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Select Board approves three shellfish aquaculture license transfers
Summary
The Falmouth Select Board on Dec. 2 approved three transfers of shellfish aquaculture licenses — totaling roughly 6.1 acres across Nantucket Sound, Buzzards Bay and McGansett Harbor — after brief hearings and unanimous votes.
The Falmouth Select Board voted Dec. 2 to approve three separate transfers of shellfish aquaculture licenses covering roughly 6.1 acres in town waters.
At a public hearing held during the board’s meeting, the panel approved a 1.1-acre transfer of license A17-01 from Glen Chamberlain to Robert O. Sargent, a 3-acre transfer (A17-02) from Paula Miller to Cape Cod Oyster Company, and a 2-acre transfer plus a 20-by-8-foot upweller in McGansett Harbor (A15-06) from Thai Perini to Cape Cod Oyster Company. Notices read during the hearing cited Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) chapters 130, 57 and 60 governing shellfish grants and transfers.
David Ryan, president of Cape Cod Oyster Company, told the board he plans to change farming methods at at least one site and said his ability to proceed depends on approval by the Conservation Commission. “It is a critical element of your plan that you get that approval from ConCom,” Ryan said, explaining that his operational agreement assumes ConCom’s sign-off.
Bobby Sargent, the prospective operator for the 1.1-acre site, said the parcel had been idle and he was eager to try to grow oysters there. “I’m 15 years a commercial fisherman in Falmouth and a lifelong resident,” Sargent said, describing his involvement in local oyster-seeding operations.
Each hearing was closed after a brief period for board questions and public comment; the board then moved, seconded and voted approval on each transfer with no recorded opposing votes. Several board members noted letters of public support were on file and that the applications were on the Select Board’s licensing-record file.
The approvals were recorded as motions on the board’s agenda and carried unanimously. The Select Board’s office keeps the complete license applications on file and provided the statutory notices as required under MGL.
