BRUNSWICK, Maine — February 12, 2014 — After considering the livelihoods of local clam harvesters and the need to conserve a shrinking softshell clam population, Brunswick’s Marine Resources Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously to make the smallest reduction possible in the number of commercial shellfish harvesting licenses available this year.
The committee also voted to close the town’s coastal waters to softshell and quahog clam harvesting every weekend until June, and will consider reopening the waters to weekend harvesting in May.
Both measures were in reaction to a severe decline in the town’s softshell clam population, which has been attributed to several factors, most notably by the growing menace of the invasive green crab. The invasive species will be the target of a $39,000 trapping project expected to begin in March.
Commercial harvesting licenses were reduced by 12 percent, from 57 to 50, the smallest possible reduction allowed by the town.