After hearing an appeal from an oysterman who had his license suspended for fishing after hours, West Tisbury selectmen decided this week that an overhaul of town shellfish regulations is in order.

Devin Greene’s appeal of a three-day suspension came before selectmen at their meeting Wednesday afternoon. The suspension was ordered by the town shellfish committee last month after a member of the committee had seen Mr. Greene oystering on the Tisbury Great Pond after the 4 p.m. deadline.

Mr. Greene told the selectmen this week that he did not think he was fishing after hours but admitted he had not checked the time.

“I think the burden falls on a commercial fisherman to check their watch. To say I didn’t know what time it was really isn’t much of an excuse,” said selectman Jeffrey Manter.

Selectman Richard Knabel said he attended the shellfish committee meeting where Mr. Greene’s license was suspended and came away confused about how the decision was made. “It seems to me the process was extremely chaotic that Saturday morning; it wasn’t clear to me how the committee came to its decision,” Mr. Knabel said.

Board chairman Dianne Powers said the current shellfish bylaws are ambiguous and unclear on many enforcement issues.

“The shellfish regulations need to be revised again, they have not been reviewed since 1996 . . . nowhere in the regulations is there any mention of a process for complaints, appeals or hearings. It makes it difficult for a fisherman or a committee to know what’s the appropriate approach,” she said.

In the end selectmen voted to expunge all previous violations against town fishermen, and give them a clean slate retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. They also agreed to meet with the shellfish committee in the coming weeks to review shellfish regulations.