Get to know our Director, Samantha Denette
By Rebecca Settar
It’s been over a year since Samantha Dennette took the helm as Executive Director of the Nantucket Shellfish Association, and we couldn’t be happier with the impact she’s been making. From the refreshed website she single-handedly built this winter to revitalization of the Oyster Festival this past June, we’re so proud that Samantha calls our nonprofit home. Here we catch up with her to hear about her first year in the job.
Haven’t we seen you around town? What were you doing before this?
I moved to Nantucket in 2016 and for the first five years here I managed Faherty Brand, the clothing store on Candle Street. I worked for them year-round, doing special projects and traveling in the winter, but Covid was the final push to settle down and make Nantucket home. I joined the Shellfish Association last spring and have been learning as much as I can about scallops and eelgrass ever since!
What’s your favorite part about working for the Nantucket Shellfish Association?
Any time I get to spend with the fishermen is the best! They are such a wonderful group of guys and so many of them have been incredibly kind in allowing me to join them for scalloping (yes, at 6am, in the cold and dark of winter) and while we cull scallops or they shuck in the shanties, they teach me and answer my endless stream of questions.
Without knowing the fishermen, this job would be theoretical. Getting to know the fishing community this winter makes everything real. You know their stories, you know what is at stake with the health of the harbor and the decline of the bay scallop population. They are the real deal and they’re why I took this job and want to make a difference.
Have you learned a lot on the job? Any interesting facts you’d like to share?
I have learned SO MUCH in a year! In addition to the fishermen, I get to spend time with amazing scientists (like my pals at the Brant Point Hatchery) or fellow nonprofit Executive Directors who all teach me so much. I’m beyond grateful for the community I get to live and work in.
As for fun facts— I started sharing photos on our Instagram this year in a series I called “Dredge Finds” showing the fun and weird things that come up in scallop dredges. Now the fishermen I go out with even keep an eye out for me to take photos! We’ve seen squid, flounder, sea robins, baby bass, but my favorite was the sea urchins. They are just cool, weird creatures!
How can the average person contribute to a sustainable shellfish ecosystem on Nantucket?
I would think of that in two categories: consumption and preservation.
Enjoying local shellfish is a great way to support local fishermen and oyster farmers. Think about how almost everything we consume needs to come in on trucks on ferries. Any time you can cut that step and buy Nantucket oysters or dig up your own clams, you are making a sustainable choice. Up the ante and prepare them with locally grown vegetables and then you’re really on to something!
And then there is preservation. What actions can you take to help preserve the health of our harbor? Runoff from lawn fertilizer is one of the biggest causes of degradation in our harbor. You can tell your landscaper you don’t want them to treat your lawn or can you skip using those products if you care for your own lawn. You can downsize the amount of “green lawn” you have and replace some surface area with native plantings. These actions will directly help make our harbor healthier and increase the habitat for shellfish to thrive in.
What’s the biggest challenge for you?
In the day to day, I am the sole employee of the Shellfish Association. So I wear many hats and the to-do list never seems to get smaller. But thankfully coffee exists…
In the larger sense, there is the overwhelming task of trying to change both hearts and minds and processes and policies to better protect our harbor and shellfish. We live on an island; more than most places we rely on our neighbors. We can absolutely make positive changes and bring our harbor and bay scallop fishery back to a healthy place. But it takes everyone caring enough to make those changes together.
Ok, we’re all dying to know. What’s your favorite Nantucket shellfish and how do you prepare it?
Oh there is nothing better than a Nantucket Bay Scallop, plucked from the harbor that day, and sautéed in butter!
