Plight of Nantucket bay scallop draws four grant proposals
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Telemeres is not a household word in common usage on Nantucket.

But it is to bay scallops researcher Stephen L. Estabrooks who is searching for a fountain of youth for Nantucket's bay scallops, or at least the addition of several more years of spawning ability.

As bay scallops' lifespan is rarely more than two years, Estabrooks is studying the enzyme telomerase found at the end of their chromosomes, the dwindling amount of which toward the end of their lives appears to cause their deaths.

Estabrooks is hoping to discover a way to add telomerase to bay scallops' chromosomes to extend their lives and enhance their populations in

Nantucket's harbors. To do that, he

needs funding from the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine

Aquaculture Program. So does UMass Dartmouth Associate Professor Brad Stevens of the School for Marine Science and Technology, the Maria Mitchell Association and the town's shellfish biologist, Jeff Mercer.

Each is pursuing research related to the survival of the bay scallop, something Marine Superintendent Dave Fronzuto finds encouraging.

"It's fantastic to have this much interest in studying bay scallops both by the town and in the private sector,"

said Fronzuto. I