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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 2
October 2008
LAC mulls trap tag fees, effort reduction
AUGUSTA, ME – On Aug. 27, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) met to discuss 2009 trap tag fees, review the next management steps to be taken concerning lobstering effort, and consider how replacement tags should be issued.
Council members also heard from zone council representatives about responses to the lobster effort questionnaire results announced in July.
10-cent increase
In 2007, lobstermen agreed to support a 10-cent increase in the fee they pay for trap tags in order to help the DMR fund whale research. The increase, which raised the price of tags to 40-cents each, was in effect for 2008.
When the tag fee increase was initially discussed in three public meetings held by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) in August of last year, among the research needs identified was information on whale migration and behavior relative to lobster gear.
But federal funding for all kinds of whale research was cut in 2008. The DMR received only around $100,000 in whale program funding compared to the approximately $300,000-$400,000 it had been receiving annually to fund whale research, monitoring, and disentanglement programs.
So, the extra 10 cents Maine lobstermen paid for trap tags, about $330,000, didn’t provide as much additional research as industry had expected because, in part, it was needed to sustain existing whale programs.
Among the research areas and expenses in the 2008 trap tag fee budget were: conductivity temperature depth meters; plankton nets for monitoring stations; low-profile rope testing; printing and mailing of an endline survey; and whale entanglement gear identification.
The additional trap tag fee is expected to generate $320,000 for research in 2009, according to DMR council liaison Sarah Cotnoir.
If approved, next year’s proposal for spending the money “will look the same as the 2008 budget with a few adjustments,” she said.
Fee debate
Council members voiced a wide range of views on continuing the 10-cent tag fee.
“Down my way, lobstermen want to repeal the 10-cent tag fee increase,” said John Drouin, Zone A council member.
On the other hand, Jeff Putnam, Zone F council member, said that his zone had voted to keep the fee hike “as long as the increase is kept exclusively for whale research.”
MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron asked how much funding was left for whale research.
Cotnoir answered, “Nothing.” She added that future funding depends upon whether or not the National Marine Fisheries Service approves the grant proposals DMR is submitting this fall.
Many council members agreed that setting aside 10 cents from tag fees for whale entanglement research was a necessary commitment for the industry.
“We need to do what we can for ourselves,” said Gerry Cushman, Zone D council member. “We have only gone half way through this whale battle. We cannot stop now.”
Cushman offered a motion to continue the additional 10-cent tag fee. The motion passed.
DMR Commissioner George Lapointe said, “Whether we like it or not, the whale issue has become an important part of managing the lobster industry” and that “the whale entanglement issue will not be going away.”
Zone updates
As the focus of the meeting turned to potential changes in management to control fishing effort, zone representatives reported a range of responses from their zone memberships.
Drouin said that Zone A members wanted to leave things as they were.
“The zone feels it still needs a little growth in the fishery, but we would like growth to come from the students,” he explained.
Zone B council member Jon Carter said that the Zone B meeting was well attended, adding, “Guys are scared.”
Carter went on to say that Zone B “would like to eliminate the skimmers,” meaning individuals who only lobster to supplement their other full-time nonfishing incomes.
Zone C council member Dan McDonald reported that his zone “wants to leave things alone, except to freeze new zone entrants at 600 traps.”
Gerry Cushman said people in Zone D “agree the whale issue is not going away.”
He added that Zone D members would like to freeze licenses and tags for at least two years “until the lobster stock assessment is back and the whale issues are better worked out.”
While the Zone F meeting was lightly attended and no motions were voted on, Jeff Putnam said there was a discussion of freezing all new licenses at 600 traps. Several Zone F lobstermen also expressed the belief that “economics will do a shakeout” of the weaker license holders, he said.
However, Putnam added that Zone F did not want to freeze student licenses.
“Most of us learned to lobster from our fathers or uncles,” he said. “We do not want to ruin this Maine tradition.”
James Henderson, Zone G council member, indicated his zone wants to hang tight.
“The zone doesn’t want to change anything, but rather wait and see,” he said.
Yet Henderson did go on to explain that Zone G “would go along with freezing trap levels until things get straightened out.”
Cotnoir reported for Zone E. She said the lobstermen there felt the effort survey was broad but a good starting point, and they would like to have future meetings to continue the discussion.
Additionally, Cotnoir said Zone E was interested in creating a student waiting list referendum.
Next steps
The lobster advisory council’s discussion concerning future lobstering effort control options continued on in a lively manner, with a variety of opinions expressed over how to reduce effort across the board.
Council members collectively agreed that any trap effort reduction proposal must treat all lobstermen fairly and not reduce trap numbers for some while others still have the chance to build up their gang.
“We need to keep an eye on equity as we move forward because everyone in the industry needs to be impacted equally,” said Lapointe.
Several council members suggested that a tiered licensing system and a freezing of trap tags would help to create fairness within the process.
Council Chairman Bob Baines warned that the tiered system needed to come first.
“I think we should move forward with a tiered license system based on historical participation, but I don’t think we should freeze tags before we have a tiered system in place to protect the full-time fisherman,” he said.
Baines added that he believed the industry will “eventually see a trap reduction based on the whale rules.”
Replacement tags
The council also talked about how to allow lobstermen to use their extra 10% replacement tags next year.
The council was concerned about this issue because many lobstermen have been ordering and fishing their extra tags even though, at times, they may not have lost gear.
Lapointe recommended that next year the 10% replacement tags not be issued with a license holder’s tag allocation. In the meantime, the DMR will develop and put in place a replacement tag policy to make certain that replacement tags won’t be fished as extra tags.
With the understanding that the DMR will be moving ahead with this policy change, the council voiced its support.
The next lobster advisory council meeting is scheduled for Oct. 2 at 5 pm in Hallowell.
Gina LeDuc-Kuntz
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