11/12/2019 SHELLFISH COMMISSION Minutes

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of 19 hours were spent assessing shellfish populations and habitat suitability for different species of shellfish. A precautionary shellfish closure was issued by the Division of Marine Fisheries on October the 13th due to the amount of rainfall that was forecasted.The closure did not last because the threshold rainfall total of three inches did not occur in Mashpee. Propagation During the month of October the Shellfish Division has devoted a total of 667 hours to the shellfish propagation program.This includes routine upweller(land and floating) maintenance (pumps and intakes) and cleaning, quahog packed volume measurements, bottom grow out tray removal and cleaning, predator net construction and deployment, remote set oyster tray maintenance, floating oyster bag maintenance, oyster weight, and size measurements, and finally oyster size class sorting. In October, we were able to plant the remainder of 2019's quahogs: 3 million under predator netting at the mouth of Great and Little River, Hamblin Pond,Jehu Pond, and the Little River Complex, and 1.4 million broadcasted into family areas in Waquoit Bay, Hamblin Pond, Little River, and Great River. 96% of the quahogs ordered this year made it to field plant size by the end of October. Survival will be measured further when the predator nets are removed and shellfish samples are conducted next spring. Both land based upweller tanks have been shut down and shrink wrapped for the winter.The Upweller intake lines were flushed and the in water connections were removed to prevent damages from ice formation. All floating dock floating upweller systems were also shut down, silos were removed and stored for the winter. Quahog bottom grow-out trays were taken out of the water, pressure washed, and stored. The oyster plant area at Mashpee Neck Landing has been assessed for quantity of oysters left from last year and will be reseeded for the area opening on November 1st. Surveys and data collection is ongoing to determine growth and mortality of this and last year's oyster stock. Oyster bottom trays were assessed for maintenance and repair.This winter the Shellfish Division plans to reorganize the oyster grow-out area in the Mashpee River. Scallop season opened October the first in Waquoit Bay, and proved to yet again be uneventful.The largest catch report to the Mashpee and Falmouth Shellfish Constables was a total of 45 scallops (less than a peck), which took 2.5 hours to harvest. Future seeding efforts are ongoing in Falmouth and Mashpee to restore the population. Water Quality The Shellfish Division spent a total of 22 hours collecting and sampling for water quality. On October 24th the Shellfish Division conducted the routine sampling of five sentinel stations in Mashpee, which are taken monthly year-round.Santuit was noted to have a cyanobacteria algae presence at the time of sampling.The Department of Natural Resources will have ongoing correspondence with Woods Hole scientists to monitor and develop analysis for this bloom occurring in the pond.