Resources Database

Maine aquaculture marking requirements for lease sites and LPA sites with a sample marker buoy image.

List all interstate certified shippers that can ship fresh and frozen oysters, clams, mussels, whole or roe-on scallops and is published monthly.

Maine DMR Limited Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) application process

This flowchart visually maps out the Maine DMR Standard Lease application process.

This flowchart visually maps out the Maine DMR Experimental Lease application process.

2022 Aquaculture Harvest License (to harvest & sell aquacultured product) Application

Answers basic questions about Maine DMR's Aquaculture Harvest License such as: Who should have it?, What is it? What does it cost?, What does this license allow you to do?, How do I apply?, and Who should I contact with questions?

This flowchart maps the different licenses you need to have to sell your aquaculture shellfish out of state by mail or by vehicle, and in the state of Maine including selling direct to restaurants, and wholesale distributors, at a farmer's market, your home, and your lease site.

A basic list of what licenses you need to sell your aquaculture shellfish at your home, at your lease site, to your local grocery/general store, roadside, to a restaurant, to a wholesale distributor, at a farmers market, or Out of state.

All wild shellfish stock or seed used for cultivation or grow-out must originate from within the same Limited Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) license Health Zone as the LPA license site. A permit is required from DMR if the stock or seed originates from outside the Health Zone.

The Aquaculture License is now required in order to harvest and sell cultured organisms removed from an aquaculture lease or LPA license site. Aquaculture leaseholders and Limited-Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) license holders are required to obtain the Aquaculture License, regardless of which species they grow.

Maine Growing Area Closures: Shellfish Area Inventory with Legal Notices and Maps

The DMR Bureau of Public Health Shellfish Closure Map and Data Portal has bacterial (NSSP) classifications, municipal conservation closures, biotoxin closures, and emergency closures displayed. Other layers including P90 scores can be turned on in the layer list.

Department of Marine Resources Employee Contact Information

Displays location and information on aquaculture leases and licenses in Maine along with NSSP water quality information and p90 scores, LPA Health Zones, IFW Essential Habitat Boundaries, historic eelgrass data, conserved land information, and low tide imagery.

Lists contact information for DMR’s aquaculture program staff who are located in Augusta and the Boothbay Harbor Lab.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources' online licensing and landings system, called LEEDS (Licensing Enforcement and Environmental Data System) is now available. In order to apply for a new license or renew a license with the system, you first need to create a login for LEEDS

After purchasing used shellfish production equipment, it is strongly recommended to thoroughly clean and disinfect the gear prior to use to limit the risk of introducing disease or invasive species. An easy-to-use process is as follows:

If you have been around this business for a while, you’ve probably watched some of the newcomers make the same mistakes you did when you were getting started. ECSGA Executive Director Bob Rheault decided he would try to think of as many of these common pitfalls as he could to help new growers avoid making the same costly blunders. Through the years he has continued to add to the list.

Basic information on receiving shellfish such as proper temperature; storage and display guidelines; personal hygiene when handling shellfish; and recordkeeping.

All holders of aquaculture leases and LPA licenses are required to hold the Aquaculture Harvest License in order to harvest and sell product from their aquaculture sites, regardless of the species they grow. Commercial harvester's licenses now apply to only wild-harvest product.

Provides a comprehensive resource to help managers at the local and state level sustain Maine’s valuable shellfish resources. Includes information on the history and biology of the soft-shell clam, northern quahog, American and European oysters, and blue mussels. There are sections on state resources to address water quality issues and predatory species and tools that municipalities can use to preserve or increase their intertidal shellfish resources.

This video gives a first-hand account of running a mussel farm by Bangs Island Mussels including on the water gear and husbandry and well as shore-side processing. Some highlights are seeding, socking, hauling and stripping machine, de-clumper, size grader, debyssing machine, automatic bagger/weigher/conveyor, and more.