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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 9
May 2007
ME lawmakers support groundfish aid package
AUGUSTA, ME – On April 11, the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources met to work on legislation intended to assist the state’s struggling groundfish industry.
A suite of measures under the working title of the “Groundfish Incentive Program” was approved by the committee and includes rebates on handling fees, ice, and trucking. An exemption from the state’s 5% fuel tax also was included. A three-year sunset provision applies to the entire program.
The committee was expected to continue working on this legislation late in April and any final package it approves will have to be adopted by the full Maine Legislature, probably sometime in May, before taking effect.
Citing figures provided by the Portland Fish Exchange, the cost of the program would increase in each of the next three years to cover anticipated increases in groundfish fishing activity in the state.
Explained committee Co-chairman Sen. Dennis Damon (D-District 28), “If we anticipate we are going to land 12 million pounds the first year, 15 million the second, and 20 million the third, then we need to increase the amount each year.”
The total package as approved by the Marine Resources Committee would provide relief to the state’s groundfish industry as follows:
Year 1 – $2.8 million;
Year 2 – $3.25 million; and
Year 3 – $4 million.
In a unanimous vote, the committee directed that LD 847, “An Act to Support the Commercial Groundfish Industry” (emergency), be redrafted to include the Groundfish Incentive Program package as an amendment.
“The groundfish incentive package is a bridge to better times for the groundfish industry,” said Rep. Herb Adams (D-Portland).
Originally, LD 847 was a concept bill that would have allowed Maine commercial fishermen dragging for shrimp to land and sell herring as a bycatch. However, the committee’s vote effectively removed the bycatch provision from the bill.
Policy, administration
The committee and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) will need to finalize various policy issues such as how to guarantee that vessels receiving rebates and fuel tax exemptions sell 90% of all their groundfish in Maine and who will administer the programs.
An offer to administer the program came from city of Portland Finance Director Ellen Sanborn. A representative from the Maine Revenue Service was also on hand to offer assistance.
“The city is willing and able to do a rebate program,” said Sanborn.
Federal aid request
Also during the meeting, Rep. Edward Mazurek (D-Rockland) told the committee about a newspaper article he read describing Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s request for $25 million in disaster aid for the groundfish industry in that state.
“The federal government has a lot more resources than we do,” said Mazurek.
DMR Commissioner George Lapointe told the committee the DMR was crafting such a letter for Gov. John Baldacci’s review.
“Massachusetts has asked for federal disaster assistance due to (groundfish) Framework 42 regulations, but we would ask for help because of the overall impact of regulations,” he explained.
Lapointe added that state officials had also conferred with US Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
Here’s how the Groundfish Incentive Program came to be. On March 14 after the Marine Resources Committee rejected LD 170, the bill that proposed allowing draggers to land lobsters in Maine, it formed a groundfish subcommittee and charged it with preparing a groundfish report.
Co-chairs of the subcommittee, Rep. Adams and Sen. Dana Dow (R-District 20), along with other subcommittee members, met on a weekly basis with fishing industry members to hash out a plan to provide rapid assistance to the groundfish industry.
Adams reviewed the subcommittee report’s recommendations. He explained that the Marine Resources Committee had already passed a bill to fund half of a groundfish ecologist position that is a shared position between the DMR and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
The report also suggested floating a bond to fund a short-term loan program to provide general relief to the groundfish industry. However, members of the committee agreed that the likelihood of including a $5 million bond was not feasible at this time since the Legislature and Gov. Baldacci had already approved bond packages for voters for June 2007, November 2007, and June 2008.
The other core components of the report, however, led to the rebate and exemption provisions that are now part of LD 847.
“While I would love to have the loan program, a rebate (and fuel tax exemption) program benefits more people,” said Port Clyde fisherman Glen Libby. “If they can get it passed by the full Legislature, that would be wonderful.”
In another action, the committee also discussed finalizing a resolution to support area management that will be presented as testimony to the New England Fishery Management Council at its June meeting in Portland. The committee is expected to consider the resolution further in the coming weeks.
Rosanne Mizzoni
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