Edgartown shellfishermen are one step closer to farming in a new spot in Nantucket Sound, following an approval from the selectmen on Monday. The site, called the middle flats, is a 35-acre area located about a mile north of Eel Pond.
Brothers Greg and Dan Martino plan to grow 50,000 oysters per year in bottom cages off of Eastville Beach in Oak Bluffs as early as next spring. Oak Bluffs selectmen gave preliminary approval as long as the Martino brothers' equipment does not prevent boats from passing through the area.
Roy Scheffer and his son Jeremy Scheffer will put two small farms to keep cages of oysters in the area known as middle flats. Father and son already grow oysters in Katama Bay.
Oyster farmers want to avoid another bacteria outbreak like the one that forced a temporary shutdown of their business late last summer. State officials are listening.
Town selectmen approved a request from the shellfish committee to add personnel hours, but balked at adding an entirely new employee to the department.
Edgartown’s tax rate will increase slightly in 2014, with the town selectmen this week approving a tax rate of $3.70 for every $1,000 worth of property.
Katama Bay oyster farms reopened for business last Saturday, about three and a half weeks after the area was closed to harvesting because it was linked to cases of Vibrio bacteria.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) announced the reopening Friday afternoon, Oct. 4. The 12 independent oyster farms operating on Katama Bay were back to business Saturday at dawn.
As I joined the line waiting to enter the meeting room, I greeted and joked with some of the oyster growers in a manner customary among close friends. Like old friends coming together at a funeral, our jolly small talk denied the seriousness of the occasion.
With Katama Bay closed for business because of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp), Edgartown oyster farmers Tuesday pressed for a speedy resolution to an investigation and testing regimen under way before a delegation of high-ranking state officials Tuesday.
At a shellfish committee meeting that day, farmers discussed sticking together and going to extra lengths to guard against future closures.
