When it comes to picking a good place to harvest bay scallops, Lagoon Pond might not be your first choice. Surrounded by homes and businesses, the pond lies between two busy towns in one of the most populated areas of the Island.

You might chose Cape Pogue or Menemsha Pond as the best spot to find thousands of bushels of bay scallops.

Yet in 2006, the Tisbury side of Lagoon Pond led the state for bay scallop landings with 6,269 bushels.

Derek Cimeno, who died last week at the age of 39, is largely responsible for this.

Indian Summer

September is the Island’s best-kept secret and many Islanders who work hard all summer consider it their own special gift. The ocean water is still warm enough for swimming, and beach days are still at hand for strolling, collecting shells and stones and, of course, one more plunge into the ocean. Will it be the last until next year?

The derby is on and fishermen line the shore, casting for blues and stripers in their waders, perhaps making us somewhat incongruous as we splash about in shorts and bathing suits.

The Oceans Plan Quid Pro Quo

Gov. Deval Patrick and his senior advisors in energy and the environment have an ambitious, aggressive agenda that is designed to regulate and encourage the development of renewable energy industries, especially wind. But the legislative initiatives that have grown from the this agenda would also eviscerate the protective powers of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and this is an unacceptable trade-off.

Washashore

From a Gazette edition of 1928:

The problems of the New Bedford fast ferry that Dan Greenbaum wrote about in the Sept. 11 Gazette may also be viewed in a wider context. His historical background needs expansion both in length and depth.

Recent Gazette articles on the state’s draft ocean management plan have raised questions about the plan, especially the renewable energy opportunities it identifies for Massachusetts waters. On behalf of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, I would like to address a couple of them, namely, alleged “new” powers granted the Energy Facilities Siting Board to override local authority, and whether the Martha’s Vineyard community will have a meaningful role in potential development of wind energy off its shores.