Minutes
Minutes
Shellfish Advisory Board
July 2, 2014
Town Hall Hearing Room
Present: Barbara Austin, Barbara Brennessel, John Duane, Joel Fox, Jacob Puffer (alternate) Helen Miranda Wilson
Absent: James O’Connell, Rebecca Taylor
Others in Attendance: Fred Richard, Andrew Koch (Shellfish Constable), Tom Reinhard (Finance Committee), Curt Felix
Meeting convened at 7:20pm
Minutes from March 12, 2014 were approved; minutes from June 2, 2014, were approved 5-0.
Barbara Austin reported on a meeting held today at 2 pm by MA DPH.There as a proposal that a town ice machine be procured.There was also a discussion about landing site vs transfer site.Wellfleet may get a directive regarding this.The meeting also expressed positive feedback the regulation for icing for non-commercial oyster harvest.
Feedback from DMF about petite and gem regulations: Mike Hickey suggested we look at the regulation as it applies to gems.We will add quahogs to the regulation. It will read, “a. they do not harvest oysters or quahogs of any size from the wild, by any means, from any part of the harbor.” The regulation was approved 5-0.
Non-commercial permit holders’ Vibrio related regulation.Helen MW was thanked for putting together a handout regarding icing for the non-commercial oyster harvesters.
Shellfish transfer:The DPH has clarified the issue of transferring oysters to dealers to the Shellfish Constable.If properly iced, the oysters can be transported by a harvester directly to a wholesaler’s premises. For transfers to a licensed dealer’s vehicle, the Constable would like one place to be designated: the Wellfleet pier.He needs a local regulation to be able to enforce this.After he gets an official letter regarding this, the SAB will draft a regulation (Helen MW will draft the regulation and figure out where it goes in the regulations). It’s not clear that this transfer regulation would be just during Vibrio control season or year round.We may also need a definition of “transfer.”
Curt Felix mentioned the prospect of having a salt water ice machine at the pier.
Delayed opening of Duck Creek in 2014.Duck Creek usually opens Oct.1, which is still during Vibrio season.It would be a good safety measure to keep it closed.Andy Koch proposed a Dec. 1 opening. Helen recommended the delayed opening of Deck Creek in 2014.The motion was seconded and approved 5-0.
Height and Arrangement of Equipment: Section 7.18.2.We will invite Harbor Master to give us his input.Helen will invite him to the next meeting.We will also get his input about liability insurance.
There was a discussion about how to warn boaters about aquaculture gear. We will discuss this with the Harbormaster at next meeting.
Division of CCB 11: Helen MW had a discussion with Mike Hickey about this designation.If we propose a further division, it would have to be approved by the State. We discussed the benefits and drawbacks for the further division of CCB 11.The idea was tabled.
Rotational Closures of areas open to shellfishing.We discussed this concept, pros and cons.We also got sidetracked and talked about the potential problems for shellfishing if there were an accident at the Pilgrim Power Plant.Barbara B. suggested revisiting the issue of the non-commercial shellfishery after the summer.The BOS will also consider this after the summer.Tom Reinhart suggested that the SAB try to get more input from shellfishermen.
Next meeting: Wed.Aug 20, 7 pm
Meeting Adjourned at 9:00pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Brennessel