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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHSAB Sept. 13 2011Nantucket Harbor & Shellfish Advisory Board Minutes of Meeting held: Sept. 13, 2011 Approved: Conference Room, 2 Fairgrounds Road Call to Order at 4:36 p.m. Members Present: Dr. Peter Boyce, Bob Rank, Bill Blount and Peter B. Brace Members Absent: Michael Glowacki, Wendy McRae and Doug Smith Marine Dept: Dave Fronzuto, Tara Riley, Steve Heck and Matt Herr BOS: Whitey Willauer Others: Approval of Agenda: Approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes: Approved unanimously. Chairman’s Report: Dr. Peter Boyce Dr. Boyce reminded the board that the town’s conflict of interest workshops were on Sept. 19 and urged at least one member of the board to attend. Mr. Willauer noted that there would be a Scallopers Ball meeting at 5pm on Sept. 23 at the NYC and that he needed fishermen to attend to help the committee with the menu. Dr. Boyce noted ReMain Nantucket’s coastal management conference scheduled for Sept. 22 and 23, and said he would be attending to represent the board. Marine Department Report: Tara Riley and Dave Fronzuto Ms. Riley reported that for propagation, they did five spawns this summer and five larval releases, a total of 7 million larvae, 2 million more than 2010. They have 10 million clams growing out at the lab, 50,000 oysters half an inch to an inch that will spend the winter in the lab and 5,000 more that will be used for spawning next season. All of these oysters are in the marine lab’s new forced upweller system, which they built for extra space. Ms. Riley reported that she is continuing oyster growth trials with the Southeastern Massachusetts Aquaculture Center and Nantucket aquaculturist Andy Roberts that include comparing growth rates in bottom and floating cages. She noted that the lab’s first release of bay scallops was in Fifth Bend and that they’re all around 35 millimeters Dr. Boyce said that he would be diving that area in the third week of September to do a benthic survey for the Maria Mitchell Association, that they’ve only found one scallop per transect in the past, but that he expects to find more this time as a result of this release. Ms. Riley added that they did three releases in Nantucket Harbor and two in Madaket Harbor, and that because the Madaket Harbor releases occurred in August, evaluations won’t happen until later in the fall or the spring of 2012. Ms. Riley reported that she’s been working with the Nantucket Land Council this summer raising funds for the lab. The NLC issued a challenge grant to match any donations up to $10,000, which then went up to $20,000, and which ultimately yielded a $47,000 donation to the lab as a result of the lab tours during the summer. She added that in the first week of September, she applied for a grant with the Great Harbor Yacht Club, and that she is working on securing a grant from the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration with the University of Connecticut, which wrote the request for $800,000 to study the brown tide bloom in Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and Nantucket. The study would begin in 2012. Ms. Riley also noted that the Nantucket Magazine is doing an article on the lab’s propagation efforts that is to appear in its Stroll issue. Ms. Riley stated that the large-mesh spat bags they set out this year weren’t very effective in collecting scallop spat, that the lab is continuing water quality testing through the end of September and that next year’s main focus will be on increasing larvae production to keep pace with their increased propagation. She added that Ron Shepherd is contributing welding work to the structural enhancement of the marine lab boathouse. Mr. Rank asked if Ms. Riley would be closing 5th Bend to scalloping and she replied a closure is possible. Mr. Rank also asked Ms. Riley if there’s a brown tide bloom in the harbor this year. Ms. Riley confirmed the presence of the bloom this summer, but that it’s smaller and less visible than last summer. Mr. Fronzuto reported that the summer boating season was extremely busy. However, the number of on-the-water incidents was way down this season as were the number of rescues by lifeguards. The number of gallons of boat sewage pumped by the town was a third higher than last year. He commented that this shows there are a lot of boats using Nantucket’s waterways. Mr. Willauer told Mr. Fronzuto he’d heard that the Marine & Coastal Resources Department was “picking up some of the slack from the Coast Guard” and Mr. Fronzuto confirmed that rumor. Mr. Fronzuto said the USCG under its new senior chief doesn’t understand its role on the water and has been deferring more cases than usual to the Marine Department that the USCG would have handled while under Senior Chief TJ Malvesti’s command. Mr. Fronzuto cited a lost kayaker off ’Sconset and stated that it would take him an hour and 20 minutes to reach that area while the USCG already had boats south of there that could’ve gotten there quicker. Mr. Fronzuto said Station Brant Point is having internal problems and that regionally, the USCG doesn’t have the right leadership. Mr. Fronzuto said his department doesn’t have the manpower to handle all of the cases that the USCG should be handling and that his department recently turned down a case. Mr. Fronzuto reported that an SMAST weather buoy washed up on Tuckernuck during Hurricane Irene. Mr. Herr reported a rumor that scallops had washed up on Monomoy during Hurricane Irene, but Mr. Fronzuto said he knew nothing of this incident. Old Business: 4:56pm HSAB appointments to the Harbor Plan Implementation Committee. Dr. Boyce reported that he was unable to check to see if the representative had to be a HSAB member in reference to the board possibly re-appointing former HSAB member Bam LaFarge. Dr. Boyce asked Mr. LaFarge if he wanted to continue on the HPIC. Mr. LaFarge said he could give up his seat or serve another term, either way. Mr. LaFarge said that several members of HPIC are frequently absent from meetings and he stressed that the HPIC needed “new blood”. Mr. Brace stated that Mr. LaFarge served a valuable role as a Tuckernuck representative. Dr. Boyce asked if any HSAB members would like to serve on the HPIC. Mr. Brace indicated that he might interested in serving on the HPIC but that he might have a conflict of interest in that he is being tapped to produce the Nantucket Blue Pages for the HPIC. Dr. Boyce said that since the selectmen appointed Mr. LaFarge, if the HSAB doesn’t re-appoint Mr. LaFarge, he can’t continue on the HPIC. Dr. Boyce said he sees both sides in that the continuity of Mr. LaFarge plus his Tuckernuck experience makes good sense but that new blood is needed. Mr. LaFarge indicated that he doesn’t have to serve another term, but he will leave that decision up to the board, and comply with whatever the board decides at its Sept. 20 meeting. Mr. Fronzuto noted that Mr. LaFarge has been a valuable part of the harbor plan’s development and implementation, and that if he didn’t serve another term, he would be available to guide the committee as a citizen. Mr. LaFarge indicated that he certainly would. Dr. Boyce, after hearing Mr. LaFarge’s report that Tuckernuckers want to build a community dock on the east end of their island, asked for and got the board’s informal approval to put this item on the agenda for the Sept. 20 meeting. Dr. Boyce also suggested the board send a letter to the selectmen and the Nantucket Islands Land Bank on the need for a dinghy dock and commercial loading facility at Petrel Landing. Mr. Fronzuto said he has a potential funding source to design and build it but that he can’t get the Land Bank to sign off on this project. Mr. Brace stated that this was the Land Bank’s idea originally. Mr. Fronzuto said he could probably fund the Petrel Landing project through a Seaport Council bond because it’s commercial. Dr. Boyce said he would draft a letter to send to the Land Bank and distribute it to the board at the Sept. 20 meeting. New Business: Fee schedule for shellfish licenses: Mr. Fronzuto said that the annual non-resident recreational shellfish license is not selling. Because it’s $100, only 21 have been sold since April 1 and Mr. Fronzuto thinks that a three-day permit, as recommended in the Shellfish Management Plan, would sell if it cost $50 because many of the people buying these permits are only here for a weekend. The wearable permit would on laminated paper with a clip like the current non-resident permit. Mr. Fronzuto said this would be a way to collect some more revenue. The selectmen have asked Mr. Fronzuto to do this from time to time and want to hold a public hearing for this. Mr. Fronzuto said he’s only sold 790 resident recreational permits since April 1, a number he expects to increase to around 1,200 as the recreational scallop season approaches. Mr. Fronzuto also asked the board to consider supporting a town meeting article that would change the legislation dictating the percentage of scallop license revenue that goes toward propagation. Currently, it’s 75%. Mr. Fronzuto would like it to be 100%. The other 25% goes into the town’s general fund. Mr. Brace stated that the $50, three-day weekend permit would be less of a leap for the short-term recreational shellfish harvester. Mr. Fronzuto stated that the current $100 fee deters boaters who want to go dig quahogs in the harbor. Mr. LaFarge said Tuckernuckers laugh at this fee and many of them dig clams illegally because the cost is so high and suggested that it might be better to make it a week-long permit. Mr. Fronzuto stated that he regularly gets asked if his department offers a one-week or two-week permit. Mr. Blount stated that a bushel of scallops is worth $100, so the non- resident recreational shellfish permit holder is currently paying what they’re worth, but that this license holder should get some advantage. Mr. Brace stated that in the lean years, that permit holder might not even be getting any scallops. Mr. Fronzuto said that if approved by HSAB and the selectmen, this change wouldn’t go into effect until 2012. Mr. Brace suggested that Mr. Fronzuto post a notice at the Marine Department office stating that this change is coming next year — should it be approved — and tell people as they come in. Mr. Herr suggested making the permit for a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Mr. Fronzuto agreed with this suggestion. Mr. Fronzuto said the other fees on this schedule were fairly straightforward with mooring fees being raised $5 and $10, and that the cruise ship fee is the new, big fee he wants approved, a recommendation of the harbor plan. The suggested mooring fee is $250 per trip to the harbor for the use of town offloading facilities and bathrooms. Mr. Fronzuto also outlined a change to the excursion charter boat fee because these boats are loading and unloading passengers, and causing wear and tear to the docks and pier at Children’s Beach, the landings at F Street and Jackson Point in Madaket, and the town pier. His suggested fee is $25/day. Mr. Rank stated that this new fee would really hurt his part-time charter business considering the price of fuel and his ability to get customers because he only does around 12 trips a year. Mr. Fronzuto said this fee is aimed that the daily charter operations and he would re-think the impacts of the fee on part-time charter operations. Mr. Herr suggested a sliding scale of fees depending on the number of days using the town facilities per season. Mr. Fronzuto offered that it could be a flat fee charged to charter boats beyond a minimum number of days. On Dr. Boyce’s motion that he write a letter to the selectmen recommending a non-resident recreational shellfish permit at $50 for a week and that Mr. Fronzuto and the HSAB continue to discuss the excursion charter boat fee, the board voted 3-0 in favor with Dr. Boyce, Mr. Brace and Mr. Rank voting in favor and Mr. Blount abstaining. Moorings in shellfish beds: Dr. Boyce said this is something that HSAB member Doug Smith was concerned about. Mr. Fronzuto said he found six boats that had encroached on Hussey Shoal and that he would be notifying their owners to get them moved back into the mooring field. $47,000-gift to the town for the boathouse: Dr. Boyce asked what the board should do about this. Mr. Fronzuto said he sent a letter to the selectmen asking them to accept the gift. Recap and Items for Next Meeting: Dr. Boyce reiterated that Mr. Fronzuto is going to send him the stuff about Petrel Landing, he’ll also write a letter to the Land Bank to be discussed at the Sept. 20 meeting and a letter to the selectmen recommending approval of the fee schedule with the exception of the excursion charter boat fee, which the board needs more discussion of. Adjournment: 5:40 p.m. Mr. Rank made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Brace seconded Mr. Rank’s motion. The board voted unanimously to adjourn. Next Meetings: Sept. 20, Oct. 4 and 18, 2011 Respectfully submitted, Peter B. Brace, Secretary