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Late light over the Felix Neck marsh in winter, looking toward Sengekontacket Pond. The pond is shared by Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, and each town’s permit covers only its own side.
Shellfishing on Martha's Vineyard town by town: what each of the six towns charges a visitor for a permit and what it covers, where to buy it, weekly limits and sizes, the 2026 to 2027 bay scallop dates published so far, how to check storm and rain closures, and keeping the catch safe to eat.
Raking quahogs on a sandy flat at low tide, or wading into a pond with a dip net on the morning scallop season opens, is about as island as a day gets. It also needs paperwork. In Massachusetts the towns, not the state, license recreational shellfishing, so each of the six towns sells its own permit for its own water, sets its own limits and picks its own scallop dates every fall; an Oak Bluffs permit does nothing for you on the Edgartown side of the same pond. This guide covers what each town sells a visitor, the limits, the 2026 to 2027 dates published so far and how to check the water is open, all checked against the towns' own regulations and notices and the state Division of Marine Fisheries on October 2, 2026; where something is not published, we say so.
Current note (October 2, 2026): the state closed every shellfish area in Massachusetts before the September 26 nor'easter. On the Vineyard only up-island waters reopened on September 28: Menemsha, Nashaquitsa, Stonewall and Squibnocket Ponds, Menemsha Bight, the Chilmark and West Tisbury north shore and Aquinnah's south shore. Lagoon Pond, Lake Tashmoo, the down-island harbors, Sengekontacket, Katama Bay, Cape Poge Bay and both great ponds were still waiting for the state's reopening notice.
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The permit is half of it; the other half is whether the water is open that morning. The Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) classifies every growing area. Approved water is open under town rules and closes only for major events such as a hurricane or red tide. Conditionally approved water closes some of the time, after rain or seasonally: Sengekontacket is conditional on rainfall, and the head of Lagoon Pond and Majors Cove are seasonal. Prohibited water never opens; on the Vineyard that includes James Pond, Oyster Pond in Edgartown and the Menemsha Basin.
The state's maps show classification, not the day's status, so check the town's shellfish page, the DMF Emergency Shellfish Closure and Opening Notices, and if in doubt call the shellfish constable, which is what DMF itself suggests.
Rain is the usual reason. On Sengekontacket, more than 0.2 inch of rain closes the pond for five days between May 1 and September 30, and a red flag at Big Bridge or Little Bridge means it is closed; Edgartown's map offers closure alerts by text (send "Shellfish" to 877-550-8627). In Tisbury, 4 inches or more in 24 hours closes areas automatically. After the July 2026 storm, Sengekontacket stayed closed until the end of August. Red tide is the other reason: DMF tests shellfish from 13 primary stations from March through October.
A Route 13 bus on the big bridge over Sengekontacket’s inlet, two people fishing from the platform beside it. Edgartown’s pond map says a red flag at Big Bridge or Little Bridge means the pond is closed to shellfishing.
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Each permit covers its own town's water only; the weekly limits for every town are in one table further down.
Waters: Katama Bay, Cape Poge Bay and Pocha Pond, Edgartown Great Pond and the Edgartown side of Sengekontacket. Oyster Pond is closed to all shellfishing.
Empty dock pilings on Katama Bay on a clear winter day. Katama Bay is Edgartown water, and the Katama boat ramp is one of the town’s seven landings where a family catch is checked.
Waters: the Oak Bluffs side of Sengekontacket, the east side of Lagoon Pond, Oak Bluffs Harbor and Farm Pond. The 2026 summer maps mark closed areas in red.
Waters: Lake Tashmoo, Vineyard Haven Harbor and the west side of Lagoon Pond.
The salt marsh at the head of Lagoon Pond, seen from beside the Veterans Memorial Park lot. Tisbury’s recommended 2026 scallop rules keep boats from dragging at the head of the Lagoon, which is marked with buoys.
Waters: the West Tisbury side of Tisbury Great Pond, and the quahogs at Lambert's Cove. The town site carries only 2014 regulations and does not say where visitors buy, so call Town Hall, 508-696-0102, before counting on these numbers.
Waters: the Chilmark side of Menemsha Pond, Nashaquitsa and Stonewall Ponds, and the Chilmark side of Tisbury Great Pond.
Waters: Aquinnah's parts of Menemsha and Squibnocket Ponds.
Four ponds have a town line through them, and each side needs its own permit. Sengekontacket is split between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, and Edgartown's rainfall map draws the line. Lagoon Pond is Tisbury on the west shore and Oak Bluffs on the east, with the line in green on the Oak Bluffs map; our Lagoon Pond Road walk follows the Vineyard Haven side. Menemsha Pond is Chilmark and Aquinnah, and Tisbury Great Pond is West Tisbury and Chilmark. The ponds guide covers the great ponds themselves.
State law keeps bay scallops off limits from April 1 to October 1 and allows only adults: a raised annual growth line at least 10 millimeters from the hinge, or 2.5 inches tall if the line is closer. Seed goes straight back alive, and scallops come ashore in the shell. Each town then sets its own dates. By October 2, 2026:
| Town | Family scalloping 2026–27 | Where it stood on October 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chilmark | From Wednesday, October 7; half a bushel a week | In the town’s 2026/27 season notice; commercial from November 2 |
| Tisbury | Saturday, October 31 for Lagoon Pond, the harbor and outside the ponds; Saturday, November 21 for Lake Tashmoo | Recommended by the shellfish constable on September 8; no Select Board vote posted |
| Edgartown | The regulations set the family season at October 1 to March 31 | This season’s dates were on the September 8 Selectboard agenda but not posted online; waters still under the storm closure |
| Oak Bluffs | Not announced | The town page still says the seasons closed on April 1, 2026 |
| Aquinnah | Not set | On the September 24 Waterways Committee agenda, “depending on water temp” |
| West Tisbury | Not on the non-resident permit | – |
Scallop years swing: Edgartown's commercial landings fell to 3,064 bushels in 2025 to 2026 from around 10,000 the year before, and Tisbury's total to 47.5 bushels from 201. Whether a town can open scalloping while the storm closure still covers its ponds we could not confirm, so a call to the constable the day before is the surest plan.
An overturned dinghy on the shore of Lake Tashmoo at sunset, a little snow left along the beach. Tisbury’s recommended opening for family scalloping on Tashmoo is November 21, three weeks after the Lagoon.
The state minimum sizes apply everywhere, and a gauge settles any doubt on the spot: Oak Bluffs will not issue a permit without one, Tisbury and Chilmark want one on the flats, and Edgartown asks for a shellfish measure. Anything short goes back in the water.
| Shellfish | Smallest you can keep |
|---|---|
| Quahogs | 1 inch thick across the hinge |
| Soft-shell clams (steamers) | 2 inches long |
| Oysters | 3 inches long (West Tisbury’s family guide also caps them at 5) |
| Bay scallops | A raised growth line at least 10 mm from the hinge, or 2.5 inches tall |
| Razor clams (Edgartown) | 5 inches |
| Town | Weekly family limit | Bay scallops, in season |
|---|---|---|
| Edgartown | 1/2 bushel of everything together | 1 level 10-gallon washbasket, shells included |
| Oak Bluffs | 1/2 heaping bushel, plus up to 1/2 bushel of oysters | 1 heaping bushel |
| Tisbury | 1/2 bushel of quahogs and steamers together | 1 bushel |
| West Tisbury | 1/2 bushel of clams; oysters 1/2 bushel (a 5-gallon bucket); quahogs at Lambert’s Cove 1/2 bushel | Not on the permit |
| Chilmark | 1/4 bushel (one peck); oysters 1/2 bushel | 1/2 bushel |
| Aquinnah (2011 rules) | 1/2 heaping bushel each of quahogs, clams or sea clams, 1 bushel in all | Not on family or non-resident licenses |
A few habits keep the ponds stocked and the constables happy. Oyster farms work licensed grants, and state law forbids taking shellfish from one without the grant holder's consent, so the farm gear is best left alone. Seed and anything undersized go back alive; Chilmark and Oak Bluffs ask for deep water rather than the flat, and Oak Bluffs culls scallops away from the beach. Aquinnah's rules put starfish, green crabs, whelks, moon snails and codium on the shore above the high-tide line, not back in the pond. And the ponds get help: the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group grows an average of 30 million quahog, bay scallop and oyster seed a year for the six towns' shellfish departments, and offers small-group hatchery tours by appointment. Our rules and etiquette guide covers the rest.
The Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and Woods Hole Sea Grant brochure that Tisbury hosts starts with harvesting only from open areas. Then: a cooler with ice in warm weather, never direct sun or a hot car trunk, and shellfish kept cool (35 to 40 degrees) and moist but not frozen, in the refrigerator rather than in water. Any that gape and do not close when touched are dead and get thrown away. The Vibrio risk is greatest in the warm months; cooking shellfish to 145 degrees destroys it and most other pathogens, and people with a weakened immune system, from liver disease or diabetes for example, are advised not to eat them raw. Illness closures happen too: in August 2025 the state closed Menemsha Pond and Katama Bay to oysters for a week after Campylobacter illnesses.
Checklist
The right town’s permit for the water and the species: Tisbury’s short permits and Chilmark’s without the endorsement do not cover scallops, and West Tisbury’s never does.
The town shellfish page and the DMF notices that morning; at Sengekontacket, no red flag at Big Bridge or Little Bridge.
A quahog gauge, plus a 2-inch ring for clams in Chilmark; a shellfish measure in Edgartown.
The permit and photo ID on you, which Edgartown requires.
Family hours start at 7 am in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Chilmark and for Tisbury scallops; Edgartown ends at 5 pm, Tisbury scallops at 4 pm, Oak Bluffs and Chilmark at sunset or 7 pm.
The landing where the constable checks the catch, listed in each town section above.
Ice in the car, and the fridge, not a bucket of water, at home.
The fish markets sell island shellfish without the waders. Larsen's Fish Market at 56 Basin Road in Menemsha sources its shellfish locally and lists October 18 as its last day of 2026; the Menemsha Fish Market posts its fall hours on its site. Edgartown Seafood at 138 Cooke Street is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, in 2026, and The Net Result is at 79 Beach Road in Vineyard Haven; John's Fish Market closes for the off-season. The farms and raw bars are in our oysters, scallops and quahogs guide, and the Menemsha docks in the lobster guide.
The wooden fish and lobster sign over Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha, which lists October 18 as its last day of 2026.
Fees, limits, hours and landings are from each town's own regulations and permit pages, and the 2026 to 2027 dates from Chilmark's season notice, the Tisbury constable's recommendation and the Edgartown and Aquinnah agendas, all checked on October 2, 2026. Sizes and the scallop season are from state law; closures and classifications from the Division of Marine Fisheries; landings from Edgartown's shellfish committee minutes and the MV Times. Where a town has not published something, we say so rather than guess. The photographs are ours.
Our own footage of Sengekontacket Pond, Lake Tashmoo and Vineyard Haven Harbor.
No. Recreational shellfishing in Massachusetts is licensed by the towns; each Vineyard town sells its own permit for its own waters, and the state sets the minimum sizes and the scallop season.
Yes, in every town: Edgartown $350 a year or $100 a week; Oak Bluffs $400 a year; Tisbury $400 a year, or $25 a week for quahogs and steamers; Chilmark $50 plus $100 for scallops; Aquinnah $45 a week; West Tisbury $125 (2014 rules), without scallops.
Never before October 1, by state law. Chilmark opens family scalloping on October 7, 2026, and Tisbury's constable has recommended October 31 for the Lagoon and harbor and November 21 for Lake Tashmoo. Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Aquinnah had not posted 2026 dates by October 2.
In autumn, mostly not: Oak Bluffs and Chilmark stop short permits after September 30, Tisbury's cover only quahogs and steamers, and Aquinnah's 2011 rules keep scallops off visitor licenses. Edgartown's $100 week permit covers all allowed species in season; confirm scallops when you buy it.
One inch thick across the hinge. Steamers need two inches, oysters three, and bay scallops a raised growth line at least 10 millimeters from the hinge, or 2.5 inches of shell.
Check the town's shellfish page and the state's emergency closure notices that morning, and call the shellfish department if in doubt.
Yes, on an adult's permit: Edgartown issues family permits from age 18, Oak Bluffs and Chilmark from 16. Edgartown lets guests help with one basket, and in West Tisbury anyone 15 or younger harvests only with a permitted adult. The family shares one limit.
From open water and handled well, yes for most people: ice the catch, keep it at 35 to 40 degrees and out of standing water, throw away any that gape, and cook to 145 degrees for anyone with a weakened immune system.
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Every rule a visiting angler needs on Martha's Vineyard, checked October 2, 2026: who needs the $10 Massachusetts saltwater permit, freshwater and tuna permits, 2026 size and bag limits by species, what you can keep this month, the Derby, beach-driving permits, pier rules and Aquinnah parking.
Martha's Vineyard's ponds explained: the great ponds sealed behind the south-shore beach and cut open to the sea by an excavator, the salt ponds with tides and scallops, the freshwater kettle ponds, why cyanobacteria blooms turn some of them green in August and what MV Cyano's colors mean, the nitrogen under the houses, and where a visitor can swim, paddle and watch the cut.
Where Martha's Vineyard's oysters, bay scallops and quahogs come from: the public solar hatchery on Lagoon Pond that turned fifty in 2026, the dozen oyster farms in Katama Bay, Menemsha Pond and Vineyard Sound, the wild beds in the great ponds, the autumn scallop season and its limits, visitor shellfish permits by town, why rain closes a pond, and where to eat them.
Mytoi, the Japanese garden on Chappaquiddick: how to get there on the Chappy ferry, the 15-car lot, hours and admission by season, the pond and bridge, birch walk and camellia dell, the story of Hugh Jones, Mary Wakeman and the rebuild after Hurricane Bob, rules, accessibility and when to go.
Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown: the four easy trails and what each passes, the ospreys, the butterfly garden, hours and admission, Mass Audubon's kayak tours and prices, accessibility, the Wampanoag and Smith-farm history, and when to go.
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