1992-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Report of the Report of the Harbormaster Department SDepartment After being selected as our Harbormaster in May of To the Honorable Board of Selectmen J g Y Y � 19921 I set out to review the strengths and weaknesses of and the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: the Department and quickly determined that the mooring system deserved the highest priority.There were In 1992, progress was made toward revitalization of dozens of people waiting for space to moor their boats the shellfishery through increased propagation and and being denied the privilege. The mooring list was protection efforts. The return to a full-time, year-round i �a crowded with misinformation leading us to believe that Shellfish Constable allowed more time for patrolling to there was almost 1000 moorings while income and protect the shellfish beds from illegal fishing, inspection soon disproved this.Because of this false data Computerization of the Shellfish Department improved a moratorium had been placed on the issuing of new efficiency in the office. :r mooring permits. The new shellfish and water quality laboratory was set With the help of my Assistant Harbormasters, I up at the end of the year. The monitoring program will conducted a visual count and inspections of the moorings begin next year. This will provide a greater margin of in all the waters of the town and was then able to start safety for protection of the public health.When coliform making correctons in my data base. Meanwhile, I went bacteria counts are low,the data can be used to minimize after and collected approximately $6,000 in unpaid precautionary shellfish bed closures ordered by the mooring fees. This was followed by the removal of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. After the approximately 60 moorings that were illegal for one December storm, all of the towns on Cape Cod were reason or another. In short,these efforts resulted in the closed to shellfishing until the state tested the waters, lifting of the moratorium and produced an accurate data Fortunately, Mashpee waters were clean and opened base for future use. after a couple of days. The next priority was to provide as much patrol Waquoit Bay and adjacent Mashpee waters remained coverage as possible with a very limited paid staff. clean and productive. There were natural sets of seed Without the help of my unpaid assistants it would have quahogs and soft-shell clams in several areas. Scallop been impossible to provide the coverage as well as I did. season was very disappointing a the commercial level,but By improved scheduling, I hope to increase the coverage non-commercial scallopers were able to get their limit for of the waterways.Hundreds of"'stops"were made during several days. The scallops congregated at the mouth of the course of the season with the major emphasis being on the Moonakis River. More than 150 Falmouth and boat inspection and instruction in boating safety.By the Mashpee scallopers were dip netting there on opening end of the season,I was able to bring some relief from the day, but the numbers decreased rapidly over the early morning engine noises on Mashpee Wakeby Pond following days. There is a potential for future large by working closely with the fishing tournament increases in the scallop population in W aquoit Bay. participants, and will expect further improvement this season. In the Popponesset Bay area,the Mashpee River above Orsini Beach, and Shoestring Bay above Simon's ki Major breakdowns of some of the equipment predicts Narrows remained permanently closed due to high fecal replacement in the not to distant future. The coliform bacteria counts. At times, the closure extended Harbormaster Department is, responsible for the all the way down to PunkhornP oint.There were natural ids to Navigation and sets of quahogs and soft-shell clams in PoPP onesset Bay placement of approximately $0 A hopes to embark on a program of improvement to these and adjacent waters, but no scallops to speak of. aids. P P Quahogs and soft-shell clams were the most abundant No report can be complete without commenting on the shellfish. There were very Y an few oysters where in town, Y wonderful cooperation that I have received from the and this situation will probably continue.Oyster permits Selectmen's office and from the Waterways Commission. were not issued. It is not gPron worths spending propagation P P A special thanks to all of the unsung heroes that we call funds on oysters because they can be killed by any of a Assistant Harbormasters. number of oyster diseases.The diseaseroblem has been P � a major factor in the decline of oyster populations in F Respectfully submitted, many area ' s. I Hank Madden Thero a atio ordering p p g n program was increased by orde g ; Harbormaster Tem { p} more hatchery produced small (3 millimeter) quahog