Code of Maine Rules › 13 - DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES › 188 - MARINE RESOURCES - GENERAL › Chapter 2 - AQUACULTURE LEASE REGULATIONS › Section 188-2-90 - Limited-purpose aquaculture (LPA) license

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1. LPA
				License
A. No person may engage in the
				activities described in 2.90 and 12 M.R.S.A. §
										6072-C without a current LPA
				license issued by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in accordance with
				these regulations. An LPA license may be issued only to an individual or to a
				municipal shellfish management program established pursuant to 12 MRSA §
										6671. The Department shall make
				application forms available. LPA licenses expire at the end of each calendar
				year. No more than four (4) licenses may be held by any licensee at the same
				time. LPA licenses are non-transferable.
B. Density standard. There can be no more
				than three (3) LPA licensed sites within a 1,000-foot radius of any other
				existing LPA licensed site. This standard does not require a minimum separation
				between individual licenses; rather it is a density of licenses within any area
				of a 1,000' radius. See Figure 1 below for four examples of this standard where
				a license site is encircled by a radius of 1,000 feet.
Click to
				  view image
Figure 1. Density illustration for acceptable LPA license
				  distribution
Exemption for riparian landowners. LPA licenses held by
				  riparian property owners that are used to place authorized gear as listed in
				  2.90(2)(F)(2), within 150' of the riparian's property at mean low water and
				  perpendicular to the property boundaries, are exempt from this density
				  standard. Riparian landowners are responsible for demonstrating this
				  requirement has been met. Requests for this exemption must be indicated on the
				  application and are limited to one exemption per riparian property. The
				  presence of a riparian landowner LPA does not count toward the density
				  standard.
Exemption for certain sites. LPA licenses for gear installed
				  within marina slips, lobster pounds, or similar enclosed or partially-enclosed
				  sites in the coastal waters that are under the ownership or control of an
				  entity which has the legal authority to restrict access to or use of the site
				  and which has consented in writing to the placement of the gear on the site are
				  exempt from this density standard.
C. Up to three (3) assistants per license may
				be declared as helpers. An individual may be listed as an assistant on no more
				than eight (8) LPAs, other than their own. If the LPA license holder represents
				an educational institution, students are authorized to work under the direct
				supervision of the license holder who signed the application, as well as any
				listed helpers. If the holder of the LPA license is a municipal shellfish
				management committee, there is no limit to the number of individuals that may
				be declared as helpers.
D. When a
				proposed LPA license site falls within the bounds of a pending aquaculture
				lease application, the Department may, in its discretion, postpone the decision
				on that LPA license application until after the final decision on the pending
				application has been made.