Fishermen on the clam flats of Chatham.
By Doreen Leggett
One piece of advice passed around for decades in Chatham, attributed to old salt Charles “Tiggie” Peluso: No matter how good things are going, no matter how much money you are making, never, ever, sell your shellfishing skiff.
Peluso meant that in tough times, Chatham residents could always scratch or dredge up enough money to get by on the strength of the town’s wild fishery.
Echoes of his words have been heard recently around town as residents gear up for a Special Town Meeting September 16, when voters will be asked to approve $4 million for a shellfish upweller, housed in a returned, historic Coast Guard boathouse. The project at 90 Bridge Street will also include public docks and commercial offloading.
“The shellfish resource is integral to what makes Chatham, Chatham,” said Shellfish Constable Renee Gagne. “For generations shellfish has been providing food and also economic benefits and jobs for Chatham residents.”
Gagne was speaking at a mid-August meeting of the selectboard, talking about how the town’s shellfish resource has been bolstered by an upweller – requested by commercial fishermen – at Stage Harbor since 1983.
Although shellfish in Chatham runs from mussels to razor clams to steamers, the upweller focuses on quahogs and oysters, mostly quahogs.
This year there has been a tremendous natural set of steamers, other years it may be mussels, but quahogs are consistent.
“The quahog is the backbone of our industry. It is the insurance policy of our industry,” said Gagne.
She said about 1.5 million pounds of quahogs are harvested yearly, making Chatham’s wild quahog harvest the largest in the state, worth more than a million dollars.
With a new upweller, town staff believe they will increase production of quahogs and oysters by a third. Now quahogs and oysters are cramped for space, often put out in the wild too early because of it, and shellfish are stacked to save room. That means shellfish on the top get most of the food – think phytoplankton — piped in from Stage Harbor.
But benefits of a new facility would go further, Shellfish Technician Ben Sacco told the board. The new spot by the Mitchell River Bridge is less busy than the current location beneath the harbormaster’s office at Old Mill Boatyard, so there is less risk of damaging young shellfish by an oil spill or chemicals.
The shellfish advisory commission has been advocating for the project for close to 10 years and has already received about $2.4 million, authorized from a waterfront bond and waterways user funds. Additional funding was requested at town meeting in May as part of an $11.4 million waterways infrastructure bond bill, which included other projects such as replacing the dock at Little Mill Pond.
That article narrowly missed the two-thirds majority required. Supporters regrouped and the commission decided to ask selectmen to call a Special Town Meeting. One concern was that approved variances and permits could expire if the project waits until another annual town meeting in May.
Resident Stephen Lowe said given the importance of the upweller, and the myriad risks such as no adequate back-up power source, the town should have a plan if the upweller fails.
“Duct tape and good luck can run out at any time and that will be a disaster,” agreed shellfish committee member Patricia Vreeland.
Shellfisherman Barry Grecco called the existing upweller “Flintstones.”
After the meeting, Grecco said there are 200 commercial fishermen in town, and he goes every day.
“This new upweller will be here for generations,” he said.
Gagne pointed out that with a multiplier factor of three used for Cape fisheries, meaning the fully considered economic value of the industry — people who sell gear, fix boats, work on engines — the shellfishery in Chatham is worth up to $11 million.
The town also sells 3,000 recreational permits that let people catch dinner, and foster appreciation and respect for town waters.
“We recognize the value shellfishing has brought to the economy of Chatham and certainly to the tradition and culture of Chatham,” said Bob Davis, chair of the shellfish committee.
The selectboard appeared to favor the project, but advancing it before other town projects, plus the cost of holding a special town meeting, prompted Selectmen Cory Metters and Dean Nicastro to vote No.
The majority of the board voted to move forward.
“This is the kind of thing we need to generate a healthy working economy that is year- round,” said Selectboard member Shareen Davis (no relation to Bob Davis).
Selectman Jeffrey Dykens said he fished commercially for 13 years and when they couldn’t catch fish they would quahog.
“The quahog industry in this town is part of its year-round culture,” he said, “part of its DNA.”
Preserving the Coast Guard Station, which would be returned from Quincy, is the “topping on the cake” for Dykens, particularly since the town let the Coast Guard lifeboat 36500 (which rescued the crew of the Pendleton) go to Orleans and the Old Harbor Life Station go to Provincetown.
Both Davis and Dykens said people who support the project need to show up.
“If you want this you have to get to town meeting,” Dykens said.
The measure passed by a simple majority at the ballot box after town meeting, so does not need to go before voters again in a special election.