Ten Years of Nantucket Harbor Research

Nantucket Harbor Research A Ten Year Summary

A Collaborative Publication By Nantucket’s Conservation Non-Profits

An Introduction The Nantucket and Madaket Harbors are two of the cleanest harbors in Massachusetts. It certainly helps that Nantucket is twenty-six miles from the mainland, but these harbors still have their share of problems including heavy boat traffic, an enormous human population surge in the summer, and pollution from fertilizers and septic systems. These issues affect harbors around the world, but the strong Nantucket tradition of land conservation and preservation has maintained great water quality and kept the local fisheries and recreational activities alive.

Nantucket has one of the last sustainable commercial bay scallop fisheries in the world. The near shore waters are teaming with life from crabs to whelks to fish and hundreds of thousands of birds stop on the island each migration season to fuel up for flight. Tens of thousands of visitors arrive here every summer to enjoy the relatively pristine environment. The healthy harbors provide food and shelter for countless game fish species.

The salt marshes and eelgrass beds filter water and trap sediment making the water clear and inviting. What would living on Nantucket be like if places like Pocomo, Coatue, and Monomoy Beach were devoid of marine life and surrounded by murky water that was questionable for swimming? There are countless mainland harbors that already know the answer to this question.

We are now in a critical time. Water quality, while still very good, is decreasing and we see evidence of that in cloudy water, spikes in algal blooms and rust tide, and reductions in eelgrass beds. Many individuals and organizations on Nantucket are working to document the health of our harbors, decrease harmful impacts, educate the public, and find solutions to current issues. This publication is a summary of many research projects and initiatives over the last ten years that have helped us understand more about these life giving resources. The breadth and diversity of those involved in these projects show that this is a collaborative effort that many times involves volunteers – people like you. You have already taken the first step by picking up this booklet. If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact any of the organizations in this publication.

The harbors will always need friends!

Andrew Mckenna-Foster Director of Natural Science Maria Mitchell Association

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Table of Contents Page

Harbor Ecology

Monitoring Harbor Biodiversity

Surveys of the Nantucket Harbor Bottom

Horseshoe Crab Surveys

6 7 8

Shellfish

Shell Recycling Program

Branding the Nantucket Bay Scallop

9 10

The Importance of the Second Spawn

11

Timing of the Bay Scallop Spawn

12

Bay Scallop Larval Release Program

13

Conservation & Management

Best Management Practices for Landscape Fertilizer Use on Nantucket

14

Island Salt Marsh Restoration in Polpis Harbor

15

Salt Marsh Dieback

Nantucket Land Bank

16 17

Other Research

18

Funding Organizations

Contributing Organizations

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About The Funding Organizations The Maria Mitchell Association Founded 1902 The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) was founded in the birthplace of Maria Mitchell, America’s first female professional astronomer. The Association’s mission is to promote Mitchell’s legacy and encourage the education and enjoyment of Nantucket’s land, water, and skies. Mitchell was devoted to scientific observation, hands-on learning, and education for women. She discovered a comet through a telescope from Nantucket in 1847 and spent the rest of her life teaching at Vassar College, traveling and conducting research. The MMA operates a historic house, two research observatories, an aquarium, and a natural science museum. Research projects through these facilities span astronomy, history, entomology, ecology, and marine ecology. Each summer, about 14,000 people visit the museums or go on field trips with MMA staff and 400 children attend science based MMA summer camp.

www.mariamitchell.org

The Nantucket Land Council Founded 1974 The Nantucket Land Council, Inc. (NLC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was organized in 1974 by concerned Nantucket citizens who cherished the island’s pristine natural setting and who were troubled by increasing environmental degradation and loss of Nantucket’s rural character. The organization’s leadership and membership remain committed to the original purpose of defending the island’s natural resources by “planning, protecting and preserving.” The NLC is dedicated to protecting Nantucket’s natural world and rural character by holding and enforcing conservation restrictions, commissioning scientific research, monitoring development proposals, engaging in legal proceedings to protect natural resources, and educating the public on local environmental issues.

www.nantucketlandcouncil.org

The Nantucket Shellfish Association Founded 2003 The Nantucket Shellfish Association’s mission is to encourage research and education for the conservation and enhancement of shellfish populations in the waters of Nantucket Island; and to assure prudent commercial and recreational harvesting of shellfish in support of a diversified economic base for the Nantucket community. The organization’s annual fundraiser, the Scalloper’s Ball, is a popular island event known for its excellent food and dancing. The Nantucket Shellfish Association provides over $10,000 to local research initiatives each year. Projects include Nantucket Bay Scallop monitoring, equipment upgrades at the Town’s shellfish hatchery, and genetics research on harbor algae.

www.nantucketbayscallops.org

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Monitoring Harbor Biodiversity

Long term monitoring of the animals living in Nantucket’s harbors Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) Since 2003, the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium staff have conducted intensive surveys of the fish and invertebrate creatures that live just off Nantucket’s harbor beaches. The public takes part in these surveys through the MMA’s marine ecology field trips. Parents and their children help sort animals off a 12-foot seine net into buckets. After an Aquarium intern leads the group through an informal training session on identifying the animals and learning about their life histories, the participants help count, measure, weigh, and release everything that was caught. This long term citizen science dataset provides a snapshot of the amazing marine life occurring just off many of Nantucket’s most popular beaches. It also provides a baseline to monitor future changes in the harbor health.

Quick Look • • • •

110,551 creatures counted 118 species recorded 7,145 seining samples Over 60 interns and more than 5,000 people have assisted in data collection • Some species, like Northern Sennet and Pinfish, go through cycles of abundance

Green Crab Invasion!

Green Crabs were introduced to Nantucket in the 1800’s and are now very common.

They compete with native creatures, like Spider Crabs and Lady Crabs.

Tropical Fish on Nantucket?

Late in the summer, tropical fish can be found on Nantucket. These fish get swept North by the Gulf Stream, a warm water current that goes from the Caribbean Sea, north along the East Coast of the United States. Many of these tropical fish cannot swim South against the Gulf Stream to return to warmer waters, and do not survive.

The ten most common species just off the beaches in the harbors.

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Surveys of the Nantucket Harbor Bottom Nine years of detailed dive surveys document changes in Nantucket Harbor Dr. Peter Boyce, Dr. Valerie Hall, Dr. Robert Kennedy Since 2006, divers have counted species and measured eelgrass characteristics at forty sites throughout the Harbor each fall. The data shows changes in abundance for some animals and documents the sudden increase of a detrimental filamentous algae. Data collected during these dives also helped in understanding more about the importance of nub scallops. A critical finding from the project is a gradual loss in eelgrass over time. At each site each year, divers quantified eelgrass coverage and noted a downward trend in eelgrass abundance. There are many possible causes for this loss, both natural and human induced. Storms may be destroying eelgrass beds, higher nutrients in the Harbor may be reducing water clarity and eelgrass growth, or non-native species (algae, crabs, etc.) may be hurting eelgrass growth.

Quick Look

The filamentous algae first appeared in 2006 and by 2012 it totally covered the harbor bottom in many areas. The only way to control the algae is to starve it – reduce the excess nitrogen in the water.

Scallops were by far the most common animal each year. Crabs and whelks (snails that eat shellfish) make up the bulk of other species counted.

Together, these represent the food web on the bottom of the harbors.

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• 45 sites surveyed each year • 13,980 animals identified and counted • 56% of measurements showed a decline in eelgrass • Over 70% of dive sites saw a decline in eelgrass • Scallops were the single most abundant animal counted • Filamentous algae significantly increased since 2006 • Whelks generally decreased, green crabs increased

Horseshoe Crab Surveys

Monitoring this ancient species’ struggle to survive

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Horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) have been breeding on Nantucket’s beaches for thousands of years and they have survived on Earth as an unchanged species for over 400 million years! In this time, many bird species have come to depend on horseshoe crab eggs as an important food source during migration. The exoskeletons shed by growing horseshoe crabs are coveted treasures to find on the beach for children and adults alike. In the early part of the twentieth century, thousands of horseshoe crabs would appear on Nantucket Harbor beaches, particularly Monomoy and the Creeks, to lay eggs in May and June.

Now, only a few hundred appear. Three organizations on Nantucket survey for the breeding animals each year and report the data to a regional group of scientists who track the population overall.

Quick Look • Horseshoe crabs are over 400 million years old as a species • They breed by laying eggs at the high tide mark on sandy beaches in the spring • Horseshoe crab blood is used to make a substance that detects bacterial contamination in medical equipment and medicine • Horseshoe crabs are used as bait in the American eel fishery

Surveying for Horseshoe Crabs

Each organization sends out volunteers and staff to walk a designated length of beach either at Eel Point, Monomoy Beach, or the UMass Nantucket Field Station. All individual crabs are counted and their location is recorded.

Horseshoe Crab Anatomy

Male horseshoe crabs have strong looking hooks on their front two legs (to hold onto a female’s shell) and are smaller than females. All horseshoe crabs molt, or shed their exoskeleton to grow, many times in their life.

These molts are often mistaken for dead horseshoe crabs.

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Shell Recycling Program

Shuck It for Nantucket: Recycling shell stock for future oyster restoration

In the spring of 2014, with the help of the Nantucket Shellfish Association, the Natural Resources Department established a shell recycling program due to its high priority in the Shellfish Management Plan (October 2012). This program encourages local restaurants, raw bars, and the community to save and recycle oyster and clam shells in order to support oyster restoration in Nantucket waters. Restored oyster beds will serve as a foundation for a living classroom that will be monitored for water quality, species biodiversity, and self-sustaining growth. Rather than being harvested for commercial purposes, these restored oyster beds will be left to help restore and enhance the wild population here on Nantucket. This program focuses on reducing waste, recycles a valuable resource, and provides an opportunity for the community to participate in a sustainable movement.

After the oysters are eaten, their shells are discarded

Shucked oyster shells are reclaimed for use in oyster reef restoration projects

Harvested oysters sold to restaurants Recycled oysters are placed back into bay waters to replenish and restore reefs

• Oysters are harvested and sold to restaurants and raw bars.

• Oysters are consumed and the shells are picked up, weighed, and stored at the Department of Public Works (DPW) to cure for at least one year.

• Cured oyster shells, or “cultch,” are preferred because oyster spat are chemically attracted to them and need to attach to a suitable substrate to metamorphosize into adulthood.

Every day, shells are collected from twenty-five restaurants and three raw bars, weighed, and stored at the DPW.

Pounds of Shells May 2,322 June 4,270 July 6,735 August 7,905 September 4,228 October 1,743 November 454 December 702 28,363 Grand Total Month

Pounds of shells in 2014

• Since there is not a significant oyster population on Nantucket, oyster spat will be produced by the Brant Point Shellfish Hatchery and remotely set on recycled oyster shell for oyster reef establishment.

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Quick Look • Nantucket’s natural oyster community has significantly declined due to poor water quality, possible historic over harvesting, and a decline in suitable substrate (oyster shells) • Oyster shells help protect local waters from rising ocean acidity • One oyster filters around 30 gallons of water a day which helps to improve water quality • Oysters lower turbidity, which increases light penetration allowing eelgrass growth • Oyster reefs provide habitat for numerous types of fish, shellfish and crustaceans, while acting as a shoreline buffer against erosion

Branding the Nantucket Bay Scallop

Protecting the consumer from fraudulent sales around the world In a world where information flows freely – and it seems like no deception escapes criticism on social media – counterfeit seafood is having a heyday. Fish and shellfish meat can be sold as whatever fish species a seller wishes and rarely will a consumer know if he was a victim of deception. This practice hurts fisherman who cannot sell authentic species at a premium. The Nantucket Bay Scallop is one of these premium species, tasting sweeter and more flavorful than other bay scallops. Restaurants in “America,” as Nantucketers refer to it, have been caught selling “fresh Nantucket Bay Scallops” out of season or selling bay scallop meat from elsewhere as Nantucket Bay Scallop meat.

To combat this practice, in 2013 the Nantucket Shellfish Association organized and paid for the registration of the Nantucket Bay Scallop name and logo. Now scallopers and wholesalers can ship scallops with official documentation and fish markets can display the official Nantucket Bay Scallop logo when they are selling the actual product. When buying Nantucket Bay Scallops, especially off island, look for the logo!

How Might Scallops Be Fraudulent?

Because Nantucket Bay Scallops are sold for a premium, some restaurants and wholesalers may be tempted to buy cheaper bay scallop meat from elsewhere and sell it as Nantucket Bay Scallops. Other deceptions may include selling previously frozen bay scallops as ‘fresh,’ even though they are out of season, or selling shark or skate meat as scallops.

According to a study by Oceana, a non-profit working to protect oceans and fisheries, fraudulent seafood makes up 33% of what is on the market (Oceana, February 2013). The same study states that items sold as snapper or tuna had the highest mislabeling at 87% and 59% respectively.

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The Importance of the Second Spawn

The Nantucket bay scallop second spawn stabilizes the population Dr. Valerie Hall This is an important question in the Nantucket Bay Scallop fishery: should scallops born during the second spawn (late in the summer) of the previous year be harvested or are they special, and possibly essential, for the survival of the bay scallop fishery on Nantucket? As part of her dissertation work, Dr. Valerie Hall investigated the importance of second spawn scallops on the population and fishery.

Most scallops spawn in June. Their offspring grow to the size of 1 2/3 inches by the time winter arrives and they stop growing. When they start growing again in the spring, a growth ring forms where their growth stopped the previous winter. These are called “classics.” Scallops born in the second spawn, as late as mid-September, go into the winter much smaller (less than 1/3 inch), so their growth ring is much closer to the hinge of the shell. These scallops, called “nubs,” were the focus of interest – can they reproduce twice?

Are they better at reproducing? How important are they to the fishery?

Quick Look • Nub scallops are born in the late summer/early fall • They help sustain the bay scallop population in years with a poor regular spawn • Nub scallops can spawn twice

Maria Mitchell Association interns assist Dr. Hall counting and measuring scallops.

Nub Scallops

Nubs, scallops from the second spawn, made up a significant portion of the fall bay scallop population, ranging from 11% (2009) to 40% (2008) of the total. These charts show that in years after a poor early summer spawn, very few classic scallops are produced (notice few juveniles in 2007 leading to few adult classics in 2008). However, a second spawn can make up for the poor summer spawn by producing a population of adult nubs which can sustain the population. There was a second spawn in 2007 which led to an abundance of adult nubs in 2008. A similar event happened in 2009 and 2010. The second spawn is thus essential to sustaining the population and fishery.

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Timing of the Bay Scallop Spawn

Understanding the bay scallop spawn in Nantucket Harbor Dr. Peter Boyce, Dr. Robert Kennedy To estimate the health of the scallop population and guess at what the following year of scalloping looks like, researchers measured the amount of scallop larvae in the Harbor and nearby waters every two weeks throughout the summer for the last ten years. They placed mesh spat bags in the water for 6-8 weeks and monitored how many scallop larva attached to them and started growing. This provided an estimate of how many scallop larvae were in the Harbor. The counts of larvae tell us when the spawn occurred and how successful a spawn it was. The pattern of spawning varies from year to year. In 2007, the scallops spawned in early August. At the other extreme, in 2012, they spawned in late May. The cause of the large variation from year to year is not fully understood. There have not been many similar long term studies of the natural spawn.

Monitoring when the spawn occurs and how successful it is helps us to understand overall harbor health.

Quick Look • Spat bag results help estimate the health of the scallop population • Timing and quantity of the spawn varies from year to year • Much of the natural bay scallop larvae can be washed out to sea and lost if the spawn occurs on an outgoing tide • The Head of the Harbor is the most productive site for finding larvae. It is the nursery for the rest of the harbor.

Captive reared larval releases (see next page) began in 2010.

After two weeks in the water, scallop larvae look for a place to settle. Normally that is eelgrass. Spat bags are nylon bags with a standard amount of plastic mesh inside to provide a surface on which the larvae can attach. Bags are left in the water long enough for them to grow to a size researchers can see before being counted and measured. Then we pull out the bags and count and measure scallops inside the bag. The Head of the Harbor can have up to 7,000 small scallops in the bags.

Spat bags placed outside Nantucket Harbor collect more baby scallops than do those inside the Harbor. Up to 80% of the bay scallop larvae are washed out of the Harbor where there is no eelgrass to sustain them and they are eaten by crabs and other predators. These baby scallops most likely never get a chance to grow to adulthood and are lost to the population.

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Bay Scallop Larval Release Program

Enhancing the natural population of Nantucket’s most valuable shellfish Since 2010, the Town of Nantucket has been engaged in developing a program designed to enhance the natural population of bay scallops in both Nantucket and Madaket Harbors.

Native scallops are spawned in a controlled setting at the hatchery and the fertilized eggs are stocked in a larval rearing system. Once hatched, the bay scallop larvae are cared for, fed in the hatchery, and released around day twelve following harbor water acclimation.

Prior to the larval release, an area is selected for ideal eelgrass habitat, optimal water quality, and good larval retention. Dive surveys are conducted to note any natural contributing bay scallop populations within the area. Once released, larval enhancement success is measured through spat bag recruitment evaluations, fall dive surveys, and commercial fishermen catch reports and observations.

The program has expanded its bay scallop production rates from five million larval bay scallops in 2010 to 165 million larval bay scallops in 2014.

The bay scallop’s short life cycle provides unique challenges for fishery and habitat management.

Quick Look

• Bay scallops are a short-lived species with life expectancies of 20 - 30 months for populations around Massachusetts • Bay scallops are hermaphrodites and produce both eggs and sperm • Bay scallops possess blue pigmented eyes that can detect movement and changes in light intensity • During the juvenile phase, bay scallops reattach to the upper portion of eelgrass to avoid predator species such as the invasive Green Crab • Nantucket’s Bay Scallop fishery is both economically and culturally important to the island As functional hermaphrodites, the gonads of bay scallops provide a visual indication of when they are ripe and ready to spawn. The orange area of the gonad represents the egg portion and the white area represents the spermatic material.

Ten - twelve day old bay scallop larvae being released into Shimmo Bend. Spat bag lines are in place to evaluate recruitment within the area.

Seed collected from a dive survey in Fifth Bend from a larval release.

Uniform size seed and quantities indicate successful recruitment from a single larval release.

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Managed Fertilizers = Clean Harbor

Supporting best managment practices for landscape fertilizer use on Nantucket Water quality in Nantucket and Madaket Harbors is very dependent on what takes place on the surrounding land. A major reason why harbor water becomes murky or algal blooms appear is increased nutrient runoff from the land, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus. On Nantucket, fertilizer is a significant contributor of these nutients within the harbor watersheds. New regulations and continuing education and implementation efforts are critical to maintaining and improving the quality of harbor waters. The Nantucket Land Council has been a driving force in the creation and implementation of Nantucket’s Best Management Practices for Fertilizer Use. Cormac Collier, NLC Executive Director, sat on the Article 68 Fertilizer Work Group, the committee appointed Quick Look by the Board of Selectmen in 2010 to draft • Fertilizer Application Training is Key! the BMP document. A new Town and • NLC has done the following to help: County of Nantucket Board of Health

• Sponsored professional regulation, based on the BMP document,

development course on new controlling the use of fertilizer containing phosphorus and nitrogen, regulation went into effect on January 1, 2013 to improve and restore the quality

• Helped sponsor a certification of the island’s water resources. Since then, the NLC has played a

program for landscape leadership role in BMP education for landscape professionals. professionals

• Partnered with University of Connecticut soil scientists to provide education and outreach on Nantucket

Want to know how you can help improve water quality? Search the web for Nantucket Blue Pages. This document provides tips and guidelines to keep our Harbor one of the cleanest in Massachusetts.

10 Years of Funding for Harbor Related Research and Projects The Great Harbor Yacht Club and the Land Council have proactively worked to identify and fund marine related projects in hopes of improving the natural resources of Nantucket and Madaket Harbors.

As part of an agreement with the Land Council, GHYC provides assistance up to $35,000 in funding for harbor related research and projects every year for ten years. The NLC acts as a facilitator for the disbursement of these funds through a Committee made up of local scientific organizations and Town officials. Applications are reviewed each year and projects are funded based on a demonstrated benefit to the Island’s harbor resources. The funding has been used for a variety of projects including supporting research at the Town Shellfish Propogation Facility, exploring the movement of scallop spat in marine waters, conducting eelgrass transplant projects, and investigating the effects of increasing algae cover on the scallop population.

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Salt Marsh Restoration in Polpis Harbor A large scale project to restore a historic salt marsh by opening diked tidal creeks

The Medouie Creek Marsh, on the north side of Polpis Harbor, was historically one large salt marsh. A dike road built in the 1930s cut the marsh in half; restricting salt water and altering the marsh to a freshwater marsh, allowing invasion by the non-native grass Phragmites australis or Phragmites. Salt marshes provide important habitat for many of different birds, spawning ground for fish, and habitat for many crabs. They also provide a very important buffer against strong coastal storms! In 2008, NCF decided to restore the historic salt marsh at Medouie by putting a culvert under the dike road, allowing tides to push saltwater back into the marsh. Initially, the big increase in saltwater killed off many of the freshwater plants. Now, after seven years, salinity remains high in the marsh and many salt loving plants have moved in (a good thing!). The invasive Phragmites has been severely knocked back, giving way to native salt marsh habitat. This salt marsh restoration project is one of the most highly monitored and researched salt marsh restoration projects in New England!

Phragmites and Salt Phragmites is typically a freshwater loving plant, although it can stand small doses of saltwater. Plants growing in the Medouie Creek Marsh are most strongly impacted when salinity is 30 ppt (parts per thousand) or higher – for reference ocean water is around 32ppt. In a greenhouse experiment, watering Phragmites plants with salinities at 20ppt, 30ppt and 40ppt all resulted in shorter, skinnier plants with fewer leaves than plants growing in fresher water. This study shows that salinity alone can dramatically reduce Phragmites health although more steps are needed for complete eradication!

2009

2014

Changes in Marsh Vegetation Introducing salt water caused a quick die off of freshwater loving plants in Medouie. In 2009, the first summer after restoration, mostly dead Cattails were seen across the marsh. Overtime, salt loving plants have moved into the marsh. In 2014, the same area of the marsh is dominated by salt marsh cordgrass and sea cucumber plants.

Photographs courtesy of Nantucket Conservation Foundation

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Salt Marsh Dieback on Nantucket Documenting salt marsh dieback on Nantucket and exploring possible causes

Unexplained die off of salt marsh plants, particularly along creek edges and the low tide line, has become an increasing issue along the New England coast since the 1990s. Salt marsh dieback first made an appearance on Nantucket around 2010 and is still relatively minor and occurring primarily in Polpis Harbor. The direct cause of marsh dieback is increased grazing by the native purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum). This crab burrows into the marsh peat soil; eating vegetation and creating unstable marsh soils. The destabilized marsh surface can be steadily eroded away by tidal flows and ice scour. The reason these native crabs are suddenly either increasing in numbers or grazing intensity is unknown and research on this species is underway across New England.

Quick Look

• • • • •

What Does a Saltmarsh Do For Us? Protects land from storm surges Habitat for fish, birds, and shellfish Produces food for young gamefish Purifies water run off from the land Traps sediment that would cloud harbor waters

On Nantucket, we need to figure out which marshes are experiencing dieback. Work is under way to document dieback locations and the size of impacted areas around the island. Luckily, this dieback is just beginning so we may be able to see if there are differences between marshes with dieback and marshes without, which will help us understand why this phenomenon is occurring!

This photo shows large areas of bare soil in a salt marsh on Nantucket. Marsh soils are made up of undecomposed organic material, otherwise known as peat. When soils become waterlogged, oxygen is limited, making it difficult for decomposing microorganisms to consume dead plant materials. Instead, when plants naturally die in the fall, they accumulate on the soil surface and slowly turn into peat, becoming salt marsh soil. As the salt marsh plants are consumed entirely by crabs, which then burrow throughout the bare soil, oxygen increases in the soil which then begins to decompose. This makes the marsh more and more unstable and it can breakdown before the plants get a chance to re-colonize.

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The Nantucket Land Bank Protecting and restoring waterfront properties

The Nantucket Land Bank was the brainchild of William Klein, the director of the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission from 1974 to 1991. Klein observed the success of a transfer tax in Pennsylvania and felt that it could be used to raise funds to purchase open space. The Land Bank was endorsed by Nantucket residents at 1983 Town Meeting and then passed as a legislative act a few months later. Since its inception in 1983, the Land Bank has acquired over 2,900 acres for public use and enjoyment.

Nantucket’s sandy beaches are one of the island’s defining traits and are loved by islanders and visitors alike. Beachfront real estate is a prime commodity on Nantucket and this is reflected in its escalating cost. Waterfront parcels are most often purchased and developed as private residences. As water access becomes increasingly privatized, the Land Bank has prioritized the purchase of waterfront parcels to maintain public access to the ocean and harbors.

The Land Bank maintains its waterfront holdings in an ecological manner to promote recreation and benefit the environment. The Land Bank regularly removes trash from its beaches and maintains trails and parking areas for beach access. If the purchased property includes a dwelling, it is generally removed, and the site is restored to a low-maintenance landscape that does not require the application of water, fertilizers, or pesticides.

septic systems and/or fertilized lawns.

As harbor water quality has declined, reducing nutrient inputs has become a priority for the Town of Nantucket.

Removing buildings decreases the density of houses on the waterfront thus reducing potential nutrient leaching from

Land Bank Properties Within the Harbor, the Land Bank has purchased property and removed houses at 28, 30, 32, 66 and 72 Washington Street; 158 Orange Street; 27 Quaise Road; and 36 Wauwinet Road. In addition, the parcels at 16 East Creek Road; 160, 162, and 170 Orange Street; 22 Cathcart Road; and 4 Polpis Harbor Road were all purchased so that they would not be developed either as single house lots nor subdivided and developed as multiple house lots. By continuing to purchase and manage waterfront properties, the Land Bank is working to both maintain public beach access and to perpetuate the health of Nantucket Harbor.

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Other Research Why is the Bay Scallop Life So Short? Dr. Steve Estabrooks, Nantucket, MA Many of the approximately 400 species of scallops found throughout the world can live five, ten and up to twenty years or more, unlike the local Nantucket Bay Scallop which rarely lives two years. Dr. Steve Estabrooks research has shown that this may be due to a shortage of telomeres, segments of DNA found at the end of chromosomes.

Our local bay scallop has fewer telomeres than a closely related species that can live seven - ten years. Why does this matter? The scallop’s one year life cycle creates the possibility for a sustainable fishery. One year-old scallops that have already reproduced can be removed from the population without hurting future generations of scallops. However, read the section in this booklet on the bay scallop second spawn to learn about complicating factors.

Funded by the Nantucket Marine and Coastal Resources Department, PADI Foundation, Nantucket Marine Laboratory Determining if a Scallop Has Spawned

Dr. Steve Estabrooks, Nantucket, MA Dr. Estabrooks has worked to find a more efficient way to determine if a scallop has reproduced and is harvestable. Bay scallops are hermaphroditic (i.e. produce both sperm and eggs) and it has been determined that after spawning they will retain some sperm throughout the harvest season (October to March of the following year). Seed scallops, on the other hand, will not have produced mature sperm during this period. Dr. Estabrooks developed a rapid test to determine the presence of sperm that can be performed in less than fifteen minutes. The alternative is to preserve a specimen in formalin and send it off to a laboratory for processing, often taking weeks rather than minutes. However, the process is still only useful for scallop research rather than for scallopers. It requires a microscope that would not survive well on a boat.

Measuring the Effects of Invasive Algae Dr. A. Randall Hughes, Dr. Geoffrey Trussell,

Dr. Jonathan H. Grabowski, Stephen Heck and Forest Schenck, Northeastern University A group from Northeastern University is studying how an unidentified Cyanobacteria (a stringy black algae that covers eelgrass and is possibly introduced and invasive) affects eelgrass and scallop growth. During the summer of 2014, researchers set up plots in the Harbor to monitor this algae’s growth and took samples of eelgrass for genetic analysis. Work continues and results could help predict how the Harbor ecosystem will be changed by the growing harbor problem.

Funded by the Nantucket Shellfish Association, Northeastern University ,Nantucket Land Council, and Great Harbor Yacht Club Marine Grants program

Algae Genetics Dr. Pia Moisander, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Work has begun to determine the genetic relationships between groups of algae in Nantucket Harbor. Started in 2014, this project is still underway but should help scientists understand the algae community in the Harbor.

Funded by the Nantucket Shellfish Association, Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative, and the U-Mass Boston School for the Environment Nantucket Field Station Harbor Chemistry and Physical Oceanography Dr. Sarah Oktay, University of Massachusetts Boston School for the Environment Nantucket Field Station The UMass Nantucket Field Station has multiple research projects underway in Nantucket Harbor ranging from water quality monitoring, scallop recruitment and trace metal studies, eelgrass surveys, nutrient studies, harbor bottom mapping, and beach profiling. The Field Station has regular hours each week and you can visit to walk nature trails, learn more about research, and see wildlife. Learn more at www.umb.edu/nantucket8 - 18 -