Minutes
Minutes
Shellfish Advisory Board
June 14, 2017
Wellfleet COA
Present: John Duane, Barbara Austin, Jacob Puffer, Tom Siggia, Zack Dixon,
Jim O’Connell, Rebecca Taylor, Brett Morse
Others in Attendance: John Mankevetch (shellfish constable), Alanna
McGovern, Barbara Brennessel, Ed Tesson, Sue Tesson, Mike Kubik,
Michelle Insley, Don Paladine, Helen Miranda Wilson, Nancy Civetta
Meeting called to order 7:05 p.m.
1.MINUTES
Jake made a motion to approve the minutes from May 3, 2017. Barbara
seconded. Passed 8-0.
Barbara made a motion to approve the minutes from April 5, 2017. Jake
seconded. Passed 8-0.
2. UPDATE FROM SHELLFISH DEPARTMENT
Cultch has begun and the coming week will be a big one for cultch. Also,
some small seed has been donated and Shellfish Dept will sprinkle on top of
cultch.
John mentioned that he has a great lead on a supply of cultch for the future
and the Shellfish Dept and Harbormaster may be able to coordinate on a new
barge.
There is a guy conching in the harbor. John has made him aware that we
value our horseshoe crabs. John will make sure that he does not get any
horse shoe crabs from National Park.
John mentioned that you may not need a permit to control conch on your
grant. Nancy Civetta said that you need a conch gauge to harvest.
Barbara A. asked about moving the open date for the river to April 1. Helen
suggested to leave the language in the regs as is so that Shellfish Dept. can
determine when to open at the time based on weather.
Barbara B. mentioned Field Point has a lot of dog walkers, but no signs
about shellfish grants.
3. HORSESHOE CRABS
Barbara Brennessel handed out a report about Horseshoe Crab status in
Wellfleet Harbor (ATTACHMENT 1) with highlights and synopsis from
2012 to the present.
Barbara Austin asked if there are a lot of crabbers. John said no.
Barbara B. asked that we all keep our eyes open for anyone crabbing during
lunar closures or in illegal areas.
4. HERRING RIVER LETTER
John Duane presented a letter on behalf of SAB in support of the Herring
River Restoration Project.
Zack asked for members opinions on the lack of mitigation in case of
shellfish bed closures due to the project.
John D. said that the long term benefits outweigh any short term problems.
Jake agreed and added that river restoration works and the science is solid. It
would be irresponsible to leave things as they are.
Barbara asked Don if the water flow could be restricted in case of super tidal
flow (hurricane or similar). Don said that would be possible.
Don Palladino mentioned that some monitoring systems will be installed as
early as August from Old Saw to further up the River. Don will let us know
when the meetings around this will happen so that SAB members can attend.
Some minor language changes in the SAB support for HRRP letter were
discussed.
Barbara made a motion to approve John Duane’s letter conveying
SAB’s support for the Herring River Restoration Project. Jake
seconded. The motion passed 8-0.
5. SAB MEMBERS FOR HERRING RIVER PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
GROUP
Barbara Austin suggested Jake or Zack as stakeholders.
Helen said that in her experience, stakeholders meetings are a good source of
unfiltered information.
6. SPAT SPONSORED HARVESTER MEETING
Meeting is tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at the library.
7. MISCELLANEOUS
Helen brought up the fact that the regulations regarding the ARC grants need
to be updated.
NEXT MEETING SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 19 AT 7:00 PM
Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
ATTACHMENT 1
Horseshoe Crab Status and Management in Wellfleet Harbor
Report by Barbara Brennessel to the Wellfleet Shellfish Advisory Board
June 14, 2017
2012-2013
•WBWS spawning surveys show low numbers
•Barbara Austin expresses concerns at a Horseshoe Crab Conference at
WBWS and at the Wellfleet State of the Harbor Conference
• SAB and Town of Wellfleet write letter to DMF asking for moratorium on
harvest in Wellfleet and April lunar closures. DMF denies the moratorium
but granted the April lunar closures.
•DMF refuses to grant a moratorium because they don’t have a way to see
that it is working. Horseshoe crabs take 10-15 years to mature. DMF can’t
wait that long to see if moratorium is working. There have been attempts to
develop a juvenile assay but so far unreliable.
•DMF trying to balance the needs of the biomedical industry and the need
for bait.
2016
• 2016 dealers report 100,000 horseshoe crabs harvests; $370,000 in MA .
The whelk fishery, using ¼ horseshoe crabs/trap, reports $4.8 million in
2016. No other bait is as effective.
•Barbara Brennessel has been attending meetings of the Horseshoe Crab
Conservation Association, chaired by Brenda Boleyn. This association is
also putting pressure on the DMF.
• On the Cape, the only areas where there are abundant horseshoe crabs are
in the Monomoy Wildlife Refuge where there is no harvest and areas of
Pleasant Bay which are restricted for Biomedical harvest, and mandated
return of horseshoe crabs after bleeding.
2017
•Derek Perry, invertebrate management (lobsters and horseshoe crabs)
discusses the proposal to increase the daily harvest limit and open the lunar
closure period to trawlers (because they are not harvesting on the spawning
beaches).
•Proposal was rejected
• DMP reports uptick in the number of horseshoe crabs in the past 2 years in
their spring and fall trawl surveys in Cape Cod Bay. (These surveys are not
designed for Horseshoe crabs, but instead, survey a number of target
species.)
• This uptick is not being seen in spawning surveys in Wellfleet
• Are lunar closures even relevant in MA? This closure is modeled on
Delaware Bay but doesn’t seem to be the case locally. In Delaware Bay,
management of horseshoe crab harvest is dictated by red knots, so there is
no harvest in New Jersey and reduced harvest in other parts of Delaware
Bay. This puts pressure on northeast states.
• DMF also questioned whether Wellfleet Harbor horseshoe crabs are
“local;”i.e. returning to Wellfleet Harbor each year from wintering grounds
in Cape Cod Bay.
Graduate student Mike Long is completing his third year of a sonic
telemetry study, and will present his findings at the State of the Harbor
Conference in November.
• Horseshoe crabs in the U.S. are now listed on the IUCN red list as
“vulnerable.”
•May 20, 2017. The Horseshoe Crab Conservation Association met with
Sarah Peake, who is the MA representative to the Board of the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission (for horseshoe crabs and various fish
species). She heard our frustrations and understands the issues.
•There is some talk of a potential future state-wide closure (rather than
embayment-by-embayment) because only two sites in MA showed increases
in spawning horseshoe crabs: Duxbury and Tishmoo.
•The state does not have money for accurate surveys (it’s mostly volunteers).