I am writing to offer an assessment of where seaweed farming currently stands in New York, based on several years of direct, on-the-ground involvement across towns, nonprofits, and commercial operations.

My work through Lazy Point Farms has focused on a single objective: reducing barriers so that more people can grow seaweed. That has meant investing not in aspirational future infrastructure, but in the unglamorous, early-stage tools required to make cultivation possible in the present, laser-focused on meeting real, immediate needs.

I believe by working together, we can transform New York's seaweed industry into a thriving economic and environmental asset. I invite you to visit our operations and see firsthand the dedication and innovation of our local cultivators.

Suffolk County faces a ripe opportunity to create and benefit from a thriving seaweed industry by adding seaweed aquaculture to its lease program. Through our enthusiasm and partnership with the county for efforts both currently underway and future, we at Lazy Point Farms would like to outline the benefits of this proposed effort.