Beal on historic first, clam study receiving funding from Maine city
The Freeport Town Council will fund a study of the town’s depleting shellfish stocks – a historic first in Maine marine research and a potential life preserver for the struggling clamming community.
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The town is believed to be the only Maine municipality to be spearheading such an effort, and the project has been hailed by Brian Beal, a biologist and professor at the University of Maine at Machias, who specializes in shellfish research, as groundbreaking. Beal will be a consultant on the project.
“This is historic in its scope and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” said Beal Monday from his office in Machias. “I am unaware of any other town in the last 30 years that has been willing to support a large-scale look at predation rates by green crabs.”