Clamming in Ogunquit Is a Winter Sport. Here's How the Ogunquit River Season Works.

From May through October, digging for clams is illegal on every flat in Ogunquit. The rules change on November 1, the day a state seasonal closure on one stretch of the Ogunquit River ends, and that closure is why clamming in Ogunquit happens with gloves on.

The town's Shellfish Conservation Commission built this season's plan around that date. Len Pierce presented the commission's FY 2026–27 recommendations to the Select Board on September 15, and the board approved them 5–0. The plan calls for digging every other Sunday starting November 1, with licenses on sale from November 2026 through March 2027.

The open flat is one stretch of river

Ogunquit's comprehensive plan names the Ogunquit Estuary as the town's clamming ground. It describes soft-shell clams living in the intertidal mud, sand and gravel there. Most of that estuary stays closed all year, though.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources puts Ogunquit in Growing Area WD, which runs from Bald Head Cliff in York to Cape Arundel in Kennebunkport. DMR's classification notice for Area WD lists these as prohibited because of pollution:

• the lower Ogunquit River and Ogunquit Beach, southwest of the Beach Street bridge
• the upper river north of the boat ramp at the Ocean Street footbridge
• a strip along the river's western shore near The Dunes on the Waterfront

That leaves the stretch in between. The same notice describes that conditionally approved area this way:

"Ogunquit River (Ogunquit): south of a line starting from the northeast corner of the boat ramp at the Ocean Street footbridge and running east to a red painted post on the opposite shore; AND east of a line starting from the southern tip of an unnamed point of land located on the western shore of the Ogunquit River and running southwest across a sandbar to a red painted post located on the shore in front of The Dunes on the Waterfront Hotel; AND north of a line created by the Beech St bridge (closed May 1st through October 31st)."

The notice is dated May 23, 2025, and it stays in effect until DMR repeals or replaces it. So the flat sits between the footbridge ramp and the Beach Street bridge, and the two red painted posts mark its edges. It closes every summer because of seasonal pollution. That's why the Ogunquit season starts on the first day of November.

Parking is easier now too. The town stopped parking enforcement on November 1, and it resumes Friday, April 16, 2027. Rules like no parking in a fire lane still apply.

A small, fixed number of licenses

Inside the Ogunquit River area, the town sets who can dig, and the state signs off on how many. DMR's 2026–2027 allocation approval went to Town Clerk Christine Murphy on September 16, 2026, and set these numbers:

Ten nonresident season licenses for a town that draws as many visitors as Ogunquit does keeps the flat mostly local. Under the town's shellfish ordinance, "resident" covers more than people who live in town year-round. It also includes property-tax-paying owners of Ogunquit real estate and their immediate family, once they've owned for at least three months, and full-time town employees. A seasonal homeowner falls in the resident column.

Three more provisions affect who ends up on the flat:

1. Free licenses for residents 65 and older. A June 9, 2026 amendment waives the recreational fee for residents 65 and older. The number of free licenses can't exceed what the town lists in its allocation application to DMR. The Select Board's September plan set that at up to 10 free licenses for residents and taxpayers over 65. DMR counts those free licenses inside the 95 and 10 above. They are not extra.
2. The January 30 rule. For license types with limited numbers, any licenses still unsold after January 30, 2027 must be offered without regard to residency, at the original fee.
3. Youth Day. The ordinance allows an annual Youth Day, approved by the Select Board on the commission's recommendation. Children 12 and under can harvest up to one peck together when a licensed parent or guardian supervises them, and the adult can still take their own peck.

Season licenses come through the Town Clerk. The one-time, specific-date license works differently. You buy it on a harvest day from a member of the Shellfish Conservation Commission, first come, first served, at areas the town designates. Outside the senior and Youth Day waivers, the full fee has to come with the application.

The calendar runs on alternate Sundays

Your license is good only on the town's approved dates. Digging on any other day is unlawful. The approved pattern is every other Sunday from November 1. Counting forward two weeks at a time gives this schedule through March:

• Sunday, November 15
• Sunday, November 29
• Sunday, December 13
• Sunday, December 27
• Sunday, January 10
• Sunday, January 24
• Sunday, February 7
• Sunday, February 21
• Sunday, March 7
• Sunday, March 21

Those dates are counted from the every-other-Sunday rule, not copied from a published town calendar. Confirm each one with the Town Clerk before you plan a morning around it. On that count, the next dig after this post goes up is Sunday, November 15.

A daylight window applies on every dig day. Harvesting is allowed from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. In December, that makes for a short day.

What the ordinance asks of you on the flat

The ordinance text is short and specific. In plain terms:

• Species: soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria.
• Limit: one peck per day, for personal use.
• Size: at least two inches across the longest part of the shell. Undersize clams have to stay under 10% of a lot.
• Gear: a fork with tines two inches apart and a handle no longer than two feet.
• Kids: a licensee under 8 must have an adult licensee 18 or older with them the whole time.
• On the flat: sign your license, carry ID, and show both to a Shellfish Warden or other officer who asks. Signing the license also means agreeing to inspection.

This is general information about the town's rules, not legal advice. For anything that depends on your own situation, such as whether you qualify as a resident or for a senior license, check with the Ogunquit Town Clerk.

The status that matters is the one on dig morning

The classification notice only explains which water can open at all. Whether that water is open on a particular Sunday is a separate, live question. DMR's shellfish closures page warns that closures can change daily, and it points harvesters to its legal notices and to its hotline at 1-800-232-4733 or 207-624-7727.

Here's how this fall's notices read. DMR's August 21, 2026 biotoxin notice for Area 100-A applies to mussels, surf and hen clams, razor clams, European oysters and carnivorous snails. It doesn't cover soft-shell clams. The September 29, 2026 emergency notice for Area 500 covers growing areas other than WD. A new notice could change that by any given Sunday. A quick call to the hotline before you leave the house is the safe habit.

A flat that's being watched again

The commission has been doing more than selling licenses this fall. Together with a DMR representative and several volunteers, it surveyed the town's clam flats, which the town's Ogunquit This Week newsletter called the first survey in many years. Nobody spoke at the public hearing on the season's plan. License money goes back to the same work. The ordinance requires shellfish fees and fines to fund the town's shellfish management, conservation and enforcement. So the $35 for a season license pays for the surveys and enforcement on the same flat you dig.

The ordinance also has its own license class for commission members. Members who served more than a year and logged 10 or more hours on surveys, testing or other commission work in the previous year get a free license. For a resident who wants to know the Ogunquit River flats better, volunteering for the next survey is a direct way in. The commission has five regular members and two alternates.

Owning a piece of the Ogunquit coast means knowing which rules apply to the water and the land next to it. That's the kind of shoreland detail Brooke Peterson works with every day, from riverfront parcels to a cottage a short walk from the Ocean Street footbridge. If you're curious what your own Ogunquit property is worth this winter, Request Your Instant Home Valuation.