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LUBEC, Maine — The Lubec Shellfish Committee held its first meeting of the year Monday, discussing concerns about access to clam flats and outlining plans for a clam seeding program expected to launch this spring.
The Board of Selectmen approved money for the clam flat seeding program last year, and the Shellfish Committee plans to install three 14‑square‑foot plots, each covered by a small mesh net to protect developing clams from green crabs, moonsnails and other predators.
New committee member Julie Keene expressed concern that smaller, juvenile green crabs could slip through the mesh and prey on the clam seed. The net pens are also vulnerable to storm damage and theft, so they will need to be monitored.
Despite the obstacles, Mike Scrivani, the outgoing committee chair, said the effort was worth trying, both for its potential to boost the clam harvest and to maintain local control.
“The big threat hanging over our heads,” he said, “is that if we don’t follow the ordinance [to make efforts toward conservation], the state can come in and say: ‘Sorry guys, we gave you a chance. Now we’re going to run it.’”
Each plot will be seeded with between 8,000 and 10,000 seed clams, purchased from the Downeast Institute, a nonprofit marine research center on Beals Island.
Kyle Pepperman of the Downeast Institute is expected to attend the next Shellfish Committee meeting to discuss clam ecology, flats management and best practices for clam seeding. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Lubec Town Office.
The committee has yet to decide on locations for the seed plots.
The committee also discussed the ongoing decline in clam flats access, an issue members said threatens harvesters’ livelihoods and safety. When waterfront access is lost, harvesters must use boats to reach the flats, and with prices above $4 a pound, there is strong incentive to take risks.
“What scares me is the guys that are desperate to get out there and make some money, and they’re going out in a canoe,” Keene said. “They know there’s clams there, and they’re going to get there one way or another.”
Keene also noted that a lack of access makes it difficult to organize rescues if harvesters get into trouble.
Access is sometimes lost when waterfront property changes hands or when a landowner decides to bar entry. Both factors came into play with the Butler Conservation Fund, which has bought hundreds of acres of Washington County waterfront.
Scrivani said the fund initially granted harvesters access to lands purchased for the Cobscook Trails project, but trash left on the clam flats reportedly led the organization to reverse its decision.
Potential solutions discussed at the meeting included building and maintaining better relationships with landowners, having the town buy property to secure access points and encouraging landowners to donate land to preserve working waterfront access.
Scrivani said the Lubec Board of Selectmen has the authority to require clam flat access when property owners place waterfront into conservation easements to lower their tax bills.
“They are the group that has the power to arm wrestle with conservation groups in order to balance how much of a tax break we give them,” he said.
The committee also determined that Russell Wright, Lubec’s shellfish warden, can sell recreational clamming licenses to help meet demand when the Town Office is closed.
Wright and Selectman Mark Kelley, who is also a committee member, were not at the meeting.