Legislature Approves Cooper's Proposal
to Fund Marine Research Program

Decline in Local Lobster Population Will Be Studied

The Suffolk County Legislature last Thursday unanimously approved a bill introduced by Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) to fund a marine research program which will focus on the severe decline in the Long Island Sound's lobster population.

Cooper's bill, which was approved by the Legislature at its meeting in Riverhead on August 31, provides $37,500 in funding for Cornell Cooperative Extension to hire personnel and purchase needed supplies for the program. Cornell Cooperative will study the overall health of the Sound's ecosystem to address the decline in the lobster population and will also perform research on other marine fisheries.

"We don't know what has caused the decline of the lobster population and the resulting devastation of the local $30 million commercial lobster industry," Cooper said on Monday. "But we intend to find out."

The marine research program will be headquartered at the boathouse of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport.