Commercial and Residential Shellfish Licenses

Call Charles Tetreau at (207) 865-4800. If you are not familiar with the geographic information or the local names of places in town, there are maps posted on the in the lobby of the Police Department and the Town Hall for the closures

Yes, any person may dig up to 1 peck of clams for their own personal use (not to sell commercially) only in Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park without a license. Soft shell clams are governed under the two inch law with an allowable tolerance of 10%, while quahogs must be 1 inch at the hinge and a zero tolerance applies.

Any harvested clams in the state of Maine must be 2 inches in length (end to end not counting the neck of the clam that sticks out between the two half shells). There is a 10% tolerance allowed before a digger can be summons for possession of short clams.

The licenses are issued by the Town Clerk. A digger may retain a commercial license once it is secured, as long as the person keeps renewing the license and doesn't violate the municipal shellfish ordinance, and completes the required conservation work. If a commercial license becomes available, a lottery will usually be held for the license. The Town Clerk can answer more questions about obtaining a license.

See the Clamming Maps referenced above, and look for areas 14, 15, and 16. If you are not familiar with the geographic information or the local names of places in town, there are maps posted in the lobby of the Police Department and the Town Hall for the closures. If that still leaves doubt, contact the Warden through the police department at 865-4800 and he will assist you in finding the areas closed.

There are several different types of closures associated with harvesting clams. There are closures for pollution and closures for conservation efforts. Pollution closures include such things as excessive rainfall (runoff from the land carrying toxins into the water), closures for Sewer Treatment areas (outflow areas), Red Tide Closures and seasonal closures (as with seasonal Marina areas). There are also closures for conservation efforts such as closures in newly seeded areas.

Visit the NOAA Tides website