Westport Island Shellfish Committee

September 6, 2006 meeting minutes

The following is a summary of discussions held at the September 6, 2006 Shellfish committee meeting.

The committee met at 6:00PM in the town office. Committee members in attendance were Joe Donohue, Jerry Bodmer, David Bertran, Lincoln Richardson and Mike Muchmore. Also attending the meeting were Amy Fitzpatrick and Darcie Couture from DMR, Ron Aho area Biologist and Forest Smith a commercial harvester.

Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes from the August meeting as read. This was approved by the members of the committee. After signing the minutes by committee members, a copy of the minutes will be given to the town selectmen and a copy will be posted at the town office. An additional e-copy will be sent to the town administrative assistant.

Warden’s report: Joe informed the committee that he had sent Ron Aho the Bi-Annual Warden enforcement report for the period of January through June. He also passed out for discussion a copy of the report.

No significant incidents were observed by Joe during the past month. Lincoln reported that he had observed some evidence of Clam harvesting in closed areas on the East side of the island.

Status of Squam Creek South Opening: Amy and Darcie announced to the committee that the new shellfish area S/W of Squam Creek was opened for soft shell harvesting by DMR on August 17. This area, which includes approximately 1,000 acres of clam flats, extends west and south along the remainder of the western shore then along the southern shore of Westport Island to Brooks point. Tarbox Cove as well as Bailey Cove were excluded from the opened area and remain closed, as these two coves contain Overboard Discharge Septic Systems.

The committee expressed their sincere thanks to both of these state employees for their diligent efforts in opening this new area. Dave was directed by the committee to draft a letter to the DMR commissioner thanking him and his staff for their past efforts. A copy of the letter will also be sent to the Governor.

Jerry went over the new map showing the opened areas on Westport as well as a question and answer sheet pertaining to shellfish licensing. Joe will add a cover letter noting the details of the new opened area and have the Town Clerk send copies to all existing License holders.

McCarty Cove Seeding: Joe reported that he had inspected the seeding operation at McCarty Cove this past week and had found 8 of the original 10 nets still in place. It appeared that within each of the eight nets the seeds had gone into the flats and were no longer visible from the surface. The netting is scheduled to be removed sometime in October. Ron recommended to the committee that a sampling of one square foot should be taken from the netting areas when the netting is removed in October.

Accident Insurance Coverage: This item was not discussed at the meeting but will be addressed at our October meeting.

Squam Creek Harvesting: The Committee discussed in great detail the existing conditions at Squam Creek including the closing of Squam Creek to Commercial diggers which was agreed to at our last meeting. It was proposed by some members of the committee that part of the newly opened area also be set aside for recreational harvesting. This proposal was tables until our next meeting to allow time for Joe, Lincoln and Forest to access current levels of harvestable clams in the new area. They will visit the new flats, determine existing conditions and make a recommendation to the committee on setting aside (or not) addition areas for recreational harvesting only.

The committee all agreed to include in the Shellfish ordinance the following: “No person holding a Commercial State of Maine Shellfish License will be permitted to purchase a Recreational Shellfish License on Westport Island”. Joe will write this proposal into the existing ordinance and present it to the committee at our next meeting.

Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on October 3 starting at 6:00 PM. at the town office.

Chairman – Dave Bertran _______________________________

Vice Chairman - Clement Sledge ________________________________

Secretary – Joe Donohue _______________________________

Member– Jerry Bodmer _______________________________

Member – Donna Curry _______________________________

Member – Lincoln Richardson (alt) _______________________________

Member – Mike Muchmore (alt.) _______________________________

Signatures

Submitted by Joe Donohue - Secretary