The Edgartown shellfish committee will shelve for now a plan to expand oyster farms to Cape Pogue Pond, amid conflicting opinions about protecting the bay and a desire to build on aquaculture.
The Edgartown shellfish committee delayed a formal decision on a plan to open Cape Pogue Pond for oyster farms, with tension over protecting a pristine pond and competing interests.
As communities on the Island and across the region look to shellfish as a possible strategy to restore the health of coastal ponds, a study on the Cape provides numbers to back up their work.
Island-sourced kelp salads could soon join farm-raised meat or Chilmark mussels on Vineyard plates, with the state’s first two commercial seaweed permits issued this winter to Island shellfishermen.
A blue mussel farm in the waters off Chilmark will soon double as a two-year kelp-growing experiment. The project aims to demonstrate the benefit of growing multiple crops in a single area.
The closure covering the Cape and Islands has been lifted, the state Division of Marine Fisheries announced Monday. A toxic shellfish bloom has dissipated.
The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group hopes to bring a nascent kelp-growing project to Chilmark this winter, with support from the town selectmen and shellfish constable.
