1999-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 in the newly licensed shellfish aquaculture farms were Shellfish Permits Issued: 853 not large enough to spawn yet. Resident/taxpayer 484 Scallop seeding was very successful. The number Senior Resident/taxpayer 317 Non-Resident/taxpayer 31 of scallops seeded was more than double that of previ- Commercial ous years.This was accomplished by growing 100,000 21 very small(2 mm)hatchery-produced seed scallops in our upwellers until they were large enough to be trans- Thank you, the boards, committees, departments and people of the Town of Mashpee for your support ferred to trays in Hamblin Pond. After growing larger and assistance. Special thanks to the Deputies and vol- than 1"some of the scallops were released in Waquoit Bay and some are being held in the trays for release unteers. next year.Last year was the first major scallop seeding Respectfully submitted, of Waquoit Bay by both Falmouth and Mashpee. It was apparently successful with this year's harvest of Richard H. York, Jr. about 50 bushels compared to only one to three Shellfish Constable bushels a year for the past several years (there were still no scallops in Popponesset Bay). The quahog seeding program was highly effective as usual. Our upweller system so impressive that a -------- color photograph of it appeared on the front page of 4 the internationally distributed publication "Fish t ,Tarmtug wo Farming News". Starting with 1,000,000 quahog seed T� at such a small size (1 mm) that very few would sur- vive unprotected in the wild, most grow to a plantable t 'I size (>1/2") by the fall after transfer from the upwellers to trays in the estuary. Some are planted, a and some are held over winter in the trays for planting the next year. The system is so cost-effective that the seed purchased from that hatchery for$6,000 is worth more than$25,000 by the time it is planted with oper- ating costs of about$300 for electric power to run the upweller pumps. Risk is now minimized by the new federally-subsidized quahog crop insurance program. This pilot program is the first USDA insurance pro- gram for animals. At a cost of $60 for the year, the remaining quahog seed in our trays is insured for more than $20,000 for natural disasters and most other losses. The total area closed to shellfishing because of fecal coliform bacteria contamination doubled in 1999 with the closure of all of Shoestring Bay, and part of Hamblin Pond. Testing conducted in the Shellfish Dept. Water Quality Lab. indicates that wildlife and fresh water runoff from roads and woodland areas are major contributors of the contamination. The Shellfish Dept. continued participation in the sffAt w,is s dbse-gyp of uffofquehog study of nutrients and euthro hication in the P ,Be0 of an t4wWAerin Popponesset Bay area conducted by Dr. Brian Howes. ,MA. Our expertise and equipment significantly reduced the - - aa.r�t .rt�o i cost of that study. Propagation Program: 1,000,000 quahog seed purchased 100,000 scallop seed purchased 939L