December 21st, 2016 — The Edgartown selectmen voted this week to revoke the shellfish license of two commercial bay scallopers for violating town shellfish laws. Mark Morri and Michael Hathaway both lost their licenses for unrelated infractions.
At a contentious public hearing Monday, selectmen voted unanimously to revoke the license of Mr. Morris for refusing to allow inspection of his bay scallop catch by shellfish constables.
The action followed the unanimous recommendation of the town’s shellfish committee.
The incident in question with Mr. Morris occurred on Dec. 5. According to a report filed by deputy shellfish constables Warren Gaines and Rob Morrison, Mr. Morris first agreed to allow the constables to inspect his daily scallop catch, but instead of pulling the boat onto his trailer, he turned and sped off through the harbor, leaving the sight of the constables. When he returned 10 minutes later, according to the report, there were no scallops aboard other than the legal limit.
“Whether there were scallops or not doesn’t really matter,” said Mr. Morrison. “What matters, he did not consent to a check.”
The next day, when constables again asked to inspect his daily catch, Mr. Morris refused.
“You guys are never allowed to check my boat and you’ll need a search warrant if you want to check my [expletive] boat again,” Mr. Morris is quoted as saying in the constables’ report.
At the Monday hearing, shellfish constable Paul Bagnall said a condition of a commercial license is consent to inspect catches in boats, vehicles, fishing shacks, and anywhere else other than a home.