Brunswick Shellfish Committee Reopens McQuaid, Bunganuck After Algae Bloom

The Brunswick Shellfish Committee voted to reopen the McQuaid and Bunganuck flats to soft-shell clam and quahog harvesting after a harmful algal bloom caused roughly 80 percent mortality in McQuaid Bay. The committee also advanced several ordinance changes, including an emergency clause letting the Town Council pause annual license calculations when shellfish resources are severely affected, and tabled a possible conservation closure of Catlin Shore.

Key points

• Coastal Resource Manager Dan Devereaux reported the Carinia bloom has collapsed, with no live cells detected in McQuaid Bay, Middle Bay, or Thomas Point Beach, but dissolved oxygen dropped below 50 percent saturation in some areas and roughly 80 percent of McQuaid Bay clams died.
• The committee voted to reopen McQuaid and Bunganuck to soft-shell and quahog harvesting, effective once the Department of Marine Resources approves, expected in one to two weeks.
• The committee tabled a possible conservation closure of Catlin Shore until November, with member Max Bird saying he could not support a closure now given the risk that a returning bloom could wipe out any saved product.
• The committee approved an exigent circumstances ordinance change, amended to cover all shellfish licenses, allowing the Town Council to suspend annual survey-based license calculations after events like algal blooms.
• Other approved ordinance changes included allowing apprentice applicants without a mentor to be considered for a student license, a 14-year age minimum for commercial licenses, and a five-of-ten-year license history requirement for bushel licenses.
• The committee declined to pursue night harvesting in July and August on a 3-2 vote, with warden Chris Western and Devereaux citing enforcement and noise complaints; harvester Marco Melinda supported it for worker safety in extreme heat.

Next steps

• Devereaux will contact Harpswell and Freeport officials about their winter plans and report back at the November meeting.
• Town Clerk Laura DiBiase will finalize ordinance language, bring it back for committee review in November, and present it to the Town Council to set a public hearing for December.
• The committee will revisit the Catlin Shore conservation question at its November meeting.
• Devereaux will work with DMR and economists to assess the dollar value of shellfish losses.

Read the full transcript