Lamoine — The Maine Marine Patrol office seized a partially filled rocker of illegally harvested clams this morning, with an estimated street value of $21.75, according to a press release.
The clams, which had been dug by Teddy Smith, 61, of Machiasport, were harvested in an area the state declared off-limits.
“It’s lucky we came by when we did,” said Marine Patrol Officer Matt Waymer. “We happened to pass by the flats and spotted the perpetrator,” he said.
The Marine Patrol had been on another call at the time, planning to board the boat of “a suspect who had said disparaging things about us on social media.”
The clam rocker held enough clams to almost pay for Smith’s gas for the day. Smith’s boat, a homemade flat bottom skiff with a vintage 6hp Johnson outboard was also seized. The Marine Patrol estimates the boat value at $150.
“It’s another win for the good guys,” Waymer said.
“This is how it has to be as long as Augusta won’t approve funds to hire more inspectors to clear some of these flats,” Waymer said in a phone interview. “But we’d spend a million dollars if it means keeping just one illegal clam off the streets.”
The seized clams were donated to the State Marine Patrol Kitchen, an agency dedicated to making lunch for Marine Patrol officers.
The state estimates the cost of seizing Smith’s clams at $28,000.
New Maine News hats are back!
Whew! That was a close call!
LMFAO
Don’t know which I would consider more hilarious, the post or the comments!!
A little less than the patrol was paid to bust this guy, 22 bucks ?
If he is a mainer leave him be !
Until you can’t buy a dam clam everyone should be able to dig them when the digging gets bad no one will dig there until it replenishes.
And we wonder why the state of Maine is one of the poorest in the country. Seriously they spent $28000 for a $22 bust. Gold stars for everyone
But, they are them for lunch… WTH?
Ya, on their foreheads.
Please tell me this is a spoof.
SERIOUSLY!! ?? 22.00 WORTH OF CLAMS COST THEM 28K TO SEIZE?? & THEY HAD THEM FOR LUNCH? IS THIS A “SPOOF” SITE????
Is this for real? There must be a misprint or something.
Really? Seriously? A textbook case of Law Enforcement going above and beyond…to save us all from ourselves…at our ridiculous expense!!
So is the problem ‘fake news’ (which is hilarious), or that trump voters can’t detect even broad strokes of parody, humor, or satire? I mean, seriously. Dumber than a bag of hammers.
Where the heck did Trump come into this equation. Oh it must have been his fault you were born too! He doesn’t eat clams he just wants to grab and kiss them. Clinton is a clam eater and his wife is a bad clam
Unknown how they come up the numbers when they do that when they want something ever notice how cheap they say can do it! Rules and laws are put in place for a reason and are not just for looks if your caught you pay 💰 no different if your going down the road doing 60 miles per hour in a 50 mile zone you know your speeding so why blame the cop for trying to make things safe for you and others just saying
The picture is obviously photoshopped (and a bad job at that).
Calm down….. you all have been had.
It has to be true. It’s on the internet.
They will all get amnesiac shellfish poisoning and forget all about it anyway
This piece was so hilarious I’m now following your page. I don’t which is funnier–the story, or the fact that no one seems to recognize the joke.
The Marine Patrol had been on another call at the time, planning to board the boat of “a suspect who had said disparaging things about us on social media.”This paragraph told me a lot about the story. lol
Oh goign to board a vessel because the owners said disparaging things about them on social media. OH crap are they touchy or what?
throw the book at him !
WTF ? I really hope it’s a spoof ! I know we have far too many idiots in Augusta but sadly it would not surprise me in the least if that really did happen. If it happened in Lincoln County he would get a deferred disposition and probation for one year. All anybody in Lincoln County gets is a deferred disposition ! No matter what the crime !
I heard the state will start spraying the clam beds with a substance that will make people sick to eat these contra-band clams. I can’t remember what it is called but it’s R.T. or something like that. The Marine patrol will also have a nasal spray, they will carry, to revive all who partake in these clams. It is an epidemic ! There is a cartel in northern coastal Maine run by someone named BiValveus.
I hope the people that think this is real don’t ever breed
Can’t wait for the next exciting adventure in “North Coast Clam Wardens” just hope they don’t find out why all the big clams died of starvation after Frankie Reynolds got his new sewer installed…..
I switched from eating clams to eating lowly mussels 40 years ago when only me and seagulls would touch them. Now even mussels cost too much, so next I’m switching to barnacles and McDonald’s fries!