Assessing Management Structure and Influencing Settlement of the Soft-Shell Clam (Mya arenaria) in Maine

• Main Author: Maxwell, Elisabeth A.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@UMaine 2017
• Subjects: marine policy; marine biology; resource management; larval settlement; ocean acidification; coastal acidification; Natural Resources and Conservation; Natural Resources Management and Policy; Other Environmental Sciences; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2805; https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/context/etd/article/3873/viewcontent/M_MaxwellElisabeth_Final.pdf

Soft-shell clams are economically and culturally important to coastal communities throughout Maine, but are experiencing a number of threats including ocean and coastal acidification (OCA). This fishery is regulated through a co-managed system with shared authority between participating coastal municipalities and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). In 2014, the Maine legislature established a commission to study the influence of OCA on commercially harvested marine species. One recommendation by the commission was to research the effectiveness of calcium carbonate to buffer coastal mudflats, a conservation strategy adopted by some municipal programs to improve clam settlement. The success of this approach is not well quantified and alternative materials should be evaluated in order for managers to make more informed decisions. Co-management can increase the capacity of managers to respond to changing environmental conditions, such as OCA, and allows resource users to actively participate in the regulatory process. This management structure has built-in flexibility for management to match community priorities and adapt to local concerns, thus leading to variation in management activities. The variation is not well documented for this fishery but provides opportunity to identify underlying patterns in management activities. Our research goals were to (1) assess the variation in the co-management system for Maine’s soft-shell clam resource, and (2) examine the influence on soft-shell clam settlement by calcium carbonate addition to a mudflat. To quantify management variation, we developed a database from reports submitted in 2014 to the DMR by each municipal program in Maine. We utilized factor analysis to classify underlying patterns and compared the results to community socio-economic characteristics. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with management stakeholders to identify variables not captured in the annual reports. Our results revealed five underlying patterns in management: compliance, ...