The Watershed Vol. 9, No. 1

The Oyster Pond Environmental Trust Newsletter, Winter 2004

OPET, P.O. Box 496, Woods Hole, MA 02543-0496

OPET Board meetings are open to all OPET members. Meetings are usually held on the third Sunday of the month, at 4 pm, in the Treetops Clubhouse. We'd love to have you come! For information call 508-540-7345.

OPET does not have an official phone, but you can leave a message call 508-540-7345.
We'll gladly get back to you! Or email Email OPET or Wendi Buesseler. And do visit our website, www.opet.org.

OPET Officers and Directors

Officers

Robert King
President

Eric Davidson
Vice President

Bill Kerfoot
Clerk

Barry Norris
Treasurer

Consultant
Wendi Buessler

Directors

Carl Breivogel
Jonathan Davis
John Dowling
Susan Gagosian
Melinda Hall
Dana Rodin
Arthur Silverstein
Peter Valtin
Lou Turner
Martin White

Honorary Boardmember

Robert Livingstone

Exit to the Sea

by Bob Livingstone

Alewives, a species of herring, migrate up the Trunk River in the spring to spawn in Oyster Pond. After spawning, the adults return to the sea over a period of several weeks. Their young exit the Pond beginning in June and continue until December. Oyster Pond is the third largest herring run in Falmouth.

The circumstances for leaving the Pond have been similar for the last three years. Exit follows a period of heavy rain with a noticeable increase in water flow at the weir. Exit begins in mid-June when the salinity of the Pond water was 0 to 4 parts per thousand (ppt) and +/- 2 ppt at the weir and Lagoon. Water temperatures were warming to the 70's. The juvenile herring appear to be 2 to 3 months old. Most are less than 2 inches in length measured from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail. For ...

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June 21 - An estimated 10,000 young herring at the weir.

OPET Profile: Chuck Martinsen, Falmouth's New Herring Warden

"If it's off the pavement we deal with it," saus Churck Martinsen, Falmouth's new Shellfish Constable and Herring Warden as well as Assistant Director of Natural Resources. While Chuck is responsible for overeseeing the herring population in Oyster Pond, his job also includes the mind-boggling variety of other tasks, everything from maintaining herring runs to arresting drug smuggles to marine enforcement to overseeing shellfisheries. His job is a combination of protecting and conserving Falmouth's natural resources and law enforcement.

This combination of environmental oversight with law enforcement blends well with his educational background and interests. He has a degree in criminal justice from Westfield State College. Currently he is pursuing a Master's in Public Administration from Suffolk University and expects to finish next spring.

Though Chuck grew up in Pembroke, since the age of nine he has spent summers in Falmouth. He spent a lot of time in the woods, on the water or fishing. One of his first jobs was working for the ...

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