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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-14Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace, Michael Glowacki, Wendy McCrae, Dr. Peter Boyce, Bill Blount Members Absent: Chuck Connors, Doug Smith Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept: Others: Cormac Collier CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Unavailable for consideration CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Elected /appointed board news Mr. Brace reported he had nothing new to report MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: General harbors update — Sheila Lucey Harbormaster Sheila Lucey not present, so no Marine Department report NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT General report from Jeff Carlson and or Tara Riley Jeff Carlson and Tara Riley not present, so Natural Resources Department report. Dr. Boyce asked Mr. Brace to meet with Ms. Riley to discuss what her plan is for the summer of 2015 since she won't be doing shellfish propagation, as the marine lab boathouse will be under renovation. Mr. Brace and Dr. Boyce agreed that this should be an agenda item before the summer. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT OLD BUSINESS Revised shellfish regulations — continued discussion Days missed to cold and or inclement weather To date, no days have been missed due to inclement weather. NEW BUSINESS Eelgrass loss in Nantucket Harbor — HSAB's role - discussion Mr. Brace opened this issue up for discussion after acknowledging that it's a topic HSAB would probably be discussing for a quite a while. Dr, Boyce offered that there should be some kind of forum on eelgrass. Dr. Boyce reported a slight increase in eelgrass coverage but that over the last nine years, there's been a 40% decrease in eelgrass coverage. Mr. Glowacki asked for more details on what other groups might be working to solve this issue. Mr. Brace responded that he didn't yet know of any groups that had formed or would but that in anticipation of such efforts, HSAB should be prepared. He recommended that Dr. Boyce give his presentation scheduled for the Dec. 16 HSAB to the Board of Selectmen as well. Mr. Glowacki suggested that having a forum was bit "at odds" with the new information on the "uptick" as detailed by Dr. Boyce. Dr. Boyce clarified that over the last nine years, the averages of his eelgrass coverage surveys have decreased 40 %. Dr. Boyce explained his calculations to Mr. Glowacki. Mr. Blount said all the fishermen he knows have been telling him that the eelgrass is declining. Mr. Brace if the decline could be caused by the blight that decimated Nantucket's eelgrass in the 1930s. Dr. Boyce that blight is the "brown tide" and yes, this could be the culprit. Mr. Collier said that eelgrass lose could be tied to water quality in certain parts of the harbor, but on Hussey Shoal, which has high water quality, the cause has to be something else. He added that anecdotally, he's been told that mooring tackle of large yachts moored on Hussey Shoal is part of the problem because such a "precipitous" decline in eelgrass there doesn't work for him caused only by mooring tackle. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Collier if the Land Council's pilot eelgrass planting project worked. Mr. Collier noted that the Lyngbya algae smothered their planted eelgrass and then it didn't survive. He said he wouldn't recommend planting eelgrass as a solution. Mr. Brace noted that the jetty- raising project, which was billed to have a positive effect on increasing harbor circulation, was to have started at the end of September. Mr. Collier updated HSAB on this project. He said the Army Corps of Engineers hopes to begin with East Jetty by next spring and that it would take a year to do both. He added that they'll be working right through the summer, that the project will be impacting eelgrass beds and that they'll monitor the impacts to determine if mitigation is necessary. Dr. Boyce said he wants HSAB to come up with a recommendation to make to the selectmen. Mr. Glowacki noted that water quality in relation to eelgrass decline is kind of vague and that all impacts should be identified. Mr. Collier said there should be a way to combine the survey data with what scallopers observe on a daily basis. Dr. Boyce said he tries to keep his surveys as accurate and true to form from year to year in the interest of consistency. Mr. Brace floated the idea that scallopers could record daily eelgrass observations for the town. Dr. Boyce said Google Earth can be checked back into time to see the history of eelgrass coverage. Mr. Brace recommended that aerial photos of the harbors be shot every year to keep tabs on the eelgrass. Mr. Collier said it's important to keep the focus on Hussey Shoal and to not lose sight of what all factors contributing factors to eelgrass decline might be. Mr. Glowacki said that water quality and the many factors contributing to it, good or bad, and yachts with their mooring chains are frequently the scapegoats and that maybe scallop dredges are partially to blame. Mr. Collier said that there's hard evidence of mooring chains scouring the bottom, but quantifying it is a challenge. Status of town's rescue boat (added to agenda during meeting) Ms. McRae brought up that the rescue boat for Nantucket is stored on a trailer and not in the water. She requested this topic be discussed because without the boat in water ready to go, scallopers in trouble on the water could be put in dangerous, life- threatening situations because of the time it takes to get the boat on its trailer and then launch. She said she thinks the rescue boat needs to be on the water at all times. Mr. Glowacki suggested having Mr. Brace write a letter to the harbormaster, the town manager and the selectmen urging that the rescue boat remain in the water. Mr. Brace said it might be better to wait until the harbormaster could attend a HSAB meeting so this issue could be resolved in person. Dr. Boyce said while the relationship between HSAB and the harbormaster has been strained, this should be resolved face to face. Mr. Brace said this issue could be resolved when he and Ms. McCrae meet with the harbormaster. The board voted 3 -2 to have Mr. Brace write such a letter and send to the aforementioned parties. He added that he voted no because he didn't want to push the harbormaster any further away from the HSAB and he felt the board could work with her in person to resolve this. Mr. Blount stressed the necessity of having a rescue boat at the ready because of fishing being the most dangerous job in the world, even in Nantucket Harbor, and that he's witnessed serious injuries and deaths in the harbor. Mr. Glowacki asked why the discussion was still continuing after the vote was taken. Mr. Brace explained that he was simply responding to a query of how he voted. Dr. Boyce motioned that the board delay sending the letter to the harbormaster until after the Dec. 16, HSAB meeting. His motioned died for lack of a second. Shellfish warden training (added to agenda during meeting) Ms. McCrae wanted to make sure that the shellfish wardens had taken state shellfish warden courses before they began their jobs. Mr. Brace suggested that she call Natural Resources Director Jeff Carlson and ask him this question. She said she would. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Unanimously approved Future Meetings: Dec. 16 and Jan. 6 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Chairman