Shellfish Landings in Hempstead Harbor
According to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) report on New York State Shellfish Landings for 2014, Hempstead Harbor had the second highest number of bushels of hard clams harvested from waters around Long Island. Commercial shellfish harvesters are required to record on harvest tags the date of harvest along with the shellfish harvest areas. In 2014, 17,303 bushels of hard clams were reported harvested from Hempstead Harbor, with an estimated value of nearly $1.36 million. The NYS DEC report lists landings of other shellfish as well, including oysters, soft clams, mussels, and razor clams. Although soft clams and oysters were taken from Hempstead Harbor by commercial harvesters, these were reported in much lower numbers: 16 bushels of soft clams and 23 bushels of oysters. See the attached table and shellfish harvest area map—NS1 indicates Hempstead Harbor; also see http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/36800.html for more information.
NYS-Shellfish-landings
shellfish-harvest-areas