Environmental group checking up on island's scallop fishery
BY PETER B. BRACE
Coincidence is probably the right word for how the nonprofit Environmental Defense became interested in Nantucket's bay scallop fishery.

Packing the kind of clout - and funding - that could help one of the few remaining sustainable bay scallop fisheries on the east coast, Environmental Defense sent consultant Christopher Meaney down to Nantucket purely on its own on Nov. 20 and 21 so he could learn all he could for them about the island's scallop fishery.

"Chris was out there kind of seeing what the lay of the land with the bay scallop fishery is," said Marine Conservation Advocate Sally McGee who specializes in marine protected areas, sustainable fishing and seafood for the Oceans Program at Environmental Defense's Boston office. "There's just been some interest on Environmental Defense's part to look at other fisheries in New England and see if there is a way to make them more sustainable."

While on island, Meaney met Sustainable Nantucket Treasurer Dan Drake, attended the Nov. 21 meeting of the Shellfish & Harbor Advisory Board, spoke with scallopers and with UMass Field Station Director Sarah Oktay.

Having recently earned his masters degree in environmental management from Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Meaney, a fisheries and ocean policy consultant, had been casting about for constructive ways to spend his time just after graduation and reasoned that exploring Nantucket's bay scallop fishery for Environmental Defense could edge him closer toward a career in fisheries management. What he gleaned in two days on the island impressed Meaney.

"I think it's a great fishery," he said. "I was amazed by its size, the people that were involved in it; it just seems to me that there are a lot of stakeholders involved."

McGee and Environmental Defense asked Meaney to investigate Nantucket's bay scallop fishery not because it was aware of last season's paucity of scallops in a harvest that netted just 5,500 bushels, or because of what is panning out to be another lackluster year, but to look beyond their scope at fisheries outside of federal jurisdiction to see what can be learned and if they can help.

"We're kind of seeing what kinds of communitybased sustainable fisheries that might be out there outside of federal waters to learn more about the fisheries, who the players are and what the biological status of the fishery is, and what the community that lives there sees for the future of the fishery," McGee said.

Founded in 1967 and with 500,000 members, the misson of Environmental Defense, formerly known as Environmental Defense Fund, is, according to its Web site, www.environmentaldefense.org/, "protecting the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are clean air, clean water, healthy food and flourishing ecosystems."

When he completes his research, Meaney will turn in a report to Environmental Defense through McGee who could then us it as a basis for Environmental Defense possibly helping keep Nantucket's fishery alive and growing.

"I hope it goes somewhere where there is some cooperation between Environmental Defense and local groups on the island," said McGee.

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HELP THEM HELP

OUR SCALLOPS If you think you've got scallop fishery knowledge to share with Christopher Meaney and Sally McGee at Environmental Defense, you can email Christopher at christophmeaney@sbcglobal. net. Reach McGee through her Boston office at 617-723-2996 and email her at smcgee@environmentaldefense. org.