“A devastating situation.” Reward offered in major theft from Maine oyster farm

FALMOUTH, Maine (WMTW) - Maine Operation Game Thief is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in a major theft from an oyster farm in Falmouth.

Maine Marine Patrol says, on Nov. 22, Michael Scafuro of Portland went to check his aquaculture site near The Brothers Islands in Casco Bay when he discovered 14 aquaculture cages and 40,000 oysters, many of which were ready for sale, were missing. The cages and oysters are worth nearly $20,000.

Marine Patrol searched the area at the time to determine if the gear could have broken free of the anchors that hold it in place, but none of the gear was found.

Marine Patrol says the rope, anchors and buoys that hold the gear in place were still on the site, but the cages in which the oysters are held during cultivation a