Chilmark selectmen voted Tuesday to approve new regulations for the upcoming scallop and oyster seasons, while keeping a close eye on toxic blue-green algae growth in coastal ponds.

Shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer came before the selectmen to outline dates and rules as recommended by the town shellfish committee for bay scalloping scallop and oystering this fall and winter.

The commercial bay scalloping season is set to begin on Nov. 30, with scallopers limited to two struck buckets per day, Mr. Scheffer said. Family scalloping begins Oct. 26, with a limit of a half bushel per week.

In a new conservation effort, all scallop dragging will be prohibited in the Muddy Cove area this season, as the shellfish department continues its work restoring the cove’s eelgrass growth, Mr. Scheffer said.

In another slight pivot, the commercial oystering season in Tisbury Great Pond is slated to begin Nov. 2, but harvesting will be limited to three days per week with a maximum count of 800 oysters per day, Mr. Scheffer said. The recreational season will begin the same day, with a limit of a half bushel per family.

Mr. Scheffer said he expects a promising season on the ponds this year, noting that last spring’s seeding efforts are already yielding a decent population of relatively small scallops in places like Clam Cove. “It’s hard to tell what survives over the summer, but it definitely seems to me it’s going to be better than last year,” the constable said.

The upcoming start of the scallop and oyster season also raised questions from selectmen about the impact of the toxic blue-green algae discovered in Chilmark Pond this past summer, and subsequently in other coastal ponds after water samples were tested. Mr. Scheffer said though the toxin can accumulate in shellfish, crabs and fish, the risk of such an occurrence in Chilmark was not yet known, with further research on the pond’s bacteria still underway.

“I’m really not trying to approach it from an alarmist type standpoint,” Mr. Scheffer told the selectmen. “I think it’s just going take more research, more water sampling, and we’re going to have to figure out — how bad is this problem?”

Mr. Scheffer added that after a hot, dry summer like the one just past, algae growth might become a longer-term consequence of climate change. “I think that in the future it just comes down to nutrient loading and climate change, and we’re just going to be battling these things,” he said.

After brief public comment, the selectmen voted unanimously in favor of the proposed regulations and opening dates.

In other business Tuesday, selectman Warren Doty provided updates on the Chilmark’s School’s reopening plans, including the school’s remote learning center, which is currently operating out of the Chilmark Community Center.

According to selectman Mr. Doty, the center will run four days a week through the end of October as a communal learning space for students in grades 4-5 who have not yet returned to the classroom. The center is staffed by one of the school’s substitute teachers, with support from a rotating list of parent volunteers, Mr. Doty said.

Mr. Doty requested approval from his fellow selectmen to cover the cost of a part-time custodian who will disinfect the community center between school uses. Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the $2,500 cost, voicing their support for the learning center.

Also Tuesday, selectmen heard comments from Chilmark resident Anne Cook about the Navy’s remediation plan on Noman’s, following a public hearing hosted by the Navy last week. Ms. Cook urged the selectmen to work with Chilmark voters on the rehabilitation project, but selectman Jim Malkin said the town had not yet taken a stance.

Toward the end of the discussion, the selectmen were interrupted by a zoom-bombing incident perpetrated by a group of what appeared to be teenagers, who joined the meeting uninvited. One, whose video background bore a swastika, played a vulgar song and shouted profanities at participants. In response to the intrusion, the selectmen promptly ended the video meeting, reconvening shortly afterwards and keeping all unidentified meeting participants in the Zoom waiting room.

Selectmen closed out the agenda with a vote to approve the posting of signs notifying residents of the start of the hunting season.