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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 8
April 2007
Maine LD 170 dead; groundfish aid in the works
AUGUSTA, ME – At a March 14 work session, members of the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources moved quickly and decisively to kill the bill known as LD 170, which would have allowed draggers to land lobsters in Maine.
Sen. Dana Dow (R-District 20) offered a motion stating “that this bill should not pass,” which was immediately seconded by Rep. Peggy Pendleton (D-Scarborough).
The unanimous 10-0 “ought not to pass” vote happened within minutes, following minimal discussion by the committee.
LD 170, An Act To Permit the Landing of Lobsters Harvested by Methods other than Conventional Traps (Emergency), was sponsored by Rep. Anne Haskell (D-Portland) and was controversial from its inception, pitting two of Maine’s most valuable fishing industries against each other.
Sen. Dennis Damon (D-District 28), co-chair of the committee, said, “As a member of this committee and of the Legislature, I never remember an issue that generated this much interest.”
Damon thanked Haskell for her courage in bringing the bill forward and said the measure helped focus attention on the plight of the state’s groundfish industry.
“I don’t think it’s too extreme to say (the groundfish industry) is bordering on collapse,” he said. “If it wasn’t clear before, it is clear now.“
Next step
Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello (R-District 15) said, “The testimony was very compelling and you can see both sides. I would like to set up a subcommittee and bring back the Governor’s Task Force report to the Marine Resources Committee.”
Rep. Herb Adams (D-Portland) made the motion, seconded by Snowe-Mello, to establish a “subcommittee on the groundfish industry” within the Marine Resources Committee.
The subcommittee was instructed to provide the Marine Resources Committee, no later than March 28, with a comprehensive recommendation on how the state can help the industry.
The members of the subcommittee are Dow and Adams, who will serve as co-chairs, and Reps. Edward Mazurek (D-Rockland), Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay), and Kenneth Fletcher (R-Winslow).
Damon and Marine Resources Committee Co-Chair Rep. Leila Percy (D-Phippsburg) will be involved with the subcommittee as well. The first meeting was scheduled for March 19 in Augusta.
Observers indicated they expect the subcommittee to examine relief aid such as rebates for seller fees and rebates to fishing vessels landing at the Portland Fish Exchange to offset ice costs. That would be in addition to the elimination of the sales tax on diesel fuel and funding for a groundfish ecologist, both of which are already pending before the Legislature.
Industry reaction
Reaction in the audience to the swift vote ranged from pleased to visibly upset.
“We are thrilled, relieved,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.
McCarron said the Marine Resources Committee understood the concerns of the lobster industry and also showed a willingness to find solutions for the groundfish industry.
Added Mike Dassatt of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, “We are glad to see that the Marine Resources Committee is looking at this like they should be looking at it, but at the same time they are going to look at the groundfish industry to see what needs to be done.”
However, Angelo Ciocca, president of NOVA Seafood In Portland, was disappointed that LD 170 was dead.
“One important factor for everyone to understand is, by killing LD 170, the Maine dragger effort on lobsters will continue just (outside of state waters) in the Gulf of Maine,” said Ciocca.
“If LD 170 passed, all Maine licensed draggers would have had to fish in Area 3 – 40 to 50 miles offshore,” he added. “LD 170 was actually a conservation measure, and Maine inshore lobstermen and the lobster industry voted against it.”
Maggie Raymond, spokesman for Associated Fisheries of Maine, pointed out that the Marine Resources Committee made a follow-up commitment to secure a financial aid package for the Maine groundfish industry yet wondered how it would keep that promise.
“In order to deter boats from leaving Maine to land fish and lobsters in Massachusetts and to entice the return of boats that have already left, the state will need to provide, at the very least, $2 or 3 million per year over several years,” she said. “We’ll remain skeptical that the state has that kind of money to spare until the check is in the mail.”
DMR response
At the March 5 public hearing, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe testified that the department opposed LD 170.
“I think the 500 people who attended the LD 170 public hearing demonstrated the strong feelings on both sides of the argument and the commitment of Maine’s fishing community to sustaining these fisheries,” he said. “Folks will now need to follow through with the legislative subcommittee to assist the groundfish industry through this incredibly difficult time.”
While admitting that “no legislator likes to watch their bill go down,” Haskell, LD 170’s initial sponsor, said she felt it was worth it.
“I could not watch a heritage industry disappear from the Maine coast, not if I could have done something about it,” she said. “This created a real opportunity for good dialogue in the Legislature where it belongs.”
Rosanne Mizzoni
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