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Home My WebLink About2018-4-17Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road *HSAB meeting are video -recorded Members present: Andy Lowell, Peter Brace, Frederick McClure, Ginger Andrews Members Absent: Joe LiPuma, Ken Kuntz, Bill Blount o '� Marine Dept: a �' If Natural Resources Dept: Jeff Carlson c 2 -A Others: G LID n {; CALL TO ORDER -o 5:01 p.m. N d'.. APPROVAL OF AGENDA o APPROVAL OF MINUTES CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Election of officers The HSAB elected Andy Lowell as chairman, Ginger Andrews as vice chair and Peter Brace as secretary. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: General Marine Department report — Sheila Lucey No report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT General Natural Resources Department report — NRD staff Mr. Carlson reported that hatchery is running and that they're hoping. He added that he's conducting a second round of interviews for the fulltime hatchery technician job. Mr. Carlson reported that the town successfully opened Sesachacha and Hummock ponds to the ocean in early April and that its water quality sampling/analysis program for harbors and ponds gets going in May. He said the 2017 water quality report completed by SMAST, the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth, would be ready to present to the Select Board in May. Mr. Carlson reported that fertilizing season had started, that Natural Resources Department fertilizer enforcement officers are out checking on fertilizer activities, that the NRD began offering weekly fertilizer application certification classes in mid-March and will continue them into the summer. In response to a question by Mr. Lowell on the subject, he explained how his department does outreach for the fertilizer classes. Mr. Carlson said that this program is attracting a lot of positive interest from property owners who are glad it exists and he said that he's seen a growing interest in the fertilizer spreader calibration classes that the town offers. He noted that currently, the general island population is a lot more environmental aware than when the NRD was formed almost nine years ago. Mr. Brace asked for a commercial scallop season harvest total. Mr. Carlson said it was roughly just south of 13,000 before the extended season lasting through April 17 began. Mr. Lowell asked for a maintenance dredging update, but Mr. Carlson had nothing to report. Ms. Andrews asked where to direct people reporting fish fills and Mr. Carlson said to direct them to his office. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT OLD BUSINESS No Old Business NEW BUSINESS Staff attendance — Joe LiPuma — Discussion Mr. Carlson said he always makes the effort to make HSAB meeting and added he'll always respond to the board's requests for specific information on various topics by sending the appropriate NRD staff member to HSAB meetings or he'll attend himself. Mr. Lowell and the board agreed to continue this discussion to the May 1 meeting. Mounding of scallop bushel boxes — Discussion Mr. Lowell explained that in talking with a town shellfish warden recently that it appears some scallopers are ignoring the no -mounding portion of the town's shellfish regulations. Further, he wondered aloud whether the HSAB should recommend some sort of action to the Select Board. Mr. Carlson said this can be a tough call because some minor mounding is expected and that his shellfish wardens and the state's Environmental Police Officer do a good job of discerning flagrant mounding from accepted mounding. Ms. Andrews said scallops shouldn't fall off the box when it's picked up but that lots of variables cause mounding besides malicious intent. Mr. Carlson said that this topic is being discussed now is an indication of shellfish wardens doing their jobs enforcing the regulations because fishermen are obviously complaining about being busted for mounding. Proposed alternate HSAB board member - Discussion Mr. McClure volunteered to research this idea and get back to the board at the next meeting. Mr. Carlson said he didn't know of an advisory board within the town's administration that had an alternate member. Mr. Brace said the board needs this because the HSAB has missed three or four meetings due to the lack of a quorum. Mr. Carlson said another option might be to reduce the number of people on the board down to five from seven so that three people make a quorum. Mr. Lowell updated the board on the status of Mr. Kuntz, informing the board that Mr. Kuntz is able to attend HSAB meetings but that he didn't know if we was on island or not. He added that Mr. Kuntz is no longer incarcerated, but Mr. Lowell's attempts to contact Mr. Kuntz have not yielded any results yet. Mr. Lowell said if he could get Mr. Kuntz's address, he will send him a letter asking him to attend meetings or to tender his resignation from the HSAB so a viable new member could be appointed fill his seat, thereby reducing the HSAB's number of meetings for which there is no quorum. The HSAB agreed that it missed Mr. Kuntz's contributions to the board, his insight and his motivation. But it also agreed that the board needs all of its members to participate by attending meetings, including Mr. Kuntz. The board voted unanimously, 4-0, to send such a letter to Mr. Kuntz. Proposed school -to -work commercial bay scalloping program at Nantucket High School — Discussion Mr. Lowell asked for board members' suggestions on how to move forward with this. Ms. Andrews said we needed someone connected with the schools. Mr. Brace suggested the Egan Maritime Institute might lend a hand. Mr. McClure, president of the Egan Maritime Institute board of trustees, said he would inquire about this at Egan. He said their Sea of Opportunities program might a good place to start because it aims to make students aware of vocational opportunities in the maritime field. Mr. Carlson said island children 14 and older can hold a commercial shellfish license and that maybe the first-year license fee might be waived by the Select Board. Mr. McClure said he knew of a scalloper with the willingness to take students out scalloping, to participate in such a program. Ms. Andrews said her father and brother always went scalloping before school. She added that in the old days, kids learned to open scallops first. She said it would be great to have family scallopers teach island children how to open scallops. Mr. Brace said some sort of curriculum would have to be developed. Mr. Lowell said he would speak with the principal of the high school about this idea at the right time. Instilling cohesiveness in commercial bay scallop fishery — Discussion Mr. Lowell said he wanted to find a way to reach out to the commercial scallopers to get them to understand that they're not individual fishermen but an "industry" working together. He added he would bring topic up at a future Nantucket Shellfish Association meeting. Mr. Brace suggested some sort of information card mailed out to scallopers when they get their licenses every year. Mr. Carlson said the NRD collects scalloper vehicle description information, license plate numbers, where they open, where they dock to keep tabs on them for their safety. He explained how the sewer line leak this winter damaged the brand of Nantucket Bay Scallops and this became a divisive issue among Nantucket's scallopers. Mr. Carlson said he wants to get all of their biologists and staff out on scallopers' boats to get acquainted with the fishermen and their issues. HSAB jurisdiction for island ponds regarding herring and other fish species — Discussion Mr. Carlson said pond openings need to be discussed more by the HSAB, Select Board and the NRD. Specifically, whether Miacomet Pond should be opened on a regular biannual basis. And, how proper drainage within the watersheds of these ponds is installed and or upgraded so when these ponds are full, they don't back up into people's houses. He admitted that the town hadn't done a good enough job on this front. He added that opening ponds only adds temporary relief. Long-term drainage solutions are more likely to solve this problem PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Ms. Andrews mentioned that the Maria Mitchell Association is helping fund a study this summer of the herring that utilize the island's great salt ponds for spawning. She added that the state is currently in its second six-year moratorium on fishing for herring. Mr. Carlson said the timing of opening Sesachacha Pond has been lately more in tune with nesting shorebird season than with herring spawning season ADJOURN Unanimously voted 4-0 at 6:32 p.m. Future Meetings: May 1 and May 15 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Secretary