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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-4-18Agenda Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup Thursday, April 18 2013 6 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Blount, Carl Sjolund, Ron Shepherd, Peter Brace, Doug Smith MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF: Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley OTHERS: Neil Cocker CALL TO ORDER Scallops continued Mr. Blount reiterated the importance of solving the issue legally harvestable scallops, but Ms. Riley said it would be important to check in with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to see where this agency is with analyzing the data on this. Mr. Brace said that it's been around four years since the DMF said it needed more data before it could rule on a measurement. Mr. Shepherd said that when Nantucket dealt with the nub issue, the town came up its own measurement, the 2.5 -inch plastic ring. Mr. Smith said it started with a meeting in Hyannis, a public hearing. All the harbormasters and wardens from all the coastal towns including the vineyard. Jeff Mercer was the town's biologist at the town. He continued to that Dave Fronzuto gave his presentation. He added that none of the other towns wanted to be a part of this. When Mr. Smith when up a DMF meeting in Gloucester, the board had already made up its mind by the time Mr. Smith got up and spoke. The board decided to modify the legally harvestable scallop regulation so that an adult scallop qualifies with either a 10 millimeter raised growth ring, a 2.5 -inch tall shell or both. He added that the plastic ring rule is now in the regulations and it stands today. Mr. Blount said that the thickness /depth of the shell is the important measurement. Mr. Smith said that a one -inch shell height of the raised growth ring would protect shell height was over two inches. Mr. Shepherd suggested that the town add the thickness regulation because the state DMF does allow towns to make their regulations tougher. He added that there is a real difference between a seed scallop and nub scallop, and that newcomers, recreational scallopers and wardens can't tell the difference. Mr. Brace asked how many new scallopers there are each year, but Mr. Shepherd said that some scallopers have been bringing in seed for 20 years and still don't know the difference. Mr. Blount z n ° APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA y "' Unanimously approved 3 M APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES"'i -a m Unanimously approved o v M f -_=I m CHARUAAN'S REPORT C� r N OLD BUSINESS m ca r° Scallops continued Mr. Blount reiterated the importance of solving the issue legally harvestable scallops, but Ms. Riley said it would be important to check in with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to see where this agency is with analyzing the data on this. Mr. Brace said that it's been around four years since the DMF said it needed more data before it could rule on a measurement. Mr. Shepherd said that when Nantucket dealt with the nub issue, the town came up its own measurement, the 2.5 -inch plastic ring. Mr. Smith said it started with a meeting in Hyannis, a public hearing. All the harbormasters and wardens from all the coastal towns including the vineyard. Jeff Mercer was the town's biologist at the town. He continued to that Dave Fronzuto gave his presentation. He added that none of the other towns wanted to be a part of this. When Mr. Smith when up a DMF meeting in Gloucester, the board had already made up its mind by the time Mr. Smith got up and spoke. The board decided to modify the legally harvestable scallop regulation so that an adult scallop qualifies with either a 10 millimeter raised growth ring, a 2.5 -inch tall shell or both. He added that the plastic ring rule is now in the regulations and it stands today. Mr. Blount said that the thickness /depth of the shell is the important measurement. Mr. Smith said that a one -inch shell height of the raised growth ring would protect shell height was over two inches. Mr. Shepherd suggested that the town add the thickness regulation because the state DMF does allow towns to make their regulations tougher. He added that there is a real difference between a seed scallop and nub scallop, and that newcomers, recreational scallopers and wardens can't tell the difference. Mr. Brace asked how many new scallopers there are each year, but Mr. Shepherd said that some scallopers have been bringing in seed for 20 years and still don't know the difference. Mr. Blount said having another measurement to ensure a scallop's age dissemination is crucial for when there are a lot of nubs in the water or large seed because the fleet will both be able to harvest more of what's legal and leave more seed in the water. Mr. Sjolund said a seed is always flatter and adults are thicker. Mr. Blount said that when the height of a scallop shell is used as a gauge, 15% of one's catch would seed, but when the thickness measurement was used, only 5% of the catch was seed. But Mr. Blount's fear is that if the fishery is managed by non - fishermen, they won't be able to discern adults from seed and the fishermen will suffer because either too much seed will be taken or too many adults will be left in the water. Mr. Smith noted that these problems were going before Ms. Riley was hired and before she was putting millions of scallop larvae into the harbors. Mr. Shepherd said he believes that enforcement slacks off as the season wears on and that this workgroup needs to come up with a "user- friendly" method of monitoring the seed, especially during the winter. Dr. Estabrooks said there were more data on the 2.5 -inch rule and not enough on the one -inch thickness to convince DW that this measurement should also be part of the regulations. Mr. Blount said that if Ms. Riley continues her success in enhancing the natural populations of scallops that nub scallops should he raised because they weight more. Mr. Cocker noted and Ms. Riley expanded on the fact that she has yet to be able to do late summer spawn that produce the nubs because she loses her interns before that time and because of how much effort it takes to keep raising enough algae to feed the scallops. Mr. Cocker said that the late summer spawn scallops are always smaller when they first reach sexual maturity, so a thickness measurement would be a good thing to have. Mr. Sjolund said that it seems that the large seed doesn't survive and that the "pin- head" seed seems to produce a bumper crop of adults, and that a thickness measurement would really help scallopers and wardens alike discem seed from adults. Mr. Smith and Dr. Estabrooks said that after a scallop spawns, its shell changes the angle of its growth from flat to arcing upward and that eggs not sent out in a spawning event are absorbed into their bodies as ready source of protein. Mr. Shepherd asked Ms. Riley what she thought about the selectmen adding the thickness measurement to the regulations and she said the workgroup would have to prove to the state DW that this new regulation would be more restrictive. Mr. Blount said that most scallopers aren't going to want to do two measurements on every scallop they catch. Mr. Sjolund said HSAB should follow up on this idea and asked that the workgroup move onto the next item on the agenda. Mr. Carlson said he hears where the workgroup is coming from on the seed/nub issue and using scallop thickness as a gauge for scallops having spawned, but he stressed the necessity for having the data to back it up should the town decide to amend its regulations with the blessing of the state. Mr. Smith said it's imperative that the current regulations remain in place to protect the seed, but that the workgroup, HSAB and the town explore the thickness idea Mr. Sjolund said he thinks a 40 -pound dredge is too heavy. Mr. Blount suggested lowering the maximum weight of a dredge to help save the eelgrass. The workgroup wondered out loud where the mesh size regulations came from and how many rings. Mr. Carlson clarified from the regulations that the dredges can't be more than 28 inches wide, seven rings and the bar of the dredge isn't over 18 mesh long, and the dredge can't weigh more than 40 pounds. Mr. Sjolund suggested no more than seven rings and not more than a quarter -inch diameter ring and the ring width not to exceed two inches. Mr. Blount noted that the regulations mention the mesh, but that they don't specify the size of it, however, the size of the rings does relate somewhat to the size scallops one is able to catch, so if the rings were too big, some legally harvestable scallops might slip through the rings. Mr. Brace asked the purpose of the rings. Mr. Blount said the rings have to be steel because they're at the bottom of the bag, which is dragging over the bottom. Mr. Shepherd warned that the workgroup should be careful not to make major changes to dredge structure because how much they might impact the fleet financially. At this point in the meeting, the workgroup seemed to agree that the weights scallopers put on their dredges were what could be easily changed in the regulations more so than any other aspect of the dredges and that the group should forget trying to change the number of rings, their size, diameter and the mesh. Mr. Sjolund said he felt that 99.99% of the dredges that do not have a weight attached to the dredge, is seven rings deep and not over 28 inches wide will not be 40 pounds. Mr. Cocker said that an 18 -inch dredge that is weighted down does more damage to the bottom than a wider dredge of the same weight because the dredge's weight is spread out over a larger area and therefore does less damage. Mr. Blount expanded on Mr. Cocker's statement, saying more pounds per inch are concentrated on a narrower dredge of the same weight a wider dredge and added that the workgroup should consider lowering the maximum weight on dredges. Mr. Cocker said he typically switches to wider dredges late in the season in an effort to take it easy on the bottom and he recommended that the workgroup lower the maximum dredge weight from 40 to 35 pounds. Mr. Sjolund agreed. The workgroup seemed to agree that crux of lowering dredge weight is to save the eelgrass and scallop seed from further destruction despite the fact there are a good number of skilled scallopers, according to Mr. Cocker, who subscribe to school of finesse in towing their dredges and can fish no matter what the conditions and not destroy bottom habitat unlike those operating in the school of excavation who dig up a lot of sand and eelgrass plants whenever they dredge. This change won't affect any of the dredges already in use. The workgroup voted unanimously to lower the weight of dredges used to commercially harvest scallops in Nantucket waters to 35 pounds from 40. The workgroup briefly touched on the apprentice program, but Mr. Carlson said that it should commit another meeting to this topic and move on. On the part of the bylaw, not the regulation, that says scallopers who have to come in and they have more than 3 '/z boxes, they can't go back out again, and in which a husband is allowed to come back in and pick up his wife or fuel he forgot to bring out with him, and not be penalized regardless of whether he has 3 '/z bushels or less in his boat or not, Mr. Blount suggested that the group might amend the regulations to allow scallopers to go back out with permission from shellfish wardens. But the group agreed to leave this alone and not change this part of the bylaw. But then Mr. Sjolund suggested making it three bushels instead of 3 1/2. However, Mr. Carlson noted that because this is part of the bylaw, any proposed changes must go before Town Meeting voters. Mr. Carlson said there are two or three things within the bylaw that need to match the regulations because currently, they're contradictory. This includes the hours of fishing in regards to fishing on Saturdays. The workgroup agreed to leave the hours of fishing, 6:30am to 4:30pm as is. Mr. Carlson explained that ending fishing at 4:30pm gives the wardens and the harbormaster the time to account for everyone fishing that day and rescue anyone if need be while it's still light out. The workgroup agreed not to change this part of the bylaw. Mr. Carlson said he would prefer that Harbormaster Sheila Lucy be present when changes to this part of the bylaw are discussed. Mr. Sjolund noted that 90% of the time other scallopers tow in those who've broken down. Mr. Carlson reported that he hasn't heard of any complaints about the current hours of fishing and that guys who are either going to be late coming in or who've broken down, almost always call in to the Marine Department. Mr. Cocker said that fining scallopers for coming in late doesn't make sense. Mr. Shepherd noted that getting Ms. Lucy angry should be enough of a deterrent. Mr. Carlson and the group agreed that scallopers should let common sense be their guide when it comes to fishing hours. Mr. Smith said it's vital that every fisherman have a laminated card with the shellfish warden's numbers on it. Mr. Carlson said that the commercial licenses are eventually going to be plastic credit card size cards like scallopers' state licenses with all the important numbers on it and that fishermen would also be issued a "cheat sheet" of relevant information including the shellfish regulations and the bylaw. Mr. Blount asked about discussing the shanties. Ms. Riley said this would be discussed under violations and enforcement. Despite Ms. Riley's urging, there was a brief discussion on general shanty regulations. Mr. Carlson said that generally, the shanties should be helping regulate the fishery by reporting seed brought to them. Group discussed the differences between public and private shanties. Mr. Carlson said the regulations are an attempt to make shanty regulations abundantly clear. He added that there needs to be something in the regulations that allows the town (shellfish wardens) to enter and inspect any shanty for seed. Mr. Smith brought up the issue of retired people with the free shellfish license selling their catch and noted that some scallopers with paid commercial licenses have been know to bring their "retired" spouses possessing the free over -60 licenses and bring home seven bushels because he said the free license entitles the owner to two bushels per day. Mr. Carlson NEW BUSINESS Other shellfish species By -catch Aquaculture PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Future Meetings: May 2 and May 16