[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6319940,"mediaKeyId","2360181-503c2691f92bd1bd659c7e9849573f05","parentId",2360181,"title","Advisory board OKs limited scallop season extension and backs town weather station and reporting app","audioSeconds",3500,"startMs",1551000,"endMs",5051000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2360181-503c2691f92bd1bd659c7e9849573f05&start=1551&end=5051","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2360181-503c2691f92bd1bd659c7e9849573f05/thumbnail_1551000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6319940/Nantucket-County/Massachusetts/Advisory-board-OKs-limited-scallop-season-extension-and-backs-town-weather-station-and-reporting-app","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6319940-7c2d99744d60707344df76766ce5bb0b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771158075&Signature=REaWSJgMHsN864tF4ANdaqumSzp58kKhJ1IcawAKlOymmqc56SYpd2tRa57BAFgLCZprTiFLwjeusSW4vcwKnIuoVhTf3VxfrFNs9eIrZ8sYhscRI9CeO3F83LiBHaBYh0XShLptF2SMyi1bBGrhilWeO4vH3oLnb9ktQ9pVtlOaCw-HRUJl9Hm77COj-NbWycyd0Rb8ciQ-nZVtUNqUf5D6GrZrzOD2IgOElirKw8v22RDmLMwtq4A0NXVSLc5f0ax-D7yfrcFD~XTi6BOFtFZn9NsdDEDmjZyszC8x2sO~9dHExxa89sF6T0hwm1hdOJO~8g6ur-qXIr-4wN9hDA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town-County of Nantucket, MA","date","2025-02-20T00:00:00Z","article","The Harbor Shellfish Advisory Board voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to extend the commercial scallop season through April 11, maintaining a five‑day week and a six‑box daily limit, and adding an automatic end to the extension if harbor water temperatures reach 50°F.

The motion to extend the season was made by Mister DeCosta and seconded by Mister Bossy; the board recorded an aye vote from Mister Bossy, Mister Anderson, Mister DeCosta, Mister Brace, Mister Sherwin and the chair. The motion’s language specifies a five‑day week, a six‑box daily limit during the extension, and that the extension ends if water temperature reaches 50°F.

Why it matters: The extension adds roughly nine potential fishing days in April to allow harvesters to make up days lost to weather earlier in the winter. Board members discussed buyer availability and quality concerns; staff repeatedly emphasized that going forward remains voluntary and that harvesters should ensure they have a market before increasing landings.

Members also advanced a multi‑part plan to modernize communications and reporting. Jeff Carlson, natural-resources staff, described work on a town‑controlled weather station at the Brandt Point hatchery that will publish real‑time conditions (the board discussed posting to Weather Underground and using NOAA as a fallback). “We typically use NOAA… I think we would probably default back to NOAA as a backup,” said Dave (town staff). Board members supported a town‑maintained station so the town would not be dependent on private devices, and they discussed developing a simple mobile/web app for licensees to report daily landings, receive push notifications for red‑flag closures and enroll apprentices.

Board members and staff described several rule clarifications under consideration: removing certain state‑regulated species from the town’s recreational table (for example, blue crabs) where state law already governs those harvest limits; formalizing how unused conch‑pot allocations are reallocated if a permit holder does not set gear by a deadline; and creating a two‑track apprentice system so high‑school or day‑apprentice experiences can be logged separately from commercial apprenticeship days.

Staff said the app could allow users to upload a license once, log harvests quickly, enroll for push notifications by category (commercial, recreational, apprentice), and reduce paper reporting. Jeff said initial conversations with existing app developers and the town IT department suggest a pilot could be achievable before next season.

No additional regulatory changes were finalized at the meeting beyond preparing a final draft of amendments for the board’s next meeting; the season extension motion will be forwarded to the Select Board and the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) for approval.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Nantucket Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board - 02/18/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Harbor Shellfish Advisory Board voted unanimously to extend the scallop season to April 11 with the existing daily limits and a 50°F water‑temperature cutoff; members also advanced plans for a town‑controlled weather station at the Brandt Point hatchery and a county-managed catch‑reporting app and discussed apprentice and conch‑permit rules.","taxTitle","Nantucket County, Massachusetts","taxId",61456,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6319945,"Maya Comet Pond dredging delayed as Army Corps permit remains pending; town readies procurement and spoil handling plan",612,213000,825000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2360181-503c2691f92bd1bd659c7e9849573f05&start=213&end=825","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2360181-503c2691f92bd1bd659c7e9849573f05/thumbnail_213000.jpg","/articles/6319945/Nantucket-County/Massachusetts/Maya-Comet-Pond-dredging-delayed-as-Army-Corps-permit-remains-pending-town-readies-procurement-and-spoil-handling-plan","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6319945-18f645f24373b752b099ee6dd9670669/orig.mp4?Expires=1771158075&Signature=oF2DhCtg0~bifcY6nD8J5d0KVT4JCvbGUgzWKkeTy5HnnrNLNJ6qatxqyUS8wHcpnLLQv~BBXrkuZzqmnj8M52JP-LJjUsoVkxAhK3cYUTF6ZOOP34w5vfLMecJ-R4zCjrogM2n8w8GfVZ0d2xB2p4mAcNyfQCGPXgSlzwipeA8YTTYJJoXZhTz8NrdjqknJN4A6-6ZWQOBgCWglbcMHOzbL-u7~pe9NRaasluWEiMKCxArPvUiGEaL2Pf7G3AlMILrJ1dEU4NybzIJ0AuPH8pihGIt8cl5UA1aEaSIdehwHhcgHHCVrW5-AZHpZEgc9uwQsLnxEAhH-lmg0W4lSGg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At its Feb. 18 meeting, the Harbor Shellfish Advisory Board heard that the Maya Comet Pond dredging project will not occur this season because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit remains outstanding, and town staff expect the work to move forward in fall or winter instead.

The town has secured a state grant for the project and will begin procurement for dredging contractors in the coming weeks, Jeff Carlson, natural-resources staff, told the board. “We have all but 1 permit. We're still waiting for a permit from the corps,” Carlson said. He added the delay “doesn't affect the grant we received from the state, the million dollar grant that we got from from those folks to do that project.”

Why it matters: Pond dredging is intended to restore navigation, reduce nuisance growth, and generate material that the town hopes to reuse for shoreline work or compost. Board members and public commenters raised concerns about local wildlife (eels and crabs), haul routes and trucking, and how dredged sediment will be processed and stored.

Town staff described next steps and spoil handling. Carlson said the dredged slurry will be pumped to the wastewater treatment facility for dewatering and sorting so cleaner sands can be separated and, after testing, possibly reused for beach nourishment or as a compost supplement. “We can separate that material by, essentially by soil type,” Carlson said. He added that testing so far had not identified heavy-metal or persistent-organic contaminant problems and that some material may be suitable as a compost supplement.

Board members and public commenters urged the town to inventory pond fauna before dredging and to consider trapping eels ahead of operations. A public commenter recommended setting traps “and maybe somebody goes in there for the summer and sets eel traps and cages them because…when they start dredging that mud, those eels are gonna come out with it.” Carlson said the dredging permit process will require pre‑work biological assessments that document what is living in the pond ahead of dredging.

Staff also described a wider dredging program for the harbor. Carlson said preliminary engineering work on a harborwide dredge plan is underway; priority locations raised by attendees included Polpis Harbor, Easy Street Basin and the Bachamo channel. He said the town hopes to obtain a general permit that would allow smaller annual maintenance dredges rather than a single large removal schedule.

Board members asked about truck routes and local impacts; Carlson said much of the material will be slurry‑pumped to the treatment facility rather than trucked directly from the pond, but he warned that the full operation will require significant trucking for any material that cannot be reused on site.

The town plans pre‑procurement outreach to local and regional firms in the next 60 days and to prepare the engineering footprints once the remaining permit(s) arrive. If the remaining federal permit arrives soon staff indicated work would be scheduled for fall/winter.","Town staff told the Harbor Shellfish Advisory Board that the Maya Comet Pond dredging project will likely be deferred until fall because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit is still pending; staff said state grant funding is secure, procurement will begin soon, and dredged material will be dewatered for possible reuse.","actionData","errors"]

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Advisory board OKs limited scallop season extension and backs town weather station and reporting app

Maya Comet Pond dredging delayed as Army Corps permit remains pending; town readies procurement and spoil handling plan