May 18, 2013 — A new 50-acre area in Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown and Truro could provide income for shellfish growers. But a popular, floating method for oyster farming won't be allowed by state fisheries officials who say the equipment could ensnare whales and leatherback turtles.
The method uses sets of floats strapped together at the surface and secured on each end with ropes that drop to the seafloor, Provincetown and Truro Shellfish Constable Tony Jackett said Friday.
The floating equipment has been successfully used in shallow waters where there are no marine mammals, Jackett said.
The 50 acres is in water about 20 feet deep within the bay's federally designated North Atlantic right whale critical habitat. It's also in the area where, since 2005, a dozen leatherback turtles have become entangled in fixed fishing gear, according to state records. In the past four years, one right whale entanglement originated in the area.
Fisheries officials are concerned about the vertical ropes and entanglements.
"At this point, we're not going to allow these floating aquaculture gear," said aquatic biologist Erin Burke of the state Division of Marine Fisheries on Friday.
Generally, the state intends to give the go-ahead to gear that is rigged without vertical lines or with highly modified lines, to prevent injury to endangered species.
Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times