Stony Brook University To Improve Shinnecock Bay With Clam Sanctuaries

A program through Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences aims to help improve the water quality in Shinnecock Bay through the placement of clam sanctuaries in the waterway. 

The plan for the sanctuaries is being brought to fruition after a Sept. 7 fundraiser that raised $55,000 for the project, according to the school of marine and atmospheric sciences, which runs the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program that was launched in 2012 through a $3 million grant. 

All of the proceeds raised from the “Clams for Clams” event, which was held at Stony Brook’s new Marine Sciences Center at the University’s Southampton campus, will be used to develop five new clam spawner sanctuaries in the bay.

According to the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program, increasing the clam population in the Shinnecock Bay can reinvigorate the fragile ecosystem. 

In recent years, the Shinnecock Bay has been plagued  by brown tides that detrimentally affect the clam population. 

“The water here is like nowhere else, whether you like to simply look at it, paint it, play in it, or make your living fishing it,” said Maureen Sherry Klinsky who with her husband Steve funded two clam spawner sanctuaries. “I don’t want to look out across Shinnecock Bay 20 years from now, the tipping point, and wish I’d done something.”