Yarmouth DNR photo
YARMOUTH – Yarmouth Division of Natural Resource (DNR) officers discovered an illegal aquaculture site Monday and seized 500 oysters.
While investigating a separate call, they discovered two large shellfish baskets floating just off a property in Yarmouth.
When officers asked the property owner what was in the floating baskets, the individual told the officers he had been given oyster seed as a gift which were bought from a company selling them in the Chesapeake Bay area.
He informed the officers that he had been growing them in those baskets.
According to DNR officials, it is illegal to grow oysters in any body of water in Massachusetts without a permit from the Division of Marine Fisheries.
The shellfish must also come from a certified dealer that has been validated through pathology tests to ensure diseases are not being spread into clean bodies of water.
The oysters were ultimately destroyed.
