Fishermen’s Council

The Nantucket Shellfish Association serves as an industry liaison through the Fishermen’s Council to better understand the issues facing the commercial shellfish community. The Fishermen’s Council is open to those who hold commercial shell fishing licenses or aquaculture permits on Nantucket and others whose livelihood is based on the water. By facilitating periodic meetings, the waterfront community is able to discuss issues and brainstorm ideas. The Nantucket Shellfish Association leans on the experience of the fishing community to help guide their direction and initiatives concerning the health of the harbor and shellfishery.

Seed Strandings

The NSA works closely with the Natural Resources Department to support during times of seed strandings. This most often occurs when the wind direction of a storm moves scallop seed ashore and is at risk of dying if not manually brought back into the harbor. During the winter of 2020, a major storm high tide pushed thousands of bushels of scallop seed onto the beach between Polpis and Folger’s. With the help of the Natural Resources Department, the NSA rallied a number of commercial fishermen to collect and relocate scallop seed over three days.

Seed Management

Unlike seed strandings, which are reactionary, seed management is a proactive effort between the Nantucket Shellfish Association, the Natural Resources Department, and the commercial scalloping community. When large amounts of scallop seed are identified in a small area, they can compete for resources to grow, and therefore decrease the survival rate. With the help of the Hatchery team at the NRD, we can monitor the health of scallop seed and reallocate to areas with healthy water flow and eelgrass if it’s deemed necessary. This becomes a joint effort with the NSA retaining commercial scallopers to move and manage seed with the direction of the NRD.