Maine Municipal Shellfish Program

The Municipal Shellfish Program is administered by the DMR Bureau of Public Health.

Select the links below or scroll down the page:

Mission of the Program

The softshell clam resource belongs to the people of the State of Maine. The Department of Marine Resources must ensure that municipalities assuming the responsibility of managing shellfish resources do so in a manner consistant with the state's goal of balancing use of the resource and conservation. Towns manage their shellfish resources to the lower tide line (except for intertidal mussel harvest permits), by adopting and enforcing a town shellfish conservation ordinance.

The Area Biologists are responsible for helping municipalities with resource assessment and management of their shellfish ordinances. The Shellfish Program Coordinator manages the Muncipal Shellfish warden eligibility and training program.

The PDF files below require Adobe Acrobat or the free Adobe Reader (download here).

Staff Contact Information

The mailing address for the program is: Municipal Shellfish Program, DMR, P.O. Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04575-0008.
Select the name of the Area Biologist below to find their contact info:
Denis-Marc Nault (Program Supervisor) covers the southern towns from Eliot to Old Orchard Beach (map marked in blue, PDF file, 146 KB). He also covers the eastern towns from Milbridge to Calais (map marked in blue, PDF file, 244 KB). His cell phone number is 207-592-0512 and his office number is 207-422-2092.

Pete Thayer covers towns from Scarborough to Bremen (map marked in green, PDF file, 376 KB). His cell phone number is 207-592-9384 and his office number is 207-633-9539.
Hannah Annis covers the towns from Waldoboro to Steuben (map marked in pink, PDF file, 530 KB ). Her cell phone number is 207-949-4498 and her office number is 207-469-6134.

Michelle Mason Webber is the Shellfish Program Coordinator. Her office phone number is 207-624-6570.

Town Shellfish Warden Information

Information on town shellfish warden applications and training can be found on the DMR's Municipal Shellfish Warden page.

Town Shellfish Ordinance Information

***Coming soon! ***

Information regarding town shellfish licenses, ordinances, flat surveys and intertidal management plans can be found on the DMR's General Shellfish Ordinance Information page.

Applications and Annual Review Forms

Applications for shellfish program permits and wardens, as well as the annual review forms needed by towns with ordinances, can be found on the Municipal Shellfish Management Forms page.

News & Meetings

News (as of April 2, 2013)

Intertidal mussel harvest guidance document (13 KB, pdf)

Frenchman's Bay Intertidal Management Plan (19 KB, pdf)

Frenchman's Bay specified intertidal areas limited for mussel harvesting by drag (645 KB, pdf)

Gouldsboro Intertidal Shellfish Management Plan (PDF file, 16 pages, 2.8 MB)

Links to the DMR Shellfish Advisory Council and other news items can be found on our Maine Shellfish News and Meetings page.

Program Laws and Regulations

The municipal shellfish program is governed by DMR Regulations Chapters 4 and 7, as well as in statute: Title 12, §6671: Municipal shellfish conservation programs. Select the following link to go to the DMR's website for more information: Maine Marine Laws and Regulations.

DEPT. OF MARINE RESOURCES