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Blue Plan Looks to Tackle Issues Affecting Long Island Sound

NASA
A satellite image of the Long Island Sound taken by NASA Landsat.
The Blue Plan will provide guidelines for industrial use of the Long Island Sound.

Oysters, lobsters, and bass were once the Long Island Sound’s  largest exports. But in recent years, changes in water temperature and pollution have triggered  a “dead zone” in the Sound --  an area where fish and other wildlife are unable to flourish. The Long Island Sound Blue Plan was passed by the state legislature this past spring to combat this challenge, among others.

One of the main goals of the Long Island Sound Blue Plan is to provide guidelines for the industrial use of the Sound.

“We’ve never done a comprehensive, data-driven, scientific analysis of the resources in Long Island Sound,” said Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr. on WNPR’s Where We Live. Kennedy is Senate Chair of the state’s Environment Committee, which proposed the Blue Plan. The proposal is still awaiting the governor’s signature.

“One of the big points about this plan also is it's not only an inventory,” said Leah Lopez Schmalz, Program Director for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment. “It provides the Department of Energy and Environmental protection with criteria that they can use when they’re evaluating proposals.”

The Long Island Sound has enormous economic value. Lopez Schmalz says it brings in between $17 and $36 billion annually to the region.

Credit Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk / Creative Commons
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Creative Commons
Harbor seals in the Long Island Sound.

Lopez Schmalz said there are several issues affecting the Long Island Sound at the moment, the first one being fish die-offs. “Not only in the Long Island Sound, and along the eastern part of the state, but in Peconic Bay,” she said. “...two massive Menhaden die-offs in the last week and a half to two weeks. The turtles that died on the north shore of Long Island, again a die off all within one month’s time, and I think that’s telling us something.”

According to Lopez Schmalz, harmful bacteria is another issue impacting the Long Island Sound. “Last summer alone, the state of Connecticut lost 117 beach days, because of closed beaches.”

Climate change and ocean acidification are factors that could affect the Long Island Sound in the near future. Lopez Schmalz said that protecting it is key.

Listen below to the segment on Where We Live about the Long Island Sound and the Blue Plan:

Rob Dozier is an intern at WNPR.

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