Shellfish Communications Crier
April 18, 2024
1. Wellfleet Earth Day Beach Cleanup – This Saturday, April 20, 2024
This coming Saturday, April 20, there will be a Weekend Community Beach Cleanup for Earth Day. It will take place from 2-5 p.m. during low tide to allow access to aquaculture gear, such as clam nets, oyster grow bags and buoys, that we have seen wedged into revetments. Meet at Mayo Beach for assignments. Please bring gloves, waterproof footwear and a water bottle. Bags, buckets, water and snacks will be provided at the event. It is sponsored by the Town of Wellfleet’s Shellfish Advisory Board, Shellfish Department, Department of Public Works and Recycling Committee, and the Chamber of Commerce, Wellfleet Oyster Alliance and Mass Oyster Project. For more information, please contact wellfleetrecycles@gmail.com or call 508-237-3133. Thank you for chipping in to help!
2. Chipman’s Cove and Duck Creek Will Be Closed as of Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – Last Day to Harvest is April 30
3. Vibrio Planning and Tagging Update
We have been in touch with the Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries and will be sending you an update from the 2023 vibrio season in the near future. We believe that the DMF Vibrio Training Meeting will be held on Wed., May 8, at Eastham Town Hall, but will confirm this in a subsequent email.
In addition, we want to reiterate that the only change to the 2024 vibrio control plan is the revision of the description of “adequate icing” to mean that oysters are “continuously and completely covered by and layered in ice.” Gone are the inch requirements. The time to icing will remain two hours from exposure, and shading requirements also remain the same. An exemption was also added that now allows certain icing containers that previously weren’t acceptable, such as crates. Please make sure to attend one of the in-person vibrio meetings or the online one coming up in May. We will be sending out those dates as soon as we get confirmation from DMF. Feel free to contact us with any questions.
There is also a DMF update to tagging requirements coming up in 2024: Tags will need to list the precise harvest area, for example, Herring River will be CCB 12.1. Other Wellfleet areas will remain the same, except Chipman’s Cove and Duck Creek, so we’ll give you a full updated list once the rules go into effect. In addition, for grant holders, your license site number needs to be on your tags. Thanks for your attention to this; we’re always available to answer your questions. Contact Nancy at nancy.civetta@wellfleet-ma.gov or 508-349-0325 with ideas on how the Shellfish Department can help or improve shellfishing. Thank you!
Nancy Civetta John Mankevetch Chris Manulla & Sarah Comstock
Shellfish Constable Assistant Shellfish Constable Deputy Shellfish Constables
617-901-7193 508-962-0691 508-962-8934 & 774-801-9320