Stephen Wright, past president of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association, told The Standard-Times that in Mattapoisett, which has become a focal point of the waterfront war, "it sounds to me that there seems to be some disconnect between upland land owners and the working waterfront. The landowners feel entitled to their view being undisrupted with commercial activity in a public waterway."
He said that in most places on Cape Cod, aquaculturists are getting along with the neighbors, some of whom, he said, actually like the low-tech shellfish farming going on in their seascapes.
For some, it isn't the fish farms that are the problem, but rather the low fees — no more than $25 per acre per year — that don't come anywhere near the cost of keeping an eye on them by shellfish wardens and harbormasters.
Mattapoisett Selectman Paul Silva said, "I cannot in good faith support a 'private for-profit' venture that uses public waterways and would compete for tax dollars with public safety and education." If necessary, Silva wants legislation at the state level to raise the fees to a "fair fee schedule."
Most fish farms are in shallow water and are relatively small — from one-half to a few dozen acres, many of these being hobby farms. Then there are the large commercial operations, such as Taylor Seafood, which farms 100 acres in Mattapoisett and 35 in Fairhaven, supplying oysters to restaurants in Boston, New York and beyond.
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