State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference

Jenette Kerr
 email: jkerr@massaudubon.org                                                                                                                                                        
508-349-2615  office
617-721-2847 cell

2019 State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference is Saturday, November 2^nd

The annual State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference will be held Saturday, November 2 from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM at the Wellfleet Elementary School. The event is free and open to all.

For the past 17 years, the conference has covered a range of topics associated with Wellfleet Harbor, its health, ecology, and economy, and has showcased the latest science on issues of concern to Wellfleetians and other Outer Cape residents.

Among this year’s presenters will be Mike Armstrong, assistant director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, about upcoming changes in the management of striped bass. The status of Wellfleet’s significantly declining horseshoe crabs will be addressed by Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary science coordinator, Mark Faherty. And Center for Coastal Studies biologist Agnes Mittermayr will present new research on Wellfleet Harbor’s infamous “black mayonnaise”.

Afternoon talks will include a presentation by coastal engineer Kirk Bosma of the Woods Hole Group on the hydrodynamics of the Herring River—and how sediment in the estuary may move and be managed as tidal flow is restored. Martha Craig of Friends of Herring River will also provide an update on the Herring River project.

On Sunday, November 3rd from 10–11:30 AM, the issue of black mayonnaise will continue to be explored with a harbor walk led by John Riehl, chairman of the Wellfleet Natural Resources Advisory Board, and retired Cape Cod National Seashore ecologist John Portnoy. Those interested in attending the field trip may sign up on the day of the conference. Directions on where to meet will also be available at that time.

Sponsors of this year’s State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference include Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Center for Coastal Studies, Friends of Herring River, Mid Cape Home Centers, the Town of Wellfleet, the Wellfleet Conservation Trust, and Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Food donations are being made by Mac’s Seafood, the Wellfleet Box Lunch, Wellfleet Marketplace, The Wicked Oyster, and PB Boulangerie.

For more information, visit www.massaudubon.org/wellfleet-harbor-conference.