Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 5 22 e fl ats had been closed for almost a week after an historic rainfall on Sept. 30 forced Maine's Department of Marine Resources to close the entire coast to shell- fi sh harvesting. Even though he knows the closures are a temporary and necessary precaution — until water quality testing determines there's no longer a risk of runoff pollution contaminating soft shell clams and mussels in the tidal fl ats — it's still hard for Sheehan to accept another blank day on his company's ledgers. "I'm a dealer, our business depends on clams," he says. He's not alone in that frustration on this bright Tuesday morning. By mid-morning, a dozen or more clammers had sent text messages asking Sheehan if the fl ats were open yet. Others had pulled up to his seafood warehouse in pickup trucks — some more than once as the sun advanced towards high noon — wondering the same thing. "Still no word," Sheehan tells them. Weathered faces nod impassively. ey've been through this drill before. A full-time clammer, Kittery or Pembroke no diff erence, is always waiting for something — the tides to change, DMR closures to lift, prices to go up and tiny seed clams to grow to harvestable sizes. P H O T O / JA M E S M C C A R T H Y Turning the tide Pembroke company seeks to make Washington County the 'clam capital of Maine' B y J a m e s M c C a r t h y F O C U S » C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R P H O T O / JA M E S M C C A R T H Y Tim and Amy Sheehan, co-owners of Gulf of Maine Inc. in Pembroke, are bringing innovation to the tradition-bound clamming industry in Washington County. Their efforts appear to be paying off: They anticipate gross sales of $2 million by year's end for their wholesale seafood business. 2 0 7 - 7 2 5 - 4 3 0 4 B U I L D @ D L P O U L I N . C O M We build relationships, not just buildings C O N V E N I E N C E S T O R E S R E S TA U R A N T C O M M E R C I A L / P U B L I C R E TA I L W W W. D L P O U L I N . C O M CUMBERLAND FARMS, YARMOUTH

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