SOURCE:
By jameslesher
The state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday allowing commercial cultivation of sugar kelp in two bays east of Long Island.
A bill advocated by Congress. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) and Senator Todd Kaminsky (Long Beach) are now going to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
The bill has received widespread support based on kelp’s ability to help clean waterways and expand the income base of oyster farmers. The law allows cultivation on existing Suffolk County aquaculture leases in Peconic Bay and Gardiner Bay.
Kelp has been scrutinized by the Department of Marine Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University and has achieved unprecedented success in growing ribbon-shaped seaweed in the shallow waters of Moriches Bay.
“This is a growing industry and we need to support it,” Kaminsky said.
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, called the passage of the bill a “great success.”
Kelp has been scrutinized by the Department of Marine Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University and has achieved unprecedented success in growing ribbon-shaped seaweed in the shallow waters of Moriches Bay.