[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Boothbay
Harbor 5-1-2000 by ATM Art. 34. This article supersedes former Ch. 144, Shellfish
Conservation, adopted 5-3-1999 by ATM Art. 50. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 5-7-2001 by ATM Art. 5]
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited
as the "Shellfish Conservation Ordinance of the Towns of Boothbay
Harbor, Southport, Boothbay, Edgecomb, Maine," and will be referred
to herein as "this chapter."
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The total number of softshell clams in any bulk pile. Where
softshell clams are in a box, barrel or other container, each shall
constitute a separate lot.
[Amended 6-26-2000 by STM Art. 2]
The Town of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecome,
as the case may be.
[Amended 5-7-2001 by ATM Art. 5]
Anyone not qualified as a resident under this chapter and
not a holder of a resident license from a reciprocating town.
Dig, take, harvest, ship, transport, hold, buy and sell,
retail and/or wholesale, softshell clam shellstock.
A person who has been domiciled in this municipality for
at least 12 months prior to the time his claim of such residency is
made. Residency will be determined using the criteria in Attachment
A.[1]
Softshell clams (Mya arenaria).
[1]
Editor's Note: Attachment A is on file in
the town offices.
This chapter has been prepared in accordance
with the provisions of 12 M.R.S.A. § 6671, et seq., as revised,
§ 6681, as revised.
[Amended 5-7-2001 by ATM Art. 5]
The purpose of this chapter is to establish
a shellfish conservation program for the Towns of Boothbay, Boothbay
Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb which will ensure the protection and
optimum utilization of shellfish resources within the limits of these
municipalities. These goals will be achieved by means, which may include:
Any ordinance regulating the harvesting or conservation
of shellfish in the municipality and the provisions of any other municipal
ordinance which is inconsistent with this chapter is hereby repealed.
If any section, subsection, sentence or part
of this chapter is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional,
such decisions shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of this chapter.
This chapter, which has been approved by the
Commissioner of Marine Resources, shall become effective after its
adoption, provided that a certified copy of this chapter is filed
with the Commissioner within 20 days of its adoption.
There is hereby established a Shellfish Conservation
Committee composed of representatives from each of the municipalities
which enact this chapter. The municipal officers of each town shall
appoint two of its Shellfish Committee members and at least one licensed
commercial clam digger to be a member of the Committee. The Municipal
Shellfish Warden(s) and a liaison member from the Department of Marine
Resources, appointed by the State Commissioner, shall be nonvoting
members of the Committee.
A.
The Committee's responsibilities include:
(1)
Establishing, annually, in conjunction with the Department
of Marine Resources, the number of shellfish digging licenses to be
issued.
(2)
Reviewing annually the status of the resource using
the results of clam flat, harvester or dealer surveys and other sources
of information preparing in conjunction with and subject to the approval
of the Department of Marine Resources a plan for implementing conservation
measures.
(3)
Submitting, to the Board of Selectmen, proposals for
the expenditures of funds for the purpose of shellfish conservation.
(4)
Periodically reviewing this chapter and making recommendations
for its amendment.
(5)
Securing and maintaining records of shellfish harvest
from the municipally managed shellfish areas and of closed areas that
are conditionally opened by the Department of Marine Resources.
(6)
Recommending conservation closures and openings to
the Board of Selectmen or Council in conjunction with the Area Biologist
of the Department of Marine Resources.
(7)
Submitting an annual report to the municipalities
and Department of Marine Resources covering the above topics and all
other Committee activities.
B.
Term of office and vacancy. The term of office of
any member of the Committee shall be for a period of three years from
the date of appointment. The municipal officers shall appoint a person
to fill a vacancy for any unexpired term.
C.
Committee officers. The Committee shall elect a Chairman,
a Vice Chairman and Secretary from its members. The Chairman shall
preside at all meetings of the Committee; the Vice Chairman shall
preside in his absence; and the Secretary may record and keep minutes
of each meeting.
D.
The Committee shall advise the officers of each municipality
of all matters pertaining to conservation and harvesting of its shellfish
resources, including, but not limited, to the opening and closing
of clams flats. It shall act as a liaison between the municipalities
and the state. It shall aid in the development of programs to help
each municipality manage its shellfish resource. It shall represent
the interest of the region with regard to shellfish resources and
shall take such other action as may be necessary, or desirable, to
implement harvesting and conservation management programs.
E.
For a meeting to be valid, a quorum of five members
must be present.
F.
Any member not attending at least six meetings a year
will be dropped from the Committee.
G.
Elections will be held each year at the January meeting.
H.
Meetings will be held monthly with the time and place
for next meeting being determined at the current month's meeting.
A.
Initiation. A proposal for an amendment to this chapter
may be initiated by the following, but may be considered only if accompanied
by Department of Marine Resources approval:
(1)
The municipal officers, at the request of a majority
of the Shellfish Conservation Committee; or
(2)
An individual, through a request to the Shellfish
Conservation Committee and subsequent favorable majority vote of the
Committee; or
(3)
A written petition of the number of voters equal to
at least 10% of the voters in the last gubernational election of the
municipality in which the petition is originated.
B.
Procedure.
(1)
Any proposal for an amendment shall be made to the
Shellfish Conservation Committee, in writing, stating the specific
changes requested. Amendments initiated by petition shall be presented
to the municipal officers who shall transmit them to the Shellfish
Conservation Committee, for recommendation. When an amendment proposed
by an individual receives a favorable vote of a majority of the Committee,
the individual shall pay a fee to cover the costs of hearings and
advertisements.
(2)
Within 30 days of receiving a properly initiated amendment,
the Committee shall hold a public hearing on the proposal. Notice
of the hearing shall be posted and advertised in a newspaper of general
circulation in the municipality at least seven days prior to the hearing.
The notice shall contain the time, date and place of hearing and sufficient
detail about the proposed changes as to give adequate notice of their
content. If the changes are extensive, a brief summary, together with
an indication that a full text is available at the Town Clerk's office,
shall be adequate notice.
(3)
Following the public hearing, the Committee shall
make a written recommendation regarding passage to the municipal officers,
which will be accompanied by the required Department of Marine Resources
approval of the proposal, prior to any action on the amendment by
them.
C.
Adoption. Any amendment to this chapter shall only
be adopted by a majority vote of the Town Meeting.
D.
Repetitive petitions. No proposed changes to this
chapter which have been unfavorably acted upon the Town Meeting shall
be considered on its merits by the Town Meeting within two years after
the date of such unfavorable action unless adoption of the proposed
change is recommended by a two-thirds majority of the Committee.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection E, pertaining
to the effective period of this chapter, was repealed 5-3-2004 by
ATM Art. 76.
[Amended 6-26-2000 by STM Art. 2; 5-2-2009 by ATM Art. 84]
A municipal shellfish digging license is required
for any person to dig, or take, shellfish from the shores and flats
of the reciprocating municipalities without having a current license
issued by a municipality as provided by this chapter. Additionally,
a commercial digger also must have a valid State of Maine commercial
shellfish license issued by the Department of Marine Resources or
a receipt of payment from the Department of Marine Resources. It shall
be unlawful for anyone having a commercial shellfish license with
the state to obtain a recreational license with the Town of Boothbay
Harbor.
A.
License classification.
(1)
Resident commercial shellfish license. This license
is only available to residents of the municipality and entitles the
holder to dig, and take, any amount of shellfish from the shore and
flats of the reciprocating municipalities.
(2)
Nonresident commercial shellfish license. This license
is available to nonresidents of the municipality and entitles the
holder to dig, and take, any amount of shellfish from the shores and
flats of the reciprocating municipalities.
(3)
Resident recreational shellfish license. This license
is available to the residents of the municipality and entitles the
holder to dig, and take, no more than one peck of shellfish, in any
one day, for the use of oneself or one's family, from the shores and
flats of the reciprocating municipalities.
(4)
Nonresident recreational shellfish license. This license
is available to nonresidents of the municipality and entitles the
holder to dig and take no more than one peck of shellfish, in any
one day, for the use of oneself or one's family, from the shores and
flats of the reciprocating municipalities.
B.
Open license sales. When the Shellfish Conservation
Committee determines limiting shellfish licenses is not an appropriate
shellfish management option for one or more license categories for
the following year:
(1)
Notice of the dates, places, times and the procedures
for the license sales shall be published in a trade or industry publication,
or in a newspaper or combination of newspapers with general circulation,
which the municipal officers consider effective in reaching persons
affected, not less than 10 days prior to the initial sale date and
shall be posted in the municipal offices. A copy of the notice shall
be provided to the Commissioner of Marine Resources.
(2)
For each commercial license category, the Town Clerk
shall issue one license to nonresidents when six licenses are issued
to residents and one more to nonresidents when four more are issued
to residents; thereafter, one nonresident license will be issued for
every 10 additional resident licenses issued. For each recreational
license category, the Town Clerk shall issue one license to a resident
and one to nonresident; thereafter, one nonresident license will be
issued for every 10 additional resident licenses issued.
C.
All shellfish licenses must be signed. The licensee
must sign the license to make it valid.
E.
Contents of application. The application must be in
the form of affidavit and must contain the applicant's name, current
address, birth date, height, weight, signature and whatever information
the municipality may require.
F.
All license fees must accompany the application for
the respective license.
G.
Misrepresentation. Any person who gives false information
on a license application will cause said license to become invalid
and void.
H.
Procedure.
(1)
The Town Clerk prepares a form to list the names,
addresses and phone numbers of license purchasers along with a license
number listed sequentially and indicative of residency status (e.g.,
R1 for resident license No. 1 and N1 for nonresident license No. 1).
In the case of commercial licenses, the license numbers would begin
R1 and continue through R5; the next number would be N1 followed by
R6 through R10. The next set of 11 would begin with N2 followed by
R11 through R20. Each successive set of 11 repeats the previous (i.e.,
N3, R21-R30, R31-40). Because of a difference in the statutes between
commercial and recreational licenses, the listing of the first 10
for recreational licenses differs from commercial licenses. The license
numbers would begin with R1 followed by N1 then R2 through R10. Thereafter
the listing is the same as for the commercial licenses. A separate
but similar form is prepared for each license category for which the
municipality has requested open sales.
(2)
Since a number of resident licenses need to be sold
before a nonresident license becomes available, more nonresidents
may apply for licenses than are available, particularly during the
initial sales. A second form needs to be prepared. It should contain
information on nonresidents who apply for a license listed sequentially.
As nonresident licenses become available, as indicated on the first
form, the information is transferred from the second to the first
and the applicant notified.
(a)
Each applicant shall perform eight hours mandatory
conservation work or if serving on the Shellfish Conservation Committee
must have attended at least six meetings before obtaining a commercial
shellfish license. Conservation work shall be approved by the Shellfish
Conservation Committee, and a Committee member must be present at
the time the work is being performed under supervision of the Town
Warden.
(b)
All licenses, resident commercial, nonresident
commercial, resident recreational and nonresident recreational issued
to individuals 65 years of age or older will be issued free of charge.
(c)
No individual may hold a valid resident commercial
and a valid nonresident commercial license at the same time.
(d)
All nonresident licenses will be issued by lottery.
Any person who violates this chapter shall be
punished as provided by 12 M.R.S.A. § 6671(10) or 6681,
as appropriate in the circumstances.
All fees for shellfish licenses will be set
by a vote of the Shellfish Committee prior to May 1 of each year and
must accompany, in full, the application for the respective license.
Additionally, an agent fee of $2 will be charged for each license
and shall be retained by the local clerk as payment for issuing the
license. Fees and penalties received shall be used for costs incurred
in the enforcement and management of the Shellfish Conservation Chapter.
