A moratorium on anchoring in Cape Pogue Pond will continue this summer after a vote by the Edgartown select board Monday.

Begun last year, the anchor ban applies to all areas of the large coastal embayment save a small area near the opening to the outer harbor. Meant to protect the fragile ecosystem of the 115-acre pond, the anchor ban was recommended last year by the town marine advisory committee after the summer of 2020 saw extreme crowding with recreational boaters in the pond.

All of Cape Pogue is a district of critical planning (DCPC). At last year’s annual town meeting voters approved the establishment of an advisory committee to regulate the pond’s recreational use. Rachel Self, a member of the committee, came before the board Monday to confirm the recommendation to continue the ban, again at the recommendation of the harbor advisory committee.

“Committee members confirmed last season’s improvement and emphasized its responsibility to the shellfish beds and pristine environment,” harbor advisory committee chairman Ed Handy wrote in a letter to the board.

The letter also said last year some buoys with signs marking the gut (the colloquial term for the narrow, tidal opening to the pond) as a no-anchor zone were stolen. The buoys will be bigger this year to deter theft, Mr. Handy said.

In other business Monday, the board authorized the construction of three new stop signs around town. Two will be placed near the right and left fork entrances to South Beach. The third will be at the intersection of Road to the Plains and Meetinghouse Road.

Town administrator James Hagerty gave a presentation highlighting the 14 climate change-related projects the town is undertaking as the Island celebrates Climate Action Week.

“A lot of topics, a lot of items, we’re anywhere from 99 to 0 per cent complete,” Mr. Hagerty said.

— Zach Harris