Acquaculture license applications
| Submitted | March 9, 2021 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: William Middleton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act, I hereby request the following records:
I would like to request information on applications for all aquaculture operations received by the Maine Department of Marine Resources from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020. Specifically, I'm interested in knowing 1) the proposed type of aquaculture, e.g., oysters, kelp, etc.; 2) the proposed location; and 3) whether or not the application was approved.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by 1 M.R.S.A. § 408(6). The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
William Middleton
From: Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
On behalf of the Department of Marine Resources ("Department"), I am acknowledging the request for documents on March 9, 2021, under Maine's Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), 1 M.R.S.A. §401 et seq.
The Department is reviewing the request for documents, and as soon as I can, I will provide you with an estimated time and cost.
Melissa
Melissa Macaluso | Department of Marine Resources
Assistant to the Commissioner
(o) 207.624.6553| (c) 207.485-4506
(e) melissa.macaluso@maine.gov<mailto:melissa.macaluso@maine.gov>
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized agent of the intended recipient, please immediately contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy/delete all copies of the original message. Any review, use, copying, forwarding, disclosure, or distribution of this e-mail message by other than the intended recipient or authorized agent is strictly prohibited.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 109530
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
The Department of Marine Resources received your communication on March 9, 2021, requesting documents under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), 1 M.R.S.A §401 et seq.
You requested “applications for all aquaculture operations received by the Maine Department of Marine Resources from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020,” including “1) the proposed type of aquaculture, e.g., oysters, kelp, etc.; 2) the proposed location; and 3) whether or not the application was approved.”
After reviewing this request, we estimate that this could require 40-50 hours of staff time.
The estimated availability of documents is as follows:
2018-2020 is estimated to be available by June 30, 2021.
2015-2017 is estimated to be available by September 30, 2021.
The Department is requesting a deposit of $200.00 to start processing this request. Please confirm that you will accept the charges. If so, we will proceed with your request upon receipt of the deposit. Checks can be made payable to State of Maine.
From: William Middleton
I am not interested in paying for this service. The fact that you claim it would take 40 to 50 hours of work to produce the three simplest, most basic data points suggests two possibilities: one, a staggering level of disorganization in your office, or two, barefaced disingenuousness in order to evade your legal responsibilities under Maine statute. In either case, as a Maine voter and taxpayer, I will be following up with my representative in the Maine legislature.
From: Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Mr. Middleton,
I want to address your response to Ms. Macaluso, which is neither disingenuous or a result of agency disorganization as you allege.
The data you are requesting is simply not stored in a manner that allows us to easily query in a way that can produce the information you seek. This is often the case with FOAA requests, because we work based on the purposes of our objective, rather than simply for information queries. For example, in this case, we are not particularly concerned with what species are originally applied for in an aquaculture lease, only with what is ultimately approved. As a result, the request you have made would require staff to pull individual files and review them to provide the responsive information. The reason we provided two time frames for the responsive documents is that some of the more recent information is stored electronically and will be easier to retrieve than going through paper files. I am down two staff in this program with a significant backlog of work, and I can't commit more than a couple hours of staff time per week to addressing this FOAA request, as it is one of several currently pending, which accounts for the long lead time.
I have cc'd the FOAA ombudsman at the Attorney General's office, Brenda Kielty, and encourage you to follow up with me or her if you have additional concerns.
Meredith Mendelson
Deputy Commissioner
Department of Marine Resources
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Maine Freedom of Access Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 9, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Mr. Middleton,
We would appreciate if you could turn off the auto-reminders for response as we have received no further communications from you clarifying whether you still wanted to receive this information in the time we stated was possible. As such, I have closed this request.
Meredith Mendelson
Deputy Commissioner
-
~WRD0004