Letter: Oyster farming is ruining Maquoit Bay

This Post was originally published in the Portland Press Herald.

Expansion of an oyster farm would continue the degradation of the serenity of Maquoit Bay.

Why are so many hell-bent on destroying what is beautiful and enjoyed by others?

I live in Brunswick, near Maquoit Bay, a shallow saltwater body, which is enjoyed by boaters, fishermen and appreciators of nature. The bay has been taken over, to a great extent, by a commercial oyster farm. I believe this farm is depositing sludge, produced as effluent from the oysters being raised, along the banks of this shallow, not-self-cleaning body of water. Now, our local government is reviewing the oyster company’s application for a 160-foot-long dock out into the near reaches of the bay, disrupting the quietude of neighbors and others who enjoy the serenity still present.

This water, which used to nourish shellfish and other spawning species, is now bereft of precious eel grass, which had been the critical component for the life of this bay. This loss is probably irreversible, damning the future of this precious resource to being a dead zone. Where have sensibility and forethought gone? As has been said often: Follow the money.

Prentiss Tubby
Brunswick