He hails from the Bronx, but Steve Bender is a longtime Nantucket resident. In the warmer months, when he’s not oyster farming, he can be found sitting on the Main Street Bench fervently disputing local politics. Bender started oyster farming in 2009 at the mouth of Polpis Harbor in a little estuary called Pocomo Meadow. His oysters spend their lives in bags on the shallow seabed. Pocomo Meadow Oysters filter feed from rich nutrients in that area of the harbor. Bender says, “so far so good,” but he is worried about a tipping point in the aquatic ecosystem. Bender stresses that human endeavors are responsible for just a small portion of the overall nitrogen input. Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in saltwater aquatic ecosystems. When there is too much nitrogen, excessive amounts of algae can “bloom,” which eats up available dissolved oxygen from other aquatic species, literally choking everything else out. Bender believes the oyster propagation from him and the other local oyster farmers is ultimately beneficial, but the root of the problem lies in over pollution of the harbor from fertilizers, septic systems, and recreational boat use.
