Jamie Walsh is chair of Westport’s Shellfish Commission.
He’s concerned about the crabbing and other activities in Sherwood Mill Pond — which, since “06880” first reported on it last month, has become even more intensive. He writes:
On Friday night Barry Lytton, vice chair of the Westport Shellfish Commission and Jonathan Goldstein, owner and operator of Sherwood Island Oysters, discovered 40 to 50 individuals in the Mill Pond both crabbing and poaching large quantities of shellfish.
I also passed by, and was taken aback by the density of individuals with nets and buckets. These are restricted beds, leased for commercial shell fishing only as of right to Sherwood Island Oysters.
Barry was there for several hours. He says, “about 40 were strictly crabbing, but 10 or so were clamming and doing plenty of it. I saw 2 groups with about 200 to 400 clams each. I tried to tell them they could get sick, and called both the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and police, with no response. DEEP dispatch said they’d send somebody, but hadn’t for 2 hours.”
One bucket of clams — among money — at Sherwood Mill Pond Friday night. (Photo/Barry Lytton)
Aside from the light pollution and disruption to the neighbors who live around the pond, shellfish resources are being poached illegally.
It seems difficult for our police to enforce, as this activity occurs at night, they are not always familiar with the regulations, and many times a language barrier exists.
DEEP conservation officers are spread very thin, and do not have the budget for enforcement.
Sherwood Mill Pond crabbers and clammers, July 2023.
We have discussed this issue recently with Colin Kelly, Westport director of conservation. He is looking into enforcement options available to us. We need to protect our resources, and this area is strictly prohibited.
Westport has wonderful open recreational shellfishing beds located in the triangle off Cockenoe. Those areas are not restricted.
Allowing this illegal activity to continue only encourages permissive illegal behavior. This is something our commission plans to address immediately.
Click below for a video of Friday night’s activity. It was filmed by Barry Lytton; the voice is Jonathan Goldstein’s, owner of Sherwood Island Oysters.
(“06880” reports often on the environment — including our beaches and Sherwood Mill Pond. Please click here to help us continue our work. Thank you!)
