Management

This page is divided into three sections: Mission, Programs and Activities. Each deals with an aspect of the duties and functions of the Regional Office concerning shellfish management.

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.

PROGRAMS

Municipalities

The following towns with shellfish management programs occur in the Southern Maine Region:

Biddeford
Brunswick
Chebeague Island
Cumberland
Eliot

Freeport
Harpswell
Kennebunk
Kennebunkport
Kittery
Ogunquit

Phippsburg
Scarborough
Wells
West Bath
Yarmouths
York

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 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. Select the following link to go to our "News and Meetings" page for meeting dates: Town Shellfish Meeting Information.

ACTIVITIES

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.

Biddeford
Brunswick
Chebeague
Cumberland

Freeport
Harpswell
Kennebunkport
Phippsburg

Scarborough
West Bath
Yarmouth

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