In an effort to study the effect on aquaculture on the local clamming industry, the town council voted Monday to allow a fisherman to submit an experimental plan application to the state to lease a one-acre area off Princes Point on the Long Reach mudflats to grow soft- and hard-shell clams.

Although the state maintains the authority to issue leases, the town has jurisdiction over the intertidal zone, so they must give consent to the plan, said Marine Warden Dan Devereaux.

Shellfish harvester Chris Green, the applicant, has been working with the nonprofit group Manomet for two years to explore the possibility of clam farming in the area. Manomet works in the areas of science education, conservation and business sustainability. In 2015, the organization received a grant from the NOAA Saltonstall Kennedy program to expand their efforts and help coastal towns in Maine learn about soft-shell clam farming.

Green said working with Manomet has been amazing.

“They are thorough, want to help and want us to have success,” he said.

Green, who has served on the town’s clamming committee for 10 years, said wild clamming is a peaks-and-valleys industry, and that while clam farming cannot mimic Mother Nature and will not be the main means of livelihood for harvesters, it will provide a supplemental income and security.

“Wild clamming is the backbone of the industry,” he said.

Devereaux said the seed clams planted in the area will likely disperse to other areas and help populate the shoreline.

In a letter to the council, Marine Resources Committee Chairman Mark Latti said the area of Long Reach has not been a productive clamming area in nearly 20 years, and that it is proven clam farming in fallow areas helps restore natural clam production in depleted areas by introducing clam spawn.

The seed stock will come from Beals, and according to the application, 25 plots were installed in October. There will be no more than 72 plots installed and the area will be protected by a plastic mesh predator net.

Maine’s soft-shell clam industry pulls in

an estimated $18 million a year, but is facing trouble with invasive species such as green crabs that feed on juvenile clams. With the loss of some of the clam population in recent years, Latti said the area has also lost the ecological benefit the mollusks provide, including filtrating water and supporting the growth of vegetation.

The state will decide on the lease application in 60 to 90 days, Green said, adding he is hopeful it will be approved.

jlaaka@timesrecord.com

Manomet’s mission

• MANOMET WORKS in the areas of science education, conservation and business sustainability. In 2015, the nonprofit organization received a grant from the NOAA Saltonstall Kennedy program to expand their efforts and help coastal towns in Maine learn about softshell clam farming.