To the Editor:
As a third-generation fisherman to shellfish in the town of Tisbury, I cannot help but notice how modern and new the drawbridge is. It is just how the engineers drew it up, and a source of pride for the town and its residents as a dedicated memorial to the Island’s Korean and Vietnam War veterans. However, what the town did not consider was how much damage six to seven years of construction above and below the water has done to the eelgrass beds inside and outside the bridge. This, along with restricted tidal flow caused by huge barges and tugs, and the six years of silt distribution, in my opinion, has had a detrimental effect on the town’s scallop seasons.
The town of Tisbury accepted a $50,000 payment to pay for damages to Lagoon Pond before the project started. Yet they had no idea of what damage would occur. At the selectmen’s meeting on general eelgrass concerns, selectman [Melinda] Loberg stated that the state was on the hook for any damage done to the eelgrass and flats, even though the town had already accepted the $50,000 mitigation before the project started.
My concern is why the shellfish committee has not prompted the shellfish warden and Tisbury selectmen to make sure the state upholds its responsibility to rectify years of destruction due to the construction on and near the eelgrass flats. The scallops in the pond are a great source of pride and livelihood for many Island families, as they provide a final source of income before the most difficult part of winter on the Island.
If the citizens of Tisbury don’t think six to seven years of construction, jetting, and moving barges around have not changed the dynamics of the tidal flow and the bottom beds, they are mistaken. The town should have had an eelgrass and shellfish assessment, complete with pictures and maps, before the project started. I am not aware if one exists in the past six years. The pond has been closed very early for three of the past six years to protect seed that was not available the next year for town residents to catch.
Our main eelgrass and scallop beds are right inside the bridge to Hines Point and outside the bridge toward the inner harbor. In 2015, bay scalloping season was cut short. The season was only two weeks long, to protect an overabundance of seed from the west arm to the landing to Hines Point to Emery Flanders Cove.
In 2016, the commercial fisherman, of which there are only a handful, caught their limits in three weeks — though the amount of seed that I witnessed in the pond the year before should have lasted 10 to 12 weeks. There have also been large areas in the pond that were blocked off from shellfishermen. I believe the tidal restrictions and constant pressure from the silt due to prop wash and jetting steel and pylons into the bottom have had a major impact on the scallop seasons. I personally would like to see some of the $50,000 used to survey the pond boundaries, because it seems like the town of Tisbury has lost more water to Oak Bluffs and installed moorings that cannot be moved. As a concerned fisherman and Tisbury resident, I hope that the town holds the state responsible for the unintended damages to the eelgrass flats.
Glenn Pachico
Tisbury