Meeting Highlights

Biddeford Shellfish Committee Meeting

October 8, 2008

Resource Status

Commercial harvester Jeff Rumery reported that the clamming has been good with four bushel digging. He added that there are a lot of small clams that will soon be coming into the fishery.

Enforcement

Warden Dave Morrisette reported that there was only one incidence of closed area digging by a recreational digger that was the result of ignorance rather than intent. Warden Morrisette was commended for the good job he did in marking the closed area boundary.

Clam Surveys

Warden Morrisette announced that the clam surveys have been completed for this year. An analysis of the data will be provided at a future meeting.

Water Quality

Warden Morrisette reported that accelerated sampling of southern Biddeford Pool will begin on October 15th. On that date, Volunteer Coordinator Alison Sirois will train and certify Frank Fisichella and Richard Schooren as water quality samplers. He stated that the Pool now meets water quality standards for year-round harvesting and a reclassification from “conditionally approved” to “approved”   is within the realm of possibility beginning next year.

Ordinance Amendments

Member Chip Blanchard requested the Committee review the ordinance in preparation to discuss ordinance amendments at the next meeting. To date, suggested changes include the establishment of a daily license, the prohibition of recreational night digging and limiting the size of recreational containers and the length of fork handles.

Vines Landing

It was reported that the signage at Vines Landing prohibits parking on the intertidal zone without reference to the fact that town commercially licensed clam diggers are authorized by ordinance to park on the intertidal zone. Member Blanchard said that he will look into having the sign changed.

Next Meeting

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be November 12th at 7 pm in the Biddeford Pool Fire Station.