HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-5-175/19/11 5:34 PM
Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
Conference Room, 2 Fairgrounds Road
Members present: Dr. Peter Boyce, Wendy McRae, Robert Rank, Peter Brace and Willis
Blount
Members Absent: Michael Glowacki, Doug Smith
Marine Dept: Tara Riley
Natural Resources Dept:
BOS: Whitey Willauer
Others: Ted Lambrect, Helen Cheng
CALL TO ORDER
Call to Order at 4:35 p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Lamenting Mr. Glowacki's absence and reporting that Mr. Smith would be in attendance at the
May 17 meeting, Dr. Boyce queried the board on whether to elect officers at that time. After Ms.
McRae's insistence that elections are important, that Mr. Brace should be afforded a full board
for his first officer election and that a full board is vital for election of officers, Mr. Brace stated
he would miss the June 7 meeting and wouldn't be present until the June 21 meeting. Ms.
McCrae indicated that would still work. Mr. Rank and Mr. Blount indicated they could vote
either with or without a full board. Mr. Brace, however, agreed to accept the nomination for
secretary and indicated that he didn't require the full board be present to vote on his nomination.
At Ms. McRae's query, Mr. Willauer indicated that since the board had a quorum it could legally
vote on secretary nominations. Ms. McRae said since there was someone who wanted to be
secretary that the board should proceed with this part of the election and nominated Mr. Brace.
Mr. Blount seconded. Mr. Brace was unanimously elected secretary and the board agreed to hold
off on the election of chairman and vice chairman until a full board was present.
The remaining agenda was accepted unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of May 3 were approved unanimously.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Dr. Boyce introduced his summer intern, Helen Cheng and announced they had already begun to
set out spat bags. Dr. Boyce reminded the board of the Nantucket Shellfish Association meeting
on May 24 at 5 p.m. at 4 Fairgrounds Road. The speaker will be Dr. Mark Green of St. Joseph's
College on acidification of the oceans and he is holding a workshop on measuring acidification
of sediments on May 25 that Dr. Boyce and Ms. Riley planned to attend. Dr. Boyce said that
there is hydrogen sulfide in the mud at the top of Folger's Marsh, which makes the water very
acidic from plant material decomposition.
MARINE DEPARTMENT REPORT:
NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT — Tara Riley
Propagation Report: Ms. Riley reported that for propagation, she installed the new larval tanks
paid for with Nantucket Shellfish Association funds and that they'll be ready to go later in the
week of May 15 -21. She also reported that she did a bay scallop spawn on May 8 that went
pretty well. She indicated that temperature control in the room where she's spawning would be
her biggest challenge but that she'll be able to handle it.
Ms. Riley announced that her interns would be starting the last week of May. Neil Cocker is the
fishermen intern, a girl from Nova Southeastern in Florida will be another intern and returning
intern Steve Heck is doing water quality at the lab this summer. She indicated that the Mark
Green workshop on May 25 is open to everyone and that participants should contact Ms. Riley
ASAP.
Ms. Riley reported that Mr. Lambrecht's DMF public hearing for his aquaculture lease is June
18, 2011 and his proposal will be advertised in the Inquirer & Mirror on June 2 and 9. Ms. Riley
reported that she encouraged Andy Ryder to apply for a mini -grant for a research farm through
the Southeastern Massachusetts Aquaculture Center. Mr. Ryder was selected by SEMAC as a rep
from Nantucket. He'll be working with SEMAC in the Head of the Harbor raising oysters, a
collaboration with aquaculture farmers from various parts of Cape Cod.
Update on revised shellfish aquaculture lease procedures: Ms. Riley reported that for the
aquaculture guidelines of the Shellfish Management Plan, herself, Dr. Boyce and Cormac Collier
of the Nantucket Land Council met. They made revisions and the biggest changes are a standard
confidential reporting form that is a biannual report (twice a year) on how they're doing. They
also defined the term "actively worked ".
Ms. Riley indicated that the SMP would review the proposed revisions at its next meeting. They
are still working on creating a standard form for reporting and they will be tailoring the standard
commercial fishing application to one specifically for aquaculture applicants, but this is still
being discussed. Dr. Boyce asked if language on a pre - application meeting would be included.
Ms. Riley indicated that this was under #4 in bold and that the application fee is still being
discussed.
Ms. McRae asked Ms. Riley where SHAB was represented in the aquaculture guidelines of the
Shellfish Management Plan. Ms. Riley indicated under #5 and that it would be amended to
include "SHAB review ".
Mr. Willauer asked if the confidentiality would be restricted to the Marine Department and not
SHAB. Ms. Riley said they're dealing with people with private businesses and other than a
general status update, the rest should be confidential. Ms. Riley clarified that they want to know
what shellfish seed is being purchased, where it's coming from, what they're planting and what
they're harvesting. She added that it's easy in the Head of the Harbor to keep track by counting
cages. They want to make sure the farmers are being responsible. Dr. Boyce indicated that
SHAB can get reports from Marine Department and that the board would get involved if
someone's not actively working their site, but not get involved with managing what people are
doing.
Ms. Riley reported that they would go through aquaculture SMP guidelines with the BOS and
bring back the revised version to SHAB. The overall SMP guidelines would be approved by
SHAB and the BOS. Dr. Boyce asked that the application procedure be spelled out in the
aquaculture guidelines and Ms. Riley agreed and reminded the board that the guidelines weren't
final.
In reference to Mr. Lambrecht's application, Dr. Boyce and Ms. McRae requested to review it
before the board's June 7 meeting before the BOS sees it. Ms. Riley agreed. Ms. McRae
indicated she had issues with a lot of the guidelines. Ms. Riley assured her there was plenty of
time to address them. Dr. Boyce reiterated that the application procedure needs to be spelled out
in the SMP. Mr. Brace indicated that the board has until June 18 when the BOS is to vote on the
SMP to comment/make changes. Dr. Boyce admitted confusion over what guidelines Mr.
Lambrecht should follow now. Ms. Riley indicated that there were no real changes, except his
lease, which will be for three years at the end of which the Marine Dept. and SHAB would
review it for a possible extension.
Dr. Boyce indicated that guidelines now specifies applicant requirements, that the general
procedure would spelled out and that this is why neither SHAB nor BOS is listed in this because
it was conceived of for a different purpose. Ms. Riley indicated they could include a timeline and
checklist of what applicants are required to do. In response to Mr. Willauer's query on length of
aquaculture lease from the town, Ms. Riley agreed to research it. In response to Mr. Rank's
query as to whether the farmers report to the state, she indicated yes and Mr. Lambrecht
confirmed monthly reports to the state.
Dr. Boyce asked Ms. Riley when Assistant Harbormaster Sheila Lucy would be setting
navigational buoys in Madaket and Ms. Riley indicated she didn't know.
Ms. McRae asked Ms. Riley about other aquaculture lease applicants mentioned at the last
meeting. Ms. Riley reported that one of them is currently out of the state and the other did not
return the application yet. Ms. McRae indicated that her only concern was that no one be
slighted, but that now her concern had been sated.
Dr. Boyce thanked Mr. Lambrecht for helping the board work through revising the guidelines
while he geared up for his first aquaculture season. He added that they opted out of getting into
subleasing guidelines that states including New York have because of the length of the
procedure.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON MARINE DEPARTMENT
NATURAL RESOURCES REPORT
OLD BUSINESS
Shellfish Management Plan report: Ms. Riley indicated that committee's last meeting was
cancelled. The next meeting was to be sometime during the week of May 22 -28. She continued
that the committee is in the process of reviewing the draft of recommendations. They went
through first half at the last meeting and were supposed to be reviewing the second half prior to
the meeting that was cancelled.
Use of Pyrethrin: Dr. Boyce reported to the board he'd asked Mr. Brace to research the
insecticide, Pyrethrin and its affects because the town no longer has a mosquito control program,
which has led to homeowners and homeowners associations using it on their own to control
mosquitoes and that SHAB is concerned about its affects on shellfish.
Mr. Brace reported that Pyrethrin is a natural contact insecticide made from the ground -up
flowers of the pyrethrum daisies, that it's s moderately toxic to animals, the standard mixture for
application is 1% Pyrethrin, 99% water and that it is toxic to fish and shellfish. He added that
when Piperonyl butoxide, a synergist, is added to Pyrethrin, it produces a mixture that's deadlier
by not allowing the insect's system to detoxify the Pyrethrin.
Dr. Boyce indicated that Pyrethrin breaks down in salt water, but its half life is 12 days, so after
12 days, half of it's still in the water, that it's very toxic to small shrimp eaten by fish, toxic to
larval fish and sees no reason to believe that it isn't toxic to larval shellfish. And that oysters are
fairly resistant to it in their adult stage. Dr. Boyce suggested that SHAB consider recommending
to the BOS that it raise the funds necessary to restart the town's mosquito control program to
prevent the private sector from dangerous overapplication of Pyrethrin.
Mr. Willauer reported that the Board of Health is going to be discussing mosquito control at its
meeting on May 24 and recommended that SHAB attend that meeting to recommend that the
town resume its mosquito control program. Dr. Boyce reported that the town maintains its
mosquito ditches to combat the pests. Mr. Brace added that the town also used to drop the
larvacide Alticid into all public bodies of water and those private ones it could get access to. Dr.
Boyce indicated that the board needs more information on this issue.
Ms. McRae asked if the town stopped its program because of opposition. Mr. Rank asked what
chemical the town is using now. Mr. Brace responded that the town's program is defunct, but it
was using Alticid. Dr. Boyce indicated that Mr. Collier recommended Alticid. He added that
Collier would be at this meeting and would likely be representing the board's feelings, as the
Land Council is aligned with SHAB's protection shellfish concerns. Mr. Willauer indicated that
he would attend this meeting and report back to the board on its proceedings.
NEW BUSINESS
Review of Scallop Apprentice Program: Dr. Boyce reported that last year's apprentices
recommended that new apprentices be given checklists of what they're expected to learn. He
then queried the board as to whether to leave the program as is or would it like to recommend
changes. Mr. Blount indicated that safety, where to fish, when to fish, on- the -water courtesy and
how to make it work financially are all good things for the list.
Mr. Rank said he recalled that Harbormaster Dave Fronzuto had planned to write such a
checklist and Dr. Boyce said the board should encourage Mr. Fronzuto to do the checklist. Ms
McRae indicated that the board did vote on a time limit and that she felt 40 days might be too
long. Last winter, the board had approved apprentice
Chuck Connors' finishing of apprenticeship at 22 days because his mentor said he was ready.
Mr. Blount said there is a certain amount of learning the hard way. Ms. Riley indicated that the
checklist should be all about safety and that it was up to the mentor what knowledge they want to
impart. Mr. Rank agreed with Ms. Riley that the checklist should be about safety, but that there
should also be a time limit, but that 40 days may be a bit long, that the apprentices need to learn
courtesy and how to identify seed.
Mr. Brace suggested that with his first season behind him, speaking with Mr. Connors to see how
his 22 days of apprenticeship went and how much he learned. Mr. Rank indicated that the mentor
Mr. Connors fished with didn't fish everyday, so he got his 22 days in two month's time, so that
was, at least in Mr. Rank's mind, one of the extenuating circumstances with Mr. Connors. He
added that 40 days is a little long that maybe 30 would be better.
Mr. Blount added that going with another guy means not making much money and 40 days
might be a long time to go without decent income and one of the reasons for this program is to
recruit more young people into scalloping. Mr. Rank disagreed, indicating that as long as there
are fish/scallops in the water and money to be made, there's going to be people going after them.
He added that the industry is balancing out and that as people get out of it, new fishermen, young
or old, take their place.
Mr. Blount suggested that Mr. Fronzuto and Ms. Lucy offer some sort of safety course for young
scallopers.
The board agreed to continue this discussion to the next meeting.
Recap and Items for Next Meeting:
Dr. Boyce will talk to Mr. Collier about pressing SHAB's concerns about the use Pyrethrin at the
May 24 BOH meeting. Mr. Willauer recommended that Dr. Boyce speak with Richard Ray about
this issue as well.
Adjournment: 5:45 p.m.
Next Meetings:
June 7 and June 21
Respectfully submitted,
Peter B. Brace, Secretary