Elected to the trustee board in 2017, John Aldred was formerly a research assistant at the now-defunct New York Ocean Science Laboratory in Montauk; a co-founder of Multi Aquaculture Systems at Promised Land in Amagansett, and for 20 years the director of East Hampton’s shellfish hatchery.
He spent much of his current term as liaison to the initial 10-year review of the Suffolk County Aquaculture Lease Program (SCALP), which allows the commercial oyster farming that has brought millions of the filter-feeding bivalves into local waters but has also required balancing the competing interests of multiple user groups. “Aquaculture in general seems to be moving forward, acceptance-wise,” Mr. Aldred said, adding that the program’s initial 10-year review “might have helped raise awareness.” He also pointed to his efforts to ensure a fisheries study funded by developers of the South Fork Wind farm.
“Water quality work has been important, and has moved forward,” he said, citing the trustees’ ongoing relationship with the Gobler Lab at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, which conducts testing of trustee water bodies.
“I think there will be ongoing interest in aquaculture,” he said. “We’ve had several requests for kelp projects, and I think people are interested in oyster growing in the harbors.”
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