PROVINCETOWN — The owner and the captain of a 46-foot local clamming dredge have been cited by the state environmental police for fishing within the 20-foot contour line at night and during the restricted summer season off Herring Cove.
The Ruth & Gail, owned by the Wellfleet Shellfish Company, was caught fishing off Provincetown on Aug. 13. The state Div. of Marine Fisheries (DMF) prohibits dredging of surf clams from May 1 to Oct. 31 within an area shoreward of the 20-foot-depth contour line, said Troy Wall, spokesman for the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The captain, Scott Nolan, was also cited for fishing at night, which is prohibited, Wall said in an email. The fines add up to $240. The environmental police seized the boat’s catch of 157 bushels of surf clams. Alex Hay, the owner of the Wellfleet Shellfish Company, said surf clams are going for about $30 a bushel, which would make the value of the confiscated shellfish $4,710. Surf clams are the large bivalves used in chowder and clam strips, he added.
“They were in the wrong area, and that is what happens when you are in the wrong area,” Hay said.
Dredging for surf clams at Herring Cove has been a matter of concern for the state Dept. of Environmental Protection, the DMF, and the Provincetown Conservation Commission for nearly a decade.
In 2014, four fishermen using hydraulic dredging vessels off Herring Cove were cited by the conservation commission for violating the town’s 2007 bylaw banning dredging within the 40-foot contour line. Hydraulic clam dredging, which involves applying water pressure to the sea floor to release the clams, is deemed harmful to the benthic environment by the commission.
The DMF, however, claimed jurisdiction over all clamming in the state and disputed the validity of the town’s bylaw. Monte Rome, owner of the Gloucester-based F/V Tom Slaughter in 2014, sued the town for barring him from clamming in an area where the DMF allowed it.
Last November, that suit was settled when a Barnstable Superior Court judge ruled that, in fact, the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) — a third dog in this fight — actually has jurisdiction under the Wetlands Protection Act of the area inside the 40-foot contour line. The judge ruled that hydraulic dredging for clams is a violation of the Wetlands Protection Act. Confusing the issue even further, town conservation commissions are in charge of enforcing the DEP’s Wetlands Protection Act rules, said Tim Famulare, Provincetown’s director of environmental planning and conservation.
“It is confusing,” Famulare admitted, but hydraulic dredging has continued despite both town and state regulations.
Famulare said he had spoken recently with the captain of the Ruth & Gail about reports that the vessel was dredging at Herring Cove. “We didn’t have any proof,” he said. “We did get word that it was going on.”
The Aug. 13 citation by the environmental police provided the proof necessary to go forward with enforcement of some kind on a local level. Famulare said he planned to talk to the chair of the conservation commission about issuing a cease-and-desist order to the Ruth & Gail.
In order to be allowed to use a hydraulic dredge in that area, the captain or boat owner must apply for an “order of conditions” from the conservation commission. No one has applied for such a permit, Famulare said. Rome told the Independent in December that he planned to apply but Famulare said he has not yet. The Ruth & Gail has not taken that step either, he added. Even if the boat’s owner had received a local permit, the DMF’s seasonal ban on dredging for clams would likely supersede the state DEP regulation.
Essentially, this means the Ruth & Gail must stop surf clamming year-round until it receives a permit to do so from the conservation commission, Famulare added.
Jamie Staniscia, a member of the Provincetown Public Pier Corp. board, which handles the slips and docking at MacMillan Pier, said it is highly unlikely the local commission would ever issue a permit to allow hydraulic dredging for surf clams in that area. On the subject of enforcement, Staniscia said he would consider the possibility of not allowing the Ruth & Gail to dock at MacMillan Pier, where it currently rents dock space.
