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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-16Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, May 17 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Joe LiPuma, Kenneth Kuntz, Peter Brace, Fritz McClure, Andy Lowell Members Absent: Bill Blount, Ken Gullicksen Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept: Jeff Carlson Others: Kona CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Continued to the June 7 meeting. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT There was no chairman's report. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT No Marine Department report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Natural Resources Department report. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No public comment. OLD BUSINESS Proposed survey for four - bushel limit proposal Mr. Brace stated that after having some time to think about this issue, he said he'd recommend that the board not do a survey of the commercial shellfish license holders because there will always be people who miss the survey and who would complain they weren't contacted. He added that if the board did do a survey, proponents of other efforts would want to do surveys for their issues. Mr. Brace said the survey question could be a part of the annual mailing from the Natural Resources Department. He added that he didn't think it was fair to try this experiment of limiting scallopers to four bushels for the month of November 2016 because most scallopers bought their 2016 /2017 licenses with the knowledge that they'll be able to take five bushels per day. Mr. Lowell asked for clarification and other ideas from Mr. Carlson. He agreed with Mr. Brace. Mr. Carlson elaborated on why doing the survey in the annual mailing would work better why the survey could set a bad precedent for the HSAB. Mr. McClure said the HSAB needed to make a decision on Mr. Sjolund's proposal. He added that he was good with either path, but that whichever way the board decides to go with this, it needs to be grounded in a sensible approach. Mr. Kuntz didn't want to drag this thing out. Mr. LiPuma liked the idea of putting the experiment off until November 2017 sounded good because by then everyone will know what is being processed, He stressed that a process needs to be followed. Mr. Brace asked the board to hold onto their thoughts until the June 7 meeting. Mr. Lowell stressed that the board should gather as much information as it can before it votes on this matter. Mr. LiPuma asked Mr. Carlson about damage to the habitat by prolonging the commercial scallop season. Mr. Carlson said the impact is likely minimal. NEW BUSINESS HSAB Goals for fiscal year 2016/2017 Mr. Brace asked that each HSAB member list and briefly explain what their goals are for 2016/2017. Mr. McClure went first. Mr. McClure stated that he went through the Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) and found two tasks for the HSAB to accomplish; under Management and Implementation, Goal 1 Objective 2 Recommendation 1: periodic joint training sessions to ensure consistency in enforcement of the taking of seed scallops. The second task he noted was in Education: Provide information on best fishing practices for recreational shellfishermen. He added that the board's # 1 priority should be to do what it can to help implement the SMP. Mr. Brace noted that the town, the NRD, has been trying for two years to form an SMP implementation committee with no luck but that the town is trying again to gather enough citizens to create this committee and that the HSAB would be appointing one of its members to be on this committee. Mr. Brace suggested the board write a letter to the editor asking for help to serve on this committee and that board members spread the word in their island circles. Mr. Lowell gave his recommendations next. He said he wasn't sure how much more could be done to work on enforcement of the taking of scallop seed. Mr. Lowell said wader use safety signs should be created and posted at all public access points. Mr. LiPuma and Mr. Kuntz agreed. Mr. Lowell inquired about the dredging of Polpis Harbor. Mr. Carlson confirmed that it wouldn't happen until next year. Mr. Lowell added that when the dredge does come to the island, that it be used to dredge several other parts of the harbor. Mr. Lowell said he wanted to pursue ridding the harbor of codium. Mr. Brace suggested getting an expert to come speak to the board and to do a survey of the harbor to identify the main areas it's found. He suggested Ken Kelly for speaking to the board on codium. Mr. Lowell said the HSAB should continue to explore potential storm - access points around the harbors; gated accesses only, reminding the board of He said more effort needs to be made to find uses for dredged materials such as putting it back up on the beaches within the harbor bends. He is also advocating research on the granular sand washing up onto the beaches of Coatue. For goals for 2016/2017, Mr. Brace recommended that the board explore changing the nub regulation with the state's Division of Marine Fisheries. He also agreed with Mr. McClure that the SMP should be a top priority goal for the HSAB. Mr. Brace's third goal is to tune up the enforcement policy for the taking of scallop seed. Mr. Lowell asked if the call for SMP members was on the Board of Selectmen's list of requested positions to appoint people to on committees. Mr. Carlson said he would confirm this. Mr. Kuntz recommended the board focus on the eelgrass restoration grants being offered by NOAA. He also suggested following up on a better mooring system that does less damage to eelgrass and a new kind of dredge with much less weight on it. He suggested introducing it gradually at first, only to scallopers getting their licenses for the first time. Mr. Kuntz said he agreed with the goals of the other HSAB members. Mr. LiPuma indicated that he also agreed with his fellow HSAB members' goals. He added that the board needed to push for more education of the public on shellfish and harbor regulations. Maybe produce a better diagram of what constitutes adult shellfish. He added that there needs to be greater education of the public on the town's fertilizer regulations. He questioned why the chamber of commerce isn't involved with the SNIP. Mr. Brace agreed that speaking with the chamber is good idea. Mr. LiPuma suggested showing a condensed version of John Stanton's scallop film to children. Mr. Brace suggested writing a letter to the Dreamland and Mr. Stanton asking them to run the key parts of the film during the previews of movies and that the board request that the Atheneum show this film. Mr. Lowell said it takes a generation or more to change a mindset. He added that the fertilizer regulations need to be translated into Spanish and other languages spoken by people doing the applying. He said the board needs to reach out to the Department of Public Works (DPW) to ensure that it's doing all that it can to get people to take advantage of the town's Hazardous Waste Days. Mr. Lowell said he wanted the board to pursue the prevention of gray water dumping into the harbor from boat holding tanks. Additionally, he recommended that the board work with DPW to limit or end the use of the road pre- treatment product (Atomic Ice Melt) applied to roads and sidewalks prior to snow /ice storms. Mr. Brace recommended that the board get someone, an expert to come speak to the board about the dangersibenefits of this product. Mr. Lowell said he'd like to tackle the issue of gulls hanging out on and pooping on town pier. He also wants the board to connect with the Seal Abatement Coalition to see where they're at because the seals are contributing a lot of poop to the harbor. Mr. McClure recommended that the HSAB look at whether the mooring systems in the harbor have adverse affects on eelgrass, if so where and if so, what are the alternatives for these areas? PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Unanimously approved. Respectfully submitted, Peter B. Brace, Chairman