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,,,port of the Report of the flarbormaster Department Shellfish Department Being hired as Harbormaster in July of 1993 was To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and indeed a dream come true. Starting July 22, 1993 it the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: was a busy time with the summer boating season in 'n the main goal was getting more patrol time In 1993, soft-shell clams were the most abundant full swing, g g g p shellfish in Town. The healthy sets of soft-shell clam spent on the waterways. Many stops were made with . ' n education of boating waterways safety. seed from the past 2 years continued growing well. emphasis o g �' Many should be harvest size next year. The area This was made possible by the help of the Waterways �' ' and Assistant Harbormasters. around Daniel's Island that was closed to soft-shell Assistants clamming to allow them to grow and spawn con-tributed to the seed.That area was opened in July after This Summer you will see many new aids to nave- the spring spawning season was over. The area at the ation on our waterways and appreciation should go to p g p g g Ockway Bay Landing remains closed to soft-shell the Mashpee Waterways Commission for getting the clamming-to protect the spawning populationulation there.In funding for these new aids, also in replacing a 1979 addition to the Popponesset Bay area,there were good boat in very poor condition, with a new 1993 boat for sets in the rivers and salt ponds in the Waquoit Bay patrol. area. Only a relatively small number have been lost to Many of you have read or heard about the tourna- predators such as crabs and seagulls. Not many were . Mash eelwakeb Pond soon with the work lost to freezing winter temperatures. ments on p y , of the Selectmen, Executive Secretary and Waterways The winter of 1993-4 was so severe that one da at Commission, along With the State a solution and or y the end of December, all of the inshore waters were ►. compromise will be reached. completely ice covered. Bottom mud and sand were see a lot more of us on the frozen as far as 2 feet down in some areas. Soft-shell This Summer you will i clams were able to di back into unfrozen bottom even waters, please remember we are out there for your g ifquestion, when water temperatures were below 32 Fahrenheit. safety, and to help, so please, you have a Quahogs which are not as active at those tem eratures If ou see som hin wron ive us a call or sto p ask. y something g g p suffered some mortalities from freezing. The amount b and tell g Y u s. of quahog seed lost to freezing remains to be seen. 3 . Our new mooring bills and data base questionnaires Natural sets of quahog ed were se supplemented pp were sent out this winter. This information will updatewith seed from thero agation program,The recovery the old data base, and also give us information on p p of seed from the nursery trays was less than half that M.S.D. Marine sanitation devices. Remember of last year. It appeared that predation was less of a Wa uoit Ba is now a Federal no discharge zone. On y pp q �' g factor than fouling, sedimentation or wash-out from moorings,you have a large investment in your boat as `,saves. In November, 80,000 quahog seed were plant- do others, please keep your mooring components and ed in great River, Little River and Popponesset arts inspected. As we all know, it is only as strong pp p p tg as Bay.Next year, the trays will be placed in areas with its weakest link. more water flow, and the covers will be changed :. I would like to thank the Board of Selectmen, Weekly. Executive Secretary, Waterways Commission, hepre- Shellfish r -- S The 1993--4 scallop season was worse than t p e hellfish Department, Police, Fire, DPW and all other cedingone.The total catch is estimated to be about 50 Departments that helped to make the transition to this P bushels. As in the previous season,there were no scat- post a good one. Also thanks to the local marinas lops to be harvested in the Popponesset Bay area. 3 (Little River Boat Yard and New Seabury Marina) for Information from other towns indicates that it was a the use of a boat slip. very bad year for scallops. The outlook is not good Thank you, and have a safe and enjoyable boating because scallop seed is scarce. { year. 'Improvements in water quality resulted in the open- ing en- ing of more areas for shellfishing. All of Shoestring Respectfully Submitted, had been permanently closed, but the section Bay p y Perry Ellis below Mitchell's Pier was opened on November 1. Harbormaster The Mashpee River is still permanently closed above . 77