Attendance:
Thomas Alden, Rick Baird, Bill Burt, Leo Byrnes, Sandy Campbell, Jeffery Clemants, Judy Dutra, Robert Edgar, Cliff Goudey, Harlyn Halvorson, Rich Karney, Dale Leavitt, Ralph Meyer, John O'Brien, Mark Sherman, Mark Simonitsch, Ronald Smolowitz, James Spalt, Tobin Storer, and Flick York

Welcome Remarks
Harlyn Halvorson opened the meeting and reported upon discussions with Suzan Snow-Cotter regarding the State Aquaculture Plan. The State agencies are now considering, and prioritizing, the regulatory regulations for aquaculture. However the funding is not in place for aquaculture this year.

Aquaculture Boundary Jurisdiction
Leo Byrnes introduced himself as an attorney who has done a lot of work with commercial lending institutions, with regulators, and with people in aquaculture such as Blue Gold Muscles in New Bedford. He had hoped through our meetings to be led to a source of legal material for people who are seeking permits for aquaculture. One of the first issues he encountered was where are the boundaries of the Commonwealth and more importantly where are the boundaries of the respective towns? The first is easier to define - 3 miles out from the shore line - from a base line across inland seas. DMF has maps which delineate the seaward boundary of all the towns and the boundaries between towns. As there is difficulty in identifying the legal source of this authority - Leo conducted the research outlined in Appendix A. The main findings were:

o The boundaries of the Commonwealth are determined by the Federal Submerged Land Act of 1953. The Supreme Court determined that Cape Cod Bay is within the land waters of Massachusetts, but not Nantucket Sound.

o The boundaries of the countries and towns are cited in Sections of Massachusetts General Law (MGL).

He summarized the problems and contradictions which result from reviewing these and the DMF documents. For example, there may be areas in Massachusetts, such as the middle of Cape Cod Bay, which are not part of any town. Lenders need authority in order to provide funds. Between towns there are other problems. This problem was the basis of an Act of 1881 which generated a map. However this map could not be found in the Barnstable Court. Inconsistencies of the Act of 1867 were pointed out. These issues have to be resolved to get permits, funding, and to protect he grower against possible law suits. These problems need to be resolved; no grower has the funds to research this problem. In response to a question, Mr. Byrnes said that a memorandum of understanding would not be sufficient to resolve this problem. The Magnuson Act gives certain responsibilities to the Commonwealth. Bank failures were cites as examples resulting from failures to obtain permits.

New England Fishery Management Council
Ron Smolowitz and Cliff Goudey opened the discussions on the New England Fisheries Management Council. Concerning the Westport Scallop Corp. proposal, the Council recommended this week to move to public hearings, before Jan. 24th, with the amendment. This is a significant step forward, and everyone was urged to attend. If he Council votes in the affirmative it goes to NMFS for their approval for this research project.

The Council has contracted with William J. Brennan of Maine to look at the relevant policy issues and to formulate recommendations ( Appendix B for Executive Summary). We need to review this document. The Council recognizes that this is part of their responsibility, but they are not tooled up to do this. The West Port Proposal is the only one that will be handled this way. Every small project can not be dealt with by an amendment.

Concern was expressed that the system of management through the Council is extremely slow and does not work. Sandy Campbell pointed out that the Brennan report has high visibility. Mr. Brennan has researched the procedures used in California, N. Carolina, Norway, Iceland, and other countries. Mr. Campbell further pointed out that if a permit could be obtained from NMFS, this would eliminate the need for a special amendment. Ron Smolowitz emphasized that NMFS could play a critical role and influence the process. As they need to take testimony from other users, the public process used by the Council is very slow. What is need, Ron urged, is for the Council to define tracts where aquaculture has the first priority. The best way to get this is through the Council process in federal waters. For Massachusetts we need a strong advocate as a ombudsman.

Leo Byrnes reported that John Ericksen has the only other permit issued beyond the 3 mile limit. Mr. Ericksen is proposing a $20 M project to cultivate finfish off an oil rig. It was pointed out that his permit from the Corps of Engineers does not give him ownership of the cultivated fish - so he may still have a problem. Ron Smolowitz pointed out that the Corps of Engineers permit gives permission to erect a structure - but not to block fishing. Under the Magnuson Act you do not own the fish. This issue is addressed in the Management Plan which considers the habitat impact upon the resource and the impact of spawn given off by the animals. For this reason you have to write an amendment to the Management Plan.

The possible loss of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the creation of a Department of Natural Resources at the Federal and State level was thought by Sandy Campbell to provide a more conducive atmosphere for development. Ron Smolowitz reiterated his previous suggestion that we should amend the Magnuson Act to require each council to define in its own areas of jurisdiction a percentage of the area devoted to aquaculture and to set up procedures for this purpose.

Falmouth Shellfish Advisory Committee
Dale Leavitt reviewed the recent history in which he and Mike Collins organized 20 - 30 fishermen in Falmouth to create a Shellfish Advisory Committee. This committee has been approved unanimously by the Selectmen and its members will be approved soon. Their charge will be to bring new and different ways to manage this industry. Dale was urged to write up this history to assist other communities in achieving similar results.

Blueprint
Harlyn Halvorson thanked the Commonwealth Electric Co. for printing copies of our blueprint. A draft letter was sent to all attendees which recommended that the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture be the lead agency for advocacy for aquaculture in the State. There were no substantial changes recommended. Ron Smolowitz will take 50 of these copies, with the covering letter, to the New Bedford Sea Food Coalition with a request that they endorse this and set up a meeting with us.

Identify Suitable Sea Scallop Aquaculture Tracts
Dale Leavitt led a discussion of other recommendations that this group should promote. He suggested that the next item should be to identify tracts in Massachusetts waters appropriate for aquaculture. At a previous meeting Jim Fair, DMF, said he did not have the staff or the time to do this. He urged the Working Group to bring recommendations to DMF. This activity, which the group supported, would require about $20,000 - $30,000. Rick Karney suggested that we could utilize the experience of fishermen to identify these areas.

Bob Edgar reported that the Biology Department at Univ. Mass Dartmouth was developing a program in Molecular Ecology that could be helpful in research and in tracking (GIS) suitable sites for Sea Scallop Aquaculture. The Working Group endorsed this concept and seeking funds to carry this out.

Aquaculture Teleconferencing Program
Sandy Campbell reported on his activity in organizing a teleconferencing program to educate the public on aquaculture. This would be interactive, available to the local schools in Massachusetts, and take advantage of the offer to use the NAS facility in Woods Hole without charge. He has some funding for this and is looking towards coupling this with a program by ATT. There was considerable interest in he Working Group to participate in this project.

Working Group Actions
1. It was urged that all members attend the public hearings and respond to the
amendment. To be placed on the mailing list dates for Council and Aquaculture
Subgroup meetings, contact:

Mrs. Pat Fiorelli
New England Fishery Management Council
Suntaug Office Park
5 Broadway, Rte. 1
Saudus, MA 01706 Tel (617) 231-0422

2. A Subcommittee was created to bring back to the Sea Scallop Working Group recommendations for designing a strategy of dealing with the NE Fisheries Management Council. Its members are: Ron Smolowitz (Chairman), Sandy Campbell, Mike Collins Cliff Goudey, and Mark Simonitsch,

3. A Subcommittee was established to bring back specific recommendations on identifying tracts for sea scallop Aquaculture in Massachusetts waters. Its members are: Dale Leavitt (chairman), Jeff Clements, Judy Dutra, and Robert Edgar.

Next Meeting
Leo Byrnes reported on the interests in aquaculture that he has encountered with representatives of bank and the investment committee. Both groups are looking for cooperatives that they can work with. It was decided to make this the focus of the next meeting and to work with Mr. Byrnes to establish an agenda. The next meeting was set for Friday, January 26 at 9:30 AM to noon at the Cape Cod Economic Development Council, Hyannis.

Harlyn O. Halvorson
December 21, 1995