Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Tyler Grady presented a 2024 Shellfish Propagation Outline. <br />It was reported that they will be working with 3,000,000 quahogs and 3,000,000 oysters. Tyler stated that <br />they are going to start the stock off in Ockway FLUPSY gear and once the quahogs arrive they will be <br />moved to condo gear. The oysters will be split evenly between Popponesset Bay and Waquoit Bay <br />propagation sites. He stated that if they run out of space for specific types of gear they will allocate <br />oyster seed to Thatch Island (Popponesset Bay). It is estimated that the oysters will reach 1 ½ to 2 inches <br />in size by the end of the growing season before being wintered over. <br /> <br />The quahogs will all spend the entire season in the upweller and FLUPSY systems. At the end of the <br />season any quahogs not ready to be broadcasted will be planted under nets on either Thatch Island or <br />Riverbend. <br /> <br />The oyster disbursement plan is to stock the fisheries, inter-municipal sales, oyster restoration projects <br />and food bank donations. <br /> <br />Mr. Pocknett stated that the Tribe is aware that the Town is understaffed and said that they are always will <br />to give them a few days here and there to help out. He also said that he has a lot of extra condo gear that <br />they are welcome to use if they need to. <br /> <br />Chris Avis reported that they are working with the Nature Conservancy in trying to locate areas to put an <br />oyster restoration project or two. <br /> <br />Co-Chair Cook stated that he doesn’t think the Department has nearly enough gear or manpower to <br />handle 3 million oysters. He said he doesn’t think there is a need to jump to ordering that many oysters <br />until they see what this past year of 1.2 million oysters has produced. <br /> <br />Mr. Holmes questioned whether the Department is going to have the time to care for quahogs. <br />Mr. Avis responded that he is confident that the Department will be able to care for the animals. Ashley <br />Fisher stated that staffing was once an issue but, has changed considerably. She said that the Department <br />is stable and is not having as much turn over, they are able to hire 6 seasonal workers and they now have <br />a full time Administrative Assistant which frees up the staff and gives them more time in the field. She <br />also stated that the have a lot of dedicated volunteers and the Tribe is always very helpful. <br /> <br />Ashley went on to state that quahogs are a little less in nitrogen concentration than an oyster. She stated <br />that oxygen levels are also a problem as there isn’t any oxygen on the bottom and quahogs dig into the <br />sand. They are losing quahogs because of this. <br /> <br />It was reported that 20,000 oysters were purchased from Falmouth in December due to a shortage of stock <br />in the fishery because of the die off last year because of a freeze. This was approved by the DMF. <br /> <br />Co-Chair Cook asked what the intent is for 1.2 million oysters at the end of the year and Ms. Fisher said <br />it’s inter-departmental. When asked what the means she responded that the Department will figure it out. <br /> <br />Chair Thomas said that he wants it to be clear that everybody is in this for the right reasons and we all <br />want a robust shellfish program for residents, commercial fishermen as well as the Town. He said he <br />wants to keep licenses affordable for everyone and at the top of the list is clean water. He said that having <br />1.2 million oyster in the pipeline and then 3 million on order on top of that is a bit concerning and he <br />wants to be sure it’s manageable. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br /> <br />