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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 11
July 2007
Maine enacts groundfish fuel sales tax exemption
AUGUSTA, ME – On June 7, Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed into law the state’s biennial budget. Incorporated into this budget is a one-year emergency provision that allows a sales tax exemption on diesel fuel for Maine groundfish vessels.
“The Marine Resources Committee and Legislature are committed to see if there is a way to continue to fund the sales tax exemption beyond 2008,” said David Etnier, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR).
The committee and Legislature are planning to address the exemption again in January 2008, he added.
The budget contains $220,000 to be used to fund the diesel sales tax exemption for the one-year period at the point of purchase. The budget includes the following language to define a qualifying groundfish vessel.
“Commercial groundfish boat means a boat that is federally permitted to harvest Northeast multispecies operated by a person who holds a commercial fishing license issued by the state and used for harvesting Northeast multispecies.”
The official language further stipulates that the exemption applies to “diesel internal combustion engine fuel bought and used from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 for the purpose of operating or propelling a commercial groundfishing boat.”
The Maine Revenue Service is handling the exemption. The DMR has given the service a list of groundfish permit holders who also hold a Maine commercial license and a list of diesel suppliers, said Etnier.
If you meet the groundfish vessel criteria and have not received a notice explaining the exemption, contact the Sales, Fuel, and Special Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Service at (207) 624-9693.
Nonresident permits
LD 311, “An Act to Create a Nonresident Lobster and Crab Landing Permit,” was finalized and signed into law by the governor on June 4.
The issue originally came up when longstanding Maine lobster companies operating on the Maine/New Hampshire border were cited for unloading lobsters from New Hampshire lobstermen.
The final law allows an out-of-state person to obtain a nonresident lobster landing permit so he can possess and sell lobsters or crabs in the state of Maine. The lobsters and crabs must be harvested outside of Maine’s territorial waters. The permit does not allow the nonresident to fish in Maine waters.
The new nonresident permit subjects permit holders to the same laws and trap limits Maine fishermen must comply with. Beginning in 2008, New Hampshire and other nonresident lobstermen who want to unload their catch in Kittery or elsewhere will have to purchase the nonresident license at a cost of $2,047.25.
The finalized bill contained both majority and minority reports from the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources and requires an applicant to document to the DMR commissioner that he has not been issued lobster trap tags from another state or from the federal government that would allow him to exceed Maine’s trap tag limit.
It also allows the holder of the permit to transport lobsters within the state. The bill directs the DMR to report to the committee on the implementation and impact of the nonresident lobster and crab landing permit on the lobster resource and related businesses by Jan. 3, 2009. It also repeals the nonresident lobster and crab fishing permits Jan. 1, 2010.
Browntail moth
In April, for the second year and at the urging of the lobster industry, Gov. Baldacci signed into law emergency legislation to protect marine organisms by limiting the public and private application of pesticides to control browntail moths.
The law applies only to the coastal areas of Cumberland, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, and York counties and prohibits the application of pesticides on shade or ornamental trees within 50' of the mean high water mark in coastal areas.
The restrictions do not apply to biological pesticides, the injection of pesticides into the soil or shade or ornamental trees, or to the application of pesticides by licensed commercial pesticide applicators using nonpowered equipment.
Spray must be directed away from marine waters, and applications cannot be made when the wind is blowing toward marine waters.
Commercial applicators must notify the Maine Board of Pesticides Control (BPC) in advance of using air-assisted sprayers. The BPC will monitor applications of pesticides using airblast sprayers and, in cooperation with the DMR, may sample marine waters and sediments in coastal areas where pesticides are applied.
The BPC will be developing rules to continue these restrictions beyond 2007.
It turns out that this year, browntail moth populations are down markedly, according to Maine Forest Service State Entomologist Dave Struble.
“With the exception of a few spots in the midcoast, there is no biological need to spray for browntail moth control,” he said. “Any spraying that is done should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.”
Rosanne Mizzoni
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