's open-mike night, hosted by Vince Collins of Led Fingers. Fridays and Saturdays feature the Harbor House's lineup of live rock, blues, and reggae bands, while Sundays feature live reggae every week.

75 Main

Southampton's 75 Main restaurant will be rocking to a new beat on Saturday when The Lone Sharks dish out satisfaction-guaranteed rockabilly. The restaurant has hosted reggae, soul, rhythm-and-blues, classic rock, and other genres, but not string-bending rockabilly. The Lone Sharks start at 11 p.m. Chris Barret plays piano every Friday at 9 p.m.

Southampton Publick House

As it does every Thursday night, The Trevor Davison Orchestra will play big band swing tonight at 10 at the Southampton Publick House. The swing turns to blues tomorrow night, when the always lively Toby and the Boys drop in at 10 to start a double header; they play Saturday, too, at the same time. D.J. Tom mans the turntable on Sunday, and Sweet Belly Kisses play alternative rock on Monday.

The Publick House is on Main Street and Bowden Square.

Hansom House

The feisty, grungy, young reggae band Shockshine rocked the Hansom House in Southampton last week with a combination of rap, rock, and dance hall reggae. They'll be back for more tomorrow night. For those who can't get close enough to the stage to see them, the Hansom House has two giant screens, which carry the action on stage - pretty clever, huh?

The Last Chance Blues Band will belt out the blues on Saturday. Music starts after 10:30 at the Hansom House, which is on Elm Street.

Harvest

For those who enjoy a good cigar, a martini (shaken, not stirred), or simply a good party, there is the Harvest restaurant's "Harvest Club" party every Saturday from 11 p.m. The Harvest is on South Emery Street in Montauk, overlooking Fort Pond.

Blue Marlin/Gurney's

Speaking of karaoke, the Blue Marlin restaurant on Edgemere Street, Montauk, lets it rip every Sunday at 9 p.m.

Karaoke is the Thursday-night attraction in the lounge at Gurney's Inn on the Old Montauk Highway in Montauk. Gurney's has entertainment seven nights a week. Silhouette plays popular hits tomorrow and Saturday night. The classic-rock keyboardist Paul Gene plays on Sunday. John Rinell plays hits and oldies Monday, leaving Tuesday for Rene Michaels, and Wednesday for The Paul Gene Band. Music begins around 9 p.m.

Tipperary Inn

The always lively Tipperary Inn on West Lake Drive, Montauk, has filled its roster with solid music this summer, with something lined up seven nights a week. D.J. Tom starts it off tonight with his patented dance music. Lee Ross takes the stage tomorrow, leaving it for the classic-rocking Zorki and his band on Saturday.

The Soul Poets play their mix of classic rock and blues every Sunday night, John Doyle strums out Irish music and regular rock on Mondays, and everyone's a singer when the karaoke machine comes out on Tuesdays.

Music at the Tipp starts around 10:30 p.m.

Old Shebeen

Montauk's Old Shebeen is back on the live-music map. The lively Irish bar on Edgemere Street has three nights of it in store this weekend, beginning with Blue Monday tomorrow night. The band Big Time will try to prove its status on Saturday, giving Sunday night over to The Tain, one of New York's hottest Irish rock bands.

Music starts after 10:30 at the Shebeen.

Montauk Yacht Club

For a sunny Sunday afternoon by the water, you might check out the Montauk Yacht Club on Lake Montauk. The club hosts live music every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. on its breezy deck. The classic-rock keyboardist Glenn Mac plays this week, and The Morris Brothers play acoustic rock every Sunday after that.

The Yacht Club is on the Star Island Causeway, off West Lake Drive.

Dancing Crab

Montauk's Dancing Crab on West Lake Drive has always been a venue for good live rock-and-roll. Now the Crab has taken it a step further by introducing a Saturday-night concert series featuring more than the usual rotation of local bands. Randy Jackson, a former member of Zebra, will kick off the weekly series with an acoustic show this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. He'll return with his band Pyramid, featuring members of Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult, the following Saturday.

The Crab's normal roster will hold for Friday's stage, although a DJ is scheduled for tomorrow night. The rest of the club's weekly schedule remains the same.

Memory Motel

The best band name of the summer award goes to Snooze Button, which sets up tomorrow night at Montauk's Memory Motel on Main Street. The band features Tony Bruno, a former guitarist with Joan Jett's Blackhearts. Saturday night brings The Moon Dogs and lively classic rock. Bands begin around 10:30.

The Memory also has Glenn Mac on keyboards every Tuesday, and an open-jam night on Wednesdays, hosted by John Hanford of The Napeague Choirboys. The same folks who bring karaoke to Gurney's, and the Blue Marlin, bring karaoke capability to the Memory on Thursdays. Weekday events start around 10.

We tend to make a beeline for the garden hose when that big lightbulb in the sky turns 150-watt and green things begin to go brown. No need to go trigger-happy with the nozzle, though.

Suffolk County has no watering restrictions now, but Montauk residents, whose water supply is at risk of saltwater intrusion, may get a dose if voluntary conservation fails this summer. We'd all do well to cut back where we can.

Setting up the sprinkler between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. not only wastes water, since much of it evaporates, it also doesn't do much good. It's better to sprinkle earlier or later in the day, and in long sessions so water can penetrate to the roots; shallow watering promotes shallow roots, and so does cutting grass to shorter than two to two-and-a-half inches high.

You can place a coffee can in your sprinkler's path to find out how long it takes to deliver an inch of water, which is how much most lawns need per week. Aiming sprinkler streams at plants and lawns only - not pavement or, heaven forbid, clotheslines - also saves water. So does using mulch, which cools the soil and stops evaporation.

The elixir of life! People drive in droves to get to the shores of the glittering blue, but we scatter it recklessly. That's wrong.

Evidence of a huge flood on Mars - on a plain formed at just about the same time that life on Earth erupted from the sea - makes life there a bit more plausible, even if it was billions of years ago.

Why do we care?

Maybe we need someone to face infinity with. It's one thing to be no more than a speck in the universe, another to be the only game in town.