Tisbury shellfish constable Danielle Ewart this week announced the dates for recreational and commercial scalloping in town waters.

Family and recreational scalloping outside of Tisbury’s ponds will open Nov. 5, with the commercial season beginning Nov. 7. In Lake Tashmoo, recreational and family scalloping starts Nov. 19 and the commercial season opens Nov. 21.

Tisbury’s share of Lagoon Pond will open to non-commercial scalloping for two days only, Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, Ms. Ewart told the Tisbury select board this week, noting that she initially had planned not to open Lagoon Pond at all this year, to protect developing seed.

“I know there’s a lot of large seed out there,” she said.

Oak Bluffs intends to open its part of the pond to scalloping on the same dates, Ms. Ewart told the select board.

Dragging the bottom for shellfish is strictly prohibited in both Lake Tashmoo and Lagoon Pond. Dip-netting and diving scallopers must check in with Ms. Ewart’s office once they’ve harvested their catch, she said.

The shellfish constable faced some pushback for her announcement at Wednesday’s select board meeting.

“Why only two days dip-netting?” asked longtime commercial shellfisherman Jason Robinson. “It’s not hurting any of the seed [and] obviously you can monitor what’s coming in.”

“There’s a good abundance of adults out there … We pay a lot of money for a [shellfishing] permit in this town, and all we can harvest is quahogs,” Mr. Robinson added.

“These are juvenile scallops,” said Ms. Ewart, who is working with the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group to replenish the pond’s bay scallops with hatchery seed. “I’m trying to set up a brood stock population so we can have something in the future. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of good areas left,” she said, citing the decline of eel grass and the scouring effect of high-speed watercraft on the pond’s bottom.

“There are a lot of reasons we don’t have the bay scallops we had before,” Ms. Ewart said. “We need to start protecting what we have.”

Vessel speeds in the pond were also a topic elsewhere in Wednesday’s meeting, as the select board continued and then closed a wide-ranging public hearing on revisions to the town’s waterways regulations. Tisbury planning board chair Ben Robinson called for a no-wake rule throughout Lagoon Pond, which would eliminate all waterskiing inside the drawbridge.

“The continuing wakes scour the shoreline and that’s a detriment to the water quality, to the wildlife,” Mr. Robinson. “There’s plenty of space out there beyond the lagoon [for waterskiing].”

Harbormaster John Crocker noted that a Tisbury rule would not affect the Oak Bluffs part of the pond.

“If we prohibit [waterskiing], it is still going to happen,” Mr. Crocker said.

However, waterways committee chair Jeff Canha said Oak Bluffs recently hired a new harbormaster who may be open to joining Tisbury in declaring all of Lagoon Pond a no-wake zone in July and August.

While the select board closed the waterways regulations hearing Wednesday, written comments are still being accepted through 5 p.m. Nov. 2.

To assist the board in finalizing the regulations, Tisbury has engaged a maritime legal expert.

Attorney William Hewig, who joined Wednesday’s meeting, works not only with municipalities but also in maritime and admiralty affairs for the Boston firm KP Law, which employs town counsel David Doneski as well. He is a former instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy who previously sailed as a naval officer and merchant marine officer, Mr. Hewig told the select board.

“When the proposed regulations are put together, I’ll take a look at them with an eye to making them legal,” he said.

After attending and taking notes on the waterways hearings, Mr. Hewig said he’ll also review the written testimony before making his recommendations to the board on Nov. 9.

“I’ve been very impressed with the dialogue and the level of expertise,” he added.

In other business Wednesday, town administrator John (Jay) Grande told the select board that the 2024 cost of living adjustment (COLA) for town employees has been set at 6.9 per cent.

The COLA will affect the town’s management and professional workers as well as the general union for employees, Mr. Grande said.

“It does not impact the police union contract,” he added. “Their contract will expire in a year’s time.”

Town treasurer Jon Snyder said he believed Tisbury is the first Island town to set the 2024 COLA for municipal employees.

“It’s a very challenging [economic] environment,” Mr. Snyder said.

Mr. Grande also reminded select board members of some key upcoming dates. On Nov. 3 at 4:30 p.m., there will be a meeting between abutters of Veterans Memorial Park and the producer of the Beach Road Weekend music festival. Mr. Grande described the Nov. 3 gathering, to be held at the senior center, as a “round table discussion about things that went well, things that can be improved, these kinds of conversations.”

Tisbury police chief Chris Habekost and fire chief Greg Leland will also join the discussion, he said.

A joint select board meeting with the school and school building committees is coming up Nov. 7 and one with the planning board on Nov. 10, Mr. Grande continued.

Finally, Jan. 23 is the date of the town election for a select board member to fill out the last few months of Larry Gomez’s term.

Mr. Gomez, who was up for election next spring, stepped down at the start of October after suffering a stroke a few weeks earlier.