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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 10
June 2009
Maine governor’s lobster task force ... stay tuned
AUGUSTA, ME -- As the new lobster season was dawning along the Maine coast in April, a palpable anxiety hung heavy in the air in coastal communities: What would 2009 bring for lobster prices.
The financial pain, which started last fall when circumstances conspired to decimate demand for lobsters, was still real to many fishing families. To be sure, prices plummeted in October of 2008 amid broader economic troubles in the nation and around the world.
But the crisis had revealed the lobster industry, which is the economic and cultural backbone of coastal Maine, to be vulnerable and that its current ways of doing business were not sufficient to mitigate the downturn’s impact.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci responded by issuing an executive order establishing a “Task Force on the Economic Sustainability of Maine’s Lobster Industry.”
The governor directed the group to conduct a review of the industry and develop a comprehensive strategy for “improved marketing of Maine lobster in order to ensure the economic prosperity and long-term sustainability of the Maine lobster industry.”
Further, the task force was to be aided by an outside contractor whose services would be paid for from the Lobster Research, Education, and Development Fund, which is supported by lobster license plate sales.
The task force was to oversee the work of the outside contractor and then come up with an “action plan,” based on the contractor’s analysis, to better position the state’s lobster industry to cope with market fluctuations.
Task force recommendations were to be submitted to the governor no later than April 15, 2009.
Deadline delay
In early May, the task force sent a letter to the governor, advising him of its progress and laying out an amended plan for completing its work. According to the revised schedule, the task force recommendations would be ready by the middle of June.
The additional time was needed because the task force decided to expand the work being done by the Moseley Group, the consultant it hired in mid-February.
The task force had published a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) for the consulting project. It selected the Moseley Group’s proposal from among 13 responses it received to the RFP.
Headquartered in Massachusetts with offices in Westbrook, ME, the Moseley Group’s specialty is the food and beverage industry. It was able to demonstrate extensive experience in doing this kind of strategic planning work for harvest-to-market clients, such as the Colombian Coffee Federation, a cooperative of more than 5,000 coffee growers, and Ocean Spray, the cranberry growers’ cooperative. Moseley’s customer list was made up of other well-known brands, as well, including Coca-Cola and Nestle.
The consulting company also had one obvious advantage going for it in the competitive bid process -- familiarity with the lobster market that would enable it to hit the ground running. Kristen Bailey, a senior consultant with the Moseley Group, is a former executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council.
Moseley’s final written report was to be delivered to the task force on May 22, according to Deirdre Gilbert of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), who provides staff support for the process.
The task force scheduled a meeting for May 28 in Hallowell to discuss the report and develop its recommendations. For more information about that meeting, contact Gilbert at (207) 624-6576.
Moseley’s approach
In its original proposal, the Moseley Group described a three-phase approach to the project that started with a diagnostic analysis of the industry. In Phase 2, the group would determine the size of the market opportunity, develop business models, and draft a strategic plan. In Phase 3, Moseley would lay out plan implementation options and the costs to achieve them.
The budget for that proposal was $108,000.
The Moseley Group produced a comprehensive list of 12 initiatives, which were presented to the task force along with the consultant’s Phase 1 report at an April 9 meeting. Bailey, who was the consultant’s project leader, explained that Moseley was able to do an in-depth exploration of three of the initiatives within the scope of its budget.
The purpose of the meeting was to allow the task force and industry members to prioritize the list of initiatives. The top three would be thoroughly developed in Moseley’s second phase work.
But a consensus emerged from the evaluation process that all of the initiatives were beneficial to creating a comprehensive program for the lobster industry.
Meeting in Hallowell on April 29, task force members decided to amend the contract with Moseley. The consultant would be paid $150,000, the ceiling set in the RFP. For that additional revenue, Moseley would do a complete “drill down” of three additional initiatives and a report on two based on information it had already collected.
One initiative, PSP risk management, would be completed separate from the strategic plan and paid for by the dealers.
Moseley was expected to deliver a cohesive strategic plan as well as a course of action that would lead the way to achieving the plan objectives.
“We see the best value in this broader approach,” said Tom Moseley, president of the consulting group, at the April meeting. “Our number one goal is that you implement the plan.”
Task force members
Task force members, who receive no financial compensation for their time and service, include: Chair Ron Phillips, Coastal Enterprises Inc; Vice-Chair Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermen’s Association; George Lapointe, DMR; Jim Nimon, Department of Economic and Community Development; Dane Somers, Maine Lobster Promotion Council; Philip Conkling, Island Institute; Daniel Hildreth, Diversified Communications; and former state Sen. Dana Dow.
Almost on the heels of the announcement by the governor’s office of the list of members late last year, the task force was criticized for lacking lobster dealer representation. Among the voices expressing that shortcoming was the Maine Import Export Lobster Dealers Association.
But the task force was also defended for its outside, independent business perspective that could bring “fresh eyes” to the table.
“We have no foregone conclusions,” said Chair Ron Phillips. “This will be a very transparent process.”
Furthermore, the task force planned to reach out to industry for input. It organized two information-gathering meetings and invited representatives to express their concerns.
The first session was held on Feb. 26 in Portland. Speakers included:
Harvesters: Peter Eaton, Kennebunkport; Steve Train, Long Island; and David Cousens, South Thomaston.
Dealers: Tim Harkins, Rocky Coast Lobster; Sue Bayley, Bayley’s Lobster Pound; Dana Rice, D.B. Fisheries; and Bill Atwood, Atwood Lobster.
Processors: John Norton, Cozy Harbor Seafood; Jeff Holden, Portland Shellfish; and John Hathaway, Shucks Maine Lobster.
The second meeting was held in Ellsworth on March 10.
In addition to panels of harvesters and scientists, speakers included Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings-Pezaris. She described the critical economic contribution made by the lobster industry to Stonington and communities all along the coast.
Panelists included:
Harvesters: Jon Carter, Bar Harbor; Nick Lemieux, Cutler; and Frank Gotwals, Stonington.
Scientists: Carl Wilson, DMR; Bob Steneck, UMaine; Bob Bayer, Lobster Institute; and Jim Acheson, UMaine.
Kristen Bailey attended both of those meetings as well as conducting a data gathering process that included a broad range of stakeholder interviews.
Moseley report
At its April 29 meeting, task force chair Ron Phillips acknowledged that members were processing a lot of information. Before making a decision on expanding the scope of Moseley’s analysis, he gave members a chance to list specific concerns they wanted to be sure were covered in the final report.
Among those concerns were the following:
New management entity. Combining marketing and research, this new body would make a significant change requiring funding options and coordination with existing structures.
Concrete steps for improving harvest sector economics.
Can we get a couple of early “wins” for industry to get buy-in on longer term profitability/sustainability strategy?
What is the cost of the recommendations, and can we afford it?
Joint marketing with Canadians vs. a Maine brand, which way to go.
Broadly connect harvesters to market, but not micromanage. Clarity on how harvesters will benefit.
Steps to diffuse the mistrust within the industry, harvesters to dealers, dealers to each other, etc.
Environmental impact and long-term sustainability of the lobster industry. And
Market diversification and customer needs.
The Moseley Group walked through an outline of their strategic plan for the lobster industry, identifying where each of the task force concerns would be addressed. With that reassurance, the task force gave the go-ahead to the expanded, more costly final report.
Next, the task force will integrate the Moseley report with its recommendations that will be submitted to Gov. Baldacci.
Beyond that formality, however, the hard question that remains is, “Then what?”
The final phase of Moseley’s report is the plan for implementation. Tom Moseley said it would clearly show how the industry could come together to take action.
“This is most important to us,” Moseley said, “The last thing we want is (to produce) a comprehensive strategy that sits on a dusty shelf.”
With early season lobster boat prices already hovering at the profitability tipping point and continuing questions about consumer spending, the Maine lobster industry would agree.
Stay tuned.
Susan Jones
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