Troubled Waters

While landlubbers sit on beaches gazing out at the splendor of blue waters, blue skies and a horizon dotted with colorful sails and boats of all shapes and sizes, the people on those vessels are all too aware that safe navigation is paramount from the moment they pull away from shore.

Harbormasters and boaters also know that navigation will become more difficult as the federal government through the U.S. Coast Guard begins its plan to remove ATONs, which are navigational aids such as buoys, fixed structures, and beacons both lighted and unlighted.

During the May 26 meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board, Harbormaster Jill Simmons reported that she received a letter from the USCG advising of their plan to remove several channel markers in Mattapoisett while moving another to a yet undetermined location.

Simmons said a wide-ranging federal policy to cut costs has mandated that the USCG review all ATONs and select for “disestablishment” and removal those deemed unnecessary.

Simmons said she was sending a letter opposing disestablishment of at least two of those markers that boaters have come to depend on for decades to avoid submerged rocks.

The markers in the removal crosshairs of the USCG are the Mattapoisett Harbor buoys No. 6/Snow Rock (relocation), No. 2/Angelica Point, No. 8/Barstow Rock, and No. 10/town dock.

This policy affects boaters not just in local waters, but in all waters under the control of the USCG.

Simmons said Robinson’s Hole in Falmouth will have nearly all ATONs removed.

“They might as well just put a gate up there,” said Simmons. Anyone who has navigated that area knows the dangerous currents that swirl relentlessly in that location, Simmons added. The board members agreed, shaking their heads.

In another below-the-waterline matter, Simmons told the board that Taylor Seafood, an aquaculture enterprise that operates over 100-acres in Nasketucket Bay in Mattapoisett and Fairhaven, is under new management; however, longstanding issues with the operation, including abandonment of wires, cables, nets, and associated debris, have not been resolved.

Attending the meeting was Frank Coelho, a member of the Fairhaven Marine Resource Committee.

“At least five years ago, Marine Fisheries took pictures of the trash on the bottom,” Coelho said.

According to Simmons – although hearsay information indicated that Taylor was responsible for placing channel markers at the head of Brandt Island Cove as part of their agreement with the town – those markers were never adequate or of regulation size, some being mere plastic milk containers.

“I’ve been all around this thing,” she said with a note of exasperation.

Simmons said she had met with town counsel regarding revocation of the license, and that Taylor Seafood had been forcibly resolved as a corporation by the state.

The new company, West Island, LLC, had popped up as owner and had tried to pay for permits.

“The town refused the payment,” Simmons stated. “A revocation hearing is planned.”

Moving on to other business, MAB member Robert Moore passed out the long-awaited updated draft of rules and regulations. “You shouldn’t have to be an attorney, member of the board, or an engineer to read them…. A lay person should be able to understand them,” he said giving context to the work he and several other members have applied to the draft.

Moore also noted that, although the rules and regulations by and large have not changed, the formatting and text placement have been modified for clarity, but overall, he said, this doesn’t replace “common sense and mutual respect to your fellow boaters.”

The board members were asked to review the draft and return comments by the next meeting.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board is scheduled for June 30 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

 

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