Ospreys and bunker, campaign politics, tax breaks for builders

Check ecosystem for osprey food

Kudos for an informative pair of Aug. 30 articles on our native fish hawk, the osprey, and its primary food source, bunker [“Ospreys struggle as a food source declines,” News; “Bunker harvest drop felt by LI fishermen,” News].

I have been building and installing osprey nesting platforms for more than two decades in addition to monitoring nests all over the Island.

Some additional questions need to be addressed: How widespread is the decline? The Chesapeake Bay region has been experiencing bunker decline for years, but it is a different story in New England. Is this decline similar on both the North and South shores of Long Island?

We are thankfully experiencing an increase in the population of bald eagles and have sizable numbers of humpback whales and dolphins in our area. What is the effect of the competition among all of these bunker eaters? With so many natural mouths to feed, this is not a good time to consider increasing — or even maintaining — the quota for commercial bunker harvesting.

And is it possible that, in certain areas, the osprey has reached the carrying capacity of a local environment, and this is just a local correction?

More scientific data is needed so that we can protect all of our wild creatures.

— Jim Jones, Bayville

This year started well when schools of bunker came to Long Island, but they kept going north, followed by the fish and mammals that prey on them. Why did they leave?

Bunker are filter feeders that need to capture algae larger than 10 microns. Many published papers document this nutritional need of bunker, but I am not aware whether anyone has looked to see if these needs are being met locally. This could be done simply by towing a plankton net and weighing the material captured. The bunker must leave if the density of the captured food is too low.

The density and size of algae are, in part, determined by the concentration of key nutrients such as nitrogen. Low levels of this important nutrient favor low densities and algae that are too small to be captured by filter feeders.

For decades, we have systematically reduced the amount of nitrogen that reaches our marine surface waters while ignoring the nutritional needs of the fish and shellfish.

Perhaps the loss of bunker will prompt us to pay attention.

— Roger C. Tollefsen, Hampton Bays

The writer is a retired president of New York’s Seafood Council.

Hochul and Blakeman carry heavy baggage

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s utility rebate plan announced just before the election is another example of many politicians’ self-serving actions [“What to know: NYS utility rebates,” News, Aug. 15].

In 2024, Hochul announced she was canceling the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s despised congestion pricing plan so she could study it and make a final decision on the need for it and, if needed, how much the tolls should be.

She did this before the last presidential election. After the election, she approved congestion pricing albeit at a lower toll than the MTA wanted.

Her current Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, is no better with his private militia established without approval of the county legislature. Nassau County has one of the finest police departments in the nation. Why does Blakeman need a private militia?

I find it disappointing that New York cannot find candidates for governor without the baggage carried by Hochul and Blakeman.

— Lewis Damrauer, Dix Hills

Subsidizing builder is unfair to public

As a lifelong resident of Long Island, I was dismayed and confused that Staller Associates Realty is looking for tax breaks [“Developer seeks tax breaks for $190M project,” LI Business, Aug. 26].

Shouldn’t the firm have sought these beforehand?

Its justification for tax breaks is creating jobs. Isn’t that a side effect of business, and not the goal? They’ll be making a profit; otherwise, they would not be redeveloping the area.

I would be one of the taxpayers helping to increase their profits.

Staller demolished several stores, and that already means fewer jobs.

With Staller’s logic, shouldn’t I be rewarded with tax breaks for agreeing to buy my house in the first place? Then, Staller can contribute to my costs of having a home in Brookhaven Town instead of my supplementing their costs so they can reap a higher profit.

In asking for tax breaks, Staller is doing the exact opposite of company vice president Valentin Staller’s vision that the project would “help kickstart a revitalization.”

The increase in traffic and eyesore of two- and three-story buildings merits a surcharge, not a discount.

— Barbara Landau, Port Jefferson Station