CHATHAM, Mass. — October 4, 2013 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fanned an ongoing debate with Chatham when it informed town officials Thursday that the productive shellfish flats off Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge were included in the government shutdown that has paralyzed Washington and halted everything from tours of the White House to roaming the Cape Cod National Seashore.
“Due to a lapse in appropriations, all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, including Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, are closed for the duration of the federal government shutdown,” read the email from Brian Willard, supervisory federal wildlife officer overseeing the eastern complex of wildlife refuges, to town officials. Willard added that the closure would affect shellfishing within the boundaries of the park.
“Harvesting must discontinue in these areas until the shutdown is resolved,” Willard said.
That prohibition touched a nerve in Chatham, which is one of the state’s most active shellfishing towns, selling 400 commercial permits every year. For more than a decade, the town has disputed the wildlife service’s contention that it controls shellfishing within park boundaries.
Monomoy flats are routinely worked by fishermen for soft-shelled clams, quahogs and other shellfish and can provide a substantial portion of their seasonal and annual harvest. Despite a series of meetings, the town has been waiting for 10 years for the wildlife service to sanction its claim by writing it into a management plan.
Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times