Long Island Sound

When diners sit down to a lobster dinner, they look forward to seeing a glistening red shell that tempts them to dig underneath - not a speckled, scabby brown crust thin enough to poke a fork through. That's why wholesalers pay less for lobsters with shell disease and why many fishermen will just throw a lobster back if it is diseased. By the time the lobster is caught again, hopefully, it will have molted and grown a smooth new shell. No one knows precisely what causes lobster shell disease, a bacterial infection that does not affect the meat and seems to strike mainly in...

The Connecticut House of Representatives has passed a bill that would restrict the use of methoprene, an insecticide thought to be behind the decline of the lobster population in Long Island Sound. State Representatives passed a modified version of the measure 130-to-16 Monday at the state Capitol. It now awaits action in the Senate. The proposed legislation would prohibit the use of the insecticide in any storm drain or water run-off in coastal areas on Long Island Sound, but it could be used in bird baths and swimming pools.

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. - It would be the world's longest highway tunnel, running more than 16 miles under the west end of Long Island Sound. The cost is estimated at $10 billion - and it wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime. A developer wants to build the tunnel with private money, recouping his costs by charging drivers $25 each way and by selling advertising. Developer Vincent Polimeni says the tunnel between Oyster Bay and Rye on the New York mainland would let travelers going between Long Island and New England avoid crowded New York City highways and help alleviate traffic...

Sabrina St. Juste inserts her manicured hands into a deep vat of water to suction eggs from the bottom into a jar. Five school mornings a week, St. Juste is a cog in an effort to restore lobsters to Long Island Sound. "I am a hands-on learner, so this is fun," said St. Juste, 15, a sophomore at Central Magnet School. The lobster rearing project is an offshoot of a lobster V-notch program established by the state in 2006. Back then, the state sent students from the Aquaculture School and the Sound School in New Haven out with commercial lobstermen to catch maturing...

The Connecticut House of Representatives has passed a bill that would restrict the use of methoprene, an insecticide thought to be behind the decline of the lobster population in Long Island Sound. State Representatives passed a modified version of the measure 130-to-16 Monday at the state Capitol. It now awaits action in the Senate. The proposed legislation would prohibit the use of the insecticide in any storm drain or water run-off in coastal areas on Long Island Sound, but it could be used in bird baths and swimming pools.

The US Coast Guard says it rescued five people from a boat sinking in Long Island Sound. Coast Guard spokesman Thomas McKenzie said the rescue was made at 10 p.m. Wednesday night and that no one was injured. Authorities said yesterday that passengers aboard the 32-foot pleasure boat issued a mayday call that the boat was taking on water. A rescue crew was dispatched from Coast Guard Station New Haven and found the boat 7 miles south of New Haven harbor. Officials said the passengers were transferred to the Coast Guard vessel.

Spend time talking to Charles Yarish and Paul Dobbins, and you'll start to believe seaweed farming could be the answer to some of the world's most intractable problems. For starters, it could provide a highly nutritious, sustainable food source to a hungry planet; it could be transformed into biofuel that removes heat-trapping carbon dioxide even as it cleans offshore waters of pollutants; and it could create environmentally friendly economic opportunities for coastal communities including Long Island Sound.

Sabrina St. Juste inserts her manicured hands into a deep vat of water to suction eggs from the bottom into a jar. Five school mornings a week, St. Juste is a cog in an effort to restore lobsters to Long Island Sound. "I am a hands-on learner, so this is fun," said St. Juste, 15, a sophomore at Central Magnet School. The lobster rearing project is an offshoot of a lobster V-notch program established by the state in 2006. Back then, the state sent students from the Aquaculture School and the Sound School in New Haven out with...

The Coast Guard is searching for a missing Connecticut sailor whose boat was found untied and running at a Long Island pier. Petty Officer Seth Johnson says a man called at 5:30 a.m. after spotting the sailboat in the Long Island Sound near Riverhead with its sail up and motor running. Owner Francis Closter, of Haddam, Conn., was missing but his glasses and wallet were found on board. Johnson says the Coast Guard is treating it “as a potential person in the water.’’ The 64-year-old boater left Haddam on Thursday.

Authorities say a Connecticut sailor’s body has been found in Long Island Sound, almost nine hours after his unmanned boat was discovered near a New York pier. Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection launched a boating accident investigation Friday after 63-year-old Francis Closter’s body was discovered in the water off the Connecticut shoreline at about 2:30 p.m. The Haddam man set out Thursday for a short trip to Clinton and was reported missing when he did not arrive.

When diners sit down to a lobster dinner, they look forward to seeing a glistening red shell that tempts them to dig underneath - not a speckled, scabby brown crust thin enough to poke a fork through. That's why wholesalers pay less for lobsters with shell disease and why many fishermen will just throw a lobster back if it is diseased. By the time the lobster is caught again, hopefully, it will have molted and grown a smooth new shell. No one knows precisely what causes lobster shell disease, a bacterial infection that does not affect the meat and seems to strike mainly in...

Spend time talking to Charles Yarish and Paul Dobbins, and you'll start to believe seaweed farming could be the answer to some of the world's most intractable problems. For starters, it could provide a highly nutritious, sustainable food source to a hungry planet; it could be transformed into biofuel that removes heat-trapping carbon dioxide even as it cleans offshore waters of pollutants; and it could create environmentally friendly economic opportunities for coastal communities including Long Island Sound.

A fire tore through the home of an advertising executive in a tony neighborhood along the Connecticut shoreline Sunday, killing her three children and both of her parents on Christmas morning. Madonna Badger and a male acquaintance were able to escape from the house as it was engulfed by flames, said Stamford Police Sgt. Paul Guzda. But Badger's three daughters — a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins — perished in the fire, Guzda said. He said Badger's parents, who were visiting for the holiday, also died.

A Florida marine sciences expert is the new director of The Nature Conservancy's Long Island Sound program in New York and Connecticut. Chantal Collier most recently oversaw the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's program for conserving coral reefs. In her new position, she will split her time between The Nature Conservancy's chapters in New Haven and on Long Island. Collier says she spent many of her childhood summers on the coasts of Connecticut and Long Island, and that those experiences inspired her to pursue a career in marine conservation.

The US Coast Guard says it rescued five people from a boat sinking in Long Island Sound. Coast Guard spokesman Thomas McKenzie said the rescue was made at 10 p.m. Wednesday night and that no one was injured. Authorities said yesterday that passengers aboard the 32-foot pleasure boat issued a mayday call that the boat was taking on water. A rescue crew was dispatched from Coast Guard Station New Haven and found the boat 7 miles south of New Haven harbor. Officials said the passengers were transferred to the Coast Guard vessel.

The Coast Guard is searching for a missing Connecticut sailor whose boat was found untied and running at a Long Island pier. Petty Officer Seth Johnson says a man called at 5:30 a.m. after spotting the sailboat in the Long Island Sound near Riverhead with its sail up and motor running. Owner Francis Closter, of Haddam, Conn., was missing but his glasses and wallet were found on board. Johnson says the Coast Guard is treating it “as a potential person in the water.’’ The 64-year-old boater left Haddam on Thursday.

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - The US Commerce Department announced its opposition yesterday to a massive floating liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Long Island Sound. Environmentalists hailed the decision as a victory over "the corporate Goliaths of our time. " Politicians in New York and Connecticut have campaigned to stop what would have been the world's first floating liquefied natural gas terminal. About the size of the Queen Mary 2, the terminal would be the length of four football fields, about eight stories high, and located nine miles off Long Island and 11 miles from the...

SOUTH NORWALK, Conn. -- What a difference a decade can make. When Matthew Storch was a teenager growing up in nearby Westport, grungy South Norwalk "was where you went to sneak into the bars under age," he told us. The decaying harbor village where the Norwalk River meets Long Island Sound was the kind of place your parents warned you against. Today, the South Norwalk Historic District goes by the hip moniker "SoNo. " And Storch -- a veteran of Olives in Charlestown as well as other Todd English ventures in Westport and in Aspen, Colo.

Authorities say a Connecticut sailor’s body has been found in Long Island Sound, almost nine hours after his unmanned boat was discovered near a New York pier. Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection launched a boating accident investigation Friday after 63-year-old Francis Closter’s body was discovered in the water off the Connecticut shoreline at about 2:30 p.m. The Haddam man set out Thursday for a short trip to Clinton and was reported missing when he did not arrive.