It is perfectly understandable that the opponents of the “oyster factory” fight hard for the privileges they current enjoy. The question is, are they entitled to those privileges? When Mr Dioli and his compadres bought waterfront property, they may have been lured by the perfect scenery when looking West over Maquoit Bay, but they surely must know that property rights end at the high water mark.

What irks me is the dis-ingenuity of their claims about making it all about the Bay, not their self-interests. If they were sincere, they would not let their kids disturb the peace with their noisy jet skis and would not be disturbing the quiet mornings with their water-skiing. Nor would they make absurd claims about the oysters polluting the water with their poop. Scrap the arguments about the noise. If they were for real, they would long ago have complained about the air boats that really make a racket at all hours! Or about the duck hunters that blast the birds and tranquility out of the bay as soon as the season opens.

I have fished Maquoit Bay for 20-plus years and I usually make my way up to the head of the Bay along the Westerly channel. At no time have I seen more than a few buoys there, so I am stumped by the fact that over the years I have missed seeing those hundreds of traps all over the adjoining flats.

Without a working waterfront community, the young people will continue to leave and the taxes on your precious waterfront properties will continue to go up. And in a few years, when their precious lobsters have marched off to Canada, the lobstermen will probably be grateful for the experience acquired by the early adopters of aquaculture. As for the technical merits of the case, it would be best to leave the pseudo-science out of it, and listen to the marine experts who don’t have a dog in this fight. Let DMR set proper limits and conditions after listening to honest input from all interested parties but please remain civil and sincere.

Andre Cocquyt,

Brunswick