Edgartown Great Pond was opened up today, making way for a better environment for soft shell clams and oysters in the pond. Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall said he anticipates opening it again in June.
“Opening the pond helps maintain the salinity and keeps it from becoming too brackish,” Mr. Bagnall said, “and it helps to regulate the nitrogen in the pond.”
He said the practice of opening the ponds up to flow into salt water goes back hundreds of years, to the time of the early settlers on the Vineyard.
The Great Pond will be open for oystering beginning April 3, with a closing date of April 28, for racks and tongs only. Limits are two 10-gallon wash baskets per day, Monday through Friday.
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