Edgartown’s bustling aquaculture industry is on hold this week, with Katama Bay oyster farms temporarily closed because of reported cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp). The state Department of Public Health and Division of Marine Fisheries announced the closure, which is expected to last one week, on Wednesday.
Residents along Beach Road near Eastville Beach were informed at the end of January of a proposal by the Martino brothers to establish a for-profit commercial oyster farm in the open waters off Eastville Beach. Residents of Beach Road were given less than a month’s notice of this proposal and little time to research and provide comment at the March selectman’s meeting, a time of year when seasonal residents are not on-Island.
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.
