Student-led community science program to support shellfish management

A research team from the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, including undergraduate and high school students, will spend the coming months recording the number, type and size of shellfish species at several sites along the upper Damariscotta River. They also will document local knowledge of the estuary held by fishermen and other local residents.

The information will be used to estimate the number of shellfish on the flats and help inform future management by the shellfish committee in coordination with the state’s Department of Marine Resources.

The initiative, led by UMaine graduate student Sarah Risley who is based at the Darling Marine Center, will provide important information on the Damariscotta River estuary’s ecology and the diversity of commercial and recreational activities in the river. Questions raised by shellfish harvesters and others active in the estuary inspired the new program.

A Darling Marine Center story about the program is online.