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trip, the Shellfish Constable talked to Mashpee fifth Report of the grade students about shellfish, and gave them Shellfish Department 15,000,000 quahog larvae that were spawned the day before. The students then released the swimming_ stage larvae which were carried by the tides to set in To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the the Popponesset Bay area. E Citizens of Mashpee: The vastly improved scallop harvest is a result of i Enforcement, propagation and resource manage- the cooperative seeding program that we have with the Town of Falmouth.The wild population was too small ment resulted in increases in quahog and scallop har- vests. Quahogs became the most abundant shellfish in to sustain itself. Habitat degradation reduces survival the year 2000 with very good sets in the sand flats of of very small seed. We grow the seed to a large size Waquoit Bay and some improvement in Popponesset before releasing it in the Bay. For a number of years Bay.There were large sets of littlenecks in some muck before this program, the total harvest from Waquoit bottom saltpond and river areas that previously had no Bay was less than 5 bushels a year, and none in Popponesset Bay. After seeding about 100,000 or shellfish. Relatively cool summer water temperatures (70s), and areas where seaweed did not cover the bot- more scallops a year in Waquoit Bay, the catch was tom allowed the quahogs to grow where they other- about 50 bushels for the 1999-2000 season,and is over 100 bushels in the 2000-2001 season. Because of our wise might have been killed due to low dissolved oxy- gen concentrations. efforts, people can now get a nutritious meal of fresh scallops. The previously abundant soft-shell clam popula- tions dropped to very low numbers with almost no The biggest problem was that more areas were seed to be found. The decline could have been the closed to shellfishing due to contamination by fecal result of starvation and death of the larvae due to the coliform bacteria. In October 2000, all of Popponesset lack of food in the unusually clear water during most Bay and the adjacent areas in the watershed were of the spring spawning season. Newly spawned shell- closed by the Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries fish need food during the 2 to 3 week larval stages, (DMF) after routine sampling showed high bacteria counts. Subsequent testing b the Mashpee Shellfish g Y P whereas larger shellfish can withstand longer periods q . g g the with little or no food. The quahogs might have Dept. found that the problem was coming from spawned at a different time when there was food. Santuit River, but numbers dropped before the source could be identified.It was not from stormwater runoff, Water quality continued to be a problem with and apparently not wildlife as is often the case. The more areas closed to shellfishing due to bacterial con- DMF took our data into consideration, tested again tamination.Investigations utilizing the Shellfish Dept. and reopened Popponesset Bay up to Punkhorn Point Water Quality Lab contributed to the reopening of (including Popponesset Creek) and Ockway Bay.The some areas.Members of the Americorps program pro- Mashpee River and Shoestring Bay remained closed. vided assistance with propagation and water quality Later in the year after reviewing past data, the DMF monitoring at no cost to the Town. closed Sage (Sedge) Lot Pond, and the creek at the Seconsett Island causeway. Birds are the problem in The propagation program was expanded in the Sage Lot Pond. The problem in the creek might be year 2000 by obtaining 3 million quahog seed, and 1 related to the contamination closure area in the North million bay scallop seed from hatcheries (up from 1 end of Hamblin Pond. Wildlife and runoff have been million quahog seed, and 100,000 scallop seed the year identified as sources there, but more testing by the before).After growing in our upweller system and nurs- Shellfish Dept.is needed in these areas.In the past,we ery trays, the seed was worth over $100,000 when have written grant proposals that were funded for con planted in the wild. The fastest growing scallops grew of road runoff. P g g P g traction of catchment basins to control s from a size of 2 mm to 50 mm (2") in less than 4 These effectively reduced contamination of the months. This was accomplished with less than$14,000 Mashpee River. of funds from shellfish permit fees,and 2.9 million qua- hog seed received at no cost through a State funded The Shellfish Dept. continues to participate in County program based on an idea presented to the Dr. Brian Howes study of water quality in the Mashpee Shellfish Constable at a Barnstable County Popponesset Bay area. We collected field data and Shellfish Advisory Committee meeting. samples. Our equipment and expertise have reduced A new part of the propagation program started the cost of this project, and contributed to the under last year involved the Mashpee Schools.During a field standing of the effects of nutrients in the Bay. s 112