Smaller boats will be allowed to anchor in Lake Tashmoo, to help local shellfishers.
The Tisbury Select Board unanimously approved scaling back an anchoring moratorium during a meeting on Wednesday, August 23.
In March, the board passed an indefinite and controversial anchoring moratorium in Lake Tashmoo to address environmental issues, such as the protection of the ecologically important eelgrass, and to cut down on the overcrowding of boats. As Tisbury prepared for the summer season in May, the board approved implementing up to 12 moorings in Lake Tashmoo for the public to use on a reservation basis, half of which were conservation moorings. During the same meeting, the board also discussed the possibility of allowing anchoring for smaller vessels in designated areas, although no vote was taken on this idea.
Tisbury harbormaster John Crocker came before the board during the Wednesday meeting to propose an allowance for smaller boats to anchor in parts of Tashmoo going forward. According to Crocker, the anchoring moratorium had the “unintended consequence” of preventing shellfishing in Lake Tashmoo.
The anchoring allowance would apply to vessels 18 feet long or smaller, actively used for shellfishing. The board unanimously approved the proposal.
Wayne Clay, a commercial shellfisherman, told The Times on Monday that allowing the vessels would be beneficial, although he said the moratorium did not have a large impact on shellfishing for him. Clay said he can go to the inner moorings area near Northern Pines to rake for shellfish around the shoreline. “It leaves you like 200 feet,” he said.
Clay said he also digs for quahogs in Lagoon Pond, and he could switch over to Lake Tashmoo if shellfishing was not allowed.
Regarding the moratorium, Clay said he never really saw people leaving trash in the Tashmoo area, rather just individuals trying to have a good time on the water.
He wondered where the boaters from places like Falmouth had gone. “[They’re] not even at Lambert’s Cove,” he said.