State reopens shellfishing areas
All shellfishing areas within Riverhead Town are now safe and open to the public, state officials said.
The certified shellfishing areas in Flanders Bay, lying west of a line extending southwesterly from Miamogue Point to the northernmost point of Red Cedar Point, were reopened as of early Saturday morning, according to a state Department of Environmental Conservation press release.
The area had been closed to shellfishing since Monday.
In neighboring Southampton Town, all of Moriches Bay, Shinnecock Bay, Flanders Bay and the creeks, ponds, bays and harbors lying between Red Cedar Point and North Haven Peninsula have all been reopened as well.
DEC had closed 36 coves, harbors and bays earlier in the week following record setting rainfall that started early Sunday.
The closures were implemented as a precautionary measure to protect shellfish consumers because the extraordinary volume of stormwater runoff entering the bay may cause shellfish in the affected areas to be hazardous to eat, DEC officials said.
The majority of areas across Long Island that were closed have been tested and are now open to the public, officials said.
