Madaket Seed Move Update
Last year, a massive amount of scallop seed was located in the middle of Madaket Harbor. After assessment with the NRD, we worked with members of the Fishermen’s Council over two weeks to relocate over 1,000 bushels of scallop seed. You can read our recap of the project HERE.
Why did we move scallop seed? We targeted a large area just off of Jackson’s Point. There were two main goals to moving seed:
Thin out the amount of scallop seed in any given area to increase its survivability.
Move seed away from the channel, where it was vulnerable to boat traffic and being silted over.
Where did you move to and why?
We chose a number of locations throughout Madaket Harbor for various reasons. The fishermen helped choose locations that had good water flow, some that would be accessible for recreational scalloping, and some where they anecdotally remembered finding healthy scallops in previous commercial seasons.
What happened after the scallop seed was moved?
Our friends at the Brant Point Hatchery took the lead on monitoring this summer. Every two weeks, they visited different sites measuring water temp at the surface and bottom, measuring the Dissolved Oxygen, and gathering a sample set of seed to measure their size and monitor growth.
After the summer of monitoring, we sat down with Tara Riley, the Town Biologist at the NRD to discuss the different areas and what we observed.
When seed was spread out in a new area, it was more likely that they grew to a larger size.
When seed was in a more dense cluster, growth was slower, but spawning potential remained.
Areas with increased water flow showed more recruitment and growth.
Areas with poor eelgrass, micro-algae, and increased predation are now noted and can be avoided in future moves.
Even through high-summer warm water occurrences, there was not mass die-off
Most empty shell observed can be attributed to an earlier death in the winter or shortly after the seed move, as the shell observed was at the smaller sizes measured during the move.
Overall the project was successful and offered great insight to direct future seed management projects. With commercial season opening, we will get reports from those who fish Madaket Harbor for their observations. We’ll continue working with the NRD to explore further seed management projects and consider some experiments with spawn cages next season to compare growth rates between locations.
