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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 11
July 2008
DMR, lobstermen discuss endline tradeoff
HALLOWELL, ME – June 17 marked the close of a series of community lobster meetings organized and hosted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in each of Maine’s seven lobster zones.
The five-week series of community conversations, which began on May 20 in Zone D, were planned and structured as open forums for providing all lobstermen with an opportunity to voice their concerns to the DMR surrounding challenges the industry is currently facing.
Although various issues were raised by lobstermen and discussed with the DMR, the primary concern on the minds of lobstermen from every zone centered around the endline tradeoff that will be required from the lobster industry if it is allowed to use floating groundline in the sliver area.
The “sliver” is the area that falls between the Maine exemption line established last fall under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and the state’s three-mile limit.
Sarah Cotnoir, DMR zone councils liaison, explained that the DMR participated in the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT) meeting held in Baltimore, MD April 28-May 1 to discuss allowing the use of low-profile rope as outlined in the “Maine Low-Profile Groundline Area Proposal.”
“The TRT rejected our low-profile proposal,” explained Cotnoir. “But we have a chance to submit an alternative plan to keep float groundline in some areas if we can show a conservation benefit.”
Endline caps
The proposal to achieve a conservation benefit by keeping floating groundline as a fishing option in the sliver area and reducing the total amount of endline rope fished in each zone will be brought to a TRT working group for review.
“To produce a conservation benefit, lobstermen must remove an equal amount of rope from the water column plus an additional amount to compensate for the amount of (float) rope they will be putting back into the water,” explained Cotnoir.
The “additional amount” will likely be 10% or more, she added.
According to the DMR, a conservation benefit can be achieved by creating endline caps and/or banning singles within the zones interested in keeping float line in the sliver area.
If all seven zones chose to pursue this option, an endline cap per lobsterman would be needed in order to produce an overall conservation benefit. Several numbers were discussed during the meetings as possible per-lobsterman endline-cap amounts, including 250 and 300. However, any endline cap amount likely will depend on other factors, including possible restrictions on the use of singles.
Muddy waters?
However, having a separate set of rules for the relatively small sliver area seemed, to some lobstermen, not worth the confusion the new rules could potentially create.
During the Zone E meeting in Wiscasset on May 27, some suggested simply rigging out for federal waters would be the simplest way to go. A few lobstermen went on to explain that during the fall months, they commonly set their gear in the mud where they are less likely to get hung down and part rope.
Although creating separate rope configurations for the sliver area may create some confusion, DMR Commissioner George Lapointe told the Zone E group that many lobstermen would “like to continue to have floating groundline in this small area.”
Other lobstermen agreed that, although they personally may not have a need for float rope in the sliver area, they were uneasy speaking for their neighboring lobstermen who may wish to continue to have the option of using float rope.
Will it work?
The Zone E lobstermen expressed frustration over the ongoing pains they have taken to be good stewards of Maine’s lobster resource, yet still more restrictions continue to be placed upon the industry.
Some lobstermen openly doubted that regulators would ever be content with the industry’s efforts, even if float rope is not reintroduced into the sliver area.
“How do we know our efforts will be effective and this is the right or wrong way for the industry to go?” asked Larry Knapp, Zone E council chairman.
Many lobstermen also expressed bewilderment concerning the actual number of whales killed or injured by Maine lobster gear and asked the DMR for numbers and historical data tracking the impact lobster gear has had on the whale population.
Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), explained it is difficult to determine how many whales may have been entangled or injured in Maine lobster gear over time.
“Only in the recent past has there been intensive data- gathering regarding whale entanglements in Maine lobster gear,” she said.
Additionally, a whale entanglement does not need to result in the death of the whale to be considered a “take” under federal law.
Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 it is unlawful to “take” marine mammals in US waters. A take is defined as “harass, hunt, capture, or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill.”
Moving forward
Gary Hatch, a scallop fisherman from Owls Head and a member of the New England Fishery Management Council’s scallop advisory panel, accompanied DMR staff to each of the seven community meetings to describe his experiences with the power of the federal government to impact the state’s fishermen.
“Since the 1980s, the number of limited-access scallop fishermen in my area has dropped from hundreds to only three,” Hatch explained during the Zone E meeting. “There are no scallop fishermen left because of extreme regulations. Now the same thing is happening to the lobster industry, and you guys must support each other to fight for your industry.”
Hatch suggested the Fisheries Survival Fund based in New Bedford, MA, which represents limited-access scallopers, might be a potential organizational model lobstermen could adopt in an effort to better advocate for themselves.
Member fishermen of the Fisheries Survival Fund contribute 5% of their gross income into the fund so monies are available to fight legal battles for fishermen.
“Maine lobstermen have to organize themselves,” Hatch insisted. “They cannot expect the DMR to do it all.”
Next step
The DMR canceled the regularly scheduled June 18 Lobster Advisory Council meeting. Instead, it was asking Lobster Advisory Council members and board members of the MLA, the Southern Maine Lobstermen’s Association, and the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association to attend an industry meeting on that day to follow-up on the seven lobster community meetings.
Said the DMR in the meeting notice, “This industry meeting is to discuss what the state of Maine’s response is going to be to the National Marine Fisheries Service and whether or not to move forward an alternative proposal.”
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