voices: the community speaks of Nantucket and GHYC

8 February 2004

20 Burnt Swamp Lane
Nantucket, MA 02554

Nantucket Conservation Commission

Dear Commission Members:

I am writing concerning the Great Harbor Yacht Club proposal, specifically the plans to build a pier next to the Creeks tidal marsh. As a commercial scalloper for the last 16 years, and previously, Town Biologist for 9 years. I am quite familiar with this area and the critical role it plays in the marine ecosystem of Nantucket Harbor.

Not only would this project interfere with circulation patterns in the harbor, it would also introduce siltation and pollution into the sensitive marsh areas nearby. The dredging necessary and resultant pier would permanently destroy vital eelgrass beds, which are not only critical habitat for bay scallops, but many other marine species. A study of sea grass beds in Florida recorded 214 different species of fish and shellfish in various life stages. Their richness and diversity illustrates the importance of eelgrass to the marine ecosystem and fisheries.

Other species found in Nantucket eelgrass beds include quahogs, whelk, blue claw crabs, and juvenile lobsters. As well these beds provide nursery habitat for juvenile tautog, and most importantly winter flounder, a severely stressed species that both Federal and State fisheries managers are actively trying to rebuild stocks of. These juvenile flounder eventually leave Nantucket Harbor and live most of their lives on offshore areas of Georges Bank. Thus the destruction of eelgrass beds in Nantucket Harbor, has implications far beyond this localized area.

As well, bay scallop populations vary greatly from year to year, and different areas have varied rates of successful sets in any year. Thus any surveys, such as those done by this project's applicants, should be viewed as temporal in nature. Sometimes this area will contain scallops while other years it may have none.

The western end of Nantucket Harbor, where this project is proposed, has often picked up heavy scallop sets, due to many factors, including easterly winds during their spawning and larval stages. The following summer, these scallops spawn, and on incoming tides, currents disperse their larvae throughout the harbor. This once again illustrates how the destruction of eelgrass beds caused by this project, will affect populations of scallops and quahogs in other parts of the harbor.

In addition, the decay of eelgrass leaves provides detritus used as food by small members of the marine food chain. Eelgrass also helps stabilize sediments, thus controlling erosion, and plays a role in nutrient cycling in estuaries, including removal of nitrogen.

Finally as a member of the Shellfish Harbor Advisory Board for the last nine years, we have grappled with the issue of moorings being placed in eelgrass beds, resulting in the destruction of vital shellfish habitat. A look at the proposed pier, clearly shows a number of moorings will be displaced, inevitably forcing them into other eelgrass beds, contributing to further losses.

In closing, ANY loss of eelgrass, no matter how small, will decrease the productivity in Nantucket"s waters. As well, the destruction of eelgrass caused by this project will cause further fragmentation of surrounding eelgrass beds, resulting in a cascading effect of increased turbidity, increased predation due to loss of cover for juvenile shellfish, and a general decline in the marine ecology here. I urge this Commission to reject this project in any form, as it is obvious the deleterious impacts are far ranging and will permanently destroy a vital part of our harbor.

Respectfully submitted,

Kenneth M. Kelley