If you have spent any time on our beaches, you know how special they are. Clean shorelines, clear water, and the kind of coastal beauty that feels increasingly rare. What most people do not know is how much work goes into keeping them that way, and who is doing it.
Michele Klimczak has been walking these beaches for years as FIC’s Marine Debris Program Coordinator. Week after week, in every kind of weather, she covers the island’s shoreline zones, documenting, hauling, and logging everything that washes in from the Sound. It is essential work, and the beaches look the way they do because of it.
Believe it or not but since January 2026, Michele has already collected over 5,700 pounds of marine debris from our island beaches, and it is only July! To put that in perspective, that is the weight of a large truck pulled off our shoreline in just six months!
Here is how that breaks down by zone so far this year:
- S2 (The Race, Sanctuary of the Sands, South Beach, Wilderness Point, Isabella Beach)
- S3 (Chocomount Beach, Beach Before Fishers Island Club)
- E4 (Latimer Light Beach, Houghton Beach, Beaches Behind Money Pond)
- N1 (Airport Beach, Silver Eel Cove, Hay Harbor Club Beach, Holiday House)
- N5 (Clay Point Road Beaches, Chocomount Cove, Hungry Point, East Harbor)
- N6 (South Dumpling Beaches, Grey Gulls, Dock Beach, North Hill)
| ZONE | WEIGHT (LBS) | TIME (HOURS) |
|---|---|---|
| NO ZONE | ||
| E4 | 1,716 | 196 |
| N1 | 660 | 98.5 |
| N5 | 658 | 98 |
| N6 | 760 | 98.5 |
| S2 | 1,169 | 196 |
| S3 | 737 | 82.5 |
That is nearly 770 hours spent on the beach this year alone, not counting years of work before it!
This is an important distinction. Michele’s work is not party cleanup. The marine debris she collects is washing in from the Sound and beyond, plastic bottles, fishing line, foam, rope, netting, and all kinds of materials that have traveled long distances before landing on our shores. This is a regional and global problem showing up on our doorstep, and having someone documenting and removing it consistently makes Fishers Island a meaningful part of the solution
That said, what people leave behind on the beach does matter too. Party mess, improperly extinguished fires, and trash left near the shoreline all add to the load and make an already hard job harder.
Summer on Fishers Island means bonfires, and we are not here to change that. But we do want to ask everyone to be responsible about it.
Earlier this season, pallets were burned on the platform at South Beach, leaving nails scattered across the area and creating a real hazard for people and wildlife. Pallet burning is not permitted on island beaches, and for good reason. At Race Point and South Beach, please make sure fires are fully extinguished before you leave.
A few simple things you can do:
- Bring a pail to the beach and fill it with water before you start the fire
- Use it to fully douse the coals when you are done
- Never burn pallets, trash, bottles, or cans
- Take everything you brought in back out with you
The simplest thing you can do is carry in, carry out. Whatever you bring to the beach, take it home. Every piece of trash that does not make it to a can has a way of ending up in the water eventually.
If you see debris washing up on a beach, you can report it to FI Conservancy or help remove it if it is safe to do so. And if you see someone burning trash or pallets on the beach, please say something.
These beaches are something worth protecting. Michele has been showing up for them for years. We hope you will too!