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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 10
June 2006
Lobster Institute advisory board to proceed with meeting action points
ORONO, ME – While participants at the 2006 Canadian/US Lobstermen’s Town Meeting spent much of the meeting in serious discussion of a handful of topics, the consensus at day’s end was a desire for action.
The Lobster Institute, which hosted the town meeting, was called upon to explore ways to move forward with the group’s ideas.
“It is important that we find a voice,” said Ted Hoskins, the meeting moderator. “How do we take advantage of us being here? How do we get your questions more effectively addressed?”
On behalf of the group, he asked for the Lobster Institute’s help.
Members of the institute’s board of advisers who attended the day-long event responded by drafting a list of action points for consideration by the whole board.
“The board will prioritize the points and decide how to pursue them,” said Cathy Billings, Lobster Institute assistant director for communications and development.
It could work on the points independently, as collaborative projects with others, or it may choose to encourage another organization to take on one or more of the action points, she said.
Draft action points
The following list of potential actions is presented in alphabetical order:
• Data Collection. There is a great deal of scientific data that has been compiled as a result of many different research projects concerning stock assessment and some of the possible external variables affecting stocks (i.e. water quality). However, there is no easily accessible “library” that contains a complete collection of this data.
Related to this is the need to unify existing data and if needed obtain additional data that can be used to devise a baseline reflecting stock and habitat conditions that can be a reference point as research and assessment move forward.
• Environmental Awareness Network. Fishermen may have allies in areas that they might not normally tend to look. It could be beneficial to bring fishing groups together with nongovernment environmental/conservation groups to find common ground in each other’s philosophies and goals for protecting the habitat and the fish stocks – while also putting a human face on the need to balance these philosophies and goals with the goal of maintain a vital fishing industry.
• Joint Canadian/US Stock Assessment Initiative. The need for a joint Canadian/US lobster stock assessment was expressed many times during the town meeting. The institute might foster discussions of ways to bring about a joint assessment.
A possible first step could be to develop a document that brings together assessment work done to-date in both countries. A next step might be to convene a group of appropriate representatives to take a serious look at what it would take to put together a cross-border assessment initiative.
• Management Summit. A frequent area of discussion at this and previous town meetings has been the need for an ecosystem management approach and the need to look beyond just fisheries management when trying to find ways to ensure a vital lobster stock.
A plan to address this might be to assemble officials and scientists involved with the numerous management agencies whose policies and decisions may affect the habitat and lobster resource. The purpose would be to raise the awareness of how interrelated each is; and how the policies and decisions of each agency could impact the efforts of other agencies to meet their goals.
For example, take a close look at the external variables – such as pesticide control or waste management – that may impact the lobster stock above and beyond how fishing impacts the resource.
• Youth Leadership Initiative. Develop programs that encourage younger lobstermen to become more actively involved as industry leaders and advocates – and to learn more about lobster management plans and systems. Example: Pay them to attend a leadership seminar/training session.
The Lobster Institute’s board of advisers was expected to consider the action points list at its meeting scheduled for May 25.
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