Bunker die-off

With unusually large numbers of bunker fish appearing in the Peconic River this spring, commercial fishermen will be allowed to net bunker in an effort to prevent the massive bunker kills seen last year, thanks to a ruling announced today by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Though the lands remain uncertified for harvesting shellfish for human consumption due to chronic sanitary conditions, water quality in the Peconic River and western Flanders Bay has improved, according to Stony Brook University marine scientists.

Riverhead Town will begin removing dead bunker from local shores. The town board passed a resolution last night authorizing the dead fish removal “under...

A video Q&A explaining the bunker fish kills in western Flanders Bay and the Peconic River.

As complaints begin to flow in about the tide of dead fish washing ashore on Flanders Bay beaches, local officials are making plans to remove at least the biggest piles of fish carcasses from local beaches, including the county park.

A fish kill of major proportions is underway in the Peconic Estuary, the result of a harmful algal bloom known as 'mahogany tide.'