Waters Still Muddy on Short Beach Shellfishing

When it comes to leasing commercial shellfish beds in Short Beach, the Branford Shellfish Commission (BSC) still feels the waters are muddy on some facts. At a well-attended Aug. 10 BSC meeting, the commission voted to table, indefinitely, the proposed leasing of shellfish beds in Short Beach.

But BSC isn't ending its pursuit of the matter.

The BSC is standing behind its state-mandated management and environmental jurisdiction descriptions, which, specifically in the case of Short Beach, differ from those in town ordinance language. It also will broaden the scope of the process, said BSC Chairman Bill Davis, noting BSC should not "go any further without consulting with those who would have expressed an interest, for or against, as well as others who might have a vested interest who haven't stepped forward."

Davis said those with a vested interest could include the state.

"The [town] ordinances we have on the books are pre-dated by two state ordinances [including one] that has rankled. It defines our jurisdictional control," said Davis.

The controversial topic gained speed in July when the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) adopted a resolution strongly disapproving of BSC's plans to lease up to four Short Beach beds. Later in July, Town Attorney William Clendenen provided an assessment describing the RTM as having final authority in approving BSC leases in Short Beach.

At the Aug. 10 BSC meeting, Davis admitted BSC should have taken its proposal to the RTM first.

"I apologize for the fact that as chair, I let my colleagues sway me to the point where I went along with them and didn't even think to go to the governing bodies. Hindsight is 20/20," said Davis.

Many Short Beach residents clearly don't want commercial shellfishing boats churning in the bay, home to a popular neighborhood beach. BSC has built special restrictions into the proposed leases that it feels accommodate many recreational uses of the area, from swimming to sailing.

About 20 members of the public were there on Aug. 10 to log their disapproval of the idea, including Short Beach resident David Perkins. Perkins reminded BSC it's considered a Connecticut fishing "co-management program" as described in a University of Connecticut study.

"A co-management program assumes you will work with the community to make it work together…They've been working from top-down instead of bottom-up," Perkins later told The Sound.

The BSC plans now to further consult with Connecticut Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Aquaculture and Department of Environmental Protection and its Long Island Sound division.

BSC member Anthony Pulcinella said BSC also plans to direct recent public concerns to those agencies to "get input." The BSC will give notice of when the matter will return to the BSC agenda.

One concern raised at the meeting is the potential for increased pollution from contaminants believed to be trapped in the mud. The concern was described in a petition Short Beach resident Marty Hallier showed the BSC. Hallier said he gathered 90 signatures in one weekend from area residents "totally against" the idea. The petition requests the town enforce the 1998 town ordinance to prevent commercial fishing in Short Beach waters and to recognize the "narrow views of responsibility exhibited by the Branford Shellfish Commission is potentially dangerous to all communities in Branford that are adjacent to Long Island Sound."

The petition also states commercial clamming dredges up bottom silt and mud, seines clams, and returns waste mud to the water. It states the bay's mud is "highly polluted from industrial and personal waste and farm fertilizer and pesticide that has built up over the years. The result would be an environmental catastrophe as the polluted mud is dumped back into the water. It would also severely impact the recreational uses that Short Beach bay presently affords." To see the entire petition statement, visit www.zip06.com/branford and click on this story.

"There is no benefit," Hallier told The Sound. "So many people use the beaches, it doesn't make any sense. The bottom line comes down to contamination. The fact is the bay doesn't purge itself. It just doesn't."

Douglas Hanlon, a Short Beach RTM representative, said Johnson's Beach in his neighborhood used to be closed frequently for high bacteria counts, but in recent years has become cleaner.

"From 2007 to 2009, there was not a single beach closing for high bacteria counts. Do you think people are going to support boats' dredging up the bottom three inches and letting that flush into our harbor? ...We don't follow your reasoning," said Hanlon.

Davis told The Sound that the BSC would seek "further research on the effects of turbidity or if disturbing the bottom creates more problems."

Short Beach waters have been tested for shellfish harvesting since at least 1992, but never opened due to unacceptable levels of coliform bacteria. The bacteria's believed to come from sewage runoff (no direct link has yet been found), according to Davis. Despite the presence of coliform bacteria, the BSC could open the area commercially with "relay beds." Shellfish are harvested commercially and taken offsite for a 14-day decontamination process.

At the Aug. 10 meeting, Davis noted BSC's rationale for opening the long-dormant Short Beach shellfish areas included the importance of working them to maintain their "health and productivity." If the area is ever designated healthy enough for recreational clamming, some recreational beds, built into BSC's proposed use of the area, would open.

The five-year leases in Short Beach would generate approximately $3,500 in revenue. The money would go back into continuing efforts to maintain the health of shellfish beds among 1,200 acres of leased and recreational beds BSC oversees in Branford waters.

"Everybody has rights to those waters. If the Shellfish Commission wasn't in charge, it would be like the wild, Wild West out there. We want to make the beds healthy and we don't want to pay to make them healthy," said Davis.

The petition encouraged signers to attend the Aug. 18 Board of Selectmen's meeting, which took place after press time for this story. For an update on what transpired, visit www.zip06.com/branford.