DEC closes local waterways in Mattituck to harvesting gastropods

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has temporarily banned harvesting marine gastropods, including whelk, conch and moonsnails, in Deep Hole Creek in Mattituck effective Thursday, May 4, according a DEC press release.

The ban extends out 500 yards into the Peconic Bay in all directions of the northernmost tip of Marratooka Point and also Halls Creek to the east.

The ban is a result of DEC detecting marine biotoxins in shellfish at a monitoring station in Deep Hole Creek, the DEC said.

“The Department of Environmental Conservation, prohibit the harvest, taking, possessing, transporting or offering for sale carnivorous gastropods from the underwater lands described below, and continuing until a determination is made that marine biotoxins are no longer present at levels in shellfish that may cause carnivorous gastropods to be hazardous for use as food,” the DEC notice says.

An emergency closure line will provide updates on the closure at 631-444-0480.

The areas listed are “designated as uncertified for the the harvest of shellfish from May 1 through Nov. 30, annually,” according to the DEC.