Management

This page is divided into five sections: Mission, Programs, Regulations, Activities and Documents. Each deals with an aspect of the duties and functions of the Regional Office concerning shellfish management. Use the links at the left to view each section or simply scroll down the page.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

MISSION

The Biologists stationed at the Regional Offices are responsible for assisting municipalities with shellfish management programs. The Biologist is a consultant to the town knowledgeable in both state regulations and clam management. The soft-shell clam resource belongs to the people of the State of Maine. As a natural resource trustee, the Department of Marine Resources, through the biologists, must ensure that municipalities who have assumed the responsibilities of management do so in a manner that is consistent with the state's goal of achieving a balance between utilization and conservation. Specific areas of assistance include: preparation of management plans, reviewing renewal ordinances and amendments, recommending management activities and controls, training municipal personnel in survey and seeding techniques, and analyzing survey and production data.

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PROGRAMS

Municipalities

There are currently seventy-three towns with shellfish management programs. The following occur in the Midcoast Maine Region:

Arrowsic
Boothbay
Boothbay Harbor
Bremen
Bristol
Cushing
Damariscotta
Edgecomb

Friendship
Georgetown
Islesboro
Newcastle
Rockport
St. George
So. Bristol

So. Thomaston
Thomaston
Waldoboro
Warren
Westport
Wiscasset
Woolwich

Committees

The shellfish management programs are administered by the municipal officials with the advice of the shellfish committee. The duties and responsibilities of the committees can be found in the Model Shellfish Conservation Ordinance.

The following is a list of the shellfish committees, the respective chairs and regular meeting time and place:

Arrowsic: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Betty Wilson
Boothbay: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Jim Beam
Boothbay Harbor: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Bremen: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Todd Anderson
Bristol: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Joe Winchenbach
Cushing: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Damariscotta: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Jim Beam
Edgecomb: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Friendship: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Dwayne Neubig
Georgetown: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Eric Kosalka
Islesboro: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Jon Keir
Newcastle: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Charles Lincoln
Rockport: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Roy Saizman
St. George: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Peter Hope
South Bristol: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Dave Norword
South Thomaston: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Thomaston: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Waldoboro: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Charles Stone
Warren: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Westport: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:
Wiscasset: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Don James
Woolwich: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: Alan King

Licensing

The following is a list of the number (** = no limit, *=10% of the number sold in the previous category) and costs of licenses provided by the municipalities for each of several categories along with the issuance period:

Arrowsic

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Student
Nonresident Student
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational
Junior Recreational
Senior Recreational

Issuance Period- March 1 to May 31

3
0
3
0
**
**
**
**

$100
$200
$35
$70
$10
$20
nc
nc

Boothbay

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to May 31

**
*
**
**

$175
$350
$3
$3

Boothbay Harbor

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to May 31

**
*
**
**

$175
$350
$3
$3

Bremen

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Student
Nonresident Student
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to August 1

32
4
2
0
50
5

$150
$200
$15
$30
$12.50
$25

Bristol

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- January 1 - March 1

32
4
50
5

$500
$250
$15
$30

Cushing

(see St. George River Association)

Damariscotta

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to September 1

11
2
17
5

$150
$250
$5
$10

Edgecomb

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to May 31

**
*
**
**

$175
$350
$3
$3

Friendship

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to August 31

30
4
**
*

$200
$400
$10
$10

Georgetown

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational
Daily Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to September 30

17
2
**
**
**

$200
$400
$15
$30
$20

Islesboro

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- May 1 to August 1

5
0
100
10

$100
$200
$2
$4

Newcastle

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to September 1

11
2
18
5

$150
$250
$5
$10

St. George

(see St. George River Association)

St. George River Association

(Cushing, Thomaston, St. George, South Thomaston and Warren)

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Student
Nonresident Student
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational
Resident Daily Recreational
Nonresident Daily Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to August 31

107
11
9
1
**
*
**
*

$200
$400
$100
$200
$15
$30
$10
$20

South Bristol

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Student
Nonresident Student
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- January 1 to April 1

15
2
1
0
60
6

$200
$400
$100
$200
$10
$20

South Thomaston

(see St. George River Association)

Waldoboro

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Student
Nonresident Student
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- July 1 to October 1

175
22
20
2
100
10

$100
$200
$50
$100
$10
$20

Warren

(see St. George River Association)

Westport

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- May 1 to July 1

1
1
31
4

$150
$300
$15
$30

Wiscasset

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to August 31

12
2
30
3

$150
$300
$15
$30

Woolwich

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresdent Recreational

Issuance Period- June 1 to August 31

12
2
15
2

$150
$300
$15
$30

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REGULATIONS

The main laws pertaining to shellfish management include: 1.) 12 M.R.S.A. § 6671. Municipal Shellfish Conservation Programs. 2.) DMR Regulations Chapter 7. Requirements for Municpalities Having Shellfish Conservation Programs. 3) DMR Regulations Chapter 4. Certification for Municipal Shellfish Wardens. and 4.) the Model Shellfish Conservation Ordinance. Use the following links to view the laws.

§ 6671 Chapter 7 Chapter 4 Model Ordinance

Additional laws can be accessed by selecting Laws and Regulations on the DMR homepage.

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ACTIVITIES

This section contains a description of the most recent management activities undertaken by this office.

Shellfish Committee Meetings

The Regional Biologist attends as many of the Shellfish Committee meetings as possible and takes notes which are written up as Meeting Highlights and provided to the Program Manager. The Highlights are not the official minutes of the meetings and are not reviewed by the committees for errors or omissions. Meeting Highlights for the last attended meeting can be viewed through the following links.

Arrowsic
Boothbay
Boothbay Harbor
Bremen
Bristol
Cushing
Damariscotta
Edgecomb

Friendship
Georgetown
Islesboro
Newcastle
Rockport
St. George
So. Bristol

So. Thomaston
Thomaston
Waldoboro
Warren
Westport
Wiscasset
Woolwich

Clam Flat Surveys

All of the commercially based management programs and many of the recreational based programs conduct clam flat surveys to ascertain their clam resources. The Regional Biologist is tasked with training individuals and groups to conduct clam surveys according to the procedures developed by DMR. In addition, the Regional Biologist will also analyze survey data generated by the management programs that request it. Results of surveys conducted by a number of programs can be viewed through the following links.

Arrowsic
Boothbay
Boothbay Harbor
Bremen
Bristol
Cushing
Damariscotta
Edgecomb

Friendship
Georgetown
Islesboro
Newcastle
Rockport
St. George
So. Bristol

So. Thomaston
Thomaston
Waldoboro
Warren
Westport
Wiscasset
Woolwich

Annual Management Review

The 2005 Annual Management Review forms were sent out at the beginning of December to all Shellfish Conservation Committees with a March 1st deadline for submission. The purposes of the review are: 1) to document and discuss the conservation activities of the past year, 2) to plan and document the proposed activities for the coming year and 3) to determine if the municipality is meeting its regulatory requirements under the Municipal Shellfish Conservation Program - DMR Regulations: Chapter 7. The Regional Biologists assist municipalities in conducting the reviews and preparing the forms. A comprehensive review of the 2003 forms was completed in June. Each program was evaluated on management performance and reporting compliance.

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