Following a lengthy and well-attended public hearing last week, Tisbury shellfish regulations remain largely unchanged.

A minor change in language regarding area closures was easily approved last Tuesday by the selectmen, along with an update to commercial shellfishing regulations that makes them consistent with state laws. The latter change restricts the number of commercial license holders per boat to two.

The best treat available in the local fish market, and in the restaurants, is something you haven’t eaten in a while — black sea bass, another Vineyard waterfront success story.

We haven’t had the option of buying black sea bass in local fish markets during the summer for at least a half dozen years, if not more. If you have an aversion to oily tasting fish like bluefish, this is your kind of fish. Black sea bass is a white delicate flaky fish that is perfect any way it is cooked.

The Edgartown selectmen Monday approved changes to aquaculture regulations that will allow town shellfish constable Paul Bagnall to write citations for violations.

A first-time violation of town aquaculture bylaws would be accompanied by a $100 penalty, and a second violation, which would come after a week, would have a $500 fine. Under the previous regulations, any violations would go before the selectmen, who would schedule a hearing and write a letter to the offender.“By the time it gets to the board there’s been some fines issued,” Mr. Bagnall said.

Sengekontacket Pond has been closed to shellfishing for the second time in two weeks due to heavy rainfall. The Edgartown selectmen learned of the closure at their meeting Monday.

The pond, which spans the towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, will remain closed at least until Sunday. It is safe for swimming and boating.

Oyster season in Chilmark is set to begin on Monday after the board of selectmen approved the opening of the short season.

At the selectmen’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, the board approved a recommendation from the shellfish committee that permits two heaping bushels a day, Monday through Wednesday. The season ends April 30. Shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer said half a dozen oystermen had expressed interested in permits — “a controlled amount,” Mr. Scheffer added.

On one of the calm, unseasonably warm early December days we had last month, my husband Isaac took our three-year-old son Emmett and me scalloping in Menemsha Pond for the first time. With each dump of the drag on the culling board we were amazed by what we found — tiny sea robins and flounder that Emmett put in a bucket on the deck, jellyfish, eel grass, and an incredible bounty of bay scallops with their beautiful fan-shaped shells.

Oil Spill in Edgartown Harbor Kills Million Baby Oysters and Fouls Waters

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

An oil spill of unknown origin sullied the pristine water of the outer Edgartown harbor yesterday, ruining an entire crop of juvenile shellfish at a hatchery owned by the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group and posing a possible threat to the rich bay scallop beds off the north shore of Chappaquiddick.