HomeMy WebLinkAboutHSAB Minutes - June 21 2011Nantucket Harbor & Shellfish Advisory Board
Minutes of Meeting held June 21, 2011
Approved:
Conference Room, 2 Fairgrounds Road
Call to Order at 4:33 p.m.
Members Present: Bob Rank, Peter Brace, Doug Smith, Bill Blount
and Dr. Peter Boyce
Members Absent: Michael Glowacki and Wendy McRae
Marine Dept: Tara Riley and Steve Heck
BOS: Whitey Willauer
Others: Ted Lambrecht, Steve Estabrooks
Approval of Agenda: Peter Boyce added the new agenda item;
Steve Estabrooks’ request for $3,100 in funding to continue his
bay scallop research. The board unanimously approved this
addition to new businesses and also approved the agenda.
Approval of Minutes: As Dr. Boyce had not completed the
minutes from the June 7 meeting there were no minutes to vote.
Dr. Boyce told the board he’d have them ready to vote on at the
next meeting on July 12.
Chairman’s Report: Dr. Boyce deferred his report topics to the
Marine Department Report by Tara Riley.
Marine Department Report: 4:35 p.m.
Ms. Riley reported that 2010 intern Steve Heck returned for his
second summer. Ms. Riley reported that she had a really good bay
scallop spawn last week, which produced 40 million seed. She will
release them into the harbor in the Monomoy area during the week
of June 26-July 1. Ms. Riley said she is continuing water quality
testing with Martha’s Vineyard, which includes testing Nantucket
Harbor twice and all the ponds and Madaket Harbor once in June.
She added that several test dredging in Madaket revealed healthy
seed and that she put out spawning cages in two different locations
in Madaket Harbor. On the issue of aquaculture shellfish
applications, Ms. Riley told the board that at the June 15 BOS
meeting, the selectmen granted Steve Bender a swap of one of his
acres with one of the town’s. The selectmen also approved
Bender’s lease extension for 10 years. Ms. Riley added that the
selectmen also approved Mr. Lambrecht’s aquaculture lease and
that his application has been sent to the state’s Division of Marine
Fisheries.
Dr. Boyce, reporting his summer experiments, said he put some
artificial scallop larvae settlement structures off of the bottom in
the Head of the Harbor. Mr. Heck, who dove the site for Boyce,
discovered that the structures seemed to attract blueclaw crabs. Dr.
Boyce said he’s put out his third spat line and that around July 1,
he’ll be putting out his fourth and then pulling up the one installed
May 15. He hopes to a report on this spat line at the July 12
meeting.
Old Business: No old business.
New Business:
Scallop reproduction research funding request: Steve
Estabrooks requested $3,100 from HSAB’s propagation fund for
Nantucket High School Student Jessica Lucchini to research a bay
scallop chemoreceptive organ called the osphradium believed to be
used by scallops to determine the amount of sperm in the water
around them. Ms. Lucchini and Dr. Estabrooks hope to determine
whether or not this is the case and plan to run spawning tests later
this year. The funding would go towards transportation to and from
the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., use of
their new electron microscope and a salary for Ms. Lucchini at
$10/hour, 7-8 weeks at 20 hours per week.
Dr. Boyce noted that starting with this request, should the board
approve it, it would keep better track of how recipients of its funds
spend their granted money.
Dr. Estabrooks reported that the osphradium was discovered 135
years and that until he and a few others started researching it,
nobody knew what this organ did for shellfish. Dr. Boyce asked
Dr. Estabrooks what the electron microscope would reveal about
the osphradium. Dr. Estabrooks said it would show the cellular
structure of the organ and where it exists in scallops. In answer to
Dr. Boyce’s query on how Dr. Estabrooks and Ms. Lucchini
planned to test their theory, Dr. Estabrooks replied they would
induce spawning of bay scallops and those with their osphradiums
removed, and time the spawning events.
Dr. Boyce indicated that HSAB had sufficient funds to help Dr.
Estabrooks and Ms. Lucchini. Bob Rank asked if there would be
any practical applications should they prove their theory correct.
Dr. Estabrooks indicated it might be useful in stocking densities.
Doug Smith asked if their samples would come from one-year-old
scallops or two-year-old scallops. Dr. Estabrooks said they would
most likely do both. Peter Brace asked if Val Hall’s research would
touch on this work. Dr. Estabrooks indicated that it would not. Ms.
Riley asked if Dr. Estabrooks was done analyzing a preliminary
experiment in which he immersed scallops in solution of sperm to
gauge their reaction. He indicated he was half-done.
Mr. Brace motioned that HSAB give Dr. Estabrooks and Ms.
Lucchini a grant of $3,100 that they requested to continue their
research. Mr. Rank seconded Mr. Brace’s motion. Discussion: Mr.
Brace asked how often they would report to the board. Dr.
Estabrooks said he would have a report at the end of the summer.
Dr. Boyce reiterated Mr. Brace’s request, adding that Dr.
Estabrooks and Ms. Lucchini should also provide a detailed
financial report as well.
The board unanimously agreed to award Dr. Estabrooks and Ms.
Lucchini $3,100 from the HSAB Propagation Fund for their
research.
Meeting schedule: The board unanimously agreed to meet once in
July and once in August; July 12 and Aug. 9.
Recap and Items for Next Meeting:
Adjournment: 4:55
Next Meetings: July 12, Aug. 9 and Sept. 6.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter B. Brace, Secretary