Resources Database

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.

The Maine Aquaculture Association has released the first Maine Aquaculture Occupational Standards, which specify the current workforce skills and training needs of Maine’s aquaculture sector. Altogether, four standards have been released, focusing on occupations related to (1) Marine Shellfish and Sea Vegetables; (2) Marine Finfish; (3) Land-Based RAS; and (4) Land-Based Shellfish Hatcheries. A supplementary document, the Maine Shellfish Aquaculture Career Pathways Map, is designed to provide an overview of the most common job types, entry points, and career pathway opportunities in Maine’s shellfish aquaculture sector today.

Oyster Tracker, the developer of a software platform that helps oyster farmers manage their farms, has changed its name to BlueTrace and is expanding to mussels, clams, scallops, and geoducks.

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

2021 Aquaculture Harvest License (to harvest & sell aquacultured product) Application

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.

Department of Marine Resources Employee Contact Information

This grant guide was prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in consultation with the Subcommittee on Aquaculture (SCA) under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). This guide focuses only on grant programs that aquaculture farmers or aquaculture researchers may be eligible for. Updates will include Federal cooperative agreements, contracts, loans, or other direct support programs for aquaculture farmers or (non-federal) aquaculture researchers, for the purpose of aquaculture siting, research, development, and operations.

This directory is intended to identify shellfish hatcheries and nurseries from along the east coast of the United States in order to serve as a tool for providing a stronger link between shellfish seed suppliers and shellfish farmers. The directory includes contact information for each business, as well as some additional information indicating the type of operation (i.e., hatchery, nursery, or research) and what products they expect to have available.

A look at the individual Maine farmers who make a living in the growing industry of Aquaculture.

Listen in as Carissa Maurin and Chris Vonderweidt, from the GMRI Aquaculture Program, lead a webinar (originally recorded on 4/13/21) teaching users the basics about The Maine Aquaculturist – a free to use aquaculture business knowledge portal - and how it can be an asset for aquaculture businesses.

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.

List of Grants and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) on the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) website. These include opportunities in Coastal Access & Working Waterfronts, Coastal Community Planning, and Outreach & Education.

When submitting a LPA application one of the details that can make or break your approval is your mooring system. Understanding and installing moorings that work for the load that aquaculture gear generates is crucial and creating an accurate and readable mooring system design in your application is key for your approval.

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.

Free online boating safety course that is recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard, approved by NASBLA and the Maine state boating license agency. Complete the course in three steps: enroll in a Boating Safety Course from the course catalog, study and pass the free Boating Safety Course, and print out your certificate of completion.

The goal of a Vibrio Control or Vibrio Management Plan is to control the safety of molluscan shellfish for human consumption by preventing unnecessary growth of bacterial pathogens resulting from improper or ineffective cooling or from time to temperature abuse.

The goal of these new requirements is to control the safety of molluscan shellfish for human consumption by preventing unnecessary growth of bacterial pathogens resulting from improper or ineffective cooling or from time to temperature abuse.

A variety of tenacious myths have persisted for decades to be presented as facts to the public and Congress. The U.S. fish and shellfish farmer cultures aquatic animals within a very complicated and expensive legal, husbandry and science-driven environment. We believe that critics are unfamiliar with this environment. Our response to these pernicious myths does not lend itself to short, simple answers; although, we have worked to be as succinct as possible.

DMR Bureau of Public Health PowerPoint on shellfish and public health, National Shellfish Sanitation Program, Growing Area Classifications, Marine Sanitation Devices, Legal Notice for Pollution Closures, Closure Notifications, Emergency Closures, marine biotoxins, Biotoxin Sample Processing, High Risk Species, Biotoxin Illnesses, Vibrio bacteria, Control Plans, Best Management Practices, Shellfish Tags, Licensing to Harvest, Allowable sales, Winter Storage on Land, and Seaweed.

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.