July 1, 2014 — The final closures placed last month on commercial shellfish harvesting are scheduled to be lifted at sunrise tomorrow morning, state fisheries officials said today.
Jeff Kennedy, regional shellfish supervisor for the state Division of Marine Fisheries’ Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Field Station, said today that tests showed that it is now safe for soft shell and razor clams to be commercially harvested from the Annisquam River in the northern sections of Gloucester.
“This would be the last area that is reopened of importance to the commercial clammers,” Kennedy said.
Other shellfish remained banned from the daily catch, Kennedy said, but those are typically caught recreationally.
“The major species is blue mussels,” Kennedy said, adding that there is “not a large commercial fishery for those on the North Shore.”
While red tide has not completely dissipated, Kennedy said it may not be long before more positive results roll in.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times