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 fifty-eight towns with shellfish management programs. The following are in Hancock County:

Bar Harbor
Brooklin
Cranberry Isles
Deer Isle

Gouldsboro
Mount Desert
Penobscot
Southwest Harbor

Stonington
Surry
Swans Island

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.

Bar Harbor: Meeting: 3rd Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m; Location: Bar Harbor Town Office
Chairman: Chris Petersen
Brooklin: Meeting: Last Tuesday of each month
Location: Brooklin Town Office
Chairman: Mike Strout
Cranberry Isles: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman:Richard Alley Jr
Deer Isle: Meeting:
Location: PERC or Town Office
Chairman: Virginia Olsen
Gouldsboro: Meeting: 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m
Location: Gouldsboro Town Office
Chairman: John Renwick
Mount Desert: Meeting:
Location: Mount Desert Town Office
Chairman: Tom Falt
Penobscot: Meeting:
Location: Penobscot Town Office
Chairman: Bailey Bowden
Southwest Harbor: Meeting: 2nd Monday of each month
Location: Southwest Harbor Town Office
Chairman: Jim Calquhoun
Stonington: Meeting:
Location: PERC or Town Office
Chairman: Virginia Olsen
Surry: Meeting:
Location: Surry Town Office
Chairman: Brad Saunders
Swans Island: Meeting:
Location:
Chairman: George Anderson

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:

Bar Harbor

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Daily Recreational
Nonresident Daily Recreational
Resident Senior Recreational
Nonresident Senior Recreational
Resident Junior Recreational
Nonresident Junior Recreational

Issuance Period- July 1 to September 30

4
*
**
**
**
**
**
*
**
*

$100
$200
$20
$40
$10
$20
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Brooklin

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Senior Resident Recreational
Senior Nonresident Recreational

Issuance Period- May 1 to July 31

20
2
30
3
**
*

$60
$120
$20
$40
$0.00
$0.00

Cranberry Isles

Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Junior Recreational
Nonresident Junior Recreational
Resident Senior Recreational
Nonresident Senior Recreational

Issuance Period- March1 to February 28

**
*
**
*
**
*

$16
$32
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Deer Isle

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Senior Commercial
Nonresident Senior Commercial
Resident Student Commercial
Nonresident Student Commencial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Junior Recreational
Nonresident Junior Recreational
Resident Senior Recreational
Nonresident Senior Recreational

Issuance Period- May 1 to April 30

**
*
**
*
**
*
**
**
**
**
**
**

$400
$600
$0.00
$0.00
$100
$200
$1
$2
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Gouldsboro

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Senior Commercial
Nonresident Senior Commercial
Resient Junior Commercial
Nonresident Junior Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Day Recreational
Nonresident Day Recreational
Resident Senior Recreational
Nonresident Senior Recreational
Resident 12 under Recreational
Nonresident 12 under Recreational

20
2
**
*
4
0
**
*
**
**
**
*
**
*

$100
$200
$0.00
$0.00
$40
$80
$25
$50
$10
$20
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Mount Desert

Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational

Issuance Period- October 1 to April 30

**
*

$20
$40

Penobscot

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Senior Recreational
Nonresident Senior Recreational
Resident Junior Recreational
Nonresident Junior Recreational

Issuance Period- April 15th to July 15

6
1
**
*
**
*
**
*

$100
$200
$10
$20
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Southwest Harbor

Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational
Resident Junior Recreational
Nonresident Junior Recreational

Issuance Period- January 1 to December 31

**
**
**
**

$20
$40
$0.00
$0.00

Stonington

Issuance Period- May 21 to April 30

**
*
**
*
**
*
**
**
**
**
**
**

$400
$600
$0.00
$0.00
$100
$200
$1
$2
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00

Surry

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational

Issuance Period- April 1 to July 2

2
1
20
2

$150
$300
$5
$10

Swans Island

Resident Commercial
Nonresident Commercial
Resident Senior Commercial
Nonresident Senior Commercial
Resident Recreational
Nonresident Recreational

Issuance Period- April 1 to June 30

**
*
**
**
**
*

$125
$250
$0.00
$0.00
$12.50
$25

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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 them.

Laws and Regulations 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.

Bar Harbor
Brooklin
Cranberry Isles
Deer Isle

Gouldsboro
Mount Desert
Penobscot
Southwest Harbor

Stonington
Surry
Swans Island

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.

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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