April 4, 2016 — FALMOUTH, Mass. — As the owner of Coonamessett Farm in Falmouth and a partner at the Woods Hole Oyster Co., I spend as much time navigating regulatory hurdles as I do tending the farm or going to sea. Many farmers and fishermen have similar fights with overbearing bureaucracy, something likely to become more common as the noose of government regulations tightens.

The most recent regulatory push in Massachusetts is to ban the farming of caged chickens. I theoretically stand to benefit from this, as my free-ranged eggs would increase in value. But this doesn’t consider the regulatory system that will be imposed on my farm to ensure compliance. My farm currently allows visitors to pick their own eggs, an activity that kids enjoy but that will be illegal, I’m sure, under any regulations. The federal Food Safety Modernization Act, a result of food safety advocates working the system in Washington, continues to evolve as the Food and Drug Administration encounters hurdles to its enforcement. In some respects it resembles the farm animal protection initiative being advocated in Massachusetts, but it targets every crop on the farm. Looking at the FDA’s guidelines, I don’t think I can find a workaround to keep farming and sell to the public. I certainly won’t be able to allow the public on the farm or be allowed to keep my farm animals, given concerns about the proximity of animal dung to farm crops.

Things aren’t much better out at sea. I do a substantial amount of research for the scallop industry, and sustainability is the key reason scallop management is a continued successes. Through a system of rotational management, certain zones are fished while others are left off-limits to allow them to repopulate. Much as with farmland, this system allows the resources to remain sustainable.

Read the full column at the Cape Cod Times