Shoreham Man Lands Prison Time for Illegal Shellfishing in Nissequogue

A Shoreham resident who mislabeled cartons of oysters taken from the Nissequogue River, a body of water deemed uncertified for harvesting shellfish, was sentenced to five months in prison, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC announced on Friday that Kyle Frisina plead guilty on Dec. 22, 2010 to four misdemeanors in relation to improper tagging of shellfish.

According to the DEC, Frisina was caught and charged by Bay Constables on June 17, 2009 harvesting oysters in the Nissequogue River. Upon further investigation, Environmental Conservation Officers found and seized an additional 21 100-count boxes of oysters with no harvester tags and illegal dealer tags from Frisina that were tested and found to have high levels of coliform bacteria. Frisina's Shellfish Harvester Permit was revoked by DEC for five years.

The illegal harvesting incidents took place in June 2009 and a summons was issued in October 2009 following further investigation of Frisina's actions.

The Nissequogue River by DEC standards is labeled uncertified for harvesting shellfish.

"Certain waters are regulated for fishing depending upon what species they're fishing so these waters [Nissequogue River] are not certified to take shellfish," said DEC spokesperson Lori Severino. "There are only certain waters that meet the standards for fishing in regards to shellfish."