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Our Fragile Pond

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Farm & Field: Scallops & Eelgrass

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COming soon

Lagoon Pond Association supports Amendment 10 to protect river herring:

  

Past News:

Light Up The Lagoon

8/20/24 Light Up the Lagoon Parade: What a Success!! Many of you participated so you may have seen for yourself, but for those who missed it, groups of people lined the Lagoon shores with their flashlights, lanterns, noisemakers, and even some sparklers.  Surrounding homes were lit up with outdoor and indoor lights and strings of lights. Moored boats were decorated with lights as well. The newest addition to Light Up the Lagoon, the Parade of Boats, was the crowning touch.  No matter where you were watching from, be it the head of the lagoon, the beach road bridge or anywhere in between, the line up of lighted boats passed by you.  Doug Reece, LPA past president, led the parade and reported on what he saw and heard as they travelled from the head of the Lagoon to their turn around at the drawbridge and return.  They were greeted by whoops of joy, lights, and noisemakers from the sides of the Lagoon -- which they returned.  If you have a boat, next year consider joining the parade for one of the best views.
Thank you to all who participated and made this such a wonderful event. You helped the LPA honor our precious Lagoon Pond and highlight the importance of keeping it clean and safe.

7/20/24 Lagoon Pond Association supports Amendment 10 to protect river herring:

Science Committee Chair, Maria Abate, represented the LPA Board at the New England Fishery Management Council's April 22 Scoping Meeting to voice the LPA's support for “Amendment 10” regulations on Atlantic Herring commercial trawlers. These trawler nets also capture 100+ metric tons of river herring as the herring swim from the sea each spring into typical spawning grounds such as Upper Lagoon Pond where they were born. River herring are an important food source to migratory birds, striped bass and other fish thereby supporting the island food web and local fishing economy. The numbers of fish homing to the island herring “runs” are down to a few percent of historic amounts.  The LPA Board recognizes urgent actions are required to reverse their loss and recommended 1) fishing area closures to avert the trawlers from the path of the migrating river herring; 2) restore the coastal midwater trawler exclusion zone, 3) employ a robust observer program to document river herring being caught are within sustainable population limits; and 4) support funding initiatives for locally monitoring river herring runs.

4/30/24 The LPA recently participated in the Earth Day beach clean up and Earth Day Conservation Festival at the museum! Pictured is Dani Ewart, Doug Reece, Amy Russo, Lani Goldthorpe, and Rick Karney cleaning up trash and managing our booth!

4/4/24 Researchers Sarah Horvat and Micheline LaBrie of the Coastal Systems Program at UMass Dartmouth explain the sources of nitrogen and its effects on the three down island ponds to a full and engaged audience at the Oak Bluffs Library on April 4. The talk is the first in the Down Island Coastal Pond Speaker Series of talks organized in a collaboration among the Lagoon Pond Association, Friends of Sengekontacket, Tisbury Waterways Inc, and the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group. The next event in the series will be at the MV Museum on July 28 at 4:30pm. 

View the presentation here!

4/1/24 Canada Goose Egg Addling in Progress: Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven Animal Control officers have begun addling goose eggs as a means to control their population. This will take place starting now through April and early May. This method is recommended by the US Humane Society.  While not nearly as negative an impact to the pond as septic systems, Canada geese droppings contribute to poor water quality, litter our beaches, and at times cause beach closures due to bacteria.  Each goose drops an average of 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of feces every day.  The geese also eat eelgrass that we are trying to protect and restore.  The species of geese prevalent on the island do not migrate in the winter, increasing the dilemma.  If you know of nests or have questions, please contact your animal control officer.  In Tisbury, please call Heather at 774-563-9721.  In Oak Bluffs, please call Kelly at 508-560-9127.

8/1/23 The first Lagoon Pond Association Biodiversity Survey took place on August 1, 2023!

This initial survey, focused on macroscopic mobile marine fauna and seaweeds, and was led by our science committee chair Maria Abate, PhD, marine biologist. Two separate 50-foot seine (1/4 inch mesh) samples were collected in the North Basin of Lagoon Pond from the shore between Doug’s Cove and Brush Pond. After sorting in containers, counting and identifying all organisms as well as measuring length of 126 fishes on shore, all organisms were returned to the water.

Twenty-two species of macro-fauna were found including: 11 species of fish, 7 crustacean species, 5 mollusks (3 bivalves and 2 snails), 1 anemone species, and 8 species of seaweeds. Juveniles from several fish species were represented including 11 Northern pufferfish, 2 striped bass, and 1 late-season winter flounder, cunner, tautog, and a sea raven. Seaweeds were not excessive and invasive tunicates were absent, unlike other spots in the Pond. Eelgrass blades were notably absent, but pipefish and bay scallops which prefer that habitat were still present. Total mobile fauna was circa 900 with the most abundant fish being the Atlantic silverside with over 800 individuals in a school in the incoming tide seine. The importance of the pond as habitat for young and forage fish was apparent.

We plan to perform future surveys to catalog changes over time and to better document the health of the Lagoon Pond ecosystem, as well as engage and educate members about these trends. The LPA Science Committee plans to conduct additional offseason survey(s), and invite LPA members in for a “Bioblitz” in the summer of 2024. Stay tuned!