Letters

For months, local papers have been peppered with the reversal in fortunes of the highly regarded shellfish hatchery at Conscience Point, with the organization’s eviction being prompted by a formality that the hatchery has received a minor sum of money from a sub-lease of launching facilities to another local shellfish enterprise. The entire budget of the hatchery is $44,000 per year, and those of us who are familiar with nonprofits find it difficult to believe that this problem does not have a workaround, which would allow the hatchery to continue growing and distributing millions of free clam and oyster seeds to local government, CSAs, etc.

The landlord, who is evicting the hatchery, is the Southampton History Museum, known for its beautiful old historic structures on Meeting House Lane, among other things. They also own the historic location at Conscience Point. The shellfish hatchery has been operating there since 2013, run primarily by volunteers. Its accounting firm is the same as the museum’s.

The museum, on the other hand, is run by professionals, including the new director, Sarah Kautz, who came on board in October 2023. Ms. Kautz, appearing at a Southampton School Board meeting in January, noted that the school district supplies approximately one-third of the budget for the history museum, or $285,000.

One School Board member suggested that this funding should be reexamined, given that students in the marine program, who have worked at the hatchery, would no longer participate in that part of the program, due to the eviction. Another School Board member referred to the “eviction” as a “sudden, erratic shift.”

The director responded that the students’ activities at the hatchery were not relevant, given that all the money supports the museum. The reader must question whether this makes sense, given that the museum is not providing educational activities in the same significant manner that the hatchery does.

In my opinion, one could think of the $285,000 as a kind of “rent,” paid by the district, on behalf of the shellfish hatchery, to the museum, to ensure the sustainability of the educational programs that the hatchery provides. So one could say that the hatchery has not been enjoying a “rent-free” residency after all.

Now the hatchery is close to closure, and I applaud the School Board members for standing up and questioning the eviction process. Money speaks. The museum’s board of directors do not seem to be able to stand up for what, to my mind, is the right thing to do.

As a nearby resident in North Sea commented in one of The Press’s prior editions: There is “no reason why the hatchery … cannot co-exist with whatever beautification plans Ms. Kautz has.”

Jenice Delano

Sagaponack