August 20, 2018 — Long Island farmers and fishermen on Saturday outlined many complicated and pressing problems to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Their to-do list included: cleansing polluted bays by reconnecting them to the sea, obtaining an emergency permit to use a banned pesticide, policing counterfeit seafood, and securing seasonal workers despite an immigration crackdown.
Gillibrand, who stands for election in the fall and who might have presidential aspirations, vowed to “elevate” many concerns aired at a panel she convened that was hosted by the Ammerman campus of Suffolk County Community College in Selden.
To Bob Nolan, a New York Farm Bureau director, who described the labor shortage, she pledged to “take a good look” at the temporary worker program.