FREEPORT — Looking for a comprehensive report on the health of its clam flats, the town has hired a Brunswick firm to complete an almost yearlong assessment of its shellfish habitats.

Several of Freeport’s flats have gone fallow while others have remained “high producers,” according to a report from the town’s Shellfish Conservation Commission. Town officials hope an analysis done by Resources Access International LLC will reveal why, and how those beds can be revived.

Resources Access International, based on River Road in Brunswick, won the $40,000 contract after a competitive bid process.

Half the project cost was appropriated from the town’s shellfish habitat preserve account in December 2012. The balance will be awarded through a state Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry grant.

Darcie Couture, principal scientist for Resources Access International, said the study will involve 39 weeks of field work and 40 hours of statistical analysis. Scientists will measure soil and water acidity — as well as the range and type of vegetation in smaller, low-yield harvesting areas such as Recompense Cove and Little River. Scientists will compare those areas against higher-producing beds in the upper Harraseeket River, then scale them against larger area studies already performed around Greater Casco Bay.

The Resources Access International project explanation says such detail is vital because “each cove and embayment in Freeport operate( s) as a smaller, unique ecosystem, playing a role in the larger system of Casco Bay.”

Studying differences in conditions from one cove to the next should help researchers identify what causes a healthy seed-clam stock versus a barren flat.

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