An oyster farmer, Mike Martinsen is in his first re-election bid. As someone who works on the water, his support for the South Fork Wind farm may not sit well with other fishermen, he said, but “as far as I’m concerned, anything we can do to help minimize our impact on water with regard to fossil fuel consumption, acidifica-tion, and everything else we’re doing in such unchecked measure, I’m all for.” That said, “the agreement we have with the wind farm developers should really be malleable. If something we said okay to is causing harm, we need to amend our agreement.”
Mr. Martinsen also supports “a more comprehensive bay management plan, where the bay could be divided into quadrants” dedicated to commercial, noncommercial, aquaculture, and sanctuary uses, which would shift over time. “This way, the activities of aquaculture would feed the bottom, and the sanctuary would allow time for successful spawning without harvest. Now, it’s a free-for-all as far as commercial takes go. There needs to be more preserve in the bay.” That, he said, “will ensure the future livelihoods and longevity, and help bring the bay back to what it once was.”
Return to the main story to learn about the other candidates.