There is an old adage that one should not eat oysters except during months with the letter R in them. This comes from the days before effective refrigeration, when oysters were consumed by the millions, especially in cities like New York, but high, too, were the number of intestinal illnesses caused by poor handling and a general lack of sanitation.
Oysters were a thing in New York City long before the Dutch snatched it from its First Nation inhabitants; middens, trash heaps left by the native Lenape people, tell of the abundance — mounds filled with shells, some more than 10 inches in length. A French visitor to the city in 1790 reported that “Americans have a passion for oysters, which they eat at all hours, even in the streets.” But it was not to last; overharvesting had already been a problem by then.
As the city grew, its surrounding waters became toxic. By 1927, New York Harbor was too polluted to eat oysters harvested there, as Mark Kurlansky described in his comprehensive history of the delicate shellfish, “The Big Oyster.” By then, though, oysters were still being taken there, then shipped, live, to clean themselves in the clearer waters of the East End. The state authorities handed out vast bottomland leases for the purpose, some of which today have been reborn for modern oyster cultivation. Seafood handling rules are stricter now, and there is very little chance that a commercially grown oyster or clam dug from the wild is unsafe. Shellfish remains on many restaurant menus. And a new mariculture industry has evolved to meet the demand.
For home harvesters, however, there is reason for pause. Warmer water and increased development on land are cause for caution. Though New York State regulates shellfishing, issuing seasonal area closures, for example, its sampling program is limited. Independently, ongoing testing has indicated problems. As Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences reported last week, 12 East End waterways, including some in East Hampton, rated “poor” and another 12 just “fair.” Three Mile Harbor, where fecal bacteria were detected, and busy Sag Harbor Bay were sites that caused alarm. Over all, Dr. Gobler characterized water quality on eastern Long Island as being at “an all-time low.” Just one single location — Shinnecock Inlet — met all state and federal water quality standards for dissolved oxygen, algae, fecal coliform, and clarity.
Just as all this bad news about water was coming out, the Suffolk County Legislature failed to authorize putting the Water Quality Protection Act on the Nov. 7 ballot. The measure would have let voters decide if sales taxes should be increased by one-eighth of a cent to create a Water Quality Restoration Fund. Speculation was that the Republican leaders who organized to defeat the proposal had done so as a way to depress turnout among environment-minded voters. If so, this was a highly cynical move. The act would have raised some $60 million a year for wastewater treatment, as well as for updating individual septic systems. We hope voters remember this in the coming November election.