BRUNSWICK

Shellfish harvesters who don’t perform mandatory conservation work may have to pay up to $500 for their license in Brunswick. The Marine Resources Committee may decide tonight whether to recommend that the town council increase the license fee.

According to Brunswick Marine Resource Officer Dan Devereaux, the issue arose because of questions raised last year during a Department of Labor inquiry over the way Waldoboro was running its conservation program.

A review in Brunswick found that some duties, such as coastal cleanup, surveys and scientific activities that determine the health of shellfish, were not exempted from the state’s fair labor standards act.

In other words, the town would be required to pay shellfish harvesters for some of their conservation work mandated by the town as a condition for holding a license.

The Marine Resources Committee decided to increase the $300 licensing fee by $200, and then reimburse harvesters for their conservation credit work — $10 an hour that, for a maximum of 20 hours of conservation work, equals the amount of the increase.

Conservation work is an important part of maintaining the local clam population which has been hard hit by the invasive green crab species, ocean acidification and climate change. Devereaux said harvesters contributed about 1,010 hours of volunteer labor last year. That labor comes at a bargain to the town, courtesy of harvesters experienced with working on the mudflats, helping to defray the cost of the town’s shellfish program.

Harvesters need to complete their conservation hours in order to have a license, but the committee is proposing allowing harvesters to purchase conservation credits at $10 an hour, in addition to the full $500 licensing fee.

Brunswick isn’t the only town looking to increase its fees. Harpswell harvesters will reportedly have to complete conservation activities or see their license increase from $200 to $600 under a proposal that may come before the Town Meeting in March.

In Brunswick, committee member and commercial harvester Raymond Trombley said the town has not had a licensing fee increase for several years, and the proposed change would help to “get the guys out there to do the reseeding” in order to help the clam population.

Devereaux said the plan has been legally vetted by the town attorney and state attorney general’s office, and may go before the town council next month. Town Councilor Steve Walker, who has been heavily involved in policy governing the town’s coastal waters, said he favors the change.

“In this day of climate change, sea level rise, and invasive species, even this increase is pretty nominal, given the cost of managing the resource,” Walker said.

The Marine Resources Committee meets at 7 p.m. tonight in the Town Hall.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

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THE MARINE Resources Committee decided to increase the $300 licensing fee by $200, and then reimburse harvesters for their conservation credit work — $10 an hour that, for a maximum of 20 hours of conservation work, equals the amount of the increase.