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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-18-16Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Kenneth Kuntz, Kenneth Gullicksen, Andrew Lowell, Joseph LiPuma, Peter Brace Members Absent: Willis Blount, Fritz McClure Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept: Jeff Carlson Others: Kona, Neil Cocker CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Seal Abatement Coalition gray seal presentation — status Mr. Brace informed the board that the Seal Abatement Coalition would be presenting its gray seal film to the HSAB at the Nov. 1, 2016 meeting. Proposed town pier and mooring regulations revisions Board of Selectmen public hearing - status Mr. Brace reported that this public hearing was scheduled for Nov. 16, 2016. Mr. Gullicksen noted that would be meeting with Mr. Gibson later in the week to work on changes to the HSAB's revisions. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Harbormaster not present, so no Marine Department report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT General report from Jeff Carlson Mr. Carlson reported that Special Town Meeting voters on Oct. 17, 2016 approved sewering Madaket. He said the NRD would be opening Hummock and Sesachacha ponds this week. Mr. Carlson reported that the NRD has wrapped up its field season. He added that the hatchery renovation was still going on, but that they were starting to grow algae. Mr. Carlson reported the Division of Marine Fisheries closure of Cape and Islands waters to shellfishing, which was extended to Nantucket waters on Oct. 16, 2016, now allows the taking of bay scallops at the harvesters' own risk. He added that he didn't think this region -wide closure would have an impact on the 2016/2017 commercial scallop season. Mr. Brace asked what the impact of this algae bloom and the closure was having on Nantucket's oyster farmers. Mr. Carlson indicated that most of these fishermen were preparing their oysters for winter and that this algae bloom hasn't really affected them. He added that the chochlodidium bloom in Nantucket Harbor that occurred in mid - August slowed the growth of their oysters. Mr. Carlson reported that the NRD recently submitted its program budget to town administration and that they would be asking for letters of support for various items from the HSAB in the coming weeks. Mr. Gullicksen asked for a sense of how toxic the algae bloom is. Mr. Carlson responded, saying it was hard to say, but that young children and senior citizens are the most susceptible to the toxin. Mr. Gullicksen asked Mr. Carlson how the upcoming commercial bay scallop season looked. Mr. Carlson indicated that the recreational system has been hit or miss, but that the deeper divers went, the better they did. But pushrakers were getting a half to a full bushel in 45 -60 minutes. He said the recreational season has been similar to the 2015 season. Mr. Gullicksen said he found a high percentage of empty shells in the Quaise area, which Mr. Carlson confirmed. Mr. Brace reported quarter -size seed on the beach in front of the entrance to Folger's Marsh. Mr. Carlson confirmed that there have been small seed strandings around the harbor shores this fall. Mr. Kuntz asked about the possibility of opening Long Pond to the ocean to clean it out. Mr. Carlson said it would be tough to keep this pond open for the minimum three -day period because it would require a lot of excavation at its ocean end to open it. Also, the pond itself is poorly shaped to properly drain into the ocean. A more likely scenario for the town would be cleaning out the Madaket Ditch between Second Bridge and Hither Creek, PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT / NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Neil Cocker reported that there was a lot of seed on the shores and in shallow water around Madaket Harbor that he and Carl Sjolund have seen. He noted that he'd heard of no plans to move that seed back into deeper water since he'd mentioned this issue to town shellfish biologist Tara Riley two weeks prior. Mr. Carlson said he was aware of the situation and mentioned the seed stranding team that could be activated, and that Ms. Riley is actively working on this. Mr. Cocker said the key is to get to the seed in the shallow water before it's washed onshore. He recommended getting to it ASAP and said he knew of scallopers who could help get this seed back into deeper water before the season begins. He added that Ms. Riley gave him permission to start dredging up the seed and dumping it in deeper water. OLD BUSINESS Updated HSAB FY 17 Goals and Objectives matrix — discussion Mr. Brace asked for suggestions for topics from the matrix for the next workshop meeting. Mr. Kuntz recommended revisiting the bay scallop nub issue. Mr. Gullicksen advised steering clear of this issue and instead focusing on refining seed violation and enforcement procedures. Mr. Lowell recommended advocating for a better outreach program in regards to the collection and proper disposal of hazardous waste. Mr. Brace suggested reaching out the Nantucket Builders Association. Mr. LiPuma suggested mandatory collection containers on job sites, which could be part of town building regulations. Mr. Brace floated the idea of having a workshop meeting on Nov. 15, 2016 to discuss hazardous waste collection outreach ideas and refining seed violation and enforcement procedures. Mr. LiPuma wondered what the HSAB could do in terms of seal abatement. Mr. Brace said the seal film would be educational for the HSAB. Mr. LiPuma added that challenging the federal Marine Mammals Protection Act's protection of gray seals would be difficult. Mr. Lowell said he hoped this film would motivate town officials to become more educated on this issue. Mr. Kuntz noted that seal fecal matter could be contributing to the fouling of Nantucket's harbors. Mr. Gullicksen asked Mr. Carlson to send him the NRD's seed scallop enforcement policy prior to the Nov. 15, 2016 meeting. Mr. Lowell asked Mr. Carlson if he'd been able to secure an additional shellfish warden. Mr. Carlson said he hadn't. Rough draft of letter to downtown business owners on alternative ice melt practices - discussion Mr. Brace reported that town water quality specialist Kaitlyn Shaw could not make the meeting and that she said that road salt runoff into the harbor is not a high priority for her. Mr. Brace suggested mailing this letter to the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce for them to distribute to their members. Mr. LiPuma reminded the board that sodium chloride - coated salt is the ice melt that should be avoided. Mr. Lowell said the town has always used sand, but that to hear that the Department of Public Works used 400 tons of salt in FYI with plans for 600 tons in FYI 7, but that the DPW is using less. Mr. LiPuma said, and the board agreed, that ice melt should be just salt, not urea and calcium chloride. Rough draft of letter to the Board of Selectmen on alternative ice melt practices - discussion Mr. LiPuma said the mention of salt should read "less salt with additives ". Mr. Lowell noted that the DPW does have spreader truck that spreads salt -only loads at intersections, but that the other spreader trucks spread a mixture of salt and sand on town roads. Mr. Brace said he would also like to send this letter to all the area associations in which private subdivisions exist where the DPW doesn't treat roads with salt and sand. NEW BUSINESS Martha's Vineyard's harbor water quality reports — discussion Mr. Brace distributed a printout on Martha's Vineyard harbor water quality efforts with links to reports on various ponds and harbors on the other island. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT Mr. Cocker asked for recap of what Mr. Carlson reported to the board on the recent shellfish closure. He asked if the state had cleared Nantucket waters for shellfishing. Mr. Brace directed Mr. Cocker to Ms. Shaw for answers to his questions. Mr. Cocker said he and other scallopers were concerned how this closure would impact the 2016/2017 commercial scallop season. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Mr. Brace said he would refine the salt use letters, confirm that the Seal Abatement Coalition can make the HSAB's Nov. 1, 2106 meeting to give their presentation, ADJOURN Unanimously approved. Future Meetings: Nov. 1 and Nov. 15 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Chairman