Access across private land to tidal flats and conservation are of top concern among Woolwich residents and shellfish harvesters. Marine biologists, concerned residents and selectmen weighed in as members of the Woolwich Shellfish Conservation Committee worked to resolve a dispute among one another regarding these matters during a recent meeting at the town office.

Those present discussed some of the elements that threaten soft shell clams, such as ocean acidification and natural predators like the blue crab. The evening discussion also revealed another challenge facing the town's hardscrabble industry, which underlies some recent conflicts among committee members: a division between land owners and shellfish harvesters. 

The dispute over conservation efforts and management within the committee has principally taken place between three of its members: chairman Dan Harrington, Tim LaRochelle and Andy Cromwell. Tempers flared after Cromwell expressed his concern to selectmen about over harvesting and a lack of oversight with respect to conservation work.

“There's no question in my mind Mr. LaRochelle and Dan (Harrington) have done a great job looking out for the resource in this town,” committee member Clark Granger said. “What I do sense, though, is an intolerance and a prejudgment for other ideas. I think we as a committee can do a better job of talking with each other.”

Board of Selectmen member Alison Hepler commented on how smoothly the meeting was running, with great deal of discussion of the issues and sharing of ideas. “There's a lot of different kinds of knowledge here,” she said.

In addition to committee members and selectmen, there were people from the scientific field at the meeting: Peter Thayer, regional biologist for the Maine Department of Marine Resources; Carrie Kinne, executive director the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT); Ruth Indrick, project coordinator of the Kennebec Estuary Shellfish Area project, and others. Several residents interested in the town's shellfish harvest were also at the meeting.

Harrington stressed that the committee has a responsibility to the license holders who do the work to conserve the resource, which includes re-seeding the flats with juvenile clams and monitoring water quality. He added, “That's supposed to be our main objective, to keep our traditional clam harvesters in this industry.”

A collaboration among committee members, the DMR and volunteers with KELT to test water samples and address pollution problems resulted in the re-opening of flats in much of Brookings Bay to the harvest of shellfish. 

But the discussion turned to oft-mentioned problems in seafood harvesting industries: the challenge harvesters face in accessing working waterfront and the rights of landowners. 

Resident Fred Karhl said his family members, who own property in Georgetown, have traditionally allowed clam diggers access to the shore front. This followed comments from others at the meeting about a disregard among some shellfish harvesters for the rights of property owners and littering. Some shellfish harvesters expressed their concern about studies conducted on the shore. 

Harrington said toward the start of the meeting he had some reservations about some studies, citing debris left by one student scientist some years back. “I want full disclosure to this committee and to the select board before any study would take place,” he said, referencing the changing dynamics of the fishing community and town that have influenced outcomes for clam diggers.

“I know what you know mean about debris,” Karhl said, mentioning his witnessing green crab studies in the 1950s for which screens and traps and other apparatus were used, and then left behind. He also expressed his concerns about the adversarial tone among committee members and the need for them to constructively discuss the problems that impact the coastal environment. 

“We have a town here where fewer and fewer people understand anything about the clam flats,” Karhl said, mentioning construction projects on the water front that have negatively impacted marine life, the heating of water from the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant and other issues. “These are all things which bear on this discussion we've heard here tonight. And you guys are the custodians of all that information.”

Karhl applauded committee members for their enthusiasm in their efforts to protect shellfish and encouraged them to work together. Committee members anticipate meeting with scientists in the near future about potential methods for combating acidity in the flats and predators.