Resources Database

Maine aquaculture marking requirements (effective January 1, 2023) for lease sites and LPA sites with a sample marker buoy image.

Overview of popular finfish and shellfish aquaculture systems (husbandry & gear) used in the northeast including bottom culture, near bottom culture, water column culture, surface culture, hatchery land-based systems.

A study to provide an up-to-date and accurate annual statewide economic contribution of Maine’s aquaculture industry and determine aquaculture business owner and farm demographics.

Overview of mussel farming systems, mussel spat collection, seed stripping and stocking, problems occasionally encountered, processing, packaging and shipping, site selection, and planning a business.

Fact sheet on aquaculture lease hearings which are an adjudicatory hearing. It also includes the criteria for issuing aquaculture leases.

DMR welcomes and encourages comment on aquaculture lease applications. This explains the process, scoping sessions, submitting a comment, speaking at a public hearing and more.

There are several ways in which birds interact with shellfish aquaculture. Birds can cause significant damage to crops through predation. Some birds fall into the category of protected resources and farmers have been variously accused of interfering with foraging, (either attracting or disturbing or both) and interfering with hunting. Birds can be attracted to aquaculture structures for roosting or foraging and their guano can impact water quality and trigger the need for growers to develop management plans under the National Shellfish Sanitation Plan.

Answers questions like "What can I grow?", "How much space can I occupy?" "How long does a lease or license last?", "How much will it cost?", "What type of gear can I use?", and more.

Report on the mud blister polychaete worm, Polydora websteri, including a description, life history, settlement, burrowing, treatments, and biosecurity.

Descriptions of each aquaculture lease and license type. All applications must be submitted using these forms.

At aquaculture lease hearings, Maine DMR will receive evidence relating to the legal criteria upon which it must base its decision on whether to grant the lease. The criteria for granting a standard or experimental aquaculture lease that the lease must not unreasonably interfere with are listed here.

Intended to help prospective farmers to identify, record, monitor, and manage production hazards, and ultimately minimize production-related risk. Discusses types of risk in aquaculture, record keeping, environmental conditions, biofouling organisms, predators, diseases, parasites, invasive species, and operational procedures.

Reviews business management skills, such as finance, record keeping, marketing, and personnel management. More aquaculture businesses fail because of poor management than poor production practices.

Lists all upcoming aquaculture public meetings, hearings, and scoping sessions and give the date, time, town and location for them.

Oyster aquaculture, like any agriculture operation, has inherent risks with perils beyond growers’ control. However, coastal waters present challenges for oyster farmers in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes.

This flowchart visually maps out the Maine DMR Limited Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) application process.

This report addresses biofouling management in relation to marine aquaculture industry operations, equipment and infrastructure. It covers shellfish, finfish and seaweed operations in estuaries and seawater. It does not address freshwater aquaculture activities.

In September 2023 the ECSGA updated its 2010 Best Management Practices manual. Building on the 2010 version, this update adds a new section on the management and handling of floating gear, hundreds of embedded links, info on new gear types and a revised bibliography. ECSGA also completely revamped the tool to create your own farm-specific Best Practices document: the Best Practices Form.

In depth document created to provide the information and a framework that will enable a shellfish farmer to write a comprehensive Best Management Practices document focusing on gear/operation and maintenance, user conflicts, permitting/siting, and environmental concerns.

Discusses what marketing is and why it is important including developing a marketing plan, market outlets, and personalizing the products and the business.

Reviews harmful algae blooms including conditions for biotoxin formation, detection, management, and common types of HAB's in the northeast.