The municipal shellfish program in Maine is based on a co-management partnership between the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the more than 70 municipalities who have developed a shellfish ordinance and have decided to manage their shellfish resources within their towns.1 Please visit the DMR website for agency information about this program.
Municipal shellfish co-management program is important for several reasons. This system creates opportunities for people to meet with each other, discuss problems and solutions, and build capacity to adapt in the face of many different types of changes and challenges. For example, municipal shellfish committees led multiple efforts to try to understand and find solutions to the dramatic increases in green crab populations in 2013.2 The clam fishery is the only commercial fishery in Maine that is managed at the community level. Within this system, municipalities are able to set specific regulations (that fall within state law) through a town shellfish conservation ordinance such as size limits, conservation closures, limiting the number of shellfish harvesters, and restricting the time and area where digging is permitted. The DMR supports these efforts, along with monitoring for water quality changes and instituting water quality closures. Please see our water quality decision support tree for more information about this program.
Coastal Municipalities
More than 70 different coastal communities have local shellfish ordinances. Each of these ordinances is unique, and allows for the adaptability of management for that specific location. For more information about these ordinances, please see this DMR webpage.
Maine SHellfish Handbook
The Maine Shellfish Handbook is a comprehensive introduction to Maine’s municipal shellfish management program and is intended as a training resource for shellfish committees, clammers, and civic partners who are involved in shellfish co-management. The handbook includes sections on the state management system, strategies for running a successful municipal shellfish program, information about shellfish biology and ecology, and a toolbox of management techniques.
This document grows out of an earlier version, namely The Maine Clam Handbook (1998), which was a community guide developed by the Maine Sea Grant program, the Maine State Planning Office, and Maine Department of Marine Resources. This guide was created to provide important information for community shellfish management programs and other stakeholders. You can download the Maine Clam Handbook here.
References
- McGreavy, B., Randall, S., Quiring, T., Hathaway, C., & Hillyer, G. (2018). Enhancing adaptive capacities in coastal communities through engaged communication research: Insights from a statewide study of shellfish co-management. Ocean and Coastal Management. 163(1), 240-253, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.06.016
- McClenachan, L., O’Connor, G., & Reynolds, T. (2015). Adaptive capacity of co-management systems in the face of environmental change: the soft-shell clam fishery and invasive green crabs in Maine. Marine Policy, 52, 26-32.
The Mudflat 