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.

“When he was requested to do so he was noncompliant and took off,” Mr. Bagnall said. “It’s a violation of the shellfish bylaws of the town of Edgartown as well as Chapter 130 of Massachusetts General Laws. We’re not going to get into screaming profanities at the foot of Main street. We have to have a bare minimum of compliance with the law.”

Mr. Morris at first told selectmen he was too aggravated to speak during the hearing and said his wife would speak for him.

Later he conceded he did yell and use profanity on Dec. 6.

“I was upset,” Mr. Morris told selectmen. “I can say anything I want. I did not put my hands on him, I did not threaten him in any way. I did not steal scallops. I feel I was singled out. I’m a little hot headed, but I did nothing wrong.”

Selectmen disagreed. “This is a pretty cut-and-dried simple issue,” said selectman Art Smadbeck. “The fact that you took off when they wanted to check the boat is an act of non-compliance. This was an infraction and they have penalties for it. There aren’t any extenuating circumstances.”

Selectmen voted to suspend the license for the remainder of the bay scallop season, which ends March 31.

Mr. Morris said he intends to appeal the matter in court.

Also Monday, selectmen voted unanimously to suspend the shellfishing license of Michael Hathaway, after he was ticketed for a second time in three years. The first violation was for taking scallop seed. The second violation, on Nov. 23, was for taking more than the legal limit.

In other action at Monday’s meeting, cemetery commissioners convened a joint meeting with the selectmen, and voted unanimously to turn over responsibility for maintenance and care of town cemeteries to the highway department. Cemetery commissioners said they were reassured that someone would be on duty at the facilities during the summer.

“There were some concerns,” said commissioner Andrew Kelly. “We wanted to make sure there was somebody over there in season.”

Board chairman Margaret Serpa said the management of the department won’t change significantly.

“The highway department is just looking after maintenance,” Mrs. Serpa said. “You’ll still have meetings. If anyone has a concern they can still come to a meeting, see a cemetery commissioner.”

The changes come after a series of disputes with cemetery superintendent Jen Morgan, who resigned several weeks ago, according to Mr. Kelly. An independent review of the cemetery department commissioned by the selectmen earlier this year recommended the town use the highway department for cemetery maintenance and abolish the cemetery commission. The selectmen decided to follow the recommendation only partly, keeping the commission, whose members they appoint, and shifting maintenance to the highway department.