Sam Bungey
The quahaugs of Sengekontacket lie unmolested this morning, lucky survivors of a mass taking carried out in the 48 hours prior to a summer-long closure of the pond which began Monday.
On Sunday morning Edgartown clammer Manny Jardin was pulling out quahaugs as fast as he could plant his rake.
“Hear that? That rock? Maybe it’s a rock. So you scrape,” Mr. Jardin coached as he sifted through bottom of Anthier’s Pond just east of the Big Bridge. “And . . . voila.”
With most permitting in hand and a planned roster of regional and national musical acts up their sleeves, a group of Vermont promoters plan to open doors next month on the property formerly home to the Outerland nightclub.
Remaining red tape notwithstanding, the owners of Nectar’s nightclub in Burlington, Vt., aim to launch the club mid-June, operating under the same name.
Noted environmental activist and Chilmark seasonal resident Laurie David has been cited and fined by the Chilmark conservation commission for fresh violations of the state Wetlands Protection Act.
The property owned by Ms. David off North Road was the subject of a series of wetlands violations in 2005, when construction of a stone fire pit, barbecue grill area and wooden stage for a children’s theatre with seating was begun in a wetland without a permit.
The Wampanoag tribe has another 30 days to clean up the mess at Menemsha Pond left by an oyster propagation project abandoned over two years ago.
Aquinnah selectmen voted Tuesday to grant the extra grace period on top of an original 60-day cleanup deadline. In exchange, tribal leaders were asked to prepare a plan detailing a scaled-back proposal for a future shellfish operation in the area.
Meanwhile, selectmen have made no move to renew a tribe’s bottom grant in the pond.
Hope for an ailing Island commercial fishery was on the menu at the Home Port restaurant in Menemsha Wednesday night, along with some hearty chowder and fresh herb-crusted swordfish.
Most of the Island fishing community was on hand for the first annual meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Dukes County Fishermen’s Association, along with representatives from Cape Cod and Maine.
Paul Bagnall has seen many cuts, the trenches of sand dug to connect pond and ocean, but they’re all a little different.
As shellfish constable Mr. Bagnall oversees the opening of Edgartown Great Pond between three and five times a year. The opening resalinates the pond, purges nutrients and allows shellfish to thrive. It also fills the pond with herring and striped bass, much to the delight of local fishermen.