Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-1-8 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Jan. 8 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Chuck Connors,Bill Blount, Dr. Boyce, Peter Brace, Wendy McCrae,Doug Smith Members Absent: Michael Glowacki Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Police Chief Pittman, Matt Herr, Charlie Tash CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the January 8th HSAB meeting (Wendy McCrae abstained) Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Open Meeting Law Update Mr. Brace gave a brief talk pertaining to the open meeting law training class that was given by the town on Dec. 6th 2012. The subject of public comment was the topic of this talk. During the Dec. 6th Class it was brought to the attention of Mr. Brace that we do not have to allow the public to speak during our HSAB meetings and that Public comment is a privilege that we provide and we can take away if we feel it's in the Boards best interest. Ms. McCrae noted the public comment section is on the agenda for a reason. Ms. McCrae explained to the board that in the past allowing the public to speak before the public comment section would sometimes take away from the"meat" of the agenda and the format in which it's written. Temperature gauge at the Steamship Authority: The official temperature gauge being used by the town to determine the air temperature has shifted from the old gauge at the town pier(which is broken)to the Steamship Authorities gauge. It's available on the Steamships website. The gauge gets its info directly from NOAA. Mr. Smith Said that www.accuweather.com is believed to have access to the same temperature gauge. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Bushel count: Approximately 12,807 bushels have been harvested commercially so far during the 2012 season. Between 30-40 Boats are still fishing. Extra Boxes: Mr. Smith asked about the policy regarding extra boxes. Ms. Lucey asked that if anyone with credits for extra boxes is going to be bringing one in,they must first contact her to avoid any confusion at the dock with the wardens. The number to reach her is 508-958-1762 Ice:No ice to speak of in the harbors. There is a bit of ice in Hither Creak and the ponds, but the Harbors haven't had any. Town Pier: The pier is still broken, they will be making repairs to get though this season. 200' is broken, 4 floats snapped in half. The electrical on the town pier is broken; the dock is not open after dark. No transient docking is taking place on the town pier. Slip Lottery: The slip lottery has begun; you can fill out your application. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Tara Riley gave the report. She thanked everyone who helped out during the seed stranding event caused by the Nor-Easter. On January 22nd she is planning on doing a presentation on the Aquaculture lease program. The Natural Resource Department is submitting a grant for 2013 to GHYC for summer a propagation project. She has begun growing Algae for use in the 2013 propagation effort. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Shellfish regulation change discussion—Bill Pittman & HSAB No proposals have been written yet,but a discussion on the regulation changes is currently being discussed with the Natural Resource department as well as the Marine Department. The issues being looked at are broken down into sections of safety, licensing, methodology, enforcement, penalties. The apprentice program: Chief Pittman was saying we should revamp the program, giving it guidelines. This would help to verify that the apprentice actually did learn something. Possibly keeping a log of some sort would be involved. Recreational Scallop permits: Looking at different options to help avoid people passing their button around to one another. Shanty's: As it's written now,the private shanty's can only be inspected by the health department. The marine department would like to have a change made so that the Wardens could inspect a private shanty to obtain bushel counts and look for violations. Sub Committee: It was suggested that a sub committee be formed to work on addressing new shellfishing regulation. NEW BUSINESS Harbor Algae video—Dr. Boyce: Dr. Boyce showed a picture of healthy eel grass taken last July off of the field station. A video of black slime algae (lygnia) covering up eelgrass was presented. During the Video a person(Forest) was shown fanning the black algae away to show that it was covering up the eelgrass below it and not allowing the sun to penetrate through, causing the eelgrass to become very unhealthy. Dr. Boyce called it a wake up call to get the water quality in control, noting that we have to cut down on the nutrients. Dr. Boyce said that if it continues we will lose the harbor. Stephan Heck used a photometer to check the amount of sunlight coming though the black slime algae. The result was less then 1% of the sunlight came though. 2012 Spat bag Results—Dr. Boyce: Dr. Boyce gave a report on his data taken over the 2012 summer. Dr. Boyce noted that Oliver Bender was a lot of help. Attached to the minutes is a copy of his presentation. Filling Bam LaFarge's Seat on HPIC: The HPIC said they are very close to completing their goals and that it's not necessary to fill Mr. LaFarge's seat. Town converting reserved spots in town lot to public parking—discussion: The remaining 26 out of the original 60 spaces that were given to the marine department for slip holders are being considered by the town to be moved from the front of the lot to the back of the lot. The town was exploring using some of the marine department parking lot spaces as parking for a privately run valet service. Several fishermen attended the BOS meeting and it was said during this meeting that they (BOS) were not trying to do this. Most of the fishermen left the meeting at this point. Later during the same meeting one of the warrant articles was brought up and the issue was talked about. Ms. Lucey contacted a woman from the State who said that on Dec. 9th she was driven around the empty lot by a member of the BOS as well as a member of PLUS. She told Ms. Lucey that a BOS member and the PLUS member informed her that the lot is as empty during the summer as it is right now. Public comment procedures for HSAB—discussion and policy vote: Mr. Brace would like to put up some sort of public comment procedures for HSAB meetings on the website. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Fertilizer regulations talk with Richard Ray. NSA about our regulation sub committee. Report on what happened at the BOS meeting Tara will give talk on aquaculture ADJOURN Unanimously approved Future Meetings: Feb. 5th 2013, Feb. 19th 2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board January 22" 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Chuck Connors,Bill Blount,Dr. Boyce,Peter Brace, Wendy McCrae,Doug Smith,Michael Glowacki Members Absent: Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Matt Herr,Emma McCair,Barn Lafarge, Gordon Fraiser,Richard Ray,Dr. Estabrooks,Ron Shepherd, Carl Sjolund, Ted Lembrech, Simon Edwards, Val Hall, Charlie Tashjian, Ryan Mcpharson CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the January 8th HSAB meeting Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 3 Open HSAB Seats: Mr. Brace wanted to mention that there are three people up for re-election. Water quality testing: Mr. Brace attended FINCOM today (January 22nd) to voice HSAB's support about hiring a person to do water quality testing. The water quality sampling will be done for a 6 month period and the funding for water quality testing is coming out of the water ways improvement fund. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Scallop Season Update: Sheila Lucey did not make the meeting because she was at FINCOM so we do not have bushel counts or a Marine Dept. Report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Tara Riley talked about the grant submitted to GHYC submitted last week. It was to grow out 50,000 quahogs and the grant was for$8,452.49 Water quality testing results for 2012: SMASS is working on formalizing the report and the deadline is March 1st 2013. Ms. Riley will let us know when they will be giving their presentation. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT /NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Appointment of shellfish regulations subcommittee Appointing people to the subcommittee was discussed. It was decided that Bill Blount, Doug Smith,Peter Brace,Ron Shepherd, Carl Sjolund, Matt Herr,Dr. Estabrooks, Ted Lembrech and some others who are not in attendance would be on this subcommittee. The committee is planning on meeting 2 times per month. Ms. McCrae wanted to note that she is not in favor of any regulation change that would allow anyone other then the health dept. to be allowed into a private shanty. She stated that she doesn't think the marine dept. should be allowed into private shanty's. A motion to approve the subcommittee of up to 9 people was made by Mr. Glowacki, Seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved. Draft letter to Selectmen on permit parking removal Mr. Brace wrote a letter to BOS regarding HSAB's feeling on the possible relocation of the slip holders permitted parking spots in the town pier parking lot. Mr. Miller(BOS) decided he will leave the permitted spots alone and possible take 20 other spots from the town pier, currently used for public parking to be used for valet parking after 7:00 p.m. Ms. McCrae didn't agree with giving away public spots for a valet service. Proposed HSAB public comment procedures and language: Mr. Brace passed around a draft regarding public comment during HSAB meetings. The draft covered Roberts Rule,Public Participation, Specific Public comment and proper public comment protocol. Mr. Glowacki motioned to adopt the procedures, Dr. Boyce seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved NEW BUSINESS Richard Ray on fertilizer regs Re: SHAB's help Mr. Ray told the board that the new fertilizer regulations were taking effect on January 1st 2013. Mr. Ray stated that man power and financial constraints of the health dept. they are finding it difficult to enforce these regulation for the ensuing summer, However Administration is in the process of obtaining consultants to help administer this program. Mr. Ray did not have a specific time in which this would be taking place but did tell the board that the administration is dedicated to getting this done appropriately. Aquaculture permit Application—Gordon Fraiser: Mr. Fraiser was number one on the waiting list to get an aquaculture lease. One became available and Mr. Fraiser would like to occupy it. A motion was made to support the approval of the aquaculture lease application by Mr. Gordon Fraiser. Mr. Glowacki Made a motion seconded by Dr. Boyce and was unanimously approved by the board Renewal of aquaculture permit—Simon Edwards: Mr. Edwards requested that his aquaculture lease be extended for 10 years. The Natural Resources Department stated that they feel Mr. Edwards has shown that he is dedicated to aquaculture, he is up to date with his reporting and has helped the boat house by building an algae growing system. The DNR would support this extention. A motion was made to support a recommendation to the BOS by Mr. Glowacki Seconded by Mr. Connors and unanimously approved. Aquaculture program update power point presentation—Tara Riley Ms. Riley gave a power point presentation about the aquaculture program. The presentation showed the qualification of site approval,the procedures involved in getting the permits required and the guidelines for having a lease. Ms. Riley showed a map of the current leases and explained the type of gear being used. She described the Oystergro floating cage system, explained how they are used and what is done during the winter. The Oystergro companies recommendation of 100 cages per acre isn't applicable in the deep water leases. Ms. Riley noted that the water depth is a problem when there are too many cages close to each other in deep water. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Letter to BOS about town parking lot. Subcommittee meeting times. ADJOURN Unanimously approved Future Meetings: Feb. 19th March 5th Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board February 5th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace,Doug Smith, Chuck Connors,Bill Blount, Wendy McCrae,Michael Glowacki Members Absent: Dr. Boyce Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson Others: Police Chief Pittman, Jo Perkins,Robert Capossela, Ashley Bulseco-Mckim, Richard Corrado, Sophia Bass Werner, Ted Lembrech CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Tara Riley's Zanzibar presentation will not be presented today. Unanimously approved as amended APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the January 22nd HSAB meeting Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Formation of Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup—update: the first meeting for the workgroup is on going to be held on February 7th at the community room, 4 Fairgrounds Rd. at 6:00pm. The group is still looking for a person to fill the spot for a recreational scalloper. If anyone would like to inquire about the empty seat please contact Peter Brace. The current members of the workgroup are: Bill Blount,Doug Smith,Peter Brace, Carl Sjolund,Ron Shepherd,Matt Herr, Ted Lembrech,Dr. Steve Estabrooks, Chief Pittman, Sheila Lucey, Tara Riley &Jeff Carlson. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT Scallop Season Update: To date approximately 15,001 bushels of bay scallops have been harvested this season. Around 20 boats are still fishing consistently. So far this year we have lost a number of days because of the temperature. Almost an entire week was lost recently. Some seed has been showing up in the Shanty's so the Marine Department says they will be checking them more often. Harbor conditions due to ice- Sheila Lucey: Ms. Lucey shared a past experience she had on a Coast Guard vessel involving an ice flow. She did this to let people know the dangers that ice posses. She explained how the ice can come up on a boat quickly and take it out of the water causing it to become adrift. The ice could also ride up on your lines and push them down. Ms. Lucey said some people were seen culling seed off onto the ice flow that we need to inform the fishermen that doing that will kill the seed. Buoys in Madaket: Sheila Lucey mentioned that due to the ice moving them,that all the buoys in Madaket are off station. They plan on putting them back in place this following week. Millie's Bridge: Bridge will be closed or a couple of weeks and any boats that would be effected by this will be allowed to tie up at F Street. Town Pier: Power is back on at the standing pier,but the floating pier is still without power. People are paying for their moorings and sighing up for the slip lottery. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Jeff Carlson: The Natural Resource Department is gearing up for summer season. They are expanding their algae growth operations. The NRD is currently advertising for summer interns in a number of places including the local paper and in job ports that advertise for college students. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT OLD BUSINESS No Old Business. NEW BUSINESS No New Business. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT A discussion about the status of the town pier parking lot was brought up. It was focused on the recent issue concerning the possible relocation of the slip holders permitted spaces. HSAB was told that those spots will not be taken away and that a different area is being considered for use by the valet services. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Mr. Smith made a motion to Adjourn, it was seconded by Ms. McCrae and Unanimously approved Future Meetings: March 5t,March 19th Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board February 19th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Chuck Mi ,Connors, Peter Brace, Wendy McCrae, Doug Smith, Glowacki Michael Members Absent: Dr. Boyce, Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Chief Pittman, Jo Perkins, Robert Capossela, Ashley Bulseco-Mckim Richard Corrado, Sophia Bass Werner, Steve Nye, Matt Herr, Ron Shepherd,Bobby DeCosta CALL TO ORDER y 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the February 5th HSAB meeting Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Three People interested recreational scalloper seat in the SBRW(New Business) MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Chief Pittman Scallop Season Update: Bushel count is 16,171 Enforcement Actions: To date there has been 11 written warnings, two of which ended up with suspensions. There were also 7 verbal warnings given. Warnings were given for crowning, seed possession and fishing on a Sunday. Town Pier: On the 20th of February FEMA is coming to the Island again to look at the town pier. The pier is currently closed due to damage. The town has received 2 bids for emergency repairs for the floating pier, one was for$25,000 and the other was $13,000. The Marine Department is planning on conducting the emergency repairs for the standing themselves, in hopes that that it can be used during the 2013 summer season. Rather then the nails that are currently holding the dock together, they plan on using screws to fasten the planks down in an attempt to fix or strengthen the broken areas of the ier. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT: p Seed Stranding: The blizzard on the 10th of February caused a stranding of approximately 30-40 bushels in Nantucket harbor around Fulling Mill Rd. Madaket Harbor had several large strandings. Jacksons Point on both sides of the Point the seed was covered up by ice and snow and was not visible until after it had been dead and frozen. There was another large stranding on Cambridge Street that was again covered in ice dead. The Natural Resources Department is going to try to work on a way to help prevent these types of strandings in the future; possible moving seed in the spring was an option. Aquaculture lease holders Meeting: Ms. Riley informed the Board that the NRD held a meeting with the current lease holders to go over the new program that they are developing. On March 1St there will be an Aquaculture best management training class being held at 4 Fairgrounds Rd. (time will be determined) Jeff Carlson: Reminded the board of the regulation meeting coming up on Friday the meeting will be about blue muscles. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Bylaw Review Workgroup: officers have not been elected yet because the group wasn't complete. They were going to wait and appoint a person in the recreational Scalloper seat first. The group decided that they will run the meetings on a species by species basis and will begin with Blue Muscles. NEW BUSINESS Appointment of Recreational Scalloper to the Bylaw Review Workgroup: Three people applied for the position, Jo Perkins, James Mondani and Stephen Welch. The board voted to appoint Jo Perkins to the SBRW by a vote of 3-1 with Mr. Smith, Mr. Brace, &Mr. Connors in favor of Jo Perkins, Ms. McCrae in favor of James Mondani and Mr. Glowacki Abstained from the vote. Tara Riley's Zanzibar Trip: Ms. Riley gave a slide show presentation of her recent trip to Zanzibar Africa where she helped to teach the local population how to grow and harvest Blood Arch(a form of shellfish). Ms. Riley along with her intern Leah brought brute stock of algae to help get them started. The slide show demonstrated the process the women in Zanzibar use to grow and harvest the blood arch. She noted some problems they are having in Zanzibar; such as a very busy port with a ferry terminal close the growout area. Ms. Riley said that she was there during the rainy season, making things a lot harder due to bacteria such as vibrio. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING .ADJOURN Ms. McCrae Made a motion to ajourn, it was seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved. Future Meetings: March 5th , March 19th Respectfully Submitted Chuck Connors Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board March 5th,2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Chuck Connors, Peter Brace, Wendy McCrae, Dr. Peter Boyce, Michael Glowacki. Members Absent: Doug Smith, Bill Blount Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Public Safety: Chief Pittman Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Robert Capossela,Richard Corrado, Sarah Jacobs, Sophia Bass Werner, Matt Herr, Scott Leonard,Emma Macaire CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the February 19th HSAB meeting were amended by spelling corrections on the shellfish Blood Ark and Mussels plus the addition of Leah's last name(Cabral)was added. Unanimously approved as amended CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup update: Mr. Brace spoke to the board regarding the most recent SRBW meeting which was held on February 21St. During that meeting they appointed officers and got themselves orientated to the format in which they will be following and how they'll be covering each species. Blue Mussels and possibly soft shelled clams will be addressed next meeting. The following officers have been appointed to the SRBW; Chairman will be Bill Blount, Doug Smith Vice Chairman and Peter Brace will be the Secretary. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Scallop Season Update: Bushel count is 17,241, approximately 14 boats were seen scalloping today (March 5th). They have stepped up enforcement efforts. Shellfish Warden Change—enforcement transition—Bill Pittman: Chief Pittman informed HSAB about some recent changes that took place on Monday (March 4th) regarding the Marine Department and Natural Resources Department. There was a bit of restructuring done to the Departments regarding the division of each Departments responsibility's their employee's The Natural Resources Department will be responsible for Shellfish propagation, beach management(not including lifeguards), water quality, Aquaculture and fisheries management, they will also be responsible for working with the conservation commission, the article 67 fertilizer regulations and will now take on the role of shellfish enforcement. The marine department will be responsible for search and rescue, aids to navigation, the lifeguard program,town pier, mooring field and general water safety. Appointment of Natural Resources Enforcement Officer—JC Johnson(former assistant harbormaster) is the newly appointed Natural Resources Enforcement officer. He is now employed by the NRD rather then the MD and his duties are to be that of a shellfish warden. A meeting was held with the union to discus this change which ended with them signing off on the changes. The two qualified candidates for the job (JC Johnson and Dan Blount) both needed to be offered the position. Dan Blount didn't want the job and JC Johnson did, making it an easy negotiation for the union. Both Mr. Blount and Mr. Johnson will be keeping their current pay rates. Ms. Lucey and Mr. Blount will still have the authority of a shellfish constable although it will not be their primary responsibility. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Shellfish Management Plan -Tara Riley- On March 20th the Final Draft of the Shellfish Management Plan(SMP) will be presented to the Board of Selectmen. It should be available in this weeks Inquirer& Mirror newspaper and the final draft is viewable online at the Natural Resources Town Webpage. Possible seed-heavy closure areas- discussion: Ms. Lucey spoke to Tara Riley about the possibility of closing areas heavy with seed to scallopers. Considering the forecasted weather and the short amount of time left in season it was agreed they will not be closing any areas. Ms. Lucey stated that they have tightened up enforcement to keep a watch for seed leaving the harbor. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS No Old Business NEW BUSINESS Seal Abatement Coalition's resolution for BOS—Discussion: HSAB was given a letter written by SAC for us to review and hopefully give our support by writing a letter to the BOS. SAC would like our support for"objective science-based research"into the extent and environmental and economical implications of the gray seal population increase by appropriate government agencies and independent scientific research organization as appropriate and necessary. The letter from SAC explains the negative impacts that the ever growing seal population on Nantucket including Great Point and Muskeget has on fishermen, beachgoers, water quality and possibly on the shellfish habitat. A motion was made by Ms. McCrae to continue this till our next meeting, seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT Scott Leonard from the Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation Program asked that we postpone making our recommendation until after May 20th. Mr. Leonard stated that on May 20th there will be a big discussion on this issue and we should be hearing both sides before supporting the letter by SAC. Mr. Leonard said that on May 20th there will be experts and scientist here to speak on the issue of water quality and great white sharks. He urged the board to wait until after that meeting to make our recommendation. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Seal Abatement Coalition resolution Possible Seed Moving ADJOURN Future Meetings: March 19th,April 2nd Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board April 2, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Conference Room,4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Wendy McCrae, Dr. Peter Boyce, Michael Glowacki, Doug Smith, Bill Blount Members Absent: Chuck Connors Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson,Tara Riley Others: Jo Perkins, Mary-Adair MacAire CALL TO ORDER 4:04 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved after adding two new items under new business from Mike Glowacki and Peter Boyce APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for the February 19th HSAB meeting were amended for spelling corrections. Unanimously approved as amended CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Rescheduled NRD report:The SHAB will hear this on April 16. Shellfish Management Plan:This was presented to the BOS an April 20 and will come up for final BOS approval on April 19. Rescheduled Seal Abatement Coalition discussion:The SHAB will deal with this on April 16. Petrel Landing: Peter Brace had a discussion with Eric Savetsky who indicated that they are planning landscaping now. There will be no slips, but will have dinghy dock. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Harbor: Working on repairing damage. They will repair the main dock in house. Toscana will be hired to repair the floating dock. There was a lot of flood damage in the offices which is being repaired now.They will be ready to issue moorings. They will open as close to May 1 as possible. Alternate tie-up spots for scallopers: No one inquired about alternate arrangements. The three boats at the Town Dock made other arrangements. Wendy McCrae was concerned that the Town made no offer of alternate solutions. Sheila Lucey said she had no alternative tie-up options to offer, but that she would have made mooring arrangements if she had been approached. She would have helped if she had been asked. She reported that she does work with scallopers who come to her with problems. Grants:The Town has proposed to the Nantucket Shellfish Association for replacement navigation aids. They have lost 11 anchors and several poly balls which are used for winter markers as they are much cheaper than the standard navigation buoys in the summer. The scallopers on the Board expressed thanks for the winter markers. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Scallop Season Report:The final bushel Count is 18,102 bushels. Doug Smith commented that the state allows reports in either bushels or pounds of meat. Scallopers should be told to report their catch in bushels to maintain consistency with the Town. General Report:The Town has advertised for iterns. The NRD programs have received $45,000 in grants. The Town has mailed 158 copies of the Fertiliaer Best Management Practices to landscaping companies on Nantucket. The final report on water quality during last summer has arrived from SMAST. There will be a public presentation made by therm during the latter half of April. Possible Scallop Season Extension: No requests for an extension have been made by the scallopers. Ms. McCrae noted that we had discussed this in the past when a lot of days had been lost to weather. Mr. Smith said there are no scallops left to catch. Scallopers have been getting their limit all the way to the end. Mr. Blount confirmed this, and said the percent of dead scallops has risen dramatically. Tara Riley noted that she will put this topic on the agenda earlier next year. This raised a discussion on the accuracy of the Town's count. The numbers seem small compared to last year when the total was 20,000bushels. Mr. Blount thinks a lot of scallops did not get counted by the Town. Mr. Smith noted that at least 1,000 bushels must have been lost due to strandings this season. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup update:The group is making progress. For Blue Mussels the committee is proposing a size of 1.5 inches, and limiting the dredges to a maximum of 4. Scallop regulations will be discussed this week. NEW BUSINESS Public Forum on Harbor Topics:Jeff Carlson said the Town wants more public outreach on harbor and water related topics. They were hoping that SHAB cold sponsor a number of talks at their meetings to draw more public interest. Peter Boyce commented this would be a good idea, provided that we arranged for sufficient publicity. Town Budget: Mr. Glowacki described an amendment he was thinking of proposing at the Town Meeting which would provide more money to the Department of Natural Resources for a full time person to do water quality and other related jobs. However, in consulting with other people, he had decided that this could be counterproductive,so he will not be proposing an amendment. Instead he wants to get to the BOS before they make their budget directive to the Town Manager next year.The Board generally agreed this was the best way to approach the issue of funding for water quality monitoring. Support for State DMF Recreational Angler Survey: Dr. Boyce noted that the time was late, but that he would like the SHAB to show public support for the state's efforts to quantify the recreational fishing catch. He will bring up this issue at a future meeting. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 5:00pm Future Meetings: April 16 and May 7, 2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board April 16th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair),Dr. Peter Boyce, Chuck Connors, Wendy McCrae,Doug Smith,Michael Glowacki Members Absent: Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Dan Drake, Scott Leonard, Dan Pronk, Emma Macaire, Jo Perkins, Peter Howl, Peter Crow, Sharon Young, Peter Morrison, Quint Waters,Michelle Perkins CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes for April 2nd HSAB meeting Unanimously approved Jetties rebuilding update—Dave Fronzuto: Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Fronzuto Spoke about the approximate 10.2 million dollars that was awarded to the town of Nantucket out of the Hurricane Sandy Relief fund to rebuild both the East and West Jetties. Mr. Fronzuto explained the history of the jetties and the condition they are in today, and why it's essential to have them built up. He noted that most of the east jetty is under water at high tide and posses a major problem in both safety and as an aid to navigation. It is possible that the work could begin as early as January 2014 but is more likely to begin some time between May and October 2014. Fronzuto said raising the jetties will increase the velocity of water flowing in and out of the harbor. He also said that the cut will almost certainly remain on the east jetty. At the end of the east jetty, a possibly a platform will be added for easier access to the light. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Election of officers: The Board Voted unanimously to keep the existing officers in their current seats. Peter Brace (Chairman),Doug Smith(Vice Chairman) and Charles Connors (Secretary). (Ms. McCrae abstained from voting) 2012 SMAST Water Quality Report April 30th at 5:00pm SMAST will be giving their report on the water quality results from 2012. This report will also be available on the Towns website or you can email Tara Riley for a copy. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No Report Given. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT New Departmental Structure and responsibility presentation—Jeff Carlson: Mr. Carlson spoke and showed the board a slide show about the Natural Resources Departmental structure and how it has changed. Jeff Carson,Natural Resources Coordinator, Tara Riley, Shellfish Biologist, J.C. Johnson,Natural Resources Enforcement Officer(Formally know as the Shellfish Warden), plus a staff of seasonal interns that work for the NRD and the shellfish Biologist(Tara Riley). The NRD is responsible for Beach management, Conservation Commission, Shellfish Resources management, Shellfish Propagation, Shellfish enforcement, and the Town's water quality Program. The goal of the NRD is to preserve, restore or protect Nantucket's natural resources though responsible active management, research, regulation enforcement, education and outreach to the citizens of Nantucket. Mr. Carlson said that he would like to see all NRD employees be trained to and be able to fill in as Shellfish Wardens when needed. The NRD would like to hire a full time Town Biologist water research specialist. Mr. Carlson also added that they are working on building their volunteer base, and are in the process of developing a departmental website along with social networking. Aquaculture program update- Tara Riley: One of the recommendations of the SMP that was just adopted last week was to find new area's to be considered for aquaculture in and around Nantucket. Ms. Riley presented a slide show addressing certain problems that the current growers are having. She spoke about the sites in the"head of the harbor" and how the deep water is causing a problem for growers to access their oysters in winter when their cages are sunk. To better allow for the harvest and sale of shellfish in the winter Tara talked about possibly getting a smaller, shallower area approved so that the growers could move a small amount of their shellfish to those areas making them more accessible throughout the winter. A map displaying a few areas that Ms. Riley would like to have surveyed by the DMF for possible use with aquaculture was shown, and she asked HSAB to write a letter of support to the BOS to have those areas surveyed when the DMF comes out to Nantucket. Mr. Glowacki made a motion to support such a letter; seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved (Doug Smith abstained on grounds that he will be working with the NRD) Shellfish Management Plan—Tara Riley: The Plan was adopted last Wednesday (April 10th 2013)by the BOS and is in the process of advertising for implementation committee members. They are using suggestions that were stated in the SMP from representation organizations but not from specific people, and they are opening it up for the public. Jeff Carlson said that the frame work is being constructed for getting committee members. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Seal Abatement Coalition — request for recommendation to BOS on SAC's research resolution: The Seal Abatement Coalition was asking the board to write a letter of support to the BOS for their"Research Resolution". We had a discussion with Peter Howl and Peter Crow from SAC as well as and Scott Leonard(NMMCP) and others. Scott Leonard told the Board that the Civic League will be meeting on May 20th, at either 4:30pm or 5:00pm for a debate about the gray seal population. Some of the discussion was about problems with water quality, fishing, and gear conflicts that are apparently caused by the gray seals. It was noted by Doug Smith that while working a charter boat, fishing off of Great Point the seals are known to grab onto your fish and pull the rods into the water, he also said that the amount of fecal matter on Muskeget's beach was so thick that upon stepping on the feces covered sand, a powdery cloud of dust is formed and then gets inhaled. Mr. Pronk spoke about the reduction of lobsters around Muskeget and the loss of money he has incurred due to gear conflicts with the seals. After discussion the board decided that we do support much of what SAC's Research Resolution had to say,but did not support every point written in it. Although we feel more research is needed into the gray seal population,HSAB did not want to support any specific organization or interest group on this matter. Mr. Glowacki made a suggestion that we write a direct letter to the BOS that explains our stand on this issue. Part of the letter will be that the Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board supports and encourages, objective science based research into the implications of the evolving gray seal population in and around Nantucket waters. Mr. Glowacki made the motion that we write the letter; it was seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved. NEW BUSINESS Bay Scallop Branding Presentation—Emma Macaire Emma Macaire gave her presentation on how she is working with the NSA on Nantucket Bay Scallop Branding. A slide show presentation was shown to the board. She displayed the new logo and examples of how the branding would work. She noted that this is being done to support the Nantucket Bay Scallop fishery. Given the extraordinary competition in fisheries today and Ramped fraud in seafood labeling,branding Nantucket Bay Scallops is a great idea. Branding will help people to identify the origin of the authentic product and allow us to better connect with markets and consumers who are willing to pay for what is clearly a luxury product. Ms. Macaire said that we could anticipate over time, a larger demand for our catch and more stable pricing over the season. The Three key components are the Logo, Funded by the NSA and filed on September 12, 2012, the packaging with logo, also funded by the NSA, which will be available to any Nantucket resident for the 2013-2014 Bay Scallop season, and the website, funded by the NSA and dedicated to all things Nantucket. Logo Packaging entails 4 different things, a 4"circular packing label, a customized Tyvex seafood tags, spear tags (two sided tag for retail purveyors) and a brochure for retailers so that they have something to talk about with customer regarding Nanucket bay scallops. This packaging will be free from the NSA to Nantucket wholesalers and resellers. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT Dan Drake said we should have a discussion about enforcement of the brand. He mentioned how some places are claiming to offer Nantucket Bay Scallops when they are not even in season, how one retailer claimed that the Nantucket bay scallop season had been re-opened when in fact it had not. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Update on SBRW SMAST water quality report Marine Department general report of harbor facilities Summer meeting schedule ADJOURN Motion was made by Dr. Boyce; seconded by Mr. Connors and Unanimously Approved Future Meetings: May 7th 2013 May 21st 2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board May 7th, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room,4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Charles Connors, Wendy McCrae,Dr. Peter Boyce Members Absent: Doug Smith,Michael Glowacki,Bill Blount. Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carson, Tara Riley Others: CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from the April 16`h HSAB meeting Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT SBRW—Update: The SBRW finished its work with Bay Scallops and is currently working on by-catch, blue crabs and will soon be addressing Aquaculture. Summer meeting schedule- The group voted unanimously to uphold the same summer schedule used the previous year; we will meet once in July and once in August, unless we feel a second meeting should be held. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Town Pier—An engineering study is taking place until Thursday the 9th. The pier is still closed but they are planning on opening it up on May 15th. At this point the plumbing and electrical is approximately 90% completed. Slip assignments for the 2013 slip lottery winners will be given out by the 15th of May. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Strategic plan update—The NRD strategic plan goes up for adoption in front of the BOS on Wednesday May, 8th Boat House—The summer preparations have begun,the hatchery is opening and get ready for the summer, intern Leah Cabral has returned,the floating dock at the hatchery has been repaired. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Draft letters to BOS in support of SAC's gray seal research,Tara Riley's aquaculture harbor surveys & NRD Letter that supports the department structure. The three letters were read over by the Board and a decision was made to approve and submit all to the BOS. NEW BUSINESS SMAST water quality report—thoughts and discussion Dr. Boyce suggested that the report include the protocol for how they are obtaining the different measurements of nitrogen in the water(materials &methods). Ms. Riley suggested writing a letter to SMAST for adding/amending the current contract to include these requests. Dr. Boyce will draft a letter for the Board to review. Seasonal town biologist—Future funding for possible year round position and formation of study subcommittee Forming a subcommittee to follow up on the possibility about getting a full-time water quality Biologist hired for the NRD was discussed. The board thought it best to wait until we had a full Board before forming the subcommittee but still discussed the matter. Mr. Carlson explained how having a water quality Biologist would be crucial for the town. For instance having this person employed by the town would make getting information regarding water quality less confusing and much more streamlined. A water quality Biologist could answer the public's questions about how water quality testing is performed and would also be able to give a more simple explanation of what the scientifically written reports are saying. An example would be the SMAST that had recently been submitted. This will be continued to a future meeting. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Draft letter to SMAST—Dr. Boyce NRD strategic plan to BOS-Update ADJOURN Future Meetings: May 21St and June 4th Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board May 21st 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room,4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Charles Connors, Wendy McCrae, Dr. Peter Boyce, Michael Glowacki Members Absent: Doug Smith,Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve made by Mrs. McCrae, Seconded by Mr. Connors and unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes was made by Mrs. McCrae, seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT SBRW update—The group had finished its work on by-catch and came up with what they feel is an expectable percentage of 5% for all species. As long as the species being taken is in season. An example given was if you take 5 bushels of bay scallops you are allowed to take 5%by-catch of quahogs. A proposal to drop the maximum weight of bay scallop dredges down from the current weight of 401bs to a maximum weight of 351bs, plus eliminating the use of weighs of any kind is being discussed. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No Marine Department Report was given NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Coast Guard station dredging—The Brant Point Coast Guard station was having trouble getting their 47' vessels to their pier due to the increased amount of sand that has accumulated around their docks over time. They have been dredging around the docks and dumping the sand at Brant Point Beach near the lighthouse. The CG got permission for this dredging by petitioning their section who then petitioned the state DTP for the final approval. The contract was given to a company called AGM. When asked about shellfish concerns Tara Riley's answer was that the hatchery is treating the dredging as they would any other event that may be perceived as harmful. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Mondays Seal Forum—discussion: HSAB discussed briefly what was talked about at the recent Civic League seal forum. The migration of seals to Nantucket, as well as our similarity in size to Sable Island was brought up. The decline in striped bass off of Madaket was also discussed. NEW BUSINESS Shellfish Management Plan Implementation Committee—HSAB member selection: The Board voted unanimously to elect Dr. Boyce to the Shellfish Management Plan Implementation Committee. The motion was made by Ms. McCrae, seconded by Mr. Connors and unanimously approved. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Motion was made by Mr. Glowacki, seconded by Ms. McCrae and unanimously approved. Future Meetings: June 4t'. June 18th Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board June 4, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room,4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Wendy McCrae, Dr. Peter Boyce, Doug Smith, Members Absent: Chuck Connors, Michael Glowacki, Bill Blount Marine Dept: Chief Bill Pittman Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson,Tara Riley CALL TO ORDER:The meeting was called to order at 5:03 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved. APPROVAL OF MINUTES No minutes to be approved. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT SBRW Update:The Committee is finished with updating the bycatch regulations. The limit will be no more than 5%of the catch of the target species. The scallop regulations are also finished. The main changes are that dredge weights will be reduced to 35 pounds total. No extra weight will be allowed. This is a measure to protect the eelgrass. The next meeting will be June 6. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Harbormaster Sheila Lucey was not able to be present owing to the exigencies of having to get navigation buoys placed by the deadline set by the Coast Guard. However she sent a detailed written report and a list of her activities during this spring as she has worked to repair the extensive damage from last winter's storms. The entire building at the Town Dock was flooded out, the standing pier lost 200 dock boards, and the floating dock snapped in 9 places. The department staff,which is now down to three people, had to deal with all of this as well as complete all normal preparations for the season. The building had to be stripped to the studs and sheetrocked and painted. That and the repairs to the standing pier were completed in house by the Marine Department staff. In closing, Ms. Lucey pointed out that the Town Pier and facilities have not experienced this amount of damage in over 20 years. The Board applauded Ms. Lucey for her ability to get these extensive repairs done by the opening of the season. To get ready for the Figawi weekend the pumpout facilities had to be repaired, including the sewer pipe under the full 872 foot length of the Town Pier, and the five floating dinghy docks had to be launched and put in place. There were no significant incidents with the Figawi race itself. However, during the weekend,there were two rescues from life threatening situations which had to be made during early evening and night. Chief Pittman recounted the circumstances of each one and reported that the rescue protocol 1 worked effectively, with the Police and Marine Departments working in close- coordination. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Summer staff: Leah Cabral is in charge of the water quality sampling program. The other interns are Shaun Lafferty, David Berry, and Douglas Smith. Activity and plans:The May water quality sampling has been completed. The Department is now also sampling the bathing beaches for fecal coliform which the Health Department used to do. Doug Smith will be working on the seed stranding protocols, as well as moving seed in the shallow areas where they would be at risk of being washed ashore in a storm. The Nantucket Shellfish Association has donated three new floating Upwellers (FLUPSY) One of them has been assembled. The GHYC/Nantucket Land Council grant has been used to purchase the parts for a new downweller system for raising seed at the smallest sizes. Presently there are Nantucket spawned quahogs in that system. They have reached a size of 400 microns (0.4 mm). As a backup,Tara has ordered an additional 40,000 quahog seed from a commercial hatchery. In addition she has 10,000 oysters in the FLUPSY, in an experiment to monitor oyster growth under local conditions. The first bay scallop spawn will be tomorrow (June 5). The larvae will be released in 5th and 2nd Bends when they are ready to settle. The proposal to expand the areas for aquaculture will be presented to the BOS tomorrow for their approval. OLD BUSINESS Funding for a Year-round Town Biologist: Since three members of the Board were absent, this topic was deferred to the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS Douglas Smith and Peter Boyce both noted that the number of moorings in productive scallop beds is growing. Both of them pointed out that the traditional moorings cause extensive damage to the eelgrass, which does not get a chance to grow back. They asked that this topic be discussed at an upcoming meeting. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT As no public was present, there was no Public Comment. RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURNMENT:The meeting adjourned at 6:20pm Future Meetings: July 2 and August 6, 2013 Respectfully submitted, Peter Boyce, Secretary pro tern. 2 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board June 18th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors,Doug Smith, Wendy McCrae, Michael Glowacki, Dr. Peter Boyce Members Absent: Bill Blount Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: CALL TO ORDER 5:05 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES May 21st HSAB meeting minutes were unanimously approved(Mr. Glowacki Abstained) June 4th HSAB Meeting minutes were unanimously approved(Mr. Connors Abstained) CHAIRMAN'S REPORT SBRW workgroup update—The last two meetings didn't make quorum. Next meeting will be about eels and blue crabs. August 6th HSAB meeting—Mr. Brace informed the board that he will not be attending the August 6th HSAB meeting. SPWG—Michael Glowacki The SPWG has been meeting monthly since October and Mr. Glowacki gave the Board an idea of what's been happening with that. He mentioned that the Civic League news letter is encapsulating what the SPWG is working on currently. The sea level and the sewer beds were discussed, and talk of what an outfall pipe 10 miles out will possible do was also brought up. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Sheila Lucey—The buoys marking the entrances to Polpis Harbor, Nantucket Harbor, Madaket Harbor and Eel Point have been placed. Tuckernuck—The channel marker buoys leading into Tuckernuck Island have been removed due the presence of a shoal that has formed where the channel once was. Ms. Lucey said; they cannot keep the buoys in the water because it could be a liability to the town, if a boater were to use them to navigate into Tuckernuck Lagoon and find themselves in trouble, either run aground or capsized. The MD is working with property owners on Tuckernuck to find an alternative place for emergency services to go if need be. In the case of a medical emergency, a helicopter is the only resource they can use as of now. Life Guards— Surf school stared for the LG's on the 17th and they will be training all week with it. They will begin boat training next week. ATV's have been added to the life guards equipment this year, so that they may patrol the beaches in between the ones that have life guards on duty. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Tara Riley— Aquaculture- The Board of Selectman has allowed the DMF to come out and survey aquaculture sites to be used for over-wintering of oysters. Hatchery—Tara Riley said that the hatchery has been spawning bay scallops approximately every 4 days,thus far the quality of the spat isn't great but Mrs. Riley expects it to improve. Oysters are being acclimated to a salinity equal to that of Sesachacha pond and will then be released into the pond. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Seasonal Town Biologist—Future Funding for possible year- round position and formation of subcommittee—discussion. The Natural Resources Departments "5 year statigic plan", which was adopted by the BOS calls for the hiring of a year round Biologist who specializes in water quality. HSAB discussed how we could work with the NRD in getting the position filled by making a resolution for hiring a full time water quality Biologist. Also creating a resolution that would let the BOS know that we appose the taking of money from the WWIF to fund this position was discussed and agreed to by the board. A motion was made to have a draft letter written explaining our resolution and asking the BOS to include funding for the hiring of a full time water quality biologist, as the NRD "strategic plan" asks for. The motion was made by Dr. Boyce, Seconded by Ms. McCrae and unanimously approved A motion was made to write a letter to the BOS explaining our resolution regarding funding sources and asking them to find alternative funding(rather then the WWIF) for the hiring of a full-time Water Quality Biologist. The Motion was made by Dr. Boyce, Seconded Ms. McCrae and was unanimously approved by the board NEW BUSINESS Increasing number of moorings in eelgrass beds—discussion Sheila Lucey told the board that is a moratorium on the amount of mooring allowed in Nantucket Harbor and the number of moorings has not increased. She said that moorings may be being moved from year to year but the actual number has not increased. A concern that the amount of moorings placed in front of water front properties is being abused was also brought up. Ms. Lucey said there is a maximum number of 2 moorings allowed per water front property. What was talked about was that some of these homes have more then two, some as many as 5 was discussed. Several areas in particular were discussed, the"Rock Garden",Fulling Mill Road especially are said to have more mooring then before. The concerns were that of the degradation of eelgrass that occurs when moorings are added or placed in different places then they have been in previously. The board decide to keep this on the agenda. A motion to continue the mooring discussion was made by Ms. McCrae, Seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Discussion of the 3 mile limit Conch trap limit for Harbor Draft Letters to the BOS-WWIF Money and Town water quality Biologist. SPWG update ADJOURN Future Meetings: July 2nd,August 6th Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board July 2,2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors,Doug Smith, Wendy McCrae, Michael Glowacki,Dr. Peter Boyce Members Absent: Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Jim Ellis CALL TO ORDER 5:03 APPROVAL OF AGENDA An item was added to new business was added— Summer 2013 —Outline Maria Mitchell Scallop Research Program—Dr. Peter Boyce Motion made by Mr. Connors, Seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved as amended APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the minutes from the June 18`h HSAB meeting was made by Mr. Glowacki, Seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No Report Given NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT A larval release in 5th Bend was done, 15 million scallop larvae released. Sesachacha pond oysters—Oysters have been released into the pond and are being monitored. Water quality results— All of Polpis harbor failed for fecal chloroform bacteria, the area of Sesachacha pond by the road failed for fecal chloroform and Coskata pond failed for fecal chloroform on its beach side. Bathing Beaches: With the exception of Warrens landing all the beaches passed the water quality tests. Derelict gear(Head of Harbor)—Jeff Carlson Mr. Carlson told the board about some reports of derelict gear in the head of the harbor. The NRD is in the process of determining who it belongs to. If an owner is not located the gear will be removed. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Draft letter to BOS—The board discussed the draft letter written by Mr. Brace, some suggestions and changes are going to be made. Moorings in shellfish bed—This item will remain on the agenda. NEW BUSINESS Town—Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund MOU—The board discussed the possible building of a series of rock walls to help prevent erosion of the Sconset bluff at Baxter Rd. and to possibly save the properties that are being impacted by it. This project(if approved)would be funded by the SBPF. On July 24th the BOS supported this. The fact that this was never brought up to HSAB before it went in front of the BOS was discussed and whether or not it's a concern for us was talked about. The Board discussed the possible impact this could have on the beach areas where the water from the walls are being directed towards. This Item is going to be kept on the Agenda. Development of protocol for sovereignty over our waters for Nantucket's conch fishery—Matt Herr Mr. Herr would like to see the Town of Nantucket protect it's conch inside the Harbors from being harvested commercial by fisherman who do not hold year round residency on Nantucket. Mr. Herr talked about the harbor's conch fishery and how it has been managed for more then a decade. He explained how it's only fished every other year and how this allows for it to remain sustainable by keeping the fishing pressure off the conch. Mr. Herr talked about the increasing number of fishing boats not from Nantucket who fish right off our shores and that it's only a matter of time before they take the next step and set gear inside our harbor. Mr. Ellis talked about how the town has a by-law in place regarding shellfish and it includes conch. He explained that there is a residency clause for commercial fishing of shellfish in Nantucket waters. What Mr. Herr would like to know is what would happen if a person (not a Nantucket resident) set conch pots in the harbor, and how the enforcement of the by-law would be handled. The board is going to have a special meeting where we invite the enforcement officers to come and hopefully find a solution to this. A vote to have a special Joint meeting on July 11th between the HSAB and the SBWG at 4:00pm in the community room at 4 Fairgrounds Rd. was approved. Dr. Boyce Made the Motion, Ms. McCrae Seconded it and it was approved by a 5-0 vote (Mr. Glowacki abstained from voting) Summer 2013—Outline Maria Mitchell Scallop Research Program - Dr. Boyce gave a presentation explaining Maria Mitchell's 2013 Scallop Research Program. The program consists of 6 different programs or surveys and Dr. Boyce gave a detailed description of them all. 1. Spat Bag monitoring 2. Benthic survey 3. Student monitoring program 4. Lyngbya survey 5. Gonad and condition indices 6. Water Temperature PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Letter to the BOS regarding water quality biologist SBRW update Mooring in shellfish beds Joint SBWG/HSAB ADJOURN 6:55pm Ms. McCrae made the motion, seconded by Mr. Connors and unanimously approved. Future Meetings: July 11th August 6th September 3rd Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board September 3'I at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room,4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors,Doug Smith, Michael Glowacki,Dr. Peter Boyce Members Absent: Wendy McCrae,Bill Blount Marine Dept: Sheila Lucey Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley,Leah Cabral Others: Matt Herr CALL TO ORDER 5:00 APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from July 2nd Spelling corrections: fecal coliform, Student mentoring. Unanimously approved as amended CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Update on SBRW: Last 2 meetings didn't make quorum. The last meeting was in July it was a Joint meeting with HSAB and SBRW. The meeting was pertaining to a town bylaw that states residency requirements for commercial fishermen, also the enforcement of the bylaw(s) were discussed. Chief Pittman,Environmental Police officer Keith Robinson, the Marine department and Natural Resources department including shellfish warden J.C. Johnson were all in attendance. It was decided at this meeting to write a letter that would go to town council explaining our concerns about this issue. A letter was returned to Jeff Carlson by attorneys Kopelman and Paige, P.C. explaining their interpretation of the town code Chapter 122. Kopelman and Paige made mention of Barlow vs. Town of Wareham, 401 Mass. 408 (1988)which gives town the right to restrict commercial shell fishing activities to residents of the town and further gives the town the right to restrict any non-resident from commercially shell fishing anywhere within 3 miles of it's shore. Kopelman and Paige also stated that section 122-16 authorizes the shellfish warden and his deputies to enforce violations of chapter 122 and that the town may designate different or additional town officers to enforce chapter 122 if deemed necessary to do so. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Life Guards 2013 summer season: Life Guards guarded 8 beaches, The ATVs proved to be very successful, as did the newly initiated on call program. The life guards were called 12 times for after hours rescues. It was a bad year for rip currents which kept them busy. Approximately 113,560 people were guarded this summer, that's about 30,000 more then last year, 46 rescues were performed, 191 assists, 4 first aids that required EMS transport and 2 missing persons were found and rescued. Madaket Road Hazards: At the end of Madaket road there were some old hazards such as foundations, septic tanks, pipes, 4x4's, Stakes ect. They were marked by the MD with flags and pulled out what they could with their truck. Ken Coffin filled two large trucks with cement, rebar and other debris. Life Guard stand was moved down the beach to prevent people from swimming where the hazards were. The move was temporary because the stand was not placed on town property. Marine Departments on the water activities 2013: 51 search and rescue cases, 769 Pump outs,participated in 11 marine events, issued 30 Moorings, issued 52 mooring violations, 22 dead moorings removed from Monomy area. Dan Blount will be moving from the MD to the NRD for 6 months as an assistant warden. Dredging Polpis harbor is scheduled for this fall, Sheila Lucey will get back to us with dates. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Hatchery progress: The hatchery produced a good number of scallop larvae, it was comparable to what was produced in 2011. The numbers are approximately 84,000,000 scallop larvae released; 16 million in 5th bend, 26 million in 2nd and 39 million in 4th bend. The hatchery also produced some 400,000 quahogs this season. 40,000 quahogs were also purchased at ARC at 2mm and are approximately 12mm now and will be planted in the mooring field soon. The NSA grant that was issued to the NRD which bought 3 new upwellers and pumps has been going well,they are in the process of gathering growth data for quahogs and oyster seed. By the end of October they should have the data. Sesachacha pond oysters: There are currently 10,000 oysters in the pond, half being diploid and the other half triploid. They will be kept in the pond over winter to see what growth data they can get. Beach Monitors Doug Smith: Mr. Smith is looking for dedicated volunteers for beach monitors to walk beaches after storms for seed strandings. He would like to have an organized stranding team in place for when a stranding occurs. Renovating the Boathouse: Jeff Carlson talked to the board about a proposal he is getting together in hopes of having some funds granted to the NRD for the Boathouse to be renovated in a manner that would allow it to be used year round. A motion to authorize the Chair to write a letter of support for Mr. Carlson's proposal to get a grant and secure funding was made by Mr. Glowacki, seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved(Mr. Smith abstained from the vote noting his employment at the boathouse) Alternative funding sources for NRD Personnel: Discussion was had about how the NRD gets its funding for personnel and HSAB would like to share its ideas on possible funding sources with the BOS. Possibly writing a letter to the Chair of the BOS stating that we would like to have a chance to speak to the them before they give any suggestions to the town manager on develop any revenues was discussed. Septic Design Michael Glowacki: SPWG meeting update was given, Mr. Glowacki made mention of how Wellfleet uses oysters as a means to help clean water. Dr. Boyce explained how this process works and although oysters are helpful at cleaning water, the harbor is just too large for it work here. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Town-Siasconset beach preservation fund MOU and rock revetment project— Discussion: The Board discussed the project and what it feels are its positives and negatives. We will keep this on the agenda and continue discussing it. NEW BUSINESS Sending Scallops to the Coastal Watershed Institute to look at gonad condition— Jeff Carlson: Mr. Carlson asked the board for support to send 25 bay scallops to the Coastal Watershed Institute in Florida for a look at the possible impact that the harmful algae bloom (cochlodinium) has on their gonads. A Motion to approve the shipment of 25 bay scallops for the use of scientific research was made by Mr. Connors, seconded by Mr. Glowacki and unanimously approved (Mr. Smith abstained due to his employment by the NRD) Town Policy on funding shellfish-related research projects: A letter from Libby Gibson was sent to Mr. Brace explaining that HSAB cannot issue funding for shellfish- related research projects. This was in regards to a decision made 2 years back when the board issued funds to Dr. Estabrooks for a research project. Mr. Brace explained the letter and what it means to us at HSAB. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Travel lift at GHYC Letter to BOS Chair ADJOURN Mr. Smith Made the Motion, Mr. Connors seconded it, it was unanimously approved Future Meetings: October 1s`2013, October 15th 2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday, September 17th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors,Doug Smith, Wendy McCrae, Michael Glowacki, Dr. Peter Boyce Members Absent: Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Matt Herr,Lindsay Pykosz, Carl Sjolund, Bruce Cowan, Valerie Flail, Sophie Proch, Abi Hines. CALL TO ORDER 5:03 APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve September 17th 2013 HSAB agenda was made by Mr. Connors, seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve September 3rd 2013 HSAB minutes was made by Mr. Glowacki, Seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Dr. Peter Boyce's NHS student presentation-Sophie Proch: Bottom-mounted spat bags and Abi Hines: predators of seed scallops; black-fingered mud crabs: Individual presentations were given by both Sophie Proch and Abi Hines, they were shown to the HSAB board via power point and narrated by the students. Abi Hines gave her presentation on predators of seed scallops; the black-fingered mud Crab (neopanope sayi). Abi Hines's hypothesis was correct and that the size limit of seed scallops eaten does depend on the size of the crabs carapace,the crabs generally will stick to eating scallops half their size but if hungry they will eat larger scallops nearing their own size. Sophie Proch gave a presentation about the effectively of placing spat bags on the bottom rather then on the surface. There was a noticeable increase of scallop larvae found in the bottom spat bags vs. the surface bags. Update on SBRW-Jeff Carlson: The SBRW has completed all it's species and is currently talking about violation enforcement. GHYC new travel lift: The GHYC and it's broken travel lift was discussed at the September 3rd 2013 HSAB meeting, this item was kept on the agenda and an update was given by Peter Brace. The GHYC now has a working travel lift, whether it's new or just freshly painted wasn't clear,but having a working travel lift was our concern and it appears to been resolved. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No Marine Department Report Given. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Jeff Carlson: An application was submitted to the CPC to have the Boat house rehabilitated and restored. The grant application was for 1.19 million to rehab the building. It qualifies for historic restoration and as an open space application as well. We will be kept updated as it progresses. Mr. Carlson thanked us for our letter of support. Aquaculture: Over-wintering of aquaculture gear. The DMF is going to be surveying areas for possible overwintering sites to be used by the current growers. Maritime Festival: Tara Riley—There will be two tours of the boat house during the festival,the interns will be there to help out with tours and give people information about the everyday activities of the boat house. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Making the case for full-time town biologist findings outside of WWIF—Discussion mooring issues: A letter was drafted by Peter Brace to be given to the BOS urging them to hire a full time water quality biologist. HSAB would like this position to not receive it's funding out of the waterways improvement fund. The letter requested that HSAB have an audience with the Board of Selectmen at there next scheduled meeting. NEW BUSINESS Preparation for the upcoming scallop season: You can pick up your commercial scalloping license from Catherine at the public safety building. You will have you picture taken and it'll be put on the license. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Boat at Fullling Mill Road. Oversized boat on mooring in Madaket Get the Letter to the BOS .ADJOURN Mr. Glowacki made the motion, seconded by Ms. McCrae and unanimously approved Future Meetings: October 1St 2013, October 15"'2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board October 1st 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors,Doug Smith, Wendy McCrae, Michael Glowacki, Members Absent: Dr. Peter Boyce,Bill Blount Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson, Tara Riley Others: Matt Herr, Matt Anderson CALL TO ORDER 5:02 APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve minutes from the September 17`h HSAB was made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Connors and unanimously approved. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Sailboat anchored off of Fulling Mill Rd: HSAB discussed the concern that some people were having regarding a sailboat of approximately 30 feet which is currently anchored in the shellfish beds off of Fulling Mill Rd. Harbormaster Sheila Lucey was notified and HSAB is waiting to hear from her at our next meeting in regards to this issue. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No MD report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Tara, JC,Jeff Carlson met with Mike Hickey, Jerome Moles, Tom Shields and Neil Churchill from the DMF about the aquaculture program and possible expansion of the acreage and better over-wintering sites for the growers. Ground surveying will be done within the next two weeks to determine if any of the suggested sites are approved for aquaculture. 4 out of 5 kiosks in Madaket are installed. Boathouse is pretty much shutdown for the season,their shellfish are under the dock for over-wintering. Data from the summer should be ready by next meeting. The Scallopers ball was sold out. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Next steps for town biologist effort—Review town Managers response: HSAB discussed the letter presented to us by the town Manager in response to our stand on hiring a full time water quality biologist for Nantucket. The issue was also discussed with the NRD. SBWG Update- The workgroup is still going strong, working on violations and enforcement. The SBWG is currently working on Bay Scallops. NEW BUSINESS Stranding preparedness—Doug Smith: Mr. Smith discussed the plan that's being worked on by himself and the NRD for potential scallop strandings. Mr. Smith explained how a website or Facebook page will be created and how else the NRD will be contacting people as soon as new of a stranding is reported so that they can get the scallops back into the water before they die. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Mooring regulations Letter to BOS ADJOURN Motion to adjourn made by Ms. McCrae, Seconded by Mr. Smith and Unanimously approved. Future Meetings: October 15th 2013 November 5th 2013 Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board Tuesday,Nov. 19, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace, Michael Glowacki, Doug Smith, Bill Blount, Dr. Boyce Members Absent: Wendy McCrae, Chuck Connors Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson Others: Tim Mooney,Zachary McMullen CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Unanimously approved CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Mr. Brace reminded the board of the venue change for the Dec. 17 meeting, which is going to meet in training room at 2 Fairgrounds Road. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Carlson to make sure that he sends materials pertaining to apprentice and late license requests prior to the meeting at which these issues are to be considered to the chairman so he or she can distribute the materials to board members so they can have time to digest the requests and form their thoughts. Mr. Carlson said that shellfish warden Dan Blount had informed Frank Day, who came to the Nov. 5 HSAB meeting seeking permission for his daughter to get a late license, that he had to first file such a request so it could be put on the agenda and that his daughter had to be at the meeting to represent herself However,Mr. Day did not heed Mr. Blount's advice and showed up at the Nov. 5 meeting without having filed his paperwork and without his daughter. Mr. Carlson said Ms. Day did file her paperwork a week later. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT Mr. Carlson combined this report with his own under Natural Resources Report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Status of Shellfish Management Plan implementation group—Jeff Carlson Update on commercial scallop season—enforcement: JC Johnson or Jeff Carlson and Tara Riley Mr. Carlson reported that the scallop season was going really well and that as of Nov. 15, the bushel count is around 3,000 bushel as compared with last year at this time with 1,080.5 bushels harvested, reminding the board that in 2012,there a fair amount of days lost to bad weather including the storm that stranded seed up and down the inner harbor shores in the second week of November. He added that improved tracking and data collection methods this season is making count numbers more accurate. The weather has also been great. Mr. Carlson introduced Tim Mooney, a commercial scallop diver since 2001 who's been mentoring two apprentice scallopers, one of which, Zachary McMullen, has completed his 40-day apprenticeship and who is seeking recognition from the board of completion of his 40 days so he can start scalloping on his own. Mr. Brace noted that this should be discussed under New Business. Mr. Carlson reported that he did receive five or six applications for membership on Shellfish Management Plan committee in addition to those that the HSAB appointed to this new committee. Mr. Carlson announced the birth of Ms. Riley's and Mr. Hen's son, Campbell, and that Ms. Riley, although on maternity leave, is out and about and available on a limited basis for anyone who has questions for her. Mr. Carlson said that and he and Mr. Johnson would sometime be taking turns throughout the winter attending HSAB meeting. He also reported that the boathouse lab is almost closed down for the winter. He then updated the board on the progress of the Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup in producing a revised set of regulations for the Harbor& Shellfish Advisory Board to review in January followed by the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Brace asked how many fishermen were scalloping at this point and Mr. Carlson said anywhere between 35 and 50 boats a day depending on weather conditions. He added that the a fair amount of the fleet has moved out to Madaket and just to the north of Tuckernuck,but that the amounts of fishermen in town and out in the "Wild West" ebbs and flows depending on weather. Mr. Brace asked where scallopers were exploring other than the usual spots. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT No public comment OLD BUSINESS Update-Morgan Day's apprenticeship—Jeff Carlson See Chairman's Report. Scallop shell reclamation—continuing discussion Mr. Smith asked that Mr. Brace stop including the scallop shell reclamation item on future agendas because he hasn't been getting anywhere with this idea. Full-time town biologist position—continuing discussion Mr. Carlson said that the town departments have submitted their budges to town administration, which is drafting its budget and that anything new would then be submitted to the Finance Committee for its budget review process and if the town biologist position comes up in discussion at a FinCom meeting, that's when members of the HSAB should attend the FinCom meetings to speak in support of this. He added that he didn't know exactly when this would happen. Mr. Brace said from his conversation with Selectmen Chairman Rick Atherton he is now aware that the selectmen have heard the HSAB's numerous requests and understand that this board does want a year-round town biologist primarily for water quality sampling and analysis. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Carlson to remind the HSAB when its time to speak before the FinCom was approaching so Mr. Brace could, with the board's blessing, write a letter to the editor of the Inquirer&Mirror detailing for the public its reasoning for filling this currently vacant position. Mr. Carlson said he'd keep the board abreast of when it should attend relevant meetings on this issue. Dr. Boyce asked Mr. Carlson who is currently staffing the Natural Resources Department. Mr. Carlson said himself, JC Johnson, Dan Blount part-time,Ms. Riley, Leah Cabral(for the winter). So, currently, the NRD has three fulltime employees. NEW BUSINESS Staffing shortage at Marine & Coastal Resources Department Apprentice scallop divers—update—Tim Mooney Wendy McCrae requested this agenda item because of Ms. Lucey's comments at the Nov. 5 meeting relating to the understaffed Marine Department, specifically, the need for more qualified rescue boat operators. Mr. Carlson said Ms. Lucey does have the use of Dan Blount part-time and use of two seasonal employees through the end of September. Additionally, several police officers are getting trained in boat use and rescue. Dr. Boyce noted that recently his boat engine died 100 yards off of 40th Pole and because Ms. Lucey was off island, there was no one at the Marine Department to come tow him back to the harbor. Mr. Brace suggested that Dr. Boyce and other disabled boaters try to Coast Guard to see if they could rescue him before trying to the other agencies. As Ms. McCrae did not attend the Nov. 19 meeting, Mr. Brace suggested that this item be added to the Dec. 3 agenda. Scallop diver Tim Mooney's apprentices Mr. Carlson said that Mr. Mooney has had two apprentices in the last calendar year during last season and the current one, and that these two apprentices have completed their 40-day apprenticeship. Mr. Mooney asked if the 40-day period applied to divers as well. Mr. Smith said it does and the number should apply to both. He added that the Shellfish Bylaw Review Workgroup should add this issue to its next meeting agenda. Mr. Brace said he didn't recall hearing about either of these apprenticeships starting from Mr. Carlson who said that typically, he doesn't inform the board when the apprenticeships begin. Mr. Smith asked how many apprenticeships were currently active during this season. Mr. Carlson said 18, but that not all of them are actively fishing. Mr. Carlson detailed for the board why the apprenticeship program exists and how it works. Mr. McMullen said he thought that for 30 of the 40 days of his apprenticeship he couldn't take five bushels and that the during the last 10 days he could. Mr. Smith admitted to being confused as well and Mr. Carlson said this is why the shellfish regulations are being reviewed and revised. Dr. Boyce said he hadn't heard of the 30-day period Mr. McMullen spoke of and said he recalled that the apprenticeship regulations he helped write allows the apprentice to harvest five bushels a day during the 40 fishing days with his mentor. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Mooney to tell the board generally, what a diver needs to know to scallop alone underwater. Mr. Mooney told the board that a scallop diver must take and pass a diver certification course including five open-water dives,become fluent on the impacts on a diver's body including cold water slowing down their metabolism, nitrogen building up in their blood stream, and how to remove the excess, monitoring their gauges, dealing with having two or three bushels of scallops hanging in bags off their shoulders while maintaining their buoyancy under water and what to do when their air supply runs out. Mr. Mooney continued, saying safety equipment is also covered including setting out the diver down flag, checking the boat's anchor once the diver has reached the bottom and then finding the scallops and determining adults from seed, as underwater everything is magnified by three. Additionally, said Mooney, apprentices have to learn how to operate underwater in a dry suit in which a bubble of air can develop and upend a diver if it reaches their feet along with using a full-face mask. When Mr. McMullen gets his dry suit and full-face mask, Mr. Mooney requires that he spend time him learning how to use these new pieces of diving equipment. Mr. Brace asked if commercial scallop divers only fish after the dredging scallopers are for the day. Mr. Mooney said he instructs his apprentices on how to dive for scallops while the dredgers are operating. He added that he teaches his charges to scallop upstream of the dredgers so they can see the scallops, as being downstream of the dredging means the scallops are hidden in a cloud of debris. He also teaches his students to hug the bottom when they're six feet or deeper if a boat is coming and come to the surface if they're six feet or deeper. Mr. Brace asked how many divers going now. Mr. Mooney said three. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Mooney about Mr. McMullen's competence as a commercial scallop diver. Mr. Mooney said he thought Mr. McMullen needs a couple more dives,to spend more time practicing getting in and out his boat and on doing anchor checks. Overall, Mr. Mooney said Mr. McMullen is an excellent diver, but he wants him to become more natural in the water before signing off on him. Mr. Brace asked Mr. McMullen if thought his mentor's assessment of his abilities was accurate. Mr. McMullen said yes. Dr. Boyce noted there was a difference between the board agreeing that Mr. McMullen had met all of his apprentice requirements and Mooney signing off on his diving abilities. Mr. Carlson said this is one of the issues that the SBRW needs to deal with. Mr. Brace asked Mr. Mooney to attend the SBRW's next meeting. Mr. Mooney said he wanted the board to feel comfortable with approving Mr. McMullen as a commercial scallop diver. Mr. Carlson said the board is within its rights to authorize Mr. McMullen's commercial scallop license because he's completed his 40 days with the condition that he get the extra equipment and dive training from Mr. Mooney. Dr. Boyce said he's comfortable with voting in the affirmative to this effect—this is his motion—but is still unsure how the board would have proof that Mr. McMullen has the necessary diving skills. Mr. Smith seconded Dr. Boyce's motion with the caveat of if anyone on the board feels Mr. McMullen needs to do eight more fishing days with his new full-face diving mask. The board voted 5-0 to grant Mr. McMullen his commercial scallop license with the understanding that he complete the rest of his skills training with Mr. Mooney. Dr. Boyce alerted the board to the work of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute students on putting all of the town's water quality data into town's GIS system and suggested that this group come speak on their efforts at the next HSAB meeting. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING ADJOURN Unanimously approved Future Meetings: Dec. 3 and Dec. 17 Respectfully Submitted, Peter B. Brace, Chairman Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board December 3'd,2013 at 5:00 p.m. Community Room, 4 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace(Chair), Chuck Connors, Wendy McCrae, Bill Blount, Dr. Peter Boyce,Michael Glowacki, Doug Smith Members Absent: Marine Dept: Police Chief Bill Pittman Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson Others: W.T.I. Students CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF AGENDA Amendment to Agenda: Worcester Polytechnic Institute student presentation will be moved up to after the Natural Resources report. Motion to approve agenda as amended was made by Mr. Connors, seconded by Ms. McCrea and unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the November.5th HSAB meeting minutes made by Ms. McCrea seconded by Mr. Smith unanimously approved (Dr. Boyce and Michael Glowacki abstained) Approval of the November 19th HSAB meeting minutes: Dr. Boyce informed the Board that there was an error regarding a specific scuba diving regulation, and that it be corrected before approval A motion to approve the minutes as amended was made by Michael Glowacki, Seconded by Dr. Boyce and unanimously approved(Ms. McCrea and Mr. Connors abstained) CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Venue Change for December 17th HSAB meeting: The meeting will be held at the 5pm in the training room at 2 Fairgrounds road. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No MD report. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Scallop seasons update—Jeff Carlson: There has been one missed day due to temperature, approximately 5,000 bushels have been taken to date, averaging about 250 bushels per day. The scallop fleet is divided up pretty evenly; Madaket and town have around the same amount of boats fishing between them. Nov. 24/25 seed standing—update—Jeff Carlson, Doug Smith— A small stranding event of approximately 100 bushels was observed and dealt with by the NRD. The stranding was considered to be a Category 1 stranding based on the seed management plan and occurred around the Wauwinut area. The scallops were mostly dead due to the cold air temperature but as an experiment Mr. Smith did manage to get some into a cage and back in the water to see if they would make any kind of recovery. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS Staffing shortage at the Marine Dept: Chief Pittman—Chief Pittman told the board the MD has no staffing shortage and they are running on the staff that they feel is appropriate. Chief Pittman also explained the new role the Police Department and Fire Department will be playing in regards to the Marine Department. The NPD has started a program where officers will become qualified in helping out with search and rescue for the MD. The first group of police officers have begun training and once completed will be required to complete 40 hours of exercises and drills. The goal is to always have a 3 person rescue team, one to control the boat and two to focus on the rescue. Officer Coakley is going to be the NPD's face for the Marine Department program. The officers will be given Coast Guard certification upon completion. This program will be launched district wide with Nantucket being the first. SMP Committee Status—Jeff Carlson: The SMPIC is moving forward, hoping for 7 people on this committee and the first attempt at getting people signed up only resulted in 4 applicants. It's possible that the SMPIC will only be a 5 person committee to get the ball rolling. Full-Time Town Biologist position—Continuing this discussion next meeting. NEW BUSINESS W.P.I. Students presentation on Nitrogen in the harbor—The students gave a short presentation about a report that they will be giving on December 18t. The students focused purely on Nitrates; taking the data from the past 20 years from the different testing location around the harbor and they will be putting the data into excel spreadsheets and making graphs to look for seasonal and long term trends. The format being used make adding new data very easy whether its nitrates, phosphorus or any other nutrient. The template being created by the W.P.I. students will also be used by our own water quality biologist and future data can be added to create current graphs so that the public and read and understand the data. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Full-Time Biologist Meeting Seed Area Mapping and Stranding Protocol ADJOURN Motion Made by Mr. Glowacki, seconded by Ms. McCrea and unanimously approved Future Meetings: January 7th January 21st Respectfully Submitted Chuck Connors, Secretary Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board December 17, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Training Room, 2 Fairgrounds Road Members present: Peter Brace (Chair), Chuck Connors, Wendy McCrae, Bill Blount, Michael Glowacki, Doug Smith Members Absent: Dr. Peter Boyce Marine Dept: Natural Resources Dept. Jeff Carlson Others: CALL TO ORDER 5:00 P.M. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Smith asked that his seed area mapping and stranding protocol be taken off the agenda and put back at a later date. The motion to approve the December 17, 2013 agenda as amended for the HSAB was made by Mr. Connors, Seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the December 3'g1 HSAB minutes was made by Ms. McCrae, seconded by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Water quality biologist position: Mr. Brace told the board that he had attended a B.O.S workshop on December 4th where the FY/15 expense increases were discussed. Under the section of new hires there were several part time positions and a full time position for a water quality town biologist. W.P.I presentation: This will be given at the community room, 4 Fairgrounds Rd. on December 18th. MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT: No Marine Department report given. NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT Jeff Carlson gave the NRD report. Scallop Season update: Approximately 7,500-8,000 bushels have been harvested this season. Staffing Changes to NRD: A full time water quality biologist position will most likely be added as well as a part time office administrator. An assistant biologist will also be filling in for Tara Riley while she is on leave, this employee will remain with NRD to assist with field work, hatchery management and possibly lead groups of summer interns and assistants. PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT/NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT No Public comment OLD BUSINESS No Old Business NEW BUSINESS No New business PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND COMMENT No public comment RECAP and ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Doug Smiths Presentation on seed mapping and stranding protocol ADJOURN Motion Made by Ms. McCrae, Seconded Mr. Glowacki and unanimously approved Future Meetings: January 7th January 21st Respectfully Submitted Chuck Connors, Secretary