MATTAPOISETT — After Dale Leavitt’s shellfish farm was bogged down by permitting issues, he addressed the Board of Selectmen on Oct. 13 to ask for an extension of a plan he’d agreed upon with the board in 2019, as well as an advance on a $2,000 fee. 

“I would leave it at the fact that we’re in the final stages of permitting,” Leavitt said. “We made it through all the state levels and we’re at the federal level of permitting.”

Selectmen approved a permit transfer for Leavitt to use a ten acre plot in Nasketucket Bay that was part of a former aquaculture site for a new venture to farm oysters and kelp in September 2019.

Leavitt said that he expects to have all the necessary permits completed in around 30 days, and looked to the board for permission to expand the farm at a slower rate than had been agreed upon. 

Chair Paul Silva asked Leavitt where he thought the farm would be within the next six months, but noted that he recognized the permitting issues were beyond Leavitt’s control. 

Vice Chair Jordan Collyer, echoed a similar sentiment. 

“We were hoping to see something in the water by now,” he said. 

But Leavitt said that two or three oyster cages could be in the water within the next couple of weeks. 

He also noted that he intends to donate those first cages of oysters to the Mattapoisett Propagation Project. 

While he said he’s unsure of when operations will be fully underway, he guaranteed cages will be on site within six months.