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