Because of the heavy rains of last week and the subsequent closure of most East Hampton Town waterways to the harvesting of shellfish, the town trustees’ Largest Clam Contest, already postponed from Sept. 24 to Sunday, has been canceled.
The heavy rainfall last Thursday and Friday prompted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to close those waterways to harvesting on Saturday. Stormwater runoff following rainfalls greater than three inches have significant adverse effects on water quality, according to the D.E.C.
Discussions continued among the trustees on Monday as to rescheduling the contest — which was to be the 33rd annual one — this fall or canceling it entirely. The postponement of the original date of Sept. 24 was related to a forecast of bad weather. This also forced postponement of the town’s 375th anniversary parade, which was to happen on Sept. 23 and is now scheduled for Oct. 14.
The contest was to be held at a new venue this year, the Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station on Atlantic Avenue. In previous years, the trustees usually held the contest just up the road, on the grounds of the Lamb Building on Bluff Road.
The contest, which offers a free raw bar and clam chowder, as well as a clam chowder competition and clam pies, is intended to celebrate the town’s maritime heritage. It is a means for the trustees, who have jurisdiction over many of the town’s beaches, waterways, and bottomlands, to inform the public as to their role in the town’s governance.
Before the cancellation, those with a valid town shellfish license could harvest hard clams from certified waters in Lake Montauk, Napeague Harbor, Accabonac Harbor, Hog Creek, and Three Mile Harbor. But the D.E.C. announced the closure of Northwest Harbor and its tributaries lying east of a line extending north from Barcelona Point to Cedar Point, Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, and Accabonac Harbor to the harvesting of shellfish. Only Lake Montauk had not been closed.
“These temporary closures are implemented due to the heavy rainfall and stormwater runoff from the continuous rainfall event . . . where some areas received as much as 4.5 inches of rain,” according to an announcement on the agency’s website. “D.E.C. is monitoring ongoing localized rainfall totals and may implement additional closures as necessary.”
Information about temporary closures and reopenings is available on a recorded message at 631-444-0480 and on the D.E.C. website. The agency’s Bureau of Shellfisheries can also be called Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 631-444-0492.
This year has seen several epic rainfalls on the South Fork, including one on July 16 that flooded roadways, art and antiques fairs, and even wooded areas. Town officials and others point to these heavy rains as another manifestation of a changing climate: warmer air absorbs more water.
Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc referred on Tuesday to “an unusual set of circumstances, but one I think is going to become more usual. We’ve seen the way these rain events come and create historic amounts of rain in short periods of time.”
