So you want to know: How did the DMR get started?

First published in the MLA Newsletter, September, 2012.

It may seem as if the Department of Marine Resources has always been in existence. In fact, the Maine legislature has been very focused on its fisheries and other natural resources for a very long time. In January, 1867, passed a resolve entitled "A Resolve Relative to the Restoration of Sea Fish to the Rivers and Inland Waters of Maine." The 200-plus word resolve said, in part, "that the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, be authorized to appoint two Commissioners whose duty it shall be to examine the rivers, and other waters of this state, or such part thereof as they deem sufficient to the consideration of the subject of the restoration of sea-fish to our lakes and their tributary streams." The Department of Marine Resources and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife can directly trace their respective origins to this resolve.

The two Commissioners of Fisheries continued to oversee the inland and coastal waters of the state until 1880 when the title became Commissioners of Fisheries and Game. Then in 1895, the two areas were separated into the Sea and Shore Commission and the Fish and Game Commission.

The Sea and Shore Commission issued biennial reports on its activities, which included an early version of marine patrol duties. It had a good deal to oversee in those days. The Commission’s 1898 biennial report listed the significant fisheries of the day in order of commercial importance:  1. herring, 2. lobster, 3. menhaden (for oil), 4. clams and scallops, 5. smelts, 6. groundfish, 7. mackerel, 8. alewives, 9. shad.

Then in 1931, the state legislature abolished the Sea and Shore Fisheries Commission and created the Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries. The three member commission and the office of director was replaced with a single commissioner appointed by the Governor.

During the late 1940's and early 1950's the Department started an ambitious program of research activities which culminated with the establishment of a permanent research station on McKown Point in Boothbay Harbor. The Department’s Advisory Council and the Atlantic Sea Run Salmon Commission were both created in 1947.

When the legislature reorganized state government in 1973, it created the Department of Marine Resources and an expanded Marine Resources Advisory Council.  The new department had all the existing responsibilities of Sea and Shore and new regulatory duties as well.  A new eleven-member Lobster Advisory Council also was established by the legislature that year to assist the DMR Commissioner on matters related to the lobster industry.

Today the Department of Marine Resources is organized into four bureaus: Policy and Management, Marine Science, Marine Patrol, and Public Health.

The Bureau of Marine Patrol was established to enforce all marine resources’ laws within the state’s territorial limits. Over the years the Legislature has expanded the Bureau’s areas of responsibility. Marine patrol personnel are authorized to enforce all laws of the State with primary emphasis on marine resources, protect life and property, and to arrest and prosecute all violators and serve all processes pertaining to those laws and regulations. The Marine Patrol Bureau enforces state marine fisheries laws wherever Maine registered vessels are fishing, federal fisheries laws within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to Maine’s territorial waters, boating registration and safety laws, conducts search and rescue operations on coastal waters, enforces all marine-related criminal laws, and provides maritime security efforts in support of Homeland Security.  It acts as a primarily conduit in addressing both gear and fisheries disputes within the commercial fishing industry.

The Bureau of Marine Science engages in marine education, and scientific research and monitoring to conserve, restore and manage the marine and estuarine resources of the State.  Primary responsibilities are to conduct and sponsor scientific research, provide information on stock levels and environments of commercially and recreationally valuable marine organisms, and provide technical and scientific information, services and assistance to the public, industry and governments. The Bureau conducts oil spill response activities, restoration of anadramous fish resources to Maine rivers, and marine education programs including the operation of the public aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor.

The Bureau of Public Health handles the shellfish safety program for the state, which includes the Marine Biotoxin Monitoring (Red Tide, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)) Program, the Shellfish Dealer Certification and Inspection Program, the Shellfish Growing Area Classification Program. It also administers the Maine Healthy Beaches program and several volunteer monitoring programs related to public health.

The Bureau of Policy and Management was formerly known as the Office of the Commissioner. The bureau oversees DMR’s resource management coordinators and regulatory staff.