The idea for getting an upweller to grow shellfish “seed” was the brainchild of the late Hermann “Bo” Gempp. Gempp was a longtime member of the Shellfish Commission and thought that the Great Salt Pond needed to become more sustainable. Instead of relying on purchasing harvestable-sized shellfish and distributing them into the pond each year for recreational shell-fishing, perhaps the commission could grow out some of their own stock.It turns out the upweller is a lot to maintain. Once the seed is in the upweller, the troughs need to get cleaned once per week, and the bags the seeds are in need to be shaken twice per week. Harbormaster Kate McConville, in her second year on the job, told the members of the Shellfish Commission at their meeting Tuesday that maintaining the upweller this past summer had taken too much time away from her staff’s primary focus of being shellfish wardens. “I don’t want to give it up, but you need to take on a more active role,” she said.A couple of the commission members said they had volunteered to help, but it either fell off their radar or there was a lack of follow-up. Jon Berry said:
