A state-imposed shellfishing ban in Sengekontacket Pond has been extended yet again following rainfall on Sunday. The pond is safe for swimming and boating.
A state-imposed shellfishing ban in Sengekontacket Pond has been extended yet again following rainfall on Sunday. The pond is safe for swimming and boating.
Sengekontacket Pond remains closed for shellfishing because of rainfall.
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.
Sengekontacket is closed to shellfishing, the shellfish constable announced early Friday, after 0.28 inches of rain was recorded on the rain gauge at the Hughes Hatchery. The amount surpasses the 0.2 inches of rain threshold established in the 2012 Sanitary Survey for the pond. Shellfishing there will be prohibited for at least five days, and may be reopened on Wednesday as long as another heavy rain event does not occur in the meantime. Rain is measured daily at the pond.
The Sanitary Survey’s threshold is in effect during the months of July, August and September.
Over the next year, a million tiny pioneers will arrive at Sengekontacket Pond. Simply by growing from the size of a pencil eraser to a full three inches, a million oysters are the key part of a project launched by Oak Bluffs and Edgartown to cultivate the shellfish in Sengekontacket, which has been found to have nitrogen levels well above acceptable limits.
It is the end of the day and the sun hangs low and red over Sengekontacket Pond. The waters of Nantucket Sound are relatively flat due to a southerly shift in the wind earlier in the afternoon, but a few small waves break on the shoreline. Schools of bluefish surface about a quarter mile offshore. Terns follow the schools as they erratically move along.
