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Jul 02, 2023

Shellfishing closure blamed on geese droppings

Aquinnah officials are entertaining the idea of hunting geese to cut down on bacteria entering Menemsha Pond. At Tuesday’s Aquinnah Select Board meeting, town harbormaster and shellfish warden Chip

Aquinnah officials are entertaining the idea of hunting geese to cut down on bacteria entering Menemsha Pond.

At Tuesday’s Aquinnah Select Board meeting, town harbormaster and shellfish warden Chip Vanderhoop encouraged the hunting of Canada geese at Menemsha Pond to ease shellfishing closures.

Most of the pond’s shellfishing has been closed this summer due to coliform bacteria levels, contributed to by the resident goose population in the pond’s northwestern corner and parts of its western shore. Only some northern parts of Red Beach have been available for shellfishing.

“There’s been a growing problem,” said Vanderhoop on Tuesday, referring to a presence that he says might have started four or five years ago, with three geese in the Herring Creek area. “Ever since … global warming, Canadian geese used to be migratory birds, but it’s been so nice around here in the wintertime that they migrate from Canada and land here. Or the ones that reside here don’t leave here, because they can get along without going South.”

Vanderhoop said that this spring — the time of year when the pond has its most significant goose presence — he photographed 38 goose adults and goslings in Red Beach’s northwest corner, near its stream.

Menemsha Pond is tested several times a year by the state Division of Marine Fisheries. Vanderhoop noted at the meeting that last year, the tests occurred shortly after a rain event. This runoff into the pond increased the likelihood of bacteria levels that would trigger shellfishing closures. However, Vanderhoop added that this year the issue is unlikely to improve.

At the meeting, Vanderhoop asked the room, “Who here has ever eaten a goose on Christmas? … That is the immediate thought.”

Emma Green-Beach, executive director and shellfish biologist of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group (MVSG), also spoke on the issue at the meeting. “This goose problem — the birds creating bacterial problems — is everywhere,” she said. “And every pond just gets to deal with it a little differently.” Green-Beach additionally noted that because Menemsha Pond is already jettied open, creating more openings would not be a solution, as it has been in Chilmark Pond.

MVSG does not operate in the pond, but does supply seeds (baby shellfish) to grow there. This year, MVSG supplied over 2 million quahog seeds and 3 to 5 million scallop seeds to each town.

Green-Beach also raised an alternate option for managing the pond’s geese population: egg addling. This would entail locating goose nests in the spring, and rolling eggs in vegetable oil to suffocate them. This is in contrast to simply removing goose eggs, which would lead geese to lay replacements. In other Vineyard towns, this process has involved shellfish departments, animal control departments, and volunteers. Green-Beach’s dog has also distracted geese in past egg-addling efforts.

Another option, raised by Vanderhoop, is avian pyrotechnics.

“We would need a little gun; it usually shoots a flare,” Vanderhoop said. “It goes about 100 feet. It makes a whistling noise, and then a ‘pow!’ If [geese] are disturbed when they’re trying to build a nest, they won’t build a nest there.”

Select board member Juli Vanderhoop was receptive to the issue. “Before next season’s egg hatching, we should definitely bring it back between the Shellfish Group and the select board to figure out what exactly we’re going to do,” she said. “Because [geese] are such a nuisance everywhere.”

When asked how Canada geese taste, Vanderhoop shared his recommendations. “I like them better [the] next day, because it tastes like what roast beef sandwiches taste like — it’s good,” he said. “The drumsticks are kind of sinewy, and tendons all over the place, but you can put them in a pressure cooker.”

Massachusetts’s 2023–24 early Canada goose hunting season is from Sept. 1–22, with a bag limit of 15, and possession limit of 45. The early season provides goose hunters with ample hunting and gives more time to landowners to allow hunters to reduce the size of nuisance flocks of resident geese.

The late Canada goose hunting season is runs in January to mid February and has a bag limit of 5 and possession limit of 15.