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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-03-14Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Bill Blount, Wendy McCrae, Peter Brace, Doug Smith, Dr. Peter Boyce, Micheal Glowacki Members Absent: Chuck Connors Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson Others: Steve Cohen, CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Statement of commitment form Mr. Brace reminded the board that those members of HSAB who hadn't signed their statement of commitment form for the town needed to do so ASAP. Appointed board update Mr. Brace informed the board that he'd written and sent his letter on behalf of the HSAB to Nantucket's state representative, Tim Madden, and copied the Board of Selectmen, seeking help from Mr. Madden in getting S. 979 passed by the state senate and signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick. He added that he'd yet to reach Mr. Madden and state senator Dan Wolf who sponsored this bill for the HSAB, but he'd keep trying to reach them. Mr. Brace also reported to the board that he'd spoken with Board of Selectmen Chairman Rick Atherton after sending the letter to Mr. Madden and that Mr. Atherton had said the selectmen were cool with HSAB's approach toward trying to maintain its board as elected by lobbying for the adoption of 5.979 and that if this bill wasn't adopted, that the selectmen would work with the HSAB to find the best solution for keeping it at least a partially elected board. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Harbors update — Sheila Lucey Ms. Lucey wasn't present at this meeting, so no report on the harbors. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT General report from Jeff Carlson and or Tara Riley Mr. Carlson reported that he's started the scope of services for the design of the work on the boathouse marine lab and hatchery, and that he's trying to get this done before July 1, which includes foundation work, weather - proofing the structure and gutting it so renovation can be done. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No public comment on these reports OLD BUSINESS Continued public hearing: Draft Revised Nantucket Shellfish Regulations revisions Steve Cohen asked if the regulations on recreational scalloping could be changed to allow recreational scalloping on Mondays, specifically on the Monday of Columbus Day Weekend. Mr. Brace asked what the original reason was for setting the recreational scalloping week at Wednesday through Sunday. Mr. Blount said former harbormaster Dave Fronzuto had a reason for this, but Mr. Carlson chimed in that he could take a stab at answering this question. He said that most likely there was just one warden working the recreational scallop season at the time and so shortening the workweek by two days gave this warden some time off considering that Saturday and Sunday were workdays. Mr. Cohen said a lot of families would probably like to go scalloping on this day of Columbus Day Weekend. Mr. Smith agreed saying he thought it was good reason to keep the fishing open for this Monday. Mr. Carlson agreed to make this revision in the regulations. Dr. Boyce asked how many bushels were taken during the recreational season and although Mr. Carlson didn't have the exact data with him, he answered that it was a very small percentage of the total population of the harbors. Ms. McCrae agreed with this change. Dr. Boyce asked about whether there were regulations for surf clamming and if Nantucket residents 60 and over could still get two bushels a day with free license. Mr. Smith confirmed that the Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup is recommending that the free recreational license for Nantucket residents 60 and over for taking two bushels per day be removed from the shellfish regulations because this license was being abused by commercial scallopers fishing in pairs. He added that members of the scallop fleet asked that the SBRW remove this from the shellfish regulations. Mr. Carlson explained how this works. He said there is a free license given to Nantucketers 60 and over upon request for taking one bushel a week recreationally and then there's the commercial license allowing the taking of two bushels a day given free to island residents 60 and over with the caveat that the holder is prohibited from selling these scallops. He continued, explaining that scallopers 60 years old and up with this free license were selling their free bushels daily and selling them. Ms. McCrae said she's been asked to support not cutting out this free commercial license. Mr. Brace said the SBRW thoroughly discussed this issue and had learned that there is a lot of abuse of this part of the regulations and that there was enough abuse to make the SBRW recommend its removal. Ms. McCrae said this sounds more like an enforcement issue. Mr. Smith agreed that it's an enforcement issue, but added the problem is that enforcement is tough because the seven boxes often elude shellfish wardens and go right to the shanties where the shellfish wardens aren't going and once the scallops are dumped onto the shucking pile, enforcement is impossible. Ms. McCrae said one of her constituents told he he's waited a long time to get his free license. Mr. Brace explained that removing this from the shellfish regulations is not going after Ms. McCrae's constituent, but going after those abusing this part of the regulations. Dr. Boyce said he was reluctant to reverse the SBRW's recommendation for just one person complaining about this. Mr. Smith said it's not just one person, but the honest scallopers are being burnt by the abusers and suggested that the two bushels still be allowed, but taken only be pushraking. Mr. Carlson said this would mean an over -60 Nantucketer could then pushrake for two bushels a day and another bushel per week and he wondered who would be pushraking for scallops in December. He noted the real benefit of the free two - bushels -a -day over -60 commercial license is that the holder can get those bushels using any commercial harvesting method, namely, dredging and diving. Dr. Boyce advised that since this part of regulations was put in on the recommendation of Mr. Fronzuto, that care should be taken before any change is made. ((At this point in the meeting, the digital recorder shut down, saying it was full. Recording of this meeting resumed several minutes later through the Notebook recording feature in Microsoft Word on Mr. Brace's laptop)) Dr. Boyce said recalled that the intent of this regulation was to allow 60 and over fishermen to bring scallops home to their families. But then he wondered aloud what person or family could eat two bushels of scallops per day. Mr. Brace asked if Ms. McCrae's constituent was a commercial scalloper and she said no. Mr. Carlson said that if it's an issue of enforcement, his shellfish wardens could handle it. But he did say it's tough to track the seven boxes once they get on a truck and even tougher if they're headed to a shanty built in someone's backyard for which the shellfish wardens need permission to enter. Mr. Brace asked how the shellfish wardens would enforce two people working together; one gets their five boxes by dredging and the other their two boxes buy pushraking. Mr. Carlson said that would be very tough to regulate because it's easy to get around. Ms. McCrae said she'd be voting against this. Mr. Smith said that while he agreed with her thinking, the SBRW spent a long time working on this issue and believes that there's enough abuse of this regulation to warrant its removal. Mr. Brace agreed with Mr. Smith and he added that some of the regulations exist because of those who abuse the regulations. Mr. Glowacki noted that the board had spent enough on this issue and that the board should move on. Mr. Brace asked if any of the board members had any more comments. Mr. Smith motioned that this revision to the shellfish regulations remain as recommended by the SBRW. Dr. Boyce seconded Mr. Smith's motion. During discussion, Ms. McCrae strongly urged the HSAB look at both sides of the revision. Mr. Smith said he's seen more abuse of the two - bushel free commercial license than honesty. The vote carries 5 -1 with Mr. Smith, Dr. Boyce, Mr. Blount, Mr. Glowacki and Mr. Brace voting in favor of the motion and Ms. McCrae voting against it. Ms. McCrae asked if divers have to wear their permit pin on their body diving for scallops. Mr. Carlson said the divers only have to pin their permit button on their dive flag or attached inside their collection bag. Her concern was that the buttons would get wet and rust, and the diver or snorkeler would go through a lot of permit buttons. Mr. Carlson said he knew of one diver who puts his permit button in a Zip -Loc bag and then carries it in his scallop collection bag and so added that he'd rather replace buttons than deal with having to get the diver up on the surface and in his boat to find his permit button. After hearing that there were no more comments from the board on the recommended revisions of the shellfish regulations, Mr. Brace inquired of Mr. Carlson the next steps toward adoption. Mr. Carlson said that town counsel had started reviewing the revised regulations and that the board could now vote to recommend that selectmen adopt the revised regulations. Mr. Glowacki made that motion, but Mr. Smith asked the status of Saturday fishing as a make -up day January through March. Mr. Brace explained the recommended addition to the regulations to Mr. Smith and reiterated what Mr. Blount said previously about this addition to the regulations being "a start" in addressing fishing days lost to inclement weather. Mr. Carlson clarified, saying that Saturday fishing would only kick in if the air temperature dropped is below 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Mr. Smith seconded Mr. Glowacki's motion. Mr. Blount said he would vote against this only because he believed Nantucket owns its own waters because the selectmen need to have as much control over Nantucket's waters as possible. Mr. Carlson said in Massachusetts, local governments can always make their regulations more restrictive than the state's, but not less restrictive. Further, Mr. Carlson said both Nantucket and the state have jurisdiction over the waters around the island and in its harbor to three miles seaward of shore. Ms. McCrae agreed with Mr. Carlson. Mr. Brace called for a vote and Mr. Glowacki's motioned carried 5 -1 with Mr. Brace, Mr. Glowacki, Ms. McCrae, Mr. Smith and Dr. Boyce voting in favor and Mr. Blount voting against. Summer meeting schedule Mr. Brace asked if there would be a final revised set of regulations by the July 1 meeting. Mr. Carlson said iffy at best and that the best -case scenario for a public hearing at a Board of Selectmen meeting would be July 23. Ms. McCrae made a motion to not meet again in June and then meet once in July and once in August. The motion was seconded and adopted unanimously. NEW BUSINESS PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT An unidentified scalloper expressed concern that the Saturday fishing would invite those fishermen who'd already hauled their boats to fish on these days. Mr. Blount explained that this change would allow more immediate compensation for days lost to cold weather. Mr. Brace said it also doesn't preclude the HSAB from recommending an extension of the season or extra boxes to the selectmen. Ms. McCrae added that extending the season into April translates into scallops being smaller. Dr. Boyce said that season extension also means get permission from the state to do so. Mr. Blount said it's better to make up days in January and February because of slimy algae that appears in March. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Unanimously approved Future Meetings: July 1 and Aug. 5 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Chairman