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06/02/2020 03:30 PMGood news for Clinton’s shellfishers: The town has received permission from the state to expand the shellfishing season in a portion of Clinton’s beds until the end of August.
On May 22, the Shellfish Commission and Town Manager Karl Kilduff officially signed a memorandum of understanding with the state that extends the shelling season until Aug. 31, according to Shellfish Commission Chairman Wayne Church.
Previously, shellfishing was allowed only from Dec. 1 through the end of April, but Church said that the commission had been working with the state to get the season extended. Now, an area located a short walk down the town beach, known as “Area B” will remain open until Aug. 31. This area is not located in the swimming area.
If the town has a rainfall event of more than one inch, the beds will be temporarily closed as part of the agreement with the state. In such an event, Church said the beds will be closed so that water and meat samples can be sent to labs to be tested. Church estimated that beds could close for about a week by time samples are collected and the results come back.
Shellfish licenses will soon be for sale on clintonshellfish.org, as well as at the Dock Master’s Office at the Town Marina. The Clinton Shellfish Commission Facebook page will have updates on the beds and the status of the beds can be checked any day by calling a hotline at 860-664-6444.
Clinton’s shellfish beds were once the source of regionally famous oysters, but then the oysters began succumbing to disease. Pollution also affected the beds’ ability to grow edible shellfish and so they were closed decades ago.
In 2004, the town began a concerted effort to reopen the beds, but those efforts were dealt serious setbacks by Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy.
As part of the process of opening the beds, periodic water and oyster samples were required to be sent to the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Aquaculture (DABA). In September 2018, DABA representatives presented the results of the surveys that cleared the way for the beds to open in 2019.
Even with the beds opened in 2019, Church said that the commission had kept in contact with the state about expanding the area allowed for shellfishing. Samples from the Area B section indicated that the area could support increased activity, and Church said the commission was up to the task of monitoring the area.
“Everybody on the commission was willing to do the extra work,” Church said.
The Town Council unanimously voted to authorize Kilduff to sign the memorandum with the state at a meeting on May 20.
Church said that with the arrival of warm weather, he thinks the new beds could be a big hit in town.
“It’s going to be an interesting summer. It’s a great time to shellfish in Clinton and get outside in these very difficult times,” said Church.
Church said that further testing is still being done to see if the season and beds can be extended further. More testing will need to be done over several months, but Church said that within about a year he hopes to have new beds off of Shore Road open to the public.