A few short notes from last week’s recent shellfish advisory board meeting:

Shellfish fund

Marine services director Chris Leonard had a nice day earlier this month when he opened the mail and found word of another $100,000 donation from the Manton Foundation.

The foundation has supported the town’s shellfish propagation fund for years, and Leonard said it was good to learn of another award that will be put to use this coming year. With the new donation, the shellfish propagation gift fund account’s balance currently sits at $307,275 — “which is good,” Leonard said. “That’s a huge thank you for supporting the Town of Westport.

The news comes as Westport readies for the yearly shellfish relay, in which tons of quahogs are spread across the town’s open shellfishing areas.

With a contract finalized Monday, he said Westport is ready to go.

Residency

How long must one live in Westport before being eligible for a commercial shellfishing license? That’s the question before members of the shellfish advisory board, who discussed it last week and hope to bring it back up in the coming months.

“All we require is residency,” chairman Rick Smith said. “You could be here for 25 minutes, as long as you’ve got the documents required.”

Several members said they want to take a closer look at whether licenses should be more tightly restricted, and will likely come before the select board at some point if they come up with recommended changes.

How many would it affect? A few dozen. Leonard said 48 commercial licenses were handed out last year, up half a dozen from 2020. The number has risen by one or two every year over the past five, apart from a big one-year jump in 2023, when 57 licenses were issued.