Editorial - Nantucket - A Marine Sactuary

N a n t u c k et — A M arin e S a n c t u a ry

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UNDER AN ACT of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for 1972, the State, in December 1980, has nominated the central portion of Nantucket Sound as a Marine Sanctuary. In addition this nomination is intended to be a part of the proposed settlement in the case of the United States vs. the Commonwealth, in which both parties claim jurisdiction over this central portion of Nantucket Sound. Under the terms of the Act, known as the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, the Secretary of Commerce for the United States, with Presidential Approval, may designate ocean waters as marine sanctuaries.

Nantucket Sound has a direct importance to the State in the fishing industry-both commercial and sports fishing. It has a distinct value to the tourist and vacation business, with the regular passage of vessels to the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard from Hyannis, Woods Hole and other Cape Cod ports. It is an invaluable resource area in that it provides spawning and feeding grounds for fish and wild life in general. Quite aside from the economic and natural advantages, this water area has a definite value esthetically. The naturalist, the vacationist, and the sailing enthusiast may share in the opportunities it so handsomely provides.

But the historical background of Nantucket Sound makes it an especially highly significant area for nomination as a marine sanctuary. Following the explorations of the early mariners, it became the major highway for trade along the entire coast, as well as the first waters in which the fishermen made their activities a part of the economic life of the surrounding land. Nantucketers shared in the development of such industry, and the very first steamboats in New England were originally a part of our larger maritime history.

The American whaling industry found its development here, and the great fleet of Nantucket whaleships made Nantucket Sound its headquarters. Among the first lightships along this section of our New England coast were those, which with the lighthouses, guarded the sea lanes of the Sound.

A Marine Sanctuary is a natural for Nantucket Sound.