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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 11
July 2007
AFM honors Valleau, Soule, Haskell for LD 170 lobster effort
PORTLAND, ME – During its May 17 annual meeting, Associated Fisheries of Maine (AFM) presented its distinguished service award to three individuals who devoted “countless hours” fighting for LD 170, a bill that would have allowed Maine groundfish fishermen to land lobster bycatch in the state.
The three honorees were Portland Fish Exchange President Tom Valleau, exchange General Manager Hank Soule, and state Rep. Anne Haskell (D-Portland), the bill’s primary sponsor.
AFM President Lendall Alexander said even though the bill was defeated by the Legislature, the association owed Valleau, Soule, and Haskell “a debt of gratitude for their extraordinary efforts to sustain the Maine groundfish industry.”
Association spokesman Maggie Raymond also expressed her thanks to the honorees and added, “We’re still looking for other ways to preserve the groundfish infrastructure in the state.”
In addition to the award presentation, the meeting gave members a chance to network and hear a presentation by guest speaker Russell Brown of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
Brown updated the association on the status of the federal research vessel Henry B. Bigelow, which will replace the Albatross IV. He talked about the vessel’s new trawl survey gear and how it’ll be used.
Sector proposal
The AFM annual meeting marked the end of a tumultuous year for the association that went far beyond LD 170.
Association leaders have been working intensively with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the Portland Fish Exchange to develop a groundfish sector proposal.
The proposal has been submitted to the New England Fishery Management Council for consideration in 2008, and roughly 65 groundfish permit holders have expressed an interest in joining.
“We don’t see any other way to get around this with additional cuts in days-at-sea coming,” said Raymond.
“The primary purpose of the sector is to get out from under trip limits and the differential days-at-sea counting,” she explained. “Our little boats are going to places they really can’t be to avoid the differential counting.”
The sector proposal seeks hard total allowable catch limits based on sector member catch histories for species currently under trip limits, including cod, yellowtail, hake, and Georges Bank blackbacks.
Scallops, monkfish
AFM has spent a considerable amount of time over the past year on other topics as well.
The group has collaborated with the Fisheries Survival Fund on general category scallop issues under Amendment 11 to the federal scallop plan. Numerous AFM members have stakes in the general category fishery, and the association has been working to secure their interests without adversely impacting the limited-access scallop fleet, said Raymond.
AFM also has been collaborating with the Fisheries Survival Fund as well as the Garden State Seafood Association and others to “assure scientifically based decision-making” in the New England council’s omnibus habitat amendment, which will affect every one of the council’s fishery management plans.
And the group has been working with both the Garden State Seafood Association and the Monkfish Defense Fund on a host of difficult monkfish issues.
Overall, said Raymond, AFM has tried hard to be a partner in management rather than an adversary.
“We have a long history of proactive involvement in advising the council and helping it develop conservation measures that are sound and, to the extent possible, minimize the economic impact on industry,” she said. “And we’re always very concerned about the impact of regulations on safety.”
Janice M. Plante
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