Surrounded by shellfish growers, representatives from the fishing industry and local elected leaders, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine signed a bill creating a county Working Waterfront Protection Program by the Greenport Village Commercial Dock on Monday, Sept. 29.
Seated (l-r): Suffolk County Legislator Catherine Stark, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker surrounded by marine industry representatives who helped draft the bill creating the Working Waterfront protection program at the bill signing in Greenport Monday.
The legislation will enable owners of commercial waterfront property to seek easements ensuring that their property remains used in perpetuity for a variety of water-dependent business purposes, at a time when many commercial waterfront properties are being sold off and converted to large homes for the wealthy.
Capital funding for the program, which was approved by the Suffolk County Legislature earlier this year, includes $2.5 million in 2026, with a total commitment of $9.5 million between 2026 and 2028.
Mr. Romaine said the program is modeled on the county’s successful Farmland Preservation Program.
“Fifty years ago, the second Suffolk County Executive, John V.N. Klein, looked and began to see farmland disappear, and he understood the necessity of trying to save farmland,” said Mr. Romaine, adding that Mr. Klein then helped develop the farmland development rights purchase program that has now preserved “well over 12,000 acres of farmland.”
“We began to look at our waterfront, and began to see that a lot of our working waterfront was disappearing, because of the attraction of real estate to build condos, restaurants, etcetera, on our waterfront,” he said. “If we let that continue, we might not have as successful a working waterfront as we have today. The largest fishing fleet in the State of New York comes out of Montauk, the second largest out of Shinnecock and the third largest out of Greenport…. If we do not have a working waterfront… we’re going to miss out on one of the heritage industries in our county.”
Fifty-five percent of the 164 respondents to a survey of waterfront property owners conducted by the county before the passage of the bill said they’d been approached about selling their property in the past five years, though the vast majority said it was “highly unlikely” they would sell their property within the next five years. Ninety percent said they’d be interested in participating in a program to preserve.
“Today marks a turning point,” said Bonnie Brady, Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, at the bill signing. “Since the 1800s, Long Island fishermen have been shipping fish into New York City, packing their catch in wooden crates, and sending it by rail from Suffolk County to the Fulton Fish Market. For over 300 years, commercial fishing has helped feed Long Island, New York and the nation. But when we lose access to ice, fuel, a place to pack our fish and fix our vessels, we risk losing something much deeper — our ability to work and provide food for our neighbors, our state and our nation, and to pass this way of life on to our children.”
“Most people on Long Island know a commercial fisherman firsthand — as a neighbor or a friend or a relative,” she said. “This Working Waterfront Legislation is more than just a policy. It’s a promise. A promise that Suffolk County stands with the men and women who harvest wild local seafood and keep coastal communities alive.
Legislator Catherine Stark, who represents the North Fork, co-sponsored the bill, which was passed unanimously by the Suffolk County Legislature on Sept. 3.
“This legislation is an investment in our economy, our maritime traditions and the future of the East End,” she said. “For generations, families have made their living on the water — fishing, aquaculture, boatbuilding and marine repair, all have been essential to our way of life.”
She said these industries support the jobs of 38,000 county residents and 3,000 businesses, generating more than $3 billion in revenue each year, half of which is for salaries.
“Today, we sign a light on our future as we stand where sea, sky and shorelines meet, honoring Suffolk County’s farming and fishing history while looking forward with hope to what lies ahead,” said South Fork Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker, who has also been a major proponent of the bill.
“I began my search for working waterfront 35 years ago,” said Karen Rivara, a former president of the Long Island Farm Bureau, who recently sold her Aeros Cultured Oyster Company on the North Fork. “It took me until 2000 to be able to establish my farm at the Peconic Land Trust’s Shellfisher Preserve in Southold, which is property the Land Trust had the vision to preserve for aquaculture. I leased there from 2000 until I sold the company in 2023.”
She added that the Suffolk County Aquaculture Lease Program, which began in 2010, enabled an influx of new shellfish farmers. “I believe there are 30 or 40 shellfish farms in the Peconic Estuary now, where there were maybe five when the program started. That has provided opportunity for a lot of people to come into the aquaculture shellfish industry. This legislation will now give the hope to those folks that they can establish a business as I did, on working waterfront that has been preserved for the traditional use of commerical fishing and aquaculture…. We need a place to dock our boats, unload, pack out and store our product so we can send it into market so we can feed people from the East End of Long Island and beyond.”
“Greenport has always been about community and bringing people together,” said Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi. “We are very much looking forward to doing more on preservation of historic waterfront and water quality through this bill.”
The law would allow owners of property considered working waterfront to apply to a new, 17-member Working Waterfront Committee that would determine if the property meets the criteria for a conservation easement based on several factors, including the economic significance of the property to marine businesses.
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