The New Shoreham Shellfish Commission held its first meeting since February on Tuesday, Sept. 15 via Zoom. It was both a wrap-up of the summer season and planning for next year.
Covid did not keep clammers from clamming this summer, with the sale of seasonal shellfish licenses on a par with last year. Administrative assistant and clerk to the committee, Hillary Stewart, said: “People saw it as a socially distanced activity.”
Despite the Great Salt Pond being seeded with fewer clams last spring than in previous years, Head Shellfish Warden Nancy Ziomek reported that she had received no complaints about a lack of clams.
There were a few problems noted. One person wrote to the committee with the observation that people were not re-burying dug clams that were under the size limit for harvesting, and Harbormaster Kate McConville, who was absent for the meeting, but sent in a written report, reported that people were observed taking soft-shell clams, which are prohibited from being harvested at any time. Commission member Tom Walsh said he had heard of complaints of the lack of parking near Cormorant Cove as residents in that area appear to have blocked off areas formerly available
