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Select Board approves four moorings for ARC’s floating upweller in Herring River
Summary
After a public hearing, the Harwich Select Board unanimously amended the harbor management plan to add four working moorings to support Aquaculture Research Corporation’s floating upweller (“flopsy”) on the Herring River. Harbor Master John Harker said the moorings won’t intrude into the navigable channel.
The Harwich Select Board voted unanimously to amend the town’s harbor management plan to add four numbered moorings on the Herring River for a floating upweller system proposed by Aquaculture Research Corporation (ARC).
Harbor Master John Harker urged approval, saying the floating system has undergone a 14‑day public notice and a waterways review and “does not impede into the navigable channel,” and that harbor staff support the proposal. Paul Whittenstein, ARC’s general manager, described the system to the board as “a floating upweller system” — a 20‑by‑8‑foot dock‑like platform under which juvenile shellfish are held and supplied with raw seawater; Whittenstein said each unit can hold “a couple million oysters and clams.”
Several members of the public spoke in favor. Resident Jeff Lang said, “I support all aquaculture in Harwich. The more we do it, the more we clean up the water,” citing aquaculture’s potential to help nutrient‑impaired rivers while sewer connections remain limited. Board members asked whether the floats would extend into the navigation channel; Harker and ARC staff said the moorings would remain inside the building’s existing footprint and not obstruct navigation.
A board member moved and seconded the amendment to the harbor management plan to add the four working moorings and assign mooring numbers; the motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
The amendment is limited to inserting four working moorings adjacent to ARC’s shoreside facility on the Herring River. The harbor master and ARC staff said the moorings will be supported by moorings (not attached to the building) and that the system is recessed from the channel edge. The board closed the public hearing and recorded no votes opposed.
