Riparian Landowners Grumble at Tribal Aquaculture Venture
By IAN FEIN
A public hearing called by Aquinnah selectmen to discuss the
management of Menemsha Pond turned instead this week into a debate about
private aquaculture licenses and the Wampanoag Aquinnah Shellfish
Hatchery.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/15/content/men_pond_boats_sm.jpg" Pondfront property owners complained about visual and environmental
pollution caused by floating oyster beds, while representatives of the
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and other residents listed the
many benefits of the commercial aquaculture program.
Tribal representatives did formally apologize for large amounts of
blue Styrofoam that broke loose during heavy storms and washed up on
shore, and promised to the five dozen residents in attendance on Tuesday
that they would clean all of it up.
The tribal hatchery program began two years ago, in April 2003. The
tribe farms more than a million oysters in a floating bag system on five
acres of water off the western shore of the pond, south of Red Beach.
Arguments over aquaculture aesthetics in Aquinnah have surfaced
before, when a group of pondfront residents approached selectmen in
October 2003 to complain about the then-fledgling hatchery.
Conservation commission chairman Sarah Thulin, who owns a pondfront
home close to the tribe's oyster beds, outlined many of her
neighbors' concerns at the hearing this week.
"Obviously everyone here wants the tribe to succeed in terms
of its economic endeavor. But I hope through this dialogue we can learn
to find a common ground whereby we can all enjoy Menemsha Pond,"
Mrs. Thulin said. "We want to be good neighbors and find a way we
can use the pond together, so one use doesn't completely negate
the others."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/15/content/men_pond_seaweed_sm.jpg" Mrs. Thulin cited the visual impact of the floating oyster beds, and
asked whether a different method could be used to raise the oysters
underwater and out of sight. She also complained of noise pollution
emanating from the tribe's main barge area, where generators run
and hatchery employees listen to the radio.
"The stillness and quiet that used to be there has been
interrupted," Mrs. Thulin said.
Planning board member Jo-Ann Eccher defended the tribe's
hatchery. She referred to the aerial photograph of the tribal oyster
beds that appeared on the front page of the Boston Globe during the red
tide scare earlier this summer.
"It looked like a beautiful impressionistic painting. It truly
is in the eye of the beholder," Ms. Eccher said. "The
historical use of this pond is fishing - for hundreds and hundreds
of years. Look at the people who live here year-round, what is their
livelihood?"
Indeed, the history of shellfishing in Menemsha Pond dates back
thousands of years. Evidence suggests that shellfish was a primary food
source for Native Americans who lived on the pond centuries before
European settlers arrived.
Hatchery technician and tribal member David Vanderhoop, who is one
of five Aquinnah residents with a personal town aquaculture license,
said that he is living a dream.
"I went to school for this in the 1970s when aquaculture was
still a new word," Mr. Vanderhoop said. "Being able to grow
shellfish on a site like that is not only a personal dream, but also one
for my kids, so I can show them a clean way to make a living in this
town."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/15/content/men_pond_shore_sm.jpg" Some property owners questioned town selectmen about whether the
town as a whole benefited from the private hatchery endeavors.
Applicants pay the town $25 per acre per year for their aquaculture
licenses.
Selectmen for the most part kept quiet on Tuesday. However,
selectman Camille Rose, who requested the Menemsha Pond hearing at a
board meeting last month, offered a brief statement at the end of the
evening. She said the debate heard Tuesday night represented a classic
conflict between aquaculture and property rights.
"Town revenue is based on property taxes - and we have
to respect property rights, including aesthetics," Ms. Rose said.
"We have to look at it too in terms of numbers. Are we losing more
in terms of recreation and aesthetics than the select few people who
have permits are gaining? We need to honor the wonderful thing of
aquaculture, but we also have to honor the wonderful idea of beauty. We
have to find a balance."
One resident with an aquaculture permit who farms for personal
- not commercial - use, said that he believed it benefited
the community in a grassroots way.
"For me its a community-based thing. I'm able to my feed
my family, friends and other people in the town," he said.
"It allows citizens to go and farm the sea - to reap the
benefits which ripple through the community."
Tribal natural resources director Bret Stearns mentioned other
hatchery initiatives that benefit the pond and community at large.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/15/content/men_pond_shells_sm.jpg" The tribe last year secured a $250,000 federal grant to restore bay
scallops and eelgrass to Menemsha Pond, which would then be available
for harvest by anyone with a recreational permit.
Mr. Stearns also spoke about tribal efforts to improve water quality
in the pond, in part through a $150,000 oil separation unit installed
near the Herring Creek.
"When I heard we were talking about Menemsha Pond management,
I wrote down some things we should all be concerned about - like
the areas where road runoff is coming into the pond," Mr. Stearns
said. "We maintain that [oil separation] system -
we're happy to do it. It's the right thing to do for the
pond and for the town."
The oyster beds also remove large amounts of harmful nitrogen from
the pond, Mr. Stearns said, and the tribe operates a water quality
testing laboratory on the pond that is open to the public.
The tribal hatchery came under fire, however, for the extensive
amounts of blue Styrofoam that broke loose from the oyster beds during
heavy storms this year and washed up on pond shores. One East Pasture
Road resident brought in a plastic Tupperware container filled with
Styrofoam that he picked up on his beach the day before and passed it
around the room.
"As a conservation commission, we have a lot of concerns about
this," Mrs. Thulin said. "It's bad for the birds.
It's bad for this fish. What kind of impact will that have on the
environment?"
Mr. Stearns explained that when the tribe first purchased the
Styrofoam floats, they were supposed to last three years with no
degradation. When the hatchery realized the extent of the problem this
spring, the tribe bought $25,000 worth of new solid black plastic floats
that are ultraviolet resistant.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/15/content/men_pond_bluff_sm.jpg" "We're sorry it did happen - it's
embarrassing to all of us," Mr. Stearns said. " We are
addressing the issue and it will not happen again."
Mr. Vanderhoop said the hatchery in the last two weeks finally found
a large enough crew to tackle the Styrofoam cleanup. He said that they
will make their way around the entire pond and clean everything in
sight.
"I don't like seeing that stuff on the beaches either.
It's a mess," Mr. Vanderhoop said. "I will tell
everyone here I'm committed to cleaning that all up."
Upon hearing Mr. Vanderhoop's commitment, a number of
pondfront property owners offered to help with the cleanup efforts.
"When you're coming my way just let me know," one
resident told Mr. Vanderhoop. "I would be delighted to come
help."
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