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Ad hoc committee warns worm diggers are damaging clam flats; multi-town meeting set to seek conservation-area protections
Summary
Selectman Daniel Staples and Butch Taylor told the Selectmen on Sept. 14 that commercial worm diggers have been turning clam flats for 2–3 years and that current licensing and area restrictions make clammers vulnerable; they scheduled a meeting of towns Sept. 25 in Brunswick to pursue a ban on digging in conservation areas.
Selectman Daniel Staples and committee member Butch Taylor told the Town of Cushing Board of Selectmen on Sept. 14 that commercial "worm diggers" have been turning local clam flats for two to three years, harming habitat and clammers' access.
Staples and Taylor said a worm digger can obtain a license for $47 and, unlike clammers, faces no restrictions on where to dig; they said wormers may take two tides per day, six days a week. The speakers emphasized that conservation areas established for clammers are being undermined because wormers are allowed to dig in those same areas.
To address the issue, the ad hoc committee organized by Selectman Staples will host a meeting of towns from St. George to Harpswell on Sept. 25 at 5:00 p.m. at the Brunswick Town Office to seek agreement among municipalities to bar worm digging in conservation areas. Staples said they do not want to pit fisheries against one another and that the emphasis will be on conservation-area protections.
The board heard the presentation but took no formal vote at the Sept. 14 meeting. The ad hoc committee recommended multijurisdictional coordination; follow-up will depend on other towns' participation and any changes to licensing or conservation-area rules at the state level.
