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.

Edgartown’s aquaculture community could soon expand as town boards take a look at a proposal for an oyster farm north of Eel Pond.

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.

Katama Bay oyster farms in Edgartown were closed this week after two people who ate oysters from the bay contracted Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp).

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries announced the closure Monday.

September quiet settled over Katama Bay this week, as a handful of sailboats scudded in and out of the harbor. It was quiet too on the twelve oyster farms scattered across the broad saltwater bay that lies at the eastern end of Edgartown.

Katama Bay oyster farms in Edgartown have been closed due to an outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries announced Monday.