Town fills shellfish biologist position after two-year hiatus
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
For the first time in more than twoand half years, Nantucket has shellfish biologist.

The town hired Jeff Mercer last week to fill the position left vacant by current Town Biologist Keith Conant in the spring of 2005 when then Town Biologist Tracy Curley resigned and Conant, formerly the town's shellfish biologist, advanced to that position.

Marine Superintendent and Harbormaster Dave Fronzuto said he chose Mercer from a pool of 12 applicants, five of which including Mercer, the town interviewed.

"His references were phenomenal; he had put Bob Ballard as a reference," said Fronzuto. "He's just a well-rounded, hands-on, in-the-water kind of guy."

Mercer, who starts his job with the town in the middle of July at a base salary of $51,000, earned a bachelor of science degree in biology with an ecology focus at Emory University of Atlanta, Ga. in May 2003 and a master's of science in biological oceanography from the University of Connecticut Department of Marine Sciences at Groton, Conn. in January 2006. Currently, Mercer is a graduate research assistant working on Swan's Island, Maine through the Shoals Marine Laboratory of Appledore Island, Isles of Shoals, Maine.

Once he gets up to speed on Nantucket under Conant's tutelage, Mercer will be taking over all of Conant's shellfish propagation and research duties.

"He'll be taking charge of all the shellfish propagation as well as doing fisheries outreach with the fishermen and any kind of volunteer service that may involve the general public," said Conant who added that Mercer's responsibilities will also includes private shellfish grow-out in aquaculture plots around the harbor.

With Mercer working on his own - summer interns' Evan Lindsay and Nantucketer Andrew McCandless helping him Mercer out - Conant can then focus more on ongoing water quality projects and those for which he had no time for over the last two years.

"I'll probably have to be working with him until he's up to speed and then I'll have more time to be working on the water quality monitoring around the island," said Conant. "There lots of little ponds on the island that we don't have time to get to at all such as those three pond; Maxey Pond, Washing Pond and Capaum Pond, and then Tom

Nevers Pond and Clark's Cove." I