TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN

REGULATIONS FOR AQUACULTURE GRANTS

Adopted by the Board of Selectmen

March 26, 1990

(Amended June 12, 2000)

1. Shellfish Grants may be granted to Provincetown residents who can show to the satisfaction of the Board of Selectmen that they are a bona fide domiciled resident of the Town of Provincetown. Grants shall be issued only to individuals, not corporations. 7

2. Applicants desiring a grant shall be required to complete and submit all information required on the Town's approved application form.

3. Grant applications shall be considered on a first‑come, first‑served basis within the limitations of acceptable and available areas. The Shellfish Committee and Shellfish Constable shall make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen on those areas. Board of Selectmen may issue a moratorium on grant approvals at any time this action is deemed appropriate and in the best interests of the Town. A waiting list shall be established when the Town runs out of available acreage.

4. Approval of any and all shellfish grants shall be subject to all State and Local laws and/or pertinent rules and regulations. Applicants are expected to be familiar with said relevant laws and regulations.

5. Applications shall be sent to the Town Clerk registered mail with return receipt requested or may be submitted in person to the Town Clerk, who shall generate a receipt of the application.

6. Grants approved shall be subject to certification by the State's Division of Marine Fisheries, in compliance with Chapter 130 of the Massachusetts General Laws.

7. First‑time grant applications shall be approved for a two (2) year period. The grant holder shall provide information concerning grant activities. An effort toward production is required. First renewals shall be for an additional two (2) year period. Subsequent grant renewals may be made for five (5) year periods. Renewal applications for established grants may be requested during the second year of operation. Renewal applications for established grants may be made at any time following the first three (3) years prior to the end of the five (5) year grant period.

Renewals shall be subject to approval by the Board of Selectmen, with recommendations from the Shellfish Committee and Marine Department. Each grant shall be reviewed annually by the Shellfish Committee and Shellfish Constable, involving a review of the grant holder's yearly production report. Grant activity shall include the planting of hatchery‑derived shellfish, or the capture and grow‑out of wild‑larvae of any indigenous shellfish species as provided by Massachusetts General Law.

8. An annual grant fee of $25 per acre shall be paid by the grant holder payable on or before April 1 of each year. If the fee is not paid within six (6) months after it becomes due, the grant shall be forfeited.

9. The Selectmen may grant a transfer to any person to whom they might ordinarily grant a shellfish lease upon written application to the board. Such application shall be made in written form and reviewed in a public hearing. A transfer conveys the ability to plant and grow shellfish in the same way as an original license.

10. It shall be unlawful for the grant holder to take seed shellfish from any waterways of the

Town without written permission from the Board of Selectmen.

11. It shall be unlawful for any grant holder to transfer to or from the grant area any contaminated shellfish without proper permit. Annually, on the first Monday in February, the shellfish constable shall submit for review and approval by the Board of Selectmen a Division of Marine Fisheries application for all aquaculture permit holders who make a request to collect wild shellfish spat within Provincetown Harbor. This application must include the names of the aquaculture permit holders, the type of collection method and the proposed collection locations for both closed and open waters. If approved by the Board of Selectmen, the application for a town propagation permit shall be sent to the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries no later than March 1st.

12. Grant holders shall notify the Marine Department prior to planting any shellfish. The Shellfish Constable may remove from the intertidal zone any shellfish for which the Town has no bill of sale, or other proof of origin. The responsibility for proving that all shellfish comes from a certified hatchery or other point of origin rests solely with the grant holder.

13. The Town of Provincetown reserves the right to obtain samples of any shellfish from grant areas for the purpose of certified testing for disease.

14. Within a reasonable amount of time, the Shellfish Constable and Shellfish Committee shall review the grant production report submitted by the grant holder on or before December 15 of each year as prescribed by Massachusetts General Law Ch. 130, § 65. The grant holder shall produce documents upon the request of the Shellfish Committee, showing shellfish purchase and receipts of sale.

15.The Shellfish Constable shall have the authority to inspect the grant area, including the contents of all boxes or other containers at any time.

16. Should any Town dredging operations temporarily make a grant area unsuitable for planting, or maintaining shellfish, immediate and temporary, permission to relocate the grant holder's stock shall be reviewed by the Selectmen. In the event these shellfish need to be relocated under these conditions, they shall be relocated at the grant holder's expense. The Town is not liable for any loss of shellfish.

17. All shellfish nursery boxes shall be indelibly marked with the grant number. The grant holder shall assume liability for all boxes, racks, spat‑collection devices, and all other shellfish equipment, used in shellfish farming. If any such boxes, racks, spat‑collection devices, and all other shellfish equipment, are moved by a storm or other event, to a location off of the premises of the grant, it shall be the responsibility of the grant holder to remove it.

If within three (3) weeks, the grant holder has not complied with this requirement, the Town, through the Marine Department, may cause such boxes, racks, and all other shellfish equipment, to be removed, and may bill the grant holder. For purposes of identification, each box, rack, etc., used by the individual grant holder shall bear the grant holder's name and grant number.

When a grant is discontinued or terminated for any reason, the grant holder shall be required to remove all boxes, racks, pens, and all other shellfish equipment, from the waters and substratum within thirty (30) days of the grant expiration/termination date. Any and all equipment not removed within thirty (30) days may be recovered by the Town, through the Shellfish Constable, at the grant holders expense.

18. The grant holder shall be required to hold State permits to handle seed and propagate shellfish in compliance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 130. The grant holder shall be required to comply with all rules and regulations governing shellfish grants as set forth by the Town of Provincetown and M.G.L. Chapter 130, Sections 57 through 68A and M.G.L. Chapter 131, Section 40. Failure to comply with the aforementioned laws and regulations shall be deemed cause to revoke the Town and State grant permits.

19. The "Town" and "State" grant permits may be subject to review and/or approval of the following governing bodies: The Board of Selectmen, the Marine Department, the Shellfish Constable, the Shellfish Committee, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

A. The Board of Selectmen shall hold a public hearing and either approve or deny the grant application. The grant application shall be reviewed by the Marine Department, Shellfish Constable and the Shellfish Committee prior to the public hearing, and their comments passed along to the Board of Selectmen.

B. If the grant is approved, the Board of Selectmen shall issue a grant agreement in accordance with established regulations.

C. The Shellfish Constable shall make an inspection of the grant area with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, who shall prepare a written report on the standing shellfish within the grant area.

D. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries will review the grant application, survey the proposed grant location, and certify that the grant and operation thereon would cause no substantial adverse effect on the natural shellfish resources of the Town, in compliance with M.G.L. Chapter 130, Section 57.

20. The Shellfish Committee will set an application period every year. Following receipt of an acceptable and complete grant application, the Board of Selectmen shall establish a public hearing date. At least 15 days prior to the hearing, the Selectmen shall publish a legal notice twice before the hearing, in a newspaper with local distribution. In addition, a hearing notice shall be posted at the Town Hall.

21. In addition and separate from the comer stakes, Grant holders shall be responsible for affixing to the four (4) corners of their grant, metal pipe markers and yellow buoys not less than 20 inches in circumference, marked with black letters with the words "Private Shellfish Grant No.____ " with the letters being at least 2 inches high. An accurate description of the meets and bounds shall be made part of the survey plan on the original application.

22. Grant holders are responsible for describing their grants in meets and bounds, as required by State law. Should boundary disputes arise among grant holders, they shall first take their dispute to the Marine Department and Shellfish Committee for resolution. Should this prove unacceptable, the Board of Selectmen may require an engineered survey of the grants in question. Such a survey would be performed at the grant holder's expense.

23. No persons other than the grant holder or an abutting grant holder, may moor or anchor a boat within twenty‑five (25) feet, at rest, of a grant.

24. Fees:

A. A fifteen dollar ($15.00) application fee for the application and public hearing shall be payable at the time of submitting the grant application form.

B.. An, annual permit fee of twenty‑five dollars, ($25. 00) per acre, or any part thereof, is payable at the time of grant approval, and then on April 1 of each year.

C. A recording fee of one dollar ($1.00) shall be payable at the time of grant approval.

25. Every grant holder shall pay to the town, on or before April 1, an annual fee as defined in the grant lease agreement. If such fee is not paid within six months, the Board of Selectmen shall hold a hearing as to ascertain the facts of non-payment and determine if the license shall be revoked.

Adopted by the Board of Selectmen March 26, 1990

Amended by the Board of Selectmen June 12, 2000