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