March 2012 - Maine Lobstermen`s Association

Transcription

MAINE
AINE
LOBSTERMEN’S ASSOCIATION
Better Informed, Better Decisions
March 2012 Vol 20, No 3
Boston Seafood Show changes
with the times
No, you can’t get there from
here (if you’re a lobster)
By Melissa Waterman
T
hat overused saying from the old
“Bert and I” comedy skits certainly applies when it comes to shipping
lobsters by air from Maine: You can’t
get there from here. Lobster dealers in
Maine can’t move their live product by
air unless they use FedEx, DHL or UPS,
none of which can ship large quantities
of the crustacean.
Thus dealers must truck their product down to Boston or New York City
where they link up with freight consolidators who will reserve shipping space
on commercial airliners. So why not use
commercial flights landing in Bangor
or Portland to move live lobsters? “The
types of aircraft that land here now are
smaller than before,” explained Anthony Caruso Jr., assistant director of Bangor International Airport. “There’s not
much if any belly load capacity.”
Belly load? No, it’s not that full feeling you get after Thanksgiving dinner.
Rather it is the term for the space in
each passenger plane in which luggage is
stored. If there is more space than luggage, commercial cargo can be shipped
on the aircraft.
By Nancy Griffin
I
f you are involved in the seafood
business and the calendar says it’s
March, you are likely headed to the International Boston Seafood Show, held
this year on March 11, 12 and 13. It’s
big, it’s exhausting and it is the place to
be for Maine’s many seafood companies.
The first Boston Seafood Show was
held in 1982, in a former Boston armory
dubbed “The Castle.” Started by the
New England Fisheries Development
Foundation (NEFDF) and the Canadian Consulate in Boston, exhibitors
tended to come from New England,
with a lot of Boston processors, and
from the Maritimes. The show caught
on and quickly outgrew its first venue
and moved to the World Trade Center at
Commonwealth Pier for its second year.
Photo courtesy of Diversified Communications.
Maine Lobstermen’s Association
21 Western Ave. #1
Kennebunk, ME
04043
U.S. Postage Paid
Brunswick, ME 04011
PRST STD
Permit No. 65
Continued on page 11
2011 lobster landings break records
By Melissa Waterman
M
aine lobster fishermen last year caught 103,875,022
pounds of lobster with a value of $331,422,824,
according to figures released by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in February. “It’s a glass ceiling
figure, an unobtainable number that we never thought
we’d reach,” commented Carl Wilson, lead lobster biologist at the department. As David Cousens, president of
the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said in a Portland
Press Herald article at the time, “It’s unreal.”
One hundred million pounds is a lot of lobster compared to landings thirty years ago. In 1982, 22.7 million
pounds came over Maine’s wharves. The catch started to
rise in the 2000s, hitting 80 million pounds in 2009 and
a record 94.7 million pounds in 2010. At the same time,
other fisheries in the state began to slip in dominance.
Lobster now accounts for 70 percent of the value of the
state’s commercial fisheries.
This increase is no short-term blip in the population,
according to Wilson. “Fifteen years ago we could point
to any number of factors, such as lack of predators and a
change in water temperature,
to explain a pulse [of lobsters]
above the normal,” Wilson
said. “Now I think that after
twenty years of sustained increase we must acknowledge
that there’s a positive feedback that led to this.”
Reports from lobstermen
and DMR staff alike indicate
that there are a lot of juvenile lobsters on the bottom
right now. That makes sense Stage 4 juvenile lobster. Photo
because in general, if more by Eric Annis, Hood College.
adults successfully reach sexual maturity, then there will
be more juveniles. Wilson believes that the ecosystem
has changed enough that all those juveniles are not simply the result of a few years of favorable recruitment.
Eastern Maine has experienced the sharpest growth
in landings as well as lobster density. “Southern and
western Maine landings are not increasing at the same
rate as in eastern Maine,” Wilson pointed out. In the
Continued on page 4
INSIDE
New Recruit, looking forward
page 7
More TAA workshops!
page 10
Meeting roundup
page 18
2
MAINE LOBSTERMEN’S ASSOCIATION
Maine Lobstermen’s
Association
Advocating for a
A
sustainable
lobster resource
and the
fishermen and
ccommunities that
depend on it
Since 1954
S
Board of Directors
•••
President: David Cousens
So. Thomaston, 207.594.7518
1st VP: Jim Dow
Bass Harbor, 207.288.9846
2nd VP: Brian McLain
New Harbor, 207.677.3377
Sec/Treasurer: Arnold Gamage, Jr.
So. Bristol, 207.644.8110
Bob Baines, Spruce Head, 596.0177
Shane Carter, Bar Harbor, 288.0236
Dwight Carver, Beals, 497.2895
Gerry Cushman, Port Clyde, 372.6429
Jim Henderson, Camp Ellis, 282.0913
Robert Ingalls, Bucks Harbor, 255.3418
Mark Jones, Boothbay, 633.6054
Jason Joyce, Swan’s Island, 526.4109
Jack Merrill, Islesford, 244-4187
Tad Miller, Matinicus, 372.6941
Mike Myrick, Cushing, 354.6077
Brad Parady, Kittery, 337.3141
Kristan Porter, Cutler, 259.3306
Lawrence R. Pye, Small Point, 389.9131
Willis Spear, Yarmouth, 846.9279
Jay Smith, Nobleboro, 563.5208
Craig Stewart, Long Island, 846.3158
Elliott Thomas, Yarmouth, 846.6201
Donald Young, Cushing, 354.6404
Jack Young, Vinalhaven, 863.4905
Staff
•••
Executive Director
Patrice McCarron
207.967.4555
patrice@mainelobstermen.org
Industry Communications
Coordinator
Melissa Waterman
207.691.2330
melissa@mainelobstermen.org
Whale Projects Coordinator
Heather Tetreault
207.967.4555
heather@mainelobstermen.org
Education Coordinator
Annie Tselikis
annie@mainelobstermen.org
Education Assistant
April Gilmore
april@mainelobstermen.org
Communications Assistant
Sarah Paquette
sarah@mainelobstermen.org
The MLA newsletter is published monthly. It is
provided for free to all Maine lobstermen thanks
to the support of newsletter sponsors. This month’s
sponsor is Cozy Harbor Seafood.
Maine Lobstermen’s Association
21 Western Ave., #1
Kennebunk, ME 04043
info@mainelobstermen.org
www.mainelobstermen.org
Our newsletter is now online!
March 2012
Steaming Ahead
I
recently attended a meeting of the Scientific Review Group
(SRG) which reviews marine mammal stock assessment reports and provides advice to the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) on marine mammal issues. It was created
through the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the law
that guides the federal whale rules.
Assessing the health of marine mammal stocks and independently reviewing those assessments has a huge bearing on
the lobster industry. Given the highly endangered status of
right whales, the pressure to minimize large whale interactions
with fishing gear is tremendous. The MMPA is very specific
about the goal of the management plan. The law determines
the potential biological removal (PBR) of whales (i.e., the
number of whales that can be removed from the stock due to
human causes). It requires that serious injuries and deaths of
whales from human activities -- namely shipping and fishing
-- do not exceed it.
When it comes to stock assessments, the devil is in the
details. Just think about all of the economic harm caused by
the uncertainties in the recent cod and shrimp assessments.
And the laws tend to be very rigid about how and when the
information in stock assessments can be changed. In our case,
the marine mammal assessments are revised once a year, and
the corresponding annual review by the SRG matters a lot.
I have to admit that until very recently, I wasn’t really aware
of the SRG or the importance of its work. Over the course of
the summer and fall I attended whale meetings organized by
Maine Department of Marine Resources and National Marine
Fisheries Service whose purpose was to engage the lobster
industry on how to reduce the risk that vertical lines pose to
whales. As is generally the case, the lobstermen who attended
these meetings were armed with questions about the process
– wanting to know what has and hasn’t worked so far, whether
or not the rules in place are actually benefitting whales, and
why we have to do any of this. You name it, they asked it, and
then some.
So when I hunkered down to prepare MLA’s comments
to NMFS, I revisited the text of the MMPA and re-read the
stock assessment reports for humpback and right whales.
Armed with an array of questions and strategies I’d picked up
over the course of the industry meetings, I read these documents with a fresh perspective.
There were many items in both the humpback and right
whale assessments that didn’t make sense to me. For example, I identified inconsistencies in how the PBR (yes, our
goalpost) for right whales is calculated. I identified inconsistencies in the number of U.S. versus Canadian entanglements
that contribute to PBR. Long story short, I called MLA’s lawyer and NMFS to get some answers. While there were very
few satisfying answers offered, vetting these issues opened
my eyes to the importance of the SRG, which is tasked with
reviewing these stock assessment reports for NMFS.
So in February, I attended my first SRG meeting. It was
another eye opening experience. Of the two and a half days
that the SRG met, I estimate that at least a day and a half
were dedicated to updates and reports from NMFS. In contrast, I estimate that five hours were dedicated to reviewing
54 stock assessments: 22 Atlantic marine mammal assessments and 32 Gulf of Mexico marine mammal assessments.
As you can imagine, the schedule to review the stock assessment reports was tight, and the group was not able to
delve deeply into any of these reports. The SRG reviewed
the right whale assessment and was ready to move on after
raising only a few minor points. I raised my hand to get clarification on the inconsistencies within the PBR calculation
that I had identified. As it turns out, SRG members had not
realized that there were inconsistencies. They quickly came
to a consensus to advise NMFS to change it. If NMFS accepts this advice, the PBR for right whales will increase.
The other big surprise was the membership of the SRG.
The MMPA clearly specifies that the SRG consist of individuals with expertise in marine mammal biology and ecology, population dynamics and modeling, commercial fishing
technology and practices, and stocks taken by Native Americans. It further states that the Secretary of Commerce seek
to achieve a balanced representation of viewpoints among
those individuals.
But the New England commercial fishing industry was not
represented on the SRG. In fact there was no representation
from an active fisherman working in areas that overlap strategic stocks. The commercial fishing industry was represented
by a university professor who works on conservation engineering and by a member of the mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council. In addition to many well-qualified university
scientists, the Humane Society, which frequency sues NMFS
over marine mammal issues, also has a seat on the SRG.
This experience has been enlightening and I am grateful
that I have a much stronger understanding of all the pieces
that contribute to our whale rules. But clearly we have a lot
of work to do. On behalf of MLA, I will be preparing a letter
to NMFS outlining the association’s concerns with regard to
the SRG meeting that I attended, and raising questions about
some of the data and assumptions in the right whale and
humpback whale stock assessment reports, as well as issues
surrounding the membership of the SRG. MLA will demand
accountability from this process – we need to gain confidence
that the marine mammal stock assessments contain accurate
information.
My role as director of the MLA puts me in the position of
representing the Maine lobster industry on management issues. I draw from my own knowledge, experience and instincts
to help guide decisions. But what makes the MLA special is
that I have an active board of 24 lobstermen from across the
state who challenge ideas, ask questions and demand accountability from the system. This feedback is bolstered even more
by our robust and diverse industry.
We certainly have a long way to go on the whale issue and
MLA will continue its diligence in representing Maine lobstermen in all aspects of the management process. Right whales
are still highly endangered and the mandate to implement new
rules to reduce the risk posed to them remains. But we are
making progress and Maine’s voice is growing stronger.
As always, stay safe on the water.
Join at 50% off for half year membership
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March 2012 MAINE LOBSTERMEN’S ASSOCIATION
Helping U.S. seafood sales expand abroad
By John Connelly, President, National Fisheries Institute
L
ike cousins who live apart, the National Fisheries Institute and Maine Lobstermen’s Association don’t talk as often as we should. Even though our interests
align and we can support each other, we are not in regular enough conversation to
know when to ask each other for a hand. So here is a start.
NFI is the leading voice for the seafood community in the U.S. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., we are a non-profit organization that educates the public,
media and government on the importance of fish and seafood. Our members, who
catch, cultivate, process, distribute, import, and export, collectively represent every
stop seafood makes on its journey from water to table.
NFI also works to promote a strong positive image for
iconic, domestic seafood. . . .Our mission is to protect
and promote the interests of each member as well as
the greater concerns of the seafood community.
One service we provide is to ensure that members have the proper information,
advice, and support to successfully navigate both domestic and foreign markets. U.S.
seafood companies exported 2.7 billion pounds of seafood in 2010, a value of $4.4
billion. Along with salmon and surimi, lobster was one of the most heavily exported
species, with over fifty million pounds exported. When a business exports, it enters
into a labyrinth of regulations and potential trade barriers. NFI understands the nuances of foreign trade and the complex overlap between industry and government.
In the past, we have worked closely with members and foreign regulatory bodies to
eliminate unnecessary commercial obstacles and pave the way for the smooth transaction of seafood products.
As an example, as recently as 2009, the European Union (EU) threatened to ban
all U.S. scallop exports in a dispute over shellfish safety inspection. Such a ban would
have jeopardized a $150 million export market and severely injured American scallop companies. NFI recognized this crisis and worked closely with EU wholesale
3
Guest Column
scallop importers to foster a dialogue with EU governments that stressed the ban’s consequences for European
consumers and their relationships with American exporters. NFI’s coordination and persistence helped prevent an
EU ban on scallops.
A similar situation for American lobster companies
could soon be on the horizon. Recently, Asian food authorities have started rejecting shipments of Maine lobster because of the toxicity of lobster tomalley. The FDA
released an advisory in 2008 against consumption of lobster tomalley (incredible, because my parents and eightyfive year old aunts and uncles ate it every night at our
John Connelly is the
summer home by the Ogunquit Footbridge Beach). The
president of the National
warning, however, applies only to the tomalley itself and
Fisheries Institute in
not to lobster meat. Because tomalley toxins do not affect
Washington, D.C.
lobster meat, these recent lobster rejections seem preemptory and unfounded.
In such scenarios, NFI provides members with valued assistance. When false or
misused information threatens to weaken a product’s credibility, we make certain
that the rejecting foreign authorities have the best possible information and most recent studies available in making their decisions. In addition, we participate in public
information campaigns to ensure that the consumer is well-informed on the issues
and makes healthy, educated choices about their seafood diet.
While maintaining close relationships with foreign importers, NFI also works to
promote a strong positive image for iconic, domestic seafood. Because the ocean’s
eco-system is so complex, the seafood community’s activities sometimes create unintended impacts. In these moments, NFI helps its members educate the media and
consumers about our commitment to sustainability.
Our mission is to protect and promote the interests of each member as well as
the greater concerns of the seafood community. By facilitating business-government cooperation abroad and strengthening seafood’s image at home, NFI makes
every effort to marry sound science and committed seafood companies with receptive markets. Partnership with our Maine lobster cousins is always welcome.
4
March 2012
Landings continued from page 1
1990s, when Wilson was a graduate student at the University of Maine, he and other
biologists would dive to measure lobster density along the coast. “In western Maine
we would find a lobster under just about every rock,” he recalled. “But not in eastern Maine.” Now, Wilson continued, there’s a lobster under every rock just about
everywhere along the coast. The difference between western and eastern Maine has
disappeared.
What’s even more interesting is that, while western Maine has not seen the great
increase in landings that has occurred in eastern Maine, it hasn’t seen a decrease in
landings either. “Western Maine has been at a high density for quite some time and
we’ve not seen a population crash there,” Wilson said.
also a good year [for settlement],” he said.
So this record-breaking haul of lobsters is a good thing, right? After all, the lobster harvest brought more than $300 million to Maine last year. The problem comes
from the fact that lobstermen and the communities in which they live are increasingly dependent on this high level of landings. Biologists aren’t worried about the
lobster population crashing, they are worried about what even a modest decrease in
landings might do to the state’s fishermen.
“The lobster resource has been such a runaway train that it has raised expectations,” Wilson said. “If the landings drop to 50 million then there will be chaos, but
the resource would still be doing pretty good.”
“The lobster resource has been such a runaway train
that it has raised expectations. If the landings drop to
50 million then there will be chaos, but the resource
would still be doing pretty good.”
Some have speculated that there will be a natural limit to the ever-increasing
population due to overcrowding on the bottom. Wilson said that such a scenario is
unlikely. Because the waters in eastern Maine are well mixed, meaning that the water
temperature is nearly the same from the ocean surface to the bottom, lobsters have
a lot of territory suitable for them to live. “There’s lots of space for them,” Wilson
confirmed. Furthermore, there haven’t been major population changes among the
species that prey on lobster, such as cod or other groundfish. “We are not seeing an
influx of predators to the nearshore areas that could take a chunk out of the population,” Wilson continued.
Given the status that lobster now has within Maine’s economy, the lobster monitoring programs run by DMR have even greater importance, according to Wilson.
“They are essential because they allow us to have a window into the future. If you
have multiple indices saying the same thing, that’s pretty good confirmation,” he
said.
The department runs a port sampling program to collect catch and effort information directly from lobstermen; a sea sampling program to gather biological data
on lobsters caught by lobstermen; and a settlement survey at fifty sites along the
coast, among other programs. The settlement survey indicates that there was good
settlement of juvenile lobsters all along the coast from 2005 to about 2009, Wilson
explained. “Those lobsters are working their way through the population. 2011 was
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Maine lobstermen are hauling in record-breaking landings of lobster. But what happens when the huge
landings start to drop? Ellin Hale photo.
5
New DMR Marine Patrol officers join the force
By Sarah Paquette
T
Saco to Cape Elizabeth, and Derek Jacobs covering Cape Neddick to Wells. Hopefully they stick around,” Henderson said.
Fessenden realizes that some positions in the bureau have been cut permanently
and that there won’t be the same number of Marine Patrol officers as there have
been in the past. “That won’t change unless the economy changes,” he said. Nevertheless, he is glad to have new officers filling open positions and said they currently
have more people enrolled in the MCJA. “The people we have hired are good-quality people,” said Fessenden. “They’ve shown enthusiasm and dedication.”
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he Marine Patrol Bureau, like many state agencies in recent years, has faced
some hefty budget cuts. “We’ve seen a financial impact, but that’s really out of
our control,” said Colonel Joe Fessenden, chief of marine law enforcement at the
Department of Marine Resources (DMR). “The government decides where to make
cuts; there’s no discretion.” He said it has been many years since anyone in his office
has gotten a raise. “But it’s a good job. You just need to keep it in perspective,” he
said.
For coastal communities that have seen a reduced number of officers, the Marine
Patrol recently hired three new officers. In May, 2011, Brent Chasse graduated from
the Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA) in Vasselboro and is now the officer
for Deer Isle and Stonington. In December, 2011, two more officers graduated:
Owen Reed, officer for coastal towns between Bremen and South Bristol, and Derek
Jacobs, officer for towns from Cape Neddick to Wells.
Fessenden said people might be surprised to learn that there are not many applicants for marine patrol positions. “If we find eight people who are qualified, we’re
lucky. They go through quite an evaluation process [before taking the job]. They are
checking us out as much as we check them out. Then at the end, if a couple people
take the job, we’re really lucky,” he said.
Being a Marine Patrol officer is not an easy job; it takes people with certain skills
to be successful. “Some people come in and try to work the same hours and same
routine every day, but that’s not effective. It’s not shift work,” Fessenden explained.
“It’s a way of life. Our officers work in the community where people depend on
them for information and safety. It’s a partnership.”
Zone G lobstermen in southern Maine have felt the lack of Marine Patrol officers in their area. “The wardens in the area (York County) get over worked because
they have to cover more than their area,” explained Jim Henderson, head of the
Zone G council. “In the past you had to call them or you wouldn’t see them. If they
didn’t hear from you, they thought everything was fine.” He said the addition of one
new officer and the return of another from military commitments has been a good
thing for his zone. “Every area in Zone G now has an officer. There are the ‘new’
guys, Mitch Bailey covering Cape Porpoise to Biddeford, Carl Vickerson covering
6
March 2012
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Board of Directors:
Jay Smith, Nobleboro, & Gerry Cushman, Port Clyde
By Sarah Paquette
J
ay Smith, 68, remembers wanting to
become more engaged in the MLA
when there was a lot of controversy
about trap limits, limiting licenses, and
changing the gauge size. “Ed Blackmore was there when I became a director,” he recalled. “It was mostly the trap
limit that made me want to be more involved.” Smith was elected to the board
in 1990. “I’ve been [with the MLA]
for over 40 years,” he said. “I’m there
watching the young guys now.”
Smith, who fishes off Criehaven,
strongly believes that more people
should be involved in the decision-making process of lobster management. He
Jay Smith of Nobleboro.
said that the best way for people to be
involved is to join the MLA. “When people see what’s going on [with the industry]
and see what the MLA has done for us, they should see how beneficial becoming
an MLA member is,” he said. Smith said it’s sometimes difficult to answer all the
questions he’s asked about changes in the industry. “People ask me because they
know I’m a director, but it’s hard to answer because they are choosing not to get
involved themselves. Everyone has their reasons for not joining, but it’s easier to
just pay the membership dues,” he said.
“I’ve seen a lot of good directors over the years,” Smith said. “I’m not a big
participator [at meetings], but we have a lot of heavy participants. They usually say
what I’m thinking before I get a chance to speak up.” It’s hard for Smith to attend
meetings throughout the year since he fishes on an island and is getting older. “I’m
probably the oldest director. I haven’t been there the longest, but I’m the oldest,”
he said cheerfully.
Gerry Cushman, 42, of Port Clyde, was elected to the MLA Board of Directors just a few months after becoming a member of the MLA. “Tad Miller and
I attended a meeting about five years ago and they had two seats to fill. At the
following Fishermen’s Forum, we were voted in. I had just become a member. It
all happened in about six months,” Cushman said. He has enjoyed his time on
the board and has especially liked getting to know the other directors and learning how they fish up and down the coast of Maine. “Fisheries are different from
Cutler to the midcoast and from the midcoast to Kittery,” he said.
Cushman said that getting to know people through the MLA has helped him
in other leadership positions. Cushman
represents Zone D on the Lobster Advisory Council (LAC). “Being on the
MLA Board of Directors definitely
helps me on the LAC,” he said. “I get
more opinions from the MLA from
different zones and more direction to
represent my zone.”
Cushman does even more than sit on
the LAC and serve as an MLA Director. “I also have two groundfish permits.
And two young kids. It makes it hard to
get to all the meetings,” he said. Some
weeks Cushman finds himself at a meeting every night. “If I’m not at a lobster
meeting, I’m at a groundfish meeting. If
I’m not at a groundfish meeting, I’m at
a co-op meeting,” he said. He does his
best to attend as many meetings as he
Gerry Cushman of Port Clyde.
can, noting that it is very important to
Doug Cotnoir photo.
stay involved and to know what changes
the industry is facing. “If you’re not involved, you can’t help direct things. You can’t
complain about it if you’re not involved,” Cushman said.
New Recruit
7
A good year coming for Beals Island man
By April Gilmore
A
braham Beal has held a lobster license since his first year in elementary school,
so at the young age of 26, he has some experience under his belt. “My dad got
my student license for me when I was in kindergarten. I used to fish 35 traps out of
a skiff. My whole family fishes. I’ve been out on the boat with my dad for as long as
I can remember,” he explained.
Born and raised on Beals Island, Abraham attended the local elementary school
and Jonesport- Beals high school where he played basketball and fished in his spare
time. After high school, he attended a semester at Eastern Maine Community College to study to be an electrician, but decided his real passion in life was working on
the water. “My mom thought it was a good idea for me to go to school. I always had
good grades, so I tried it out,” he said. “It was a good experience.”
Beal hauls a full gang of 800 traps. At this time of year he steams anywhere from
seven to 25 miles offshore. Through the years he has worked his way up from a small
skiff to a 20-foot boat, then to a 38-foot boat, and now fishes with pride from his
45-foot boat, Whit’s End. His new vessel is special for two reasons: it is named for
his fiancée and he brought the boat home the day after Christmas, 2011, making this
past holiday one that he won’t forget.
Abraham fishes year round and obtained his federal permit from a family friend
when he was 18. “My mother knew an older gentleman at our church who owned
Abraham Beal lobsters from Beals Island and is the proud owner of a new 45-foot vessel.
Photo by Whitney Proctor.
Abraham on his new boat, soon to be named Whit’s End. Photo by Bethanie Beal.
amount of lobsters on the bottom. As long as we can get paid for them, we should
be okay,” he said.
Abraham is proud to fish from Beals Island and has respect for his fellow fishermen. One person who has made a particularly lasting impression is MLA director
and fellow Beals resident, Dwight Carver. “Dwight told me he was driving back
from an MLA meeting one time, trying not to fall asleep. So he said to me ‘you know,
I’d like to have someone on this ride with me. Would you like to go sometime?’”
Abraham replied with a quick yes. “Any knowledge I can get to better myself in this
industry, I’m for it. There’s no one better to learn from than Dwight. He’s a great
guy,” Abraham said.
In his spare time Abraham enjoys hunting, especially for partridge, and riding his
ATV. He lives in the house he built on Beals Island with his fiancée, Whitney Proctor, and their golden retriever puppy Motley, who is named after one of his favorite
rock bands, Motley Crue.
Abraham has a bright year ahead – his wedding in September, a new boat on the
water and his sights on a good fishing season. Plus he plans to enter the Moosabec
Reach lobster boat race this summer. “I think I can win for the class I’m in. There
will be a lot of big boats going fast down the reach. I don’t really care if I win or not,
I just want to throw some water!” Abraham said with a laugh.
a permit so she spoke to him about what he planned to do with it. He was ready
to let it go to another fisherman, so he did me a favor and sold it to me,” Abraham
explained.
He has been a member of the Jonesport-Beals co-op for five years. “I love everything the co-op is about. My father is a member there, too,” Abraham said. When
asked what he uses for bait, he paused and said
with a chuckle, “It’s a secret.” He sells his lobsters wherever he can get good bait. Abraham
also occasionally sells to local bait dealer Galen
Alley, explaining “I like Galen. He always has
good redfish.”
In spite of his young age, Abraham has seen
plenty of changes in the industry. “I was telling my sternman the other day, I wish I could
go back to the spring I was a senior in high
school,” Abraham admitted. At that time he was
fishing from his 20-foot outboard skiff named
for his grandmother, the Joyce L. “I remember it
being really cold one morning so I had to warm
my hands on the muffler of the motor. I had
150 traps in the bay and hauled them by myself.
That spring the price was ten bucks a pound, so
hauling 100 pounds was a big payday then. The
price isn’t like that today,” he said.
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8
March 2012
Metinic Island lobsterman finds role in movie making
We all know the clichéd vision of Maine lobstermen so popular in the general imagination: sturdy, taciturn, stoic about both the hardships and beauty integral
to lobster fishing. They work hard, talk about engines and haulers, and when not fishing, are getting ready to go fish. Yet many if not most lobstermen have
other, hidden talents. This article continues our series about Maine lobstermen who are not only successful fishermen but singers, poets, performers and artists.
By Melissa Waterman
R
yan Post wasn’t a fan of movies as a child. “I’d fall asleep in them,” the Metinic
Island lobsterman admitted. But today Post is one of three proprietors of an
independent movie company whose first film, “Anatomy of the Tide,” is close to
completion.
Post, 39, is known to Maine residents and visitors as the host of ‘Maine Buggin,’
a 30-minute video explaining the world of lobstering. The lively video explores the
basics of lobstering, from bait to the lobster boat races, in nine short chapters. It
now is sold in fifty Maine stores and used in several school districts, according to
Post. “I did Maine Buggin to promote the industry,” he explained. “I hated that no
one had a clue about lobstering. All those tourists knew nothing.” As a result, he
earned a new nickname: Captain Hollywood. “Yeah, they teased me alright,” Post
said with a laugh.
But now Post may be heading for the real Hollywood. With partners Joel Strunk
and Daniel Stephens, Post completed filming Anatomy of the Tide this fall. To make
this movie took luck, helpful connections and a powerful screenplay. “The movie is
an emotional rollercoaster,” Post said with pride. “It’s a comedy, drama, romance,
but mostly it’s a coming-of-age story.”
The evolution of “Anatomy of the Tide” began fifteen years ago when Post,
whose family has owned part of Metinic Island for more than three hundred years,
was fishing around the island one summer. “A guy came up to my boat to find out
where he could dive for urchins,” Post recalled. “Well, we hate urchins so I pointed
out to him there, and there, and there!” The diver’s name was Joel Strunk, son of the
Maine musician and actor Jud Strunk. Strunk was a commercial fisherman, lobsterman, and scallop fisherman. It didn’t take long before the two men became friends.
Strunk also wrote movie screenplays. Some years later he ran into Post and asked
him to read a screenplay that he had finished. Strunk’s screenplay had been a semi-fi-
nalist in the 2010 Nicholls Fellowship competition, an annual
contest held by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Now Strunk, who had
spent time in Los Angeles trying to get an earlier screenplay
produced, wanted to make this
movie in Maine, using Maine
support and Maine people.
“Joel’s father had produced
a few albums,” Post explained.
“Charles Kipps [a musician and
writer] was on one of the albums. Then Kipps went on to
write episodes for “Law and Order.” So Joel called him and arranged to meet him in New York
City [where Kipps lives].” Kipps
advised Strunk that, while the
screenplay was very good, the
likelihood he could get financing from Hollywood to make
the movie was very slight. “He
told him to go home and raise
the money himself,” Post said.
Lobsterman Ryan Post now finds himself a movie producer.
So Strunk, Post and David
Photos by Melissa Waterman.
Stephens, a cinematographer
who teaches at Maine Media College and lives in Tenants Harbor, decided to do just
that. They formed a production company called Two Tides Entertainment and set
out to raise one million dollars.
“We went to FAME (Financial Authority of Maine) which gives a 40% tax credit
to support manufacturing in Maine. We told them that we were a company whose
product was a movie in Maine,” Post said. FAME officials agreed to extend the
credit to investors in Two Tides. Individuals investing in the movie thus were allowed to take a 40% tax credit on their Maine taxes, a credit that could be spread
over many years.
“We raised $505,000 locally,” Post said. Investors include many lobstermen, trap
builders, boat builders, and local residents. Post said that only four of the film’s investors are not local people.
With Charles Kipps and later Tom Craig, retired vice-president of Universal Pictures, as producers and funds coming in, the three men sent the screenplay to a New
York casting agent. During the summer of 2011, they assembled a thirty-five person
crew, many of whom were drawn from the Maine Media Workshops. Stephens was
hired as cinematographer and shooting locations scouted.
In September, filming began in South Thomaston, Rockland, Tenants Harbor,
Become a
member!
Join hundreds of other
Maine lobstermen
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state’s oldest fishing
association.
Be seen. Be heard.
Be a MLA member
Garbo depends on the hard work and stewardship of Maine lobstermen.
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or visit the web site at
to find out more.
9
The strange history of lobster stew
By Sandy Oliver
gredients, for example, “Shrimp Creole,” “Swedish meatballs” or “One Egg Cake.”
For a giddy little spell in the early 1900s, silly and not very revealing names like
“Shrimp
Wiggle,” “Pink Bunny,” and “Snickerdoodles” were very popular. That tenhe word stew conjures up a mental image of meat with potatoes, carrots, peas,
dency
has
settled down in recent times to detailed recipe names like “Two-Toned
corn, or turnips. Newcomers to Maine ordering a lobster stew from a restaurant
menu are sometimes surprised to find before them a bowl of succulent pieces of Mashed Potatoes with Goat Cheese” which leave little to the imagination.
So through time, our recipe names have shifted from the verb and adverb verlobster swimming in warm cream but with no veggies in sight. Have you ever wonsions
(“to stew lobster” evolves into “stewed lobster”) to a noun and adjective form
dered why our Maine lobster stew is even called stew, or why it is made the way it is?
such
as
“lobster stew.” None of these titles give us a clue about what is in the item,
Here is what happened.
Lobster stew, oyster stew, scallop stew, even tomato stew are more about verbs though.
Seafood stews in the 1700s were very likely
than nouns. Two and three hundred years
to
be
cooked seafood, warmed in butter with
ago, recipe titles were as likely to reflect what
wine or stock, with mace, cloves or nutmeg
the cook did with the ingredients as what
and sometimes thickened with bread crumbs.
the resulting dish was called. In English and
No cream. With the spicing and wine they
American cookbooks during the 1700s, such
were a good deal more flavorful than most
as Hannah Glasse’s Art of Cookery, first pubmodern people are accustomed to.
lished in 1747, we find many individual recipes
While oyster stew calling for cream appears
titled according to the process used: “to stew
before
the Civil War, a cream-based lobster
oysters,” “to fry eels” while others name the
stew seems not to have been considered an
result, as in “a ragoo of eggs” or “buttered
option at that time. In fact, seafood in milk
shrimps.”
does not really appear much at all. Even the
One hundred years later, in the early 1800s,
earliest chowders were waterbased, and milk
American cookbook authors used more nouns
was seldom added until after the 1840s.
than verbs to describe recipes. Cakes, bread,
In 1880, Maria Parloa wrote in her New
pies -- both sweet and savory -- and soups
Cookery Book that, “Canned lobster can be
were usually titled with nouns, as in “pound
used for cutlets, stews, curries and patties, can
cake,” “muffins,” “pumpkin pie,” and “oyster
be escaloped, or served on toast.” She gives
soup.” Still, recipes instructing cooks about
directions for “stewed” lobster: “The meat of
how to prepare meat, fish, pickles, vegetables,
a two-and-a-half pound lobster, cut into dice:
and some desserts tended to use verbs in the
No milk? No cream? How could it be a lobster stew? Photo courtesy of
two tablespoons of butter, two of flour, one
title: “to bake a shad,” “to pickle peaches,” and
Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company.
pint of stock or water, a speck of cayenne, salt
“to mash turnips.”
By mid-1800s most cookbooks dropped the prepositional phrase “to stew,” “to and pepper to taste. Let the butter get hot, and add the dry flour. Stir until perfectly
bake” and so forth, and switched over to a past tense as in “stewed lobster,” “boiled smooth, then add the water, gradually, stirring all the while. Season to taste. Add the
mutton,” or “potato balls fried.” Desserts were named with nouns and adjectives lobster; heat thoroughly, and serve.” Still no cream.
By the 1890s one or two recipes for lobster stew show up with milk in them, but
such as “apple pie” or “peach pudding.” These cookbooks established a pattern
we are familiar with today, though modern recipe titles are very likely to add some classic New England cookbooks like Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook
descriptive adjectives to tell where a recipe comes from or to elaborate on the in- do not even mention either lobster stew or stewed lobster, never mind whether it
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10 MAINE LOBSTERMEN’S ASSOCIATION
March 2012
TAA workshops taking place again throughout spring
T
he Maine Lobstermen’s Association
and the University of Maine Sea
Grant are resuming workshops for the
Trade Adjustment Assistance Program.
Participants must complete 12 hours of
training time before beginning their Initial Business Plans and can do so by attending workshops in person or by taking courses online at www.taaforfarmers.
org. Upon completion and approval of
the plan, participants will be referred to
their business planning consultant who
will support the participant as he or she
works on the Full Business Plan.
Space is limited. Please RSVP for
each workshop by calling Sea Grant at
563-3146 x205, MLA at 207-967-4555
or email lobsterrsvp@gmail.com. If you
have not RSVP’d, please call the office
before attending as meetings may be
cancelled.
Saturday, March 3
9:00 am - 10:15am
Product Quality and Handling
Maine Fishermen’s Forum
Rockport, ME
Thursday, March 15
Lobster Market Overview
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
350 Commercial Street
Portland, ME
Saturday, March 3
10:30 - 11:45am
Lobster Market Overview
Rockport, ME
Tuesday, March 20
Alternative Enterprises
University of Maine Machias
US Route 1
Machias, ME
Tuesday, March 6
Marketing and Branding
Route 1
Machias, ME
Wednesday, March 21
Marketing and Branding
The Lincoln Street Center
24 Lincoln St
Rockland, ME
Thursday, March 8
Portland, ME
Thursday, March 22
Ellsworth City Hall Auditorium
Ellsworth, ME
Thursday, March 29
Business Planning
Ellsworth, ME
Tuesday, April 3
Business Planning Workshop
US Route 1
Machias, ME
Wednesday, April 11
The Lincoln Street Center
24 Lincoln St
Rockland, ME
Thursday, April 12
Portland, ME
Tuesday, April 24
Ellsworth, ME
Lobster stew continued from page 9
had milk or cream in it. They do, however, contain recipes for Lobster Bisque which
resemble very closely the lobster stew we know today. A 1913 edition of Recipes
for Seafood assembled and published by Boston seafood producers E.A. Rich Company, whose business it was to think up as many ways to use all kinds of seafood
as possible, provided four lobster stew recipes by name, one of which is our milk
or cream-based one. By 1949 the Fanny Farmer cookbook included a now-familiar
cream and milk-based lobster stew.
I’ll bet anything that lots of home cooks from the later 1800s through the middle
of the 1900s prepared lobster stew just as they made oyster stew, using no recipe,
because it was so very simple to warm up lobster in butter, then add milk or cream
to the pan. In any event, in 1944 the poet Robert P. Tristram Coffin, who grew up in
Brunswick, Maine, wrote a glowing report of his wife’s lobster stew with which she
graced their dinner table through the early decades of the 1900s. Coffin provides
details on how she assembled it, including handling all the shells, tomally, and meat.
He speaks of milk, and rich cream. He says, “This is no ordinary stew, no curtain
raiser to a feast. It is the whole business. The man who gets outside of two bowls of
this potage is through eating for some hours, and he is a nobler man.”
Oh, wait.
Coffin adds, “Perhaps two sour pickles. Maybe two rounds of pilot bread. But no
other fringes to this feast. This stew is all in all.”
Who needs vegetables in a stew that is “all in all”?
Sandy Oliver is a food historian and freelance food writer living in Islesboro, Maine. Her cookbook entitled Maine Home Cooking: 300 Recipes from Downeast Kitchens will be
published in fall 2012 by Downeast Publishing.
MLA Meetings: Lobstermen invited to give their
thoughts on whales & lobster gear
Workshop: Reverse Engineering
Outreach: Interactions Between
Whales and Lobster Gear
The Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction held a reverse
engineering workshop in 2011 that
brought together a varied group of
participants to review information
pertaining to a series of entanglement cases in order to piece together the puzzle of how individual
whales become entangled.
MLA will host meetings in each
zone to discuss current research
on interactions between lobster
gear and endangered whales. We
are looking for feedback from lobstermen about future research
projects that they think would add
knowledge to the topic.
Meetings will include an overview
and summary on research conducted by the Consortium for Wildlife
Bycatch Reduction. We will also discuss reverse engineering exercises,
look at scar data and experimental rope research. MLA, in collaboration
with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, is seeking feedback on a new
computer modeling tool designed to forecast the risk of Maine lobster
gear entangling right whale.
The Forum workshop will present
an overview of the 2011 reverse
engineering workshop including
background information on whales
and an in-depth review of several
individual whale entanglement cases. This workshop will provide participants an opportunity to conduct
their own reverse engineering exercise. Using several of those case
studies, workshop participants will be guided through a review of the
gear retrieved.
REVERSE ENGINEERING WORKSHOP
Samoset Resort Thursday, March 1st // 1:00 - 4:30 pm
MEETING SCHEDULE
2/27
2/28
2/29
2/29
3/16
3/16
3/17
Machias: UMM Science Room102 8:30-12:30 am
Bar Harbor: Town Office Auditorium 8:30-12:30 am
Bucksport: Council Chambers 8:30-12:30 am
Rockland: Lincoln Street Center 2:00-6:00 pm
Boothbay: DMR Lab Large Conf. Room 8:00-12:00 am
Yarmouth: Town Hall Community Room 2:00-6:00 pm
Biddeford: McArthur Library Community Room 9:30 am-1:30 pm
For more information contact MLA Whale Projects Coordinator,
Heather Tetreault. heather@mainelobstermen.org
11
Air freight continued from page 1
Belly load capacity of commercial planes in Bangor
shrank dramatically after the attacks on September 11,
2001. Air travel dropped for several years afterward and
the airlines compensated by reducing the number of
seats available to passengers. How did they do that? By
operating smaller planes. Caruso explained that companies such as United and Delta used to fly large passenger planes out of Bangor in the 1990s but that now
only smaller companies traveling to less prominent
hubs fly out of Bangor. “Seafood businesses turned to
trucks to take their products to the major metropolitan
areas [as that shift occurred],” he said.
That’s just what Hugh Reynolds of Greenhead Lobster of Stonington does. “We go to Boston and to New
York now,” he said. Greenhead uses Oceanair Inc., a
Revere, Massachusetts freight forwarder that consolidates perishable shipments from many businesses and
negotiates shipping rates with commercial airlines, to
get its lobsters abroad. In fact, because Greenhead relies so heavily on air shipment of its millions of lobsters to Western Europe, Tawain, Singapore and Hong
Kong, it has constructed a facility in Kittery in which to
hold its live product for shipment. “A lot of live shippers have done that,” Reynolds added.
Inland Seafood, another large seafood dealer, sends
most of its product to Boston for shipping either
abroad or to its home base in Atlanta, Georgia. Mike
Domrad said that Inland Seafood also uses a freight
forwarder to get its lobsters onto commercial airplanes.
“We truck it down to Boston then the company delivers it to the airline itself. We have to tell them the exact
number of boxes and the weight and then they reserve
space on the plane, just like a seat,” he said. Commercial planes don’t like messy cargo so Inland packs its
lobsters in special fifty pound boxes lined with plastic,
each of which holds a Styrofoam cooler for the lobsters. “They run about $9 per box,” Domrad said.
Atwood’s Lobster, now owned by the Mazzetta
Corporation of Chicago, also moves a lot of lobster by
air to Europe and Asia and soon to South America. Peter Fischer, head of international sales at the company’s
Spruce Head office, said that shipping from Portland
wasn’t even on his radar. “We go down to Boston for
all our air freight. There just aren’t enough options in
Portland or Bangor,” he explained. He too noted that
before September 11 there were more and larger commercial planes using both airports. “After that the airlines changed to smaller planes and lessened the capacity for freight cargo,” Fischer said.
All three companies have received Transportation
Safety Authority (TSA) approval to certify their shipments for transport. Atwood’s has a special room in
which its shipments are packed. “We have to have yearly trainings, a secure facility and special materials,” Fischer explained. “Or you can have it done
by the airlines themselves but that requires an
extra two hours before the flight.”
So what’s happening in Canada? According
to Geoff Irvine, head of the Lobster Council
of Canada, seafood companies face similar constraints in air transport of lobster. “We have very
limited wide body air freight capabilities out of
Halifax so we bring in charters. Lobsters are sent
to Toronto and Montreal, even Boston and New
York City,” he explained via e-mail. “We have
added hassles at the border, state laws on size,
much longer transit in the truck, and mortality
to deal with so thankfully we pack our very best
and it works most of the time.”
This pattern is beginning to change with the
opening of a new storage facility at the Halifax
Stanfield International Airport. The Gateway facility, which opened in June, 2010, is a 40,000
square foot building with 7,000 square feet of
temperature-controlled cargo space and direct
access to the airfield. Its Web site boasts that it
can move live product from refrigerated storage
space to an aircraft in less than two minutes.
“It is a fantastic facility that allows for temperature-controlled transfer of product to in-
The new Gateway facility at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport moves Canadian seafood from a termperature-controlled storage area
directly onto air cargo planes. Photo courtesy of Gateway.
coming freighters, FedEx and others and has improved
quality handling for live products,” Irvine said.
Matt Lewis, cargo manager at Gateway, listed six
freight forwarders -- KWE-Kintetsu, DSV, PC Forwarding, Worldwide Perishables, Clearwater, OEC -currently operating out of the facility. Seafood comes
to Gateway from throughout Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island. “Most of our big planes are 767s or
757s that fly into JFK [in New York] then continue to
Halifax then depart for Europe,” he explained via email. “As for weight, last year we shipped out roughly
4.2 million kilograms (9.25 million pounds) worth of
seafood.”
Such a facility might be a long-time coming to
Maine. In the mid-2000s the Bangor airport contracted for a study of air freight opportunities for
perishable items from Maine producers. The results
were not encouraging. “First off, it’s more expensive
to ship to Europe [from Bangor] than by trucking
[to other airports],” said Caruso. “Then it’s hard to
dedicate an aircraft to that on a routine basis. Plus,
the question remained: is there enough perishable
product?” Given the sharp increase in lobster landings in the state over the past decade, perhaps soon
the answer might just be “yes!”
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ACCOUNTANTS
Williams CPA Group LLC
PO Box 839
Rockport, ME 04856 207-236-8781
March 2012
Purse Line Bait
32 Bakers Wharf Rd
Sebasco Estates, ME 04565
207-389-9155
jenniebplb@yahoo.com
Chase Leavitt & Co.
72 Commercial St.
Portland, ME 04112 ·207-772-6383
jonl@chaseleavitt.com
www.chaseleavitt.com
Superior Bait and Salt
Glenn Hall
21 Balsam Lane
Tenants Harbor, ME 04860
207-372-8925
Pete’s Marine Electronics
101 Washington Rd
Waldoboro, ME 04572 207-350-2500
AUTOMOTIVE
Eastern Tire & Auto Service
70 Park St
Rockland, ME 04841
207-594-5250
www.easterntireinc.com
Harold C Ralph Chevrolet
Steve Ralph
PO Box A
Waldoboro, ME 04572 800-310-5321
ralph@midcoast.com
Hews Company LLC
190 Rumery St
South Portland, ME 04106
207-767-2136 / 800-234-4397
info@hewsco.com
www.hewsco.com
Island Fishing Gear & Auto Parts
PO Box 292
Stonington, ME 04681
207-367-5959
visitthegirls@msn.com
Morrison Chevrolet/Fisher Plow
Distributor
121 Downeast Highway
Ellsworth, ME 04605 877-523-6118
www.morrisonchevrolet.com
Newcastle Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep
573 Rt. 1
Newcastle, ME 04553
207-563-8138 / 888-944-5337
rmiller@newcastlemotorcars.com
www.newcastlemotorcars.com
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Weirs Motor Sales Inc
1513 Portland Rd
Arundel, ME 04046
207-985-3537
info@weirsgmc.com www.weirsgmc.com
BAIT DEALERS
Alfred Osgood
PO Box 358
Vinalhaven, ME 04863
207-863-2518 sosgood590@aol.com
Bessy Bait LLC
155 R Batchelder Rd
Seabrook, NH 03874
603-300-2846 / 603-300-2849
info@bessybait.com
www.bessybait.com
Bait Man Co. LLC
Al West
PO Box 69
207-632-7267 al.baitman@gmail.com
Cape Porpoise Lobster Co Inc
184 Beachwood Ave
Kennebunkport, ME 04046
207-967-0900
info@capeporpoiselobster.com
www.capeporpoiselobster.com
Channel Fish Co
370 East Eagle St
East Boston, MA 02128
617-569-3200
lou@channelfish.com
Lunds Fisheries Inc.
David Brand
997 Ocean Dr.
Cape May, NJ 08204 609-884-7600
dbrand@lundsfish.com
www.lundsfish.com
O’Hara Corportation
120 Tillson Ave
Rockland, ME 04841 207-594-0405
baitman@midcoast.com
Worcesters Lobster Bait
Bruce Worcester
259 Bowden Point Rd
Prospect, ME 04981 207-469-7585
worcestersbaitshop@hotmail.com
BOAT BUILDERS/BOAT REPAIR
SW Boatworks
Stewart Workman
358 Douglas Highway
Lamoine, ME 04605
swboatworks@roadrunner.com
www.swboatworks.com
Wesmac Custom Boats
PO Box 56
Surry, ME 04684 207-667-4822
sales@wesmac.com www.wesmac.com
2% discount on fiberglass components
DOCUMENTATION SERVICE
Coastal Documentation
111 Dennision Rd
Spruce Head, ME 04859
207-596-6575
coastal@roadrunner.com;
www.coastaldocumentation.com
Northeast Marine Survey, Inc
PO Box 231
Bailey Island, ME 04003
207-833-0954
info@northeastmarinesurvey.us
www.northeastmarinesurvey.us
10% off the commercial rate
EDUCATION AND TRADE SHOWS
Diversified Business Communications
PO Box 7437
Portland, ME 04112 207-842-5500
cmmarketing@divcom.com
www.divbusiness.com
Mount Desert Oceanarium
PO Box 696
Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
207-288-5005
theoceanarium@earthlink.net
Free admission to commercial fishermen
and their families
Maine Fishermens Forum
PO Box 288
Bath, ME 04530
petesmarine@yahoo.com
Midcoast Marine Electronics
532 Main St.
Rockland, ME 04841
207-691-3993 www.midcoastmarine.com
Sawyer & Whitten Marine
416 Commericial St
Portland, ME 04101 207-879-4500
Sawyer & Whitten Marine
118 Tillson Ave
Rockland, ME 04841
207-594-7073 www.sawyerwhitten.com
mike@sawyerwhitten.com
FINANCIAL & INVESTMENT SERVICES
Damariscotta Bank & Trust Co
25 Main St
Damariscotta, ME 04543
207-563-8121
sconant@damariscottabank.com
www.damariscottabank.com
Farm Credit of Maine ACA
615 Minot Ave
Auburn, ME 04210
207-784-0193 800-831-4230
robert.horne@farmcreditmaine.com
www.farmcreditmaine.com
Maine Financial Group
Jim Amabile
15 Pleasant Hill Rd
Scarborough, ME 04074
207-885-5900 800-974-9995
j.amabile@mainefinancialgroup.com
Seafood.com News
8 White Pine Lane
Lexington, MA 02421 781-861-1441
jsackton@seafood.com
WD Matthews M
901 Center Stree
Auburn, ME 042
207-784-9311
jgreven@wdmat
www.wdmatthew
Hamilton Marine
155 E Main St
Searsport, ME 04974
207-548-2985
Vessel Services I
1 Portland Fish P
Portland, ME 04
vesselservices.com,v
100 Fore St.
Portland, ME 04101
207-774-1772
Viking Wear
Nat Dillenback
46 S. Prospect S
Miller Falls, MA
413-522-7406
www.vikingwear
20 Park Dr.
Rockland, ME 04841
207-594-8181 / 800-639-2715
bclements@hamiltonmarine.com
www.hamiltonmarine.com
Discounts for MLA members
Island Fishing Gear & Auto Parts
PO Box 292
Stonington, ME 04681 207-367-5959
visitthegirls@msn.com
Jeff ’s Marine, Inc
2 Brooklyn Heights
PO Box 236
Thomaston, ME 04861 207-354-8777
boatking@midcoast.com
Logtek Inc
Tim Bourque & James Roy (ME sales)
Box 98, RR 2
Tusket, NS BOW 3M0 Canada
207-510-1763 / 888-840-1089
tbourque@logtek.com
jroy@logtek.com
Maine Coast Petroleum, Inc
PO Box 295
207-372-6962 mcpinc@gwi.net
Rockland Savings Bank
Harry Mank
582 Maine Street
Rockland, ME 04841 207-594-8465
www.rocklandsavingsbank.com
Midcoast Marine Supply
153 New County Rd
Thomaston, ME 04861
207-594-0011
tankcoil@midcoast.com
www.midcoastmarinesupply.com
The First
PO Box 940
207-563-3195 / 800-564-3195
steve.poulin@the1st.com
www.thefirst.com
Neptune Inc
39 Slater St
Attleboro, MA 02703
508-222-8313 / 800-642-7113
buoystick@juno.com
www.neptune-inc.com
FISHING, MARINE & INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES
All Points Marine
PO Box 543
Narragansett, RI 02882 401-284-4044
da@apmco.us www.apmco.us
Discounts available to MLA members
207-442-7700 chilloa@mefishcoop.org
Penobscot Marine Museum
5 Church St
Searsport, ME 04974
207-548-2529
Show your MLA card for free entry
Guy Cotten, Inc
782 South Water St
New Bedford, MA 02740
508-997-7075 / 800-444-6050
info@guycottenusa.com
www.guycottenusa.com
Bath Lobster Supply
340 State Rd, Suite B
West Bath, ME 04530
207-386-3225
www.brookstrapmill.com
buoysticks.com
3628 Turner Ridge Rd
Somerville, ME 04348 207-549-7204
plante@plantebuoysticks.com
www.plantebuoysticks.com
Neptune Marine Products Inc
PO Box 2068
Port Townsend, WA 98368
206-789-3790
www.neptunemarineproducts.com
New England Marine & Industrial
Inc.
200 Spaulding Turnpike
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603-436-2836 / 800-492-0779
info@newenglandmarine.com
www.newenglandmarine.com
Blackmore Electronics
Blaine Blackmore
PO Box 82
207-367-2703
Chase Leavitt & Co.
72 Commercial St.
Portland, ME 04112
207-772-6383
jonl@chaseleavitt.com
www.chaseleavitt.com
Grundens USA Ltd
PO Box 2068
Poulsbo, WA 98370
360-779-4439 / 800-323-7327
info04@grundens.com
www.grundens.com
Coastal Hydrauli
PO Box 2832
Seabrook, NH 0
603-474-1914
sales@coastalhyd
10% discount on al
Cushing Diesel, L
26 Spear Mill Rd
Cushing, ME 04
354-0600, cell 54
diesedave6312@
Hews Company
190 Rumery St
South Portland, M
207-767-2136 / 8
info@hewsco.co
www.hewsco.com
Lonnie’s Hydrau
227 Middlesex R
Topsham, ME 0
207-725-7552
Marine Hydraulic
17 Gordon Dr
Rockland, ME 0
207-594-9527
marinhyd@midc
INDUSTRY ORGANIZA
Gulf of Maine L
PO Box 523
Kennebunk, ME
207-985-8088 er
Island Fishermen
PO Box 293
Stonington, ME
207-367-5579 ifw
Island Institute
PO Box 648
Rockland, ME 0
207-594-9209 x1
rsnyder@islandin
10% off all service repairs
Maine Import/Exp
PO Box 10228
Portland, ME 04
207-775-1612
lobsters@newme
www.mainelobste
Polyform US
7030 S 224th
Kent, WA 98032
253-872-0300
fenders@polyformus.com
www.polyformus.com
Maine Lobster P
2 Union St.
Portland, ME 04
207-541-9310
mlacroix@lobste
www.lobsterfrom
Superior Marine Products Inc
15 Murray Drive
Raymond, ME 04071
207-655-4492
superioroffice@fairpoint.net
www.superiormarineprod.com
Maine Port Auth
16 State House
Augusta, ME 04
207-624-3560
john.h.henshaw
www.maineport
North Atlantic Power
Sam Profio
15 Continental Dr.
Exeter, NH 03833
603-418-0470 sprofio@glpower.com
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Bell Power Systems Inc.
Bob Tokarczyk
34 Plains Rd
Essex, CT 06426
860-767-7502 / 800-225-8669
www.bellpower.com
HYDRAULICS
All Points Marin
David Allard
330 Great Island
Narragansett, RI
401-284-4044/80
da@apmco.us ww
13
Highliner business members are noted in BOLD.
Machinery Co
et
210-6456
Maine Sea Grant
5784 York Complex, Bldg 6
Orono, ME 04469 207-581-1435
panderson@maine.edu
www.seagrant.umaine.edu
Bayleys Lobster Pound
PO Box 304
207-883-4571
sue@bayleys.com www.bayleys.com
nc.
Pier
4101 207-772-5718
vservic2@maine.rr.com
Penobscot Bay & River Pilots Assn
Jeffrey Cockburn
18 Mortland Rd.
Searsport, ME 04984 207-548-1077
pilots@penbaypilots.com
Beals Jonesport Coop Inc.
PO Box 195
Jonesport, ME 04649
207-479-2020
beals-jonesport@myfairpoint.net
St.
A 01349
Penobscot East Resource Center
PO Box 27
207-367-2708
holly@penobscoteast.org
www.penobscoteast.org
BBS Lobster Trap
188 Pettegrow Point Rd
Machiastport, ME 04655
thews.com
ws.com
r.com
e
d Rd
I 02882
00-682-2628
ww.apmco.us
INSURANCE
Allen Insurance and Financial
Chris Guptill
34-36 Elm St., PO Box 578
Camden, ME 04847
207-263-4311
cguptill@allenfg.com
www.alleninsuranceandfinancial.com
ics Inc
03874
d.com
ll in stock items.
LLC
d
4563
42-5399
@yahoo.com.
Atlantic Insurance & Benefits
58 High St
Belfast, ME 04915
207-338-9787 / 800-948-1457
info@atlantic-insurance.com
www.atlantic-insurance.com
Chapman & Chapman
PO Box1030
207-563-3143 / 800-370-3143
kathy@chapmanandchapmanins.com
LLC
ME 04106
800-234-4397
om
m
ulic Inc
Rd
04086
c Engineering Co Inc
The Compass Insurance Group
Paul Miner
PO Box 880
Waldoboro, ME 04572 207-790-2300
paulminer@compassinsgroup.com
www.lobsterboatinsurance.com
InSphere Insurance Solutions
Rick Williams
PO Box 74
207-963-4111
rickwilliamsus2002@yahoo.com
04841
coast.com
TIONS
Lobster Foundation
E 04043
rin@gomlf.org
Smithwick & Mariners Insurance
366 US Route One
Falmouth, ME 04105
207-781-5553 800-370-1883
scott@smithwick-ins.com
Discounted vessel insurance for MLA
members. Additional 5% discount if Coast
Guard-approved Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor course completed within 5 years.
n’s Wives
04681
wa@msn.com
04841
42
nstitute.org
port Dealers Association
LEGAL SERVICES
Doyle & Nelson
150 Capitol St
Augusta, ME 04330 207-622-6124
jdoyle@doylenelson.com
www.doylenelson.com
Howard and Bowie
Clayton Howard
PO Box 460
207-563-3112
4104
eadowslobster.com
erdealers.com
Promotion Council
Nicholas H Walsh PA
PO Box 7206
Portland, ME 04112
207-772-2191 nwalsh@gwi.net
www.nicholas-walsh.com
25% off hourly, flat fee to MLA members
4101
erfrommaine.com
mmaine.com
hority
Station
4333
w@maine.gov
ts.com
LOBSTER/SEAFOOD/WHOLESALE/RETAIL
Atlantic Edge Lobster
71 Atlantic Ave
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
207-633-2300 aeli@myfairpoint.net
Atwood Lobster Co
PO Box 202 Island Rd
Spruce Head, ME 04859
207-596-6691 www.atwoodlobster.com
Fishermen’s Heritage Lobster Coop
PO Box 359
Friendship, ME 04547
207-832-6378
Lobster Products Inc
64 Tidal Falls Rd
Hancock, ME 04640 207-422-6238
pathodgkins@roadrunner.com
Friendship Lobster Coop
PO Box 307
Friendship ME 04547
207-832-4435
Lund’s Fisheries
David Brand
997 Ocean Dr.
Cape May, NJ 08204 609-884-7600
dbrand@lundsfish.com
www.lundsfish.com
Garbo Lobster
PO Box 334
Hancock, ME 04640
207-422-3217
peted@garbolobster.com
Calendar Islands Maine Lobster LLC
6A Portland Fish Pier
Portland, ME 04101
207-541-9140
Georgetown Fishermen’s Coop
89 Moores Tpke
Georgetown, ME 04548
john@calendarislandsmainelobster.com
www.calendarislandsmainelobster.com
Glens Lobster Co
12 Abner Point Rd
207-833-6138
glenslobster@suscom-maine.net
Canobie Seafoods, Inc
1077 Bar Harbor Rd
Trenton, ME 04605
207-667-2250
rpdoane@yahoo.com
Cape Porpoise Lobster Co Inc
184 Beachwood Ave
207-967-0900
info@capeporpoiselobster.com
www.capeporpoiselobster.com
Captain Dutch Lobster Co.
PO Box 393
South Thomaston, ME 04858
207-596-7655
captaindutchlobster@gmail.com
Chrisanda Corp.
9 Ferry Rd
Lewiston, ME 04240
800-448-7663
johnsth@ircmaine.com
Conary Cove Lobster Co Inc
83 Conary Cove Rd
Deer Isle, ME 04627
207-348-6185
Cooks Lobster House
PO Box 12
207-833-6641
cooks@cookslobster.com
www.cookslobster.com
Corea Lobster Cooperative
PO Box 99
Corea, ME 04624
207-963-7936
corealobster@myfairpoint.net
Cozy Harbor Seafood Inc
PO Box 389
Portland, ME 04112
207-879-2665
jnorton@cozyharbor.com
www.cozyharbor.com
Craig’s All Natural
25 Winecellar Rd.
Durham, NH 03824
603-397-5331
craig@craigsallnatural.com
Cranberry Isles Fishermens Coop
PO Box 258
Islesford, ME 04646
207-244-5438
F W Thurston Co Inc
PO Box 178
Bernard, ME 04612
207-244-3320
Finest Kind Scenic Cruises
PO Box 1828
Ogunquit, ME 03907
ehubbard@maine.rr.com
www.finestkindcruises.com
Graffam Brothers Seafood Market
PO Box 340
Rockport, ME 04856 207-236-8391
kim@lobsterstogo.com
www.lobsterstogo.com
Hannaford Brothers
145 Pleasant Hill Rd.
207-833-2911
cbowker@hannaford.com
Holden Seafood Corporation
93 E 7th Street
New York, NY 10009 212-387-8487
lukeslobster@gmail.com
www.lukeslobster.com
HR Beal & Sons Inc
182 Clark Point Rd
Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
207-244-3202
bealslobster@roadrunner.com
www.bealslobster.com
Interstate Lobster Inc
PO Box 269
Harpswell, ME 04079 207-833-5516
Island Seafood, LLC
32 Brook Rd
Eliot, ME 03903
207-439-8508 randyisf@comcast.net
‘Keag Store
4 Elm St, PO Box 76
S. Thomaston, ME 04858
207-596-6957
Kent’s Wharf
31 Steamboat Hill
Swans Island, ME 04685
207-526-4186 kentswharf@aol.com
Kips Seafood Co
117 River Rd
Cushing, ME 04563
207-354-8997
Lake Pemaquid Inc
PO Box 967
207-563-5202
lakepem@tidewater.net
www.lakepemaquid.com
Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster
PO Box 368
Rockland, ME 04841 207-975-2502
info@LindaBeansPerfectMaine.com
www.LindaBeansMaineLobster.com
Little Bay Lobster Inc
158 Shattuck Way
Newington, NH 03801
603-431-3170
kellis@littlebaylobster.com
www.littlebaylobster.com
Millers Wharf Lobster LLC
PO Box 486
207-372-8637
Muscongus Bay Lobster
28 Landing Rd
Round Pound, ME 04564
207-529-2251
mblobsta@midcoast.com
www.mainefreshlobster.com
New England Fish Co.
Suzannah Raber, Gage Ashbaug
446 Commercial St.
Portland, ME 04101
207-253-5626
nefco@mac.com
www.raberfisheries.com
New Harbor Co-op
Linda Vannah
PO Box 125
New Harbor, ME 04554
207-677-2791 lobsta@tidwater.net
Orion Seafood International
20 Ladd St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603-433-2220
info@orionseafood.com
Pemaquid Fishermen’s Coop
PO Box 152
New Harbor, ME 04554
207-677-2801 pemco@tidewater.net
PJ Lobster Company
Alan Leck, Jonathan Seavey
399 Northern Ave
Boston, MA 02210 617-946-2930
pjlobster@gmail.com
www.pjlobster.com
Port Clyde Fishermen’s Coop
PO Box 103
Port Clyde, ME 04855 207-372-8922
Port Lobster Co Inc
PO Box 729
207-967-2081
portlob@gwi.net
www.portlobster.com
Portland Shellfish Co, Inc
92 Waldron Way
Portland, ME 04103
207-767-1625
info@pshellfish.com
www.pshellfish.com
Post Brothers Inc
PO Box 541
Rockland, ME 04841 207-594-5824
Quahog Lobster Inc
5 Lobster Lane
Harpswell, ME 04079
207-725-6222
rwaddle@comcast.nett
Ready Seafood
Hobson’s Wharf
Portland, ME 04112 207-541-3672
john@readyseafood.com
www.readyseafood.com
Seafood Contract Brokers, LLC
30 Western Ave, Suite 206
Gloucester, MA 01930
978-515-7683
kbflett@seafoodrisk.com
www.seafoodrisk.com
Seaview Lobster Co
PO Box 291
Kittery, ME 03904
207-439-1599
seaviewlob@comcast.net
www.seaviewlobster.com
March 2012
MARINE ENGINES
All Points Marine
PO Box 543
Narragansett, RI 02882 401-284-4044
da@apmco.us www.apmco.us
Discounts available to MLA members
Sea Hag Seafood
48 Wallston Rd.
207-691-5391 kdock13@yahoo.com
Shengfei Trading Co.
Anson Chen
11974 Lebanon Rd, Suite 124
Cincinnati, OH 45241
718-313-8294
dragonlove2009@gmail.com
www.yimail68.com
Bell Power
34 Plains Rd.
Essex, CT 06426.
860-767-7502/800-255-8669
bobt@bellpower.com
Milton Cat
PO Box 960
Scarborough, ME 04070 207-833-9586
stewart_tuttle@miltoncat.com
North Atlantic Power
Sam Profio
15 Continental Drive
Exeter, NH 03833 603-418-0470
sprofio@glpower.com
www.northatlanticpower.com
Shucks Maine Lobster
150 Main St, Suite 4
Richmond, ME 04357
207-737-4800
johnny@shucksmaine.com
www.shucksMaine.com
Northern Lights/Lugger
8 Connector Rd
Andover, MA 01810
978-475-7400 / 800-762-0166
info@northern-lights.com
www.northern-lights.com
Spruce Head Fishermen’s Coop
275 Island Rd
South Thomaston, ME 04858
207-594-7980
Stonington Lobster Coop
PO Box 87
207-367-2286
lobstercoop@myfairpoint.net
NEWSPAPERS
Commercial Fisheries News
PO Box 600
Deer Isle, ME 04627
207-348-1057/800-989-5253
sjones@fish-news.com
Discounted annual subscription
Swans Island Fishermens Coop
PO Box 116
Swans Island, ME 04685
207-526-4327 sicoop@tds.net
Vinalhaven Fishermens Coop
11 Main St, Box 366
Vinalhaven, ME 04863 207-863-2263
mainelady4t9@myfairpoint.net
Weathervane Seafoods Inc
31 Badgers Island West
Kittery, ME 03904
207-439-0920
www.weathervaneseafoods.com
Winter Harbor Fishermen’s Coop
23 Pedleton Rd.
Winter Harbor, ME 04693 207-963-5857
info@winterharborlobster.com
Fishermen’s Voice
PO Box 253
Gouldsboro, ME 04607
207-963-7195
National Fisherman
121 Free St.
Portland, ME 04112
Discounted annual subscription
PROPELLERS
Accutech Marine Propeller Inc.
24 Crosby Rd Unit 6
Dover, NH 03820
603-617-3626
larry@accutechmarine.com
www.accutechmarine.com
Nautilus Marine Fabrication, Inc.
13 Industrial Way
Trenton, ME 04605 207-667-1119
nautilusmarine@roadrunner.com
New England Propeller Inc.
9 Apollo Eleven Rd
Plymouth, MA 02360 508-747-6666
neprop@aol.com, www.neprop.com
SALT
Maine Salt Company
677 Coldbrook Rd
Hermon, ME 04401 207-848-3796
maccem@juno.com www.mainesalt.com
REAL ESTATE
Megunticook Real Estate
Ed Glover
19 Birds Loop Rd
Owls Head, ME 04854 207-504-7606
ed@coastalmainere.com
www.coastalmainere.com
TRAP BUILDERS STOCK & SUPPLIES
Branch Brook Farm
Ralph Dean
26 Sawmill Lane
Thomaston, ME 04861
207-354-8123 lobstertraps@aol.com
REFRIGERATION SERVICES
Applied Refrigeration Services
7C Commons Avenue
Windham, Maine 04062 207-893-0145
info@appliedrefrigeration.com;
www.appliedrefrigeration.com
$250 off new installations
Brooks Trap Mill
211 Beechwood St
Thomaston, ME 04861
207-354-8763
stephen@brookstrapmill.com
RESTAURANTS
Barnacle Billys Inc
PO Box 837
Ogunquit, ME 03907 207-646-5575
info@barnbilly.com www.barnbilly.com
Eaton Trap Co Inc
12 Birchwood Rd
Woolwich, ME 04579
207-443-3617 trapman@suscom-maine.net
Bowdoin College Dining Services
3700 College Station
Brunswick, ME 04011
207-725-3432 jwiley@bowdoin.edu
Cod End, LLC
Susan Miller
PO Box 224
Tenants Harbor, ME 04860 207-372-6782
cod.end.me@gmail.com www.codend.com
10% off Cook House and Market
Friendship Trap Company
570 Cushing Rd
Friendship, ME 04547
207-354-2545 800-451-1200
mikew@friendshiptrap.com
www.friendshiptrap.com
Discounts from 5 -10% for MLA members.
Portland Trap
26-28 Union Wharf
Portland, ME 04101 800-244-8727
brooksinc@roadrunner.com
www.brookstrapmill.com
Newick’s Hospitality Group, Inc
431 Dover Point Rd
Dover, NH 03820
603-742-3205 www.newicks.com
Sea Rose Trap Co
137 Pleasant Hill Rd.
207-730-2063 searosetrap@gmail.com
www.searosetrap.com
Phil’s Lobster Roll Shop
Shelly McLellan
PO Box 578
Boothbay, ME 04532
The Clam Shack
Steve Kingston
PO Box 6200
207-967-3321 steve@theclamshack.net
www.theclamshack.net
SAFETY TRAINING
McMillan Offshore Survival Training
PO Box 411
Belfast, ME 04915 207-338-1603
jmcmillan@mcmillanoffshore.com
www.mcmillanoffshore.com
Superior Bait and Salt
Glenn Hall
21 Balsam Lane
207-372-8925
TRUCK REPAIR/LEASING
Cushing Diesel, LLC
26 Spear Mill Rd
Cushing, ME 04563 354-0600, (c) 542-5399
diesedave6312@yahoo.com.
Howling Hill Transportation
PO Box 20
Bucksport, ME 04416
207-460-0134 mrtr20@aol.com.
Wa2much Trucking
Greg Holmes
PO Box 354
Tenants Harbor, ME 04860 542-9606
wa2muchtrucking@gmail.com
Ryan Post continued from page 8
120 Tillson Avenue
Rockland, ME 04841
Phone: (207) 594-4444
Fax: (207) 594-0407
Marine Radio VHF
Channel 9 and 18
Journey’s End offers a complete array of marine services at our secure, clean
and professionally maintained facility. Gas and diesel, slip and mooring rentals,
minor and major repairs -- and the best boat transport services in Maine.
W
a proud CAT, Cummins, Iveco and Yanmar marine diesel dealer. We’re
!"#"$
%
Need something? Just ask.
&'
Owls Head and Thomaston. The company
had enough money to do a thirty-day shoot,
no more. “It was a very tight schedule and a
pretty amazing experience. These guys were
all professionals,” Post said. “They realized
how this movie was funded and why it is
important and really put themselves in it.”
The next step in this creative process is
to hire a skilled movie editor and shape the
movie into its final form. The three men intend to enter the film in the Sundance Film
festival next fall, thus it must be completed by October. Post thinks that Anatomy
of the Tide could be an Oscar contender.
But more than that, it is a reflection of the
men’s strong belief in the movie’s story.
Post, who worked as an extra in the HBO
film Empire Falls and independent movie
In the Bedroom, also finds his experiences
in the world of movies a growth experience.
“I just like doing things that people think I
can’t do,” he explained with a big grin.
15
Lobster bait is big business in Maine
By Shelley Wigglesworth
T
here is no doubt that the multi-million-dollar lobster bait industry in the state of Maine plays a substantial role in Maine’s economy. Bait prices average
from 29 cents per pound for fresh salted herring upwards to 59 cents per pound for frozen bait from other
parts of the world. Rawhide bait costs even more.
“Records indicate that there are 104 wholesale
seafood license holders with the herring endorsement,” explained Ann Tarr, licensing supervisor
for the Department of Marine Resources (DMR).
“This represents those dealers buying herring directly from the harvesters.” Only fifteen of those
companies have headquarters outside of Maine.
While most of the bait dealers are reluctant to reveal
their bait sources and none were willing to comment
on just how much money the bait business generates,
they did share their feelings about the pros and cons of
the Maine lobster bait industry.
With the exception of a few large-scale dealers dotting the coast, many of Maine’s bait businesses are of
the mom-and-pop variety, employing only a handful of
workers. Glenn Hall of Superior Bait and Salt in Tenants Harbor said, “We’re just a small family-run business. Ninety-nine percent of the work is done by me,
my wife and the kids.”
Wyatt Anderson of O’Hara Bait Corporation in
Rockland believes his company may be one of the larger non-artificial bait dealers in Maine when it comes
to salted, delivered and barreled bait. O’Hara’s bait
business employs three full-time workers year-round
and adds up to three part-time workers in the summer
months. Supply is not an issue: O’Hara owns two of
its own herring boats, Sunlight and Starlight. “They presently pair trawl for herring but they are able to seine
for herring as well,” Anderson said. He feels that bait
remains promising as a Maine business. “The bait is
good. We have it here and can get it if we don’t. My
main concern is government regulations making it
harder,” he said.
Since 2006, the New England Fisheries Management Council has reduced the amount of herring that
can be landed from the inshore herring resource (Area
1A) by more than 40% and from the offshore resource
(Area 3) by 24%. Atlantic herring has long been the
most important source of bait for the Maine lobster industry, comprising 70% of the bait supply in 2008. Atlantic menhaden came in a distant second, accounting
for 19% of the bait supply, followed by redfish which
accounted for only 4%. Atlantic menhaden, which is
managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, will see a 37% reduction in harvest in 2013
compared to 2010 landings.
Chuck Baker Jr. of Bessy Bait LLC, a rawhide bait
dealer in New Hampshire, does not have full-time paid
staff. “I have no employees. I pay any help on a contracted basis,” he said. Baker has seen a steady increase
in sales of rawhide bait. “As the prices of fish bait and
fuel prices fluctuate, more people have come to rely on
rawhide bait. Yes, it is more expensive but it lasts longer
and it is readily available,” he explained.
“Every time the price of bait goes up, we make
less money, period,” said Tobin Seawell, who lobsters
out of Vinalhaven. He and other lobstermen share a
constant concern about rising bait prices. “Herring is
said to be becoming obsolete [as bait], which sucks, but
rockfish and pogies or carp, those are pricey,” Seawell
commented.
Another factor influencing the rising price of all
bait is the increased cost of fuel. Bait, whether caught
in Maine or in other states, needs to be transported
If there’s no bait --- no lobsters! Beau Warring photo.
to the dealers. Some bait dealers estimate the fees associated with transporting bait can add 10 to 15 cents
per pound more to the cost. “Just like the lobstering
industry, the bait industry is also affected by rising fuel
costs. The high price of fuel affects everything we do,”
Anderson added.
According to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association,
bait prices have skyrocketed in recent years. In 2011,
herring averaged $33 per bushel (.41 per pound) compared to $25 per bushel (.31 per pound) in 2009. And
MLA Members
Discount Directory
MLA Members! Present your MLA membership card at the
following business and receive generous discounts!
All Points Marine
National Fisherman
Accutech Marine Propeller
Newcastle, ME -- 15% off all
parts and service, not to be
combined with other offers
Naragansett, RI -- discounts
available for MLA members
Dover, NH -- 20% off propeller
repair; discounts for new
propellers, shafting and hardware
Applied Refrigeration Services
Discount on annual subscription
Newcastle Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep
Northeast Marine Survey
Windham, ME -- $250 off new
installations
Harpswell, ME -- 10% off
commercial rate
Coastal Hydraulics
Penobscot Marine Museum
Seabrook, NH -- 10% discount
on all in stock itemss
Searsport, ME -- Free admission
for MLA members
Commercial Fisheries News
Smithwick & Mariners Insurance
Falmouth, ME -- Discounted
vessel insurance; additional 5%
Friendship Trap Company
with proof of completion of FishFriendship, ME -- Discounts of
5% to 10% depending on product ing Vessel Drill Conductor course
within 5 years.
Hamilton Marine
Portland / Rockland / Searsport -- Wesmac Custom Boats
Surry, ME -- 2% discount of
Discounts vary by product
Mount Desert Oceanarium
Southwest Harbor, ME -- Free
admission for commercial
Discount on annual subscription
March 2012
Harvard educator talks about staying safe on land and sea
By Holly Eaton, Penobscot East Resource Center
F
rom buoy paint to toxins in rope, fishermen put themselves at risk of harm
every season. In January they got a chance to learn important safety information at the Penobscot East Resource Center in Stonington. The presentation about
health, toxics and toxins by Ann Backus, an educator at the Harvard School of Public Health, was part of Penobscot East’s six-part Winter Series. Backus talked about
hazards fishermen encounter in their workshops. The first distinction she made was
about the difference between toxins and toxics. A toxin is a poison that is produced
by a living thing such as jellyfish or rattlesnakes. A toxic substance is a non-living
element, such as chemicals and compounds.
Backus then jumped right into risk identification. Even though a fisherman can’t
see these microscopic particles, “What’s breathed into the lungs stays in the body!”
she warned. These air-borne toxic substances can result in inflammation of airways and alveoli, damage to airway cells, constriction of airways (sometimes causing
“You have bacteria having lunch on the algae in your
rope. When the rope dries, the bacteria die and release
a toxin into your breathing space.”
asthma), fibrosis of lung cells. In addition, the ultra fine particles can pass from the
lungs to other parts of the body such as the heart.
Fishermen in the audience were surprised to hear that working with rope in the
shop can be hazardous.
“You have bacteria having lunch on the algae in your rope. When the rope dries,
the bacteria die and release a toxin into your breathing space,” Backus explained.
Researchers at the School of Public Health have measured air in lobstermen’s work-
shops registering 30-70
times the toxic level.
The symptoms caused
by breathing in the dust
from the dried rope include not feeling well,
feeling as if you have
a cold but don’t, and a
cough or shortness of
breath. One solution
mentioned by Backus is
to put rope in a hot tank
with bleach when it’s
brought in, which will kill
the toxins.
Toxics
lobstermen
encounter in the shop
come from the paints Harvard School of Public Health educator Ann Backus urged lobsterthey use, particularly daymen to wear vapor cartridges when painting. Holly Eaton photo.
glo paint. Backus showed
the audience how to read the back of the paint cans and how to read Material Safety
Data (MSD) sheets. Although MSD sheets are not immediately supplied when paint
is purchased, they are required by OSHA and should be readily available upon request. The MSD sheet is the best way to find out the product’s level of VOCs, or
Volatile Organic Compounds. The higher the level, the higher the risk that the user
will suffer eye, ear, nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, and even damage
to the liver and the central nervous system.
Fishermen should look for VOCs in paint of 200 grams per liter or less. When
painting, always wear a fit-tested mask with an organic vapor cartridge. Additionally,
Backus recommends ventilating the workshop with a fan much like you might have
in your kitchen, which is typically rated at 500-600 cubic feet per meter (CFM). The
higher the CFM rating, the stronger the fan or air compressor works to ventilate the
air.
Backus proceeded to test the airways of members of the audience using a peak
flow meter to assess how well their lungs were functioning. The resulting ranges, which are dependent on the age, gender and height, can be used to determine
whether the person has been exposed to toxic materials. All of the participants’
levels appeared to be within healthy ranges. Backus said that for one participant, she
could only estimate his range because her chart stopped at age 70. The person was
a very healthy 88-year-old man!
Backus then asked for a volunteer to demonstrate putting on a safety suit. The
audience quickly volunteered one of the youngest fishermen in the room, who
admitted that it had been nearly eight years since he had tried one on. Nevertheless
he donned the suit like a pro in 65 seconds with just one significant problem: he
got his hood stuck inside the suit and required assistance to get it unstuck. Backus
urged all present to take charge of their own health both on land and at sea. For
those interested in learning more about the Harvard School of Public Health or
would like to contact Ann Backus, visit www.hsph.harvard.edu or email
abackus@hohp.harvard.edu.
Stonington fisherman Ben Weed in his survival suit time-trial prompted a good discussion about
proper donning techniques. Holly Eaton photo.
Seacoast Lobster Band
Company
PO Box 1472
Manchester, MA 01944
Plain and printed lobster bands
Telephone 1-800-830-1856
Cell 978-317-5154
Yes, that’s right,
we’ve gone social!
And we want you
to be our friend.
Join our lively community at
www.facebook.com/
mainelobstermen
Thank you
All Maine, Trap to Table
?
Are yours ?
?
Over 4 million pounds bought in 2011. Only from Maine boats.
17
Legislative Update
T
he second regular session of the 125th Maine Legislature convened on January
4. Bills introduced in the second regular session are limited by the Constitution
of Maine to budgetary matters, Governor’s legislation, emergency bills approved
by the Legislative Council, legislation submitted pursuant to authorized studies and
legislation submitted by direct initiative petition of the electors. Therefore, there are
generally far fewer bills heard in the second session compared to the first session.
Below is a summary of legislative activities of interest to the lobster industry as of
February 24.
The Marine Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing on Governor
LePage’s nominee for DMR Commissioner, Patrick Keliher, on January 24. Carlisle
McLean from the Governor’s Office presented the nomination to the Committee.
Mr. Keliher provided testimony on his background and vision for the future of the
department and Maine’s coastal communities. Members of the Committee asked a
series of questions concerning how the Commissioner would balance issues of resource sustainability and economic viability and rebuild trust between fishermen and
the Department. The nomination was strongly supported by a broad array of fishing
industry representatives including the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, Midcoast
Fishermen’s Association, CHOIR; processors including Live Lobster and Shucks;
and many individual fishermen. There was no testimony in opposition to the nomination.
The Marine Resources Committee voted unanimously to support Mr. Keliher’s nomination. Mr. Keliher’s nomination was supported by the Senate and he
was sworn in by Governor LePage on January 26. Keliher, of South Gardiner, has
served as Deputy Commissioner since July and Director of the Bureau of Sea Run
Fisheries and Habitat within DMR since 2007. Prior to joining DMR, Keliher served
as Executive Director of the Atlantic Salmon Commission and Executive Director
of the New England States of the Coastal Conservation Association, Greater New
England. Keliher has also served as a licensed Coast Guard Captain and is a Registered Maine Guide.
LD 1609 An Act To Ensure the Safety of Bait Used in Maine’s Fishery was introduced as a result of investigations initiated by the Lobster Advisory Council to ensure the safety of Maine’s bait supply. There are already
two laws in place that affect bait use dealing with alternative bait and offal.
The DMR requires that “alternative bait”, defined as any bait that does not naturally
originate from the ocean, be labeled to clearly lists all ingredients contained in the
bait, in descending order of volume, including binders and chemicals or other agents
used to remove hair from bait hide. The labeling must appear on all product packaging
that is utilized by the manufacturer for sale to the lobster or crab industry in Maine.
Current law also prohibits the use of offal as bait to fish for lobster or crabs. “Offal”
means the carcass, waste parts, renderings or remains of a wild or domesticated animal
that is not a marine organism, but does not include animal hide from which the hair has
been removed. Offal includes bait products from freshwater sources.
LD 1609 proposes to give the Department of Marine Resources the authority to
develop new regulations to develop a list of approved freshwater species for use as
bait, and a list of marine species which are not approved for use as bait. Any rules
which allow or prohibit the use of particular baits must list the location from which
it is harvested. The Legislature approved LD 1609 on February 15 as an emergency
measure.
LD 1709 An Act To Amend the Limited-entry Program for Taking Lobsters in the Monhegan Lobster Conservation Area was submitted as a result of discussions between the
DMR and Monhegan lobstermen. This bill proposes to change the limited-entry
program for taking lobsters in the Monhegan Lobster Conservation Area by 1) limiting the number of traps per registered individual to 400; 2) allowing a person who
holds a federal lobster permit and Monhegan Area trap tags to take lobsters from
the offshore Area 3 lobster management area; 3) limiting the number of individuals
who may obtain Monhegan Area trap tags to 17; 4) allowing noncommercial lobster
and crab fishing license holders who do not hold a commercial lobster license to
fish for lobster in the Monhegan Lobster Conservation Area; 5) requiring the DMR
Commissioner to maintain a waiting list of persons who have requested a Monhegan Island limited-entry lobster and crab fishing license and allowing persons on
the waiting list to obtain Monhegan Area trap tags as they become available; and
6) eliminating the Monhegan Lobster Conservation Area apprenticeship program.
The Marine Resources Committee voted Ought to Pass and reported this bill out on
February 17. It is expected to be approved by the Legislature in late February.
LD 1718, An Act To Improve Maine’s Capacity To Produce Low-cost Renewable Energy
through Hydroelectric Power, has been referred to the Committee on Environment and
Natural Resources. This bill proposes to prohibit the Department of Environmental
Protection from permitting any activity that will result in a reduction in the potential
of a dam to produce hydroelectric power at a cost that is economically competitive
with other renewable sources of electricity unless DEP determines that the activity
is necessary for public safety or to avoid a significant threat to the environment. This
would effectively prohibit Maine DEP from approving any fish passage projects
in Maine. The MLA provided testimony in opposition to this bill for the February
1 public hearing citing concerns that LD 1718 would make restoring sea run fish
species much harder by preventing the requirement of fish passage at dams. The
committee voted 12 to 1 Ought not to Pass. This bill has not yet been voted on by
the full Legislature.
LD 1654 An Act To Establish the Seafood Export Certification Program establishes
the Seafood Export Certification Program with the DMR to allow the department,
in conjunction with NOAA, to inspect and certify seafood and issue certificates
of compliance necessary to meet international export standards. The bill received
favorable public comment during the public hearing on January 19 but no vote has
yet been taken.
LD 1674 Resolve, Directing the Department of Marine Resources To Examine the Role of
3rd-party Laboratories in Conducting Testing for the Department was not approved by the
Legislature and is now dead.
Several bills carried over from last session have been considered.
LD 1579 An Act to Amend the Lobster Promotion Council was reconsidered on January 10. The bill proposed to reorganize the Maine Lobster Promotion Council and
require more marketing professionals to serve on its board. Bob Baines, chairman
of the Lobster Advisory Council, informed the Marine Resources Committee of the
LAC’s effort to develop an alternative to the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. The
Marine Resources Committee voted unanimously ought not to pass, and the bill was
killed on January 17. The LAC plans to have a proposal to improve marketing of
Maine lobster later this spring.
Several bonds aimed at investing in the natural resources-based economy will be
considered during a public hearing by the Appropriations Committee on February
23. LD 111 An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Fund Large-scale Marketing and Research and Development for Bulk Sales of Maine Seafood Worldwide proposes a $3
million bond to market Maine seafood. LD 842 An Act To Authorize a General Fund
Bond Issue To Support Research and Sustainable Development of Maine’s Natural Resources
proposes a $50 million bond to fund research, development and commercialization of innovative technology that relies on the sustainable use of Maine’s natural
resources such as forest and agricultural products and tidal and wind energy. LD
852 An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Support Maine’s Natural Resourcebased Economy proposes a $36 million bond to recapitalize the Land For Maine’s
Future Program which includes $4 million for working waterfront preservation. It
also proposes a $12 million bond for natural resource industry-based infrastructure
improvements, including $2 million for commercial fishing infrastructure improvements. The outcome of these bonds are not likely to be decided until late spring as
part of the state’s budget package which requires major funding cuts.
March 2012
Meeting Roundup
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission meeting
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
American Lobster Board met on February 7 and approved Addendum XVII to Amendment 3 to the
Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American
Lobster. The Addendum establishes management
measures for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (LCMAs) as the first step toward
rebuilding the southern New England stock. The
measures are intended to reduce fishing exploitation
by 10% starting in July 2013. Pertinent to Maine lobstermen, LCMA 3, the offshore federal waters from
Maine to North Carolina, will have a minimum size of
3-17/32” effective January 1, 2013. The most restrictive rule will apply to lobstermen who fish in multiple
LCMAs, meaning that lobstermen fishing in multiple
areas will be held to the most restrictive management
measures of the areas identified on their permits.
The Board also reviewed a working draft of Addendum XVIII, which is intended to scale the size
of the southern New England lobster fishery to the
size of the lobster resource. The board established a
working group to clarify the goal of the document,
possible trap banking, methods to measure trap reductions, and other issues. The draft Addendum
will be presented to the board at the May meeting.
ASMFC’s Shad and River Herring Board approved
Sustainable Fishing Plans from the Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Cooperative, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, and Georgia. The Board approved Recovery Plans from
New Hampshire, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
The Board was briefed on Amendments under development by the New England Fisheries Management
Council (NEFMC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council that address shad and river herring bycatch in federal fisheries, among other issues. A working
group will review and develop comments on NEFMC’s
draft Amendment 5 when it becomes available in February. The board also elected Terry Stockwell of Maine
Department of Marine Resources as board Vice-Chair.
The Atlantic Herring Section met and discussed proposed federal adjustments to the 2012 Atlantic herring annual catch limits based on catch from the 2010
fishing season. The proposed quota adjustments
would reduce the Area 1A and 1B Sub-ACL by 1,878
and 1,639 metric tons respectively based on overages
from the 2010 fishing season. Total catch was calculated by comparing vessel trip reports with dealer
landings and includes discards from other fisheries.
NEFMC staff gave an overview of the Council’s draft Amendment 5 which proposes regulatory
changes in four main areas—the fishery management program, catch monitoring at sea, measures to
address river herring bycatch, and mid-water trawl
access to groundfish closed areas. The public comment period on the draft amendmentis expected to be open through March and April, with the
NEFMC selecting final measures at its April meeting.
The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management
Board approved the Public Information Document
(PID) for Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery
Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden for public
comment and review. The PID’s primary focus is to
initiate discussion on achieving the new fishing mortality threshold for menhaden. The goal of the new
reference points is to increase abundance, spawning
stock biomass, and menhaden availability as a forage species. The PID also seeks public input on improvements to the catch reporting system and options for managing the commercial bait and reduction
fisheries as well as the recreational fishery. Hearings
will be held this spring to solicit public comments.
The board then will meet in May to review submitted
comments and identify measures to be included in the
Draft Amendment. In August the board will meet to
incorporate the results of the 2012 stock assessment
update and to consider approving the Draft Amendment for public comment. Final amendment approval
is anticipated for October, with plan implementation
scheduled for 2013.
Maine Lobster Promotion Council
The board mete on January 27 via teleconference
and February 3 in Hallowell. MLPC executive director,
Dane Somers, presented an update on recent programs
conducted by the MLPC. This included an overview of
the MLPC’s primary initiatives over the past five years.
In 2006, MLPC focused on branding Maine lobster
and the Certified Maine Lobster Program. The following year was marked by the resignation of former director Kristan Miller and the hiring of Somers while
programs focused on updating the MLPC website to
reach an international audience. The price crash of
2008 lead the MLPC to reevaluate its programs and focus efforts on increasing demand, which continues as
the Council’s primary strategy. Examples of programs
geared to increase demand include the Fall Harvest
Campaign which featured the “Get Cracking” television ad and retail promotions and a retail pilot program
in Maine and parts of New England with Hannaford’s
and Shaws. MLPC staff credit an increase in the boat
price paid to fishermen during the fall period over the
past few years to these promotions.
The MLPC will have an expanded presence at the
Boston Seafood Show in March 2012, with several companies sharing space with MLPC in its booth
which it is callling the Maine Pavilion, and will include
chef demonstrations and samples of Maine product. A
Maine Lobster Reception is being organized to showcase Maine lobster products and provide a networking opportunity for Maine wholesalers to connect with
buyers.
The MLPC reviewed financials. The 2011 budget
19
DMR Adjudication Report Nov. 11, 2011-Feb. 11, 2012
Last Name
First Name
Town
LOBSTER WEB CO
PROSPECT HARBOR
KENNEBUNK
LOBSTER CO
KENNEBUNK
LOBSTER CO
BUTLER
CARD
CARD
CHELSEA
CARL
COTE
COTE
MOUNT DESERT
ELLSWORTH
ELLSWORTH
DITTMAR
DITTMAR
DITTMAR
DITTMAR
BICKFORD
JOY
MARVES
MARVES
JOHN
JOHN
JOHN
JOHN
JOHN
PAUL
RYAN
RYAN
SOUTHWEST HBR
SOUTHWEST HBR
SOUTHWEST HBR
SOUTHWEST HBR
VINALHAVEN
SWANS ISLAND
NORTH HAVEN
NORTH HAVEN
MERCHANT
AMES
LYONS
MILLER
BRUCE
DAVID
DEREK
FRANK
SULLIVAN
OWLS HEAD
LUBEC
BIRCH HARBOR
CIRONE
DOW
JACOB
JAMES
ADDISON
OWLS HEAD
BACKMAN
RALPH
BEALS
KNOWLES
CROWLEY
SCOTT
DONALD
GOULDSBORO
HANCOCK
CARD
BARRETT
JEREMY
NATHAN
FRANKLIN
BEALS
LAWRENCE
MARQUIS
MARQUIS
STEVEN
ANTHONY
ANTHONY
KITTERY POINT
ELIOT
ELIOT
CUNNINGHAM
JONES
CHARLES
TIMOTHY
MACHIAS
STONINGTON
ACHORN
JONATHAN
FRIENDSHIP
CHELSEA
Viol Description
Adjud Date
05-Dec-2011
3800.00
G
N
05-Dec-2011
1200.00
G
N
POSSESSION OF 11 V-NOTCHED/MUTILATED
LOBSTER
POSSESSION OF ONE SHORT LOBSTER
MOLESTING LOBSTER GEAR
VIOLATION OF GEAR RULE - NO BREAKAWAY ON BUOY
POSSESSING 23 SHORT LOBSTERS
POSSESSION OF TWO V-NOTCHED LOBSTERS
SELLING 70 SHORT LOBSTERS
SELLING TWO V-NOTCHED LOBSTERS
POSSESSION OF 58 SHORT LOBSTERS
FLOAT ROPE ON LOBSTER GEAR
REGISTRANT NOT ONBOARD VESSEL
LOBSTER/CRAB TRAP TAGS, UNDECLARED
VESSEL
HAULING TRAPS NOT REGISTERED TO BOAT
WET STORAGE OF LOBSTER GEAR
ONE UNTAGGED TRAP
POSSESSION OF 8 V-NOTCHED FEMALE LOBSTERS
LOBSTER FISHING WIHTOUT A LICENSE
POSSESSION OF 4 V-NOTCHED FEMALE LOBSTERS
POSSESSION OF ONE OVERSIZED LOBSTER GREATER THAN 5”
POSSESSION OF 6 SHORT LOBSTERS
POSSESSION OF 4 V-NOTCHED & MUTILATED
FEMALE LOBSTERS
POSSESSION OF ONE OVERSIZE LOBSTER GREATER THAN 5”
FISHING NINE UNTAGGED LOBSTER TRAPS
FISHING TWO 20-TRAP TRAWLS
FISHING 32 LOBSTER TRAPS WITHOUT A
VALID TAG
LOBSTER FISHING BEYOND LINCENSE LIMITATIONS
POSSESSION OF 19 UNDERSIZED LOBSTERS
05-Dec-2011
3400.00
G
N
06-Dec-2011
03-Feb-2012
03-Feb-2012
600.00
G
N
DISM
N
DISM
N
06-Jan-2012
06-Jan-2012
06-Jan-2012
06-Jan-2012
09-Jan-2012
29-Nov-2011
14-Nov-2011
14-Nov-2011
4600.00
700.00
G
Y
G
Y
DISM
N
DISM
N
11600.00
250.00
250.00
250.00
G
Y
G
N
G
N
G
N
29-Nov-2011
14-Nov-2011
05-Dec-2011
19-Dec-2011
100.00
250.00
250.00
DEF
N
G
N
G
N
NG
N
05-Dec-2011
14-Nov-2011
500.00
900.00
DEF
N
G
N
05-Dec-2011
600.00
G
N
29-Nov-2011
13-Jan-2012
1200.00
900.00
G
N
G
Y
03-Feb-2012
05-Dec-2011
500.00
600.00
G
N
G
N
29-Dec-2011
01-Dec-2011
01-Dec-2011
310.00
200.00
250.00
G
N
G
N
G
Y
DISM
N
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Association members
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March 2012
So you want to know:
Where do all these lobsters come from?
By Sarah Paquette
H
ave you ever wondered where the lobsters you catch originated? The answer is
probably more complicated than anyone would guess. At one point in time, the
popular belief was that a brood stock offshore released eggs that drifted inshore to
populate that area. Then, in the late 1990s, it was thought that eggs from downeast
Maine drifted to Penobscot Bay and populated the midcoast region, while eggs from
Penobscot Bay populated southern Maine, carried by the prevailing coastal currents.
“We thought there was an easy answer: all these eggs just get swept away,” said Department of Marine Resources’ lobster biologist Carl Wilson. “However, new work
shows it’s not as simple.”
The University of Maine recently (2003-2007) conducted research to find out
where lobster larvae go once they hatch. “We did a complete modeling study after
more than a decade of intense field data was gathered by a number of scientists and
students,” said Lew Incze, research professor at the University of Maine School of
Marine Sciences. “We were trying to construct egg production patterns. We used
three years of data from the Gulf of Maine and looked at female distribution, age,
and size. We put these data into a model,” he said.
The data put into the model was chosen because each of the three years showed
different coastal current patterns. “Most movement is inshore to offshore. There is a
brood stock offshore in deep water, but it is not significantly contributing to inshore
stock because the coast current doesn’t run that way,” Incze explained. Once lobster
eggs are released, there are four stages of larvae in the water column. During the last
stage, the larvae are at the top of the water column, close to the surface. “Distribution is dependent on wind patterns, which do not favor inshore [settlement],” said
Incze. “There are not a lot of larvae inshore from offshore. There are a few, but
because the inshore population is so large and the number of larvae from offshore
is so few, it really isn’t much of a contribution. However, the offshore stock could
be important in the future.”
“It’s hard to actually get in the water and follow larvae, so it’s hard to track them
and know exactly where they are going,” said Eric Annis, assistant professor of
biology at Hood Collage in Maryland. Annis conducted his graduate research at the
Darling Marine Center in Walpole and contributed to the University of Maine study
led by Incze. “There is potential for larvae to go far,” Annis said. “The headlands and
islands slow water down, so there is more local production closer to shore.” While
the water doesn’t actually change speed, the flow becomes more complex around
the islands and headlands. “The energy is the same along the coast, but the average
speed down the coast decreases because the energy is going in more directions,”
explained Incze. Because of this, he noted, local production, or self recruitment, is
more important in some lobster management zones than in others. “Some zones are
bigger and convoluted in shape,” he said. “The tidal currents displace more larvae.
In Zone A and in York County, the current is close to the coast. In between, there is
more space for things to happen.” For instance, he said, Zone E is a relatively small
zone on a short section of the coast and relies heavily on lobster larvae from zones
upstream. Self recruitment is the lowest in Zone E. In contrast, Zone C has a high
percent of larvae that are self recruited. This does not mean that all of the larvae in
Zone C are locally produced, though. “At the highest rate of self recruitment, only
about 50% of the
larvae are locally
produced. The other
50% are still coming
in from other areas,”
said Incze.
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vae to other areas,” said Incze. He points out that calculating how many larvae stay
in an area and how many populate other areas is not an easy task. It’s difficult for
scientists to know if there are low numbers of larvae in one area due to mortality or
because the larvae have been caught up in the current and moved down the coast.
Wherever they come from, the rate of survival for lobster larvae is low. “One
percent of larvae make it to the bottom to settle, which doesn’t sound like many, but
when lobsters are producing thousands of eggs, it works,” said Annis. He said that it
isn’t only lobsters that have such low survival rates. ”A low survival rate is common
in marine organisms. Humans have one or two or three offspring and put a lot of
energy into raising them. Marine organisms put their energy into producing a lot of
offspring and then they leave them,” Annis explained.
Wilson said that a legal-size female lobster can carry around 5,000 eggs. “At maximum size, she could hold 50,000 eggs. It’s almost an exponential growth,” he said.
Because the number of eggs she holds depends on the size of a lobster, it seems
intuitive to protect offshore lobsters. Conserving large offshore lobsters appears to
make sense as a source of abundant larvae, but Incze concludes from his research
that such a hypothesis doesn’t necessarily hold true. “You might think it’s important
because it is a good source of larvae,” he said. “It’s true, but where do the larvae
go? If inshore production declined for some reason, it would be different. Offshore
larvae are not presently important to inshore population, but could be in the future.”
Bait business continued from page 15
it’s not just herring that is fetching a strong price. In 2011 the price for rockfish averaged .54 per pound, redfish .46 per pound, and pogies .33 per pound.
Bait dealers and fishermen alike agree that continued access to the species that
comprise lobster bait by local bait dealers and processors is the key to not only ensuring the availability of bait, but the availability of jobs and economic growth right
here in Maine. “My biggest concern is the regulations hurting the bait business,”
Anderson continued. “The government regulations dictate when, where, and how
much herring we can catch. That makes it difficult to form any long-range plans.
Other than that, everything else is pretty good.”
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21
Meeting Roundup continued from page 18
was $527,692 of which $375,692 was generated from industrylicense fees. The
Council received an excellent independent accounting audit conducted by the firm
of Purdy Powers and Company.
Dane Somers informed the Board that a company doing business in Panama was
using the MLPC logo as their own, and sought recommendations for law firms that
could help MLPC with this copyright infringement.
MLPC Chair Emily Lane proposed that the MLPC Board form 3 committees
— Strategic Planning, Programs and Finance — as a means to more fully engage
the board in strategic and programmatic initiatives, and provide greater guidance to
MLPC staff. These committees will meet to discuss business in advance of the next
board meeting and will serve to bring recommendations and issues to the full board.
The MLPC Board held executive sessions to address industry concerns over the
lack of confidence in the MLPC by the lobster industry.
Scientific Review Group (SRG)
During days two and three, the SRG reviewed 52 marine mammal stock assessment reports (SAR’s). The reports were divided amongst the SRG members
who provided substantive comments or questions which need to be addressed in
each report. Several of the SAR’s will be revised based on input from the SRG,
including the PBR (potential biological removal) calculation for right whales.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) specifies that the SRGs provide
advice to federal managers on 1) the draft Marine Mammal Stock Assessment
Reports before the reports are released for public comment; 2) abundance estimates, status, and trends of marine mammal stocks; 3) uncertainties in identifying stocks, assessing the status or trends of stocks, and evaluating factors affecting
the distribution, abundance, or productivity of the stocks; 4) research to address
these uncertainties regarding marine mammals and to reduce incidental mortality
of marine mammals incidental to fishing operations; 5) issues related to habitats
for marine mammals and the effects of natural or anthropogenic (human-caused)
change to habitats; and 6) other issues that the groups or agencies deem appropriate.
There are three regional Scientific Review Groups (SRGs): 1) Alaskan waters; 2)
Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico; and 3) Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii. To review meeting summaries and other information on the SRG, visit: www.
nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/group.htm
The Scientific Review Group for Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico (SRG) marine mammal stocks met February 8-10 to review and provide advice on the status of right
whales, 52 marine mammal Stock Assessment Reports, and NMFS marine mammal
research, fieldwork and budget plans.
The first day focused on right whales. It included presentations from NMFS on New England Fisheries Management Council
development the right whale vertical line rule development and monitoring strategy,
ship speed rules, critical habitat petition and gear research. NMFS also presented upThe New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) will be conducting
dates on the status of right whale research including aerial surveys, acoustic surveys, public hearings to solicit comments on Draft Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring
population metrics to determine right whale abundance and survival, serious injury Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Following these hearings, additional opportuniand mortality estimates and research priorities.
ties for review and comment on Amendment 5 and its Draft Environmental Impact
NMFS reported that several proposals are being assessed to address vertical line Statement may be provided. Meetings are being held in Maine on March 2 at the
risk reduction. The draft rule is expected in 2013 and the final rule is scheduled for Maine Fishermen’s Forum, and March 21 in Portland at the Holiday In by the Bay.
2014. SRG members expressed concern that the right whale plan focuses too much See the Events calendar on page 23 for additional meeting dates.
on gear modifications and too little on strategic closures. NMFS is implementing a
monitoring plan to assess the effectiveness of the North Atlantic Large Whale Take
Reduction Plan. The primary metric is a review of the five year average of serious
injuries and mortalities due to fishing. Secondary metrics include the frequency of
observed entanglements, the proportion of entanglements resulting in serious injury
or mortality, the rate of entanglements based on scarring, and a review of stranding
and disentanglement data.
NMFS is in the process of rulemaking to revise the North Atlantic Right Whale
critical habitat and anticipates that the rule will be published by mid-summer 2012
with an opportunity for public comment before the rule is finalized.
NMFS is facing serious cuts in its aerial survey program to detect right whales
due to funding constraints. The agency reports that approximately 80% of entanglements are detected from aerial surveys, and that entanglement and mortality are
likely significantly under-reported. Aerial survey protocols will be adjusted to produce the best scientific data on the status of the stock. A review of the 2011 disentanglement program revealed that of the 11 right whales observed entangled, 4 shed
gear, 1 was disentangled, 2 had minor injuries and 1 died. More research is needed to
understand the spike in entanglements compared to previous years.
NMFS has implemented new guidelines to assess the rate of serious injury and
mortality in entanglement cases for which the fate of the whale cannot be determined (CBD). These confirmed entanglements will be pro-rated as mortalities (at
0.75) to account for the probability that an entanglement would result in mortality.
These will be included in NMFS Annual serious injury and mortality determinations
for each marine mammal species. Animals that are disentangled are not counted as
serious injuries.
NMFS is also exploring development
of a methodology to assess the number of
whales that likely die from entanglement
but are never observed. This will require a
modeling approach to assess the minimum
number of whales alive, the likelihood of
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survival and the rate of serious injury and
mortality. This will produce an estimate of
the annual takes of whales due to fishery entanglements.
The SRG discussed prioritizing research
to make the best use of reduced federal
funding and recognized the importance of
maintaining a consistent survey presence,
the right whale catalog, mortality investigations and acoustic monitoring.
The second day included a review of
Registered Efficiency
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March 2012
In the News
Lobster safety training proves vital in
sledding accident
Canadian lobster industry gets to work
By Tarra Merchant
H
annah Alley, the 13-year-old daughter of Robert Jr. and Angel Alley, was
out sledding behind her house on January 22. While sledding, Hannah saw
a metal stake sticking out of the snow. She tried to swerve to miss it, but was unable to do so. Hannah’s leg landed on the stake, resulting in a very bloody injury.
Angel dialed 911 and sent a towel down to have her 16-year-old son, Travis,
apply pressure on the wound. Unbeknownst to her, Travis had already put a tourniquet on the leg and applied pressure. He learned this from the CPR/First Aid
course he was required to take in order to get his lobster license. Travis’ girlfriend
was a big help in keeping Hannah calm while mom was on the phone directing
the ambulance.
When the ambulance arrived the crew felt Hannah should be sent to Bangor
because of blood loss. They also didn’t know how much damage was done to her
leg. The ambulance met up with Lifeflight at Mark Wright’s construction yard in
Columbia. Hannah ended up with a terrible gash on her leg, but the family was so
relieved that was the only thing. Angel and Robert said they are proud of Travis
for how he took charge of the situation, and of his girlfriend for all her help in
keeping Hannah calm.
Reprinted with permission from The Downeast Coastal Press, week of January
31-February 6, 2012.
Working groups set up by the Lobster Council of Canada began meeting in January. The goal of the groups is to explore the issues of quality grading, shore price
setting, branding and promotion. Two working groups, made up of 40 people, met
in January and will meet again in April. Representation on these working groups will
include 16 harvesters, eight people from live shipping and eight from the processing side of the industry, as well as federal and provincial representatives and lobster
brokers. During February and March, three smaller groups will meet. These groups
of fifteen people will focus on specific aspects of the industry, such as product
branding or minimum price systems.
The working groups are the result of a 2011 report commissioned by the Lobster Council of Canada that provided a comprehensive examination of the Atlantic
Canada lobster industry. The report concluded that the provinces’ lobster industry
is disorganized and structured to under-perform. Although lobster harvesters and
buyers can do little to affect the world’s economy or currency exchange rates, the
report indicated that the industry could improve its marketing system. The aim is for
all groups to complete their work in April.
Maine lobster heads to Central America
Maine Lobster, S.A., a company established in Panama by Maine residents Jack
Mosher and John Brier, plans to export Maine lobster products to Panama and other
parts of Latin America later this year, when a free-trade agreement removes tariffs
on U.S. exports. Panama ratified the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement in 2007, but
Congress only ratified it in October.
The company has secured a supply agreement with Atwood Lobster Company
in Spruce Head, now owned by the Mazzetta Company of Chicago. Mosher and
Brier consider Panama the gateway to Columbia, Costa Rica and Brazil. Panama’s
economy is among the fastest-growing in Latin America. It grew 6.2 percent in 2010
and is expected to expand with similar annual growth through 2015.F
Ventless trap program vessels wanted
The Department of Marine Resources, in cooperation with the Gulf of Maine
Lobster Foundation, seeks three industry participants for the Regional Ventless Trap
Program through a competitive bid process. First initiated in 2006, this project will
run during June, July and August 2012. Interested parties will need to complete
the application to identify vessel specifications, daily rate and preferred sampling
leg. Three of nine legs are open for bid, covering (1) Canadian border to Beals, (2)
North Penobscot Bay and (3) Saco Bay to Isle of Shoals. Each leg will have 75-100
small mesh traps randomly positioned at three depths. Each month the traps will be
baited and sampled 2 times, on 3 night sets, making a monthly 3 day commitment
and total 9 contracted days. This is an opportunity to participate in a cooperative
research project supported by industry and science from Maine through New York.
For questions or requests for applications, please contact Kathleen Reardon or Carl
Wilson at (207) 633-9500. More information can be found at www.maine.gov/dmr..
News & Comment for and by the Fishermen of Maine
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23
Events Calendar
March 1-3
Maine Fishermen’s Forum, Samoset Resort,
Rockport, ME. www.mainefishermensforum.org
March 8
TAA Workshop, Product Quality and Handling, 5-8 p.m., Gulf of Maine Research
Institute, Portland. RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 19
Public hearing on Draft Amendment 5 to
the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management
Plan, 7-9 p.m., Seaport Inn, Fairhaven, MA.
March 2
MLA Annual Meeting, 9 a.m., Maine Fishermen’s Forum, Rockport.
March 11-13
International Boston Seafood Show, Boston
Convention Center. FMI: 207-842-5504.
March 20
TAA Workshop, Alternative Enterprises,
5-8 p.m., University of Maine Machias.
RSVP 207-967-4555.
Plan, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Maine Fishermen’s
Forum, Rockport.
March 14
Plan, 7-9 p.m., Gloucester, MA.
March 3
TAA Workshop, Product Quality and Handling, 9 – 10:15 a.m., Maine Fishermen’s
Forum. RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 15
TAA Workshop, Lobster Market Overview,
5-8 p.m., Gulf of Maine Research Institute,
Portland. RSVP 207-967-4555.
TAA Workshop, Lobster Market Overview,
10:30 – 11:45 a.m., at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum. RSVP 207-967-4555.
Plan, 7- 9 p.m., Sheraton Harborside, Portsmouth, NH.
March 6
TAA Workshop, Marketing and Branding,
5-8 p.m., University of Maine Machias.
RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 7
Three films: “Fishing Voices: Insight into
the Future,” “Howard Hutchinson’s Memories of Stonington, Maine,” and “Maine’s
Disappearing Working Waterfront,” 5-7
p.m., Penobscot East Resource Center.
FMI: 367-2708.
March 16
Zone E MLA whale research outreach
meeting, 8-12 noon, DMR Laboratory,
Boothbay.
Zone F MLA whale research outreach
meeting, 2-6 p.m., Yarmouth Town Hall.
March 17
Zone G MLA whale research outreach
meeting , 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., McArthur
Library, Biddeford.
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March 21
TAA Workshop, Marketing and Branding,
5-8 p.m., Lincoln Street Center Gallery
Room, Rockland. RSVP 207-967-4555.
Plan, 7- 9 p.m., Holiday Inn By the Bay,
Portland.
March 28
Public hearing on Draft Amendment 5
to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, 7-9 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn ,
Warwick, RI.
March 29
TAA Workshop, Business Planning, 5-8
p.m., Ellsworth City Hall Auditorium.
RSVP 207-967-4555.
Upcoming
April 3
TAA Workshop, Business Planning
Workshop, 5-8 p.m., University of Maine
Machias. RSVP 207-967-4555.
MLA Directors meeting, 5 p.m., Darby’s
Restaurant, Belfast. FMI 967-4555. .
March 22
TAA Workshop, Product Quality and Handling, 5-8 p.m., Ellsworth City Hall. RSVP
207-967-4555.
April 11
5-8 p.m., Lincoln Street Center Gallery
Room, Rockland. RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 23-24
U.S.-Canada Lobster Town Meeting, Wyndham Hotel, Portland. FMI: 581-2751.
April 12
5-8 p.m., Gulf of Maine Research Institute,
Portland. RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 27
Plan, 7- 9 p.m., Radisson Hotel Plymouth,
MA.
April 24
5-8 p.m., Ellsworth City Hall Auditorium.
RSVP 207-967-4555.
March 2012
Seafood show continued from page 1
The show has grown out of other locations before finally landing in the sprawling Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. It’s been sold twice, most recently to
Diversified Communications in Portland, Maine.
In 1982, Kenelm Coons was executive director of the NEFDF, later named the
New England Fisheries Development Association and now defunct. Coons helped
start the show and organized all the conferences, even for a few years after the
show’s first sale. “It’s hard to believe the original Boston Seafood Show started with
42 exhibitors from Atlantic Canada and New England. Now there are over 800 exhibitors and while very few from the original list of New England companies continue to be exhibitors, they’re all at the show walking the floor or transacting business
in Boston hotel suites, and some also arrange day trips to their facilities,” said Coons.
When it became the biggest seafood show in the world, Diversified added “International” as the show’s first name to reflect the fact that dealers from all over the
world exhibit there. As the international presence increased, New England companies exhibited less. Today, Diversified’s newer show in Brussels is bigger than
Boston, but Coons said Boston is still “the most important seafood industry gettogether in the Western Hemisphere.”
The original exhibitors did not include lobster companies from the U.S., but a
few from Canada that sold both live lobsters and frozen “popsicle packs” were
there. “Now there is a significant representation of both New England and Canadian lobster companies exhibiting at the show with everything from live lobster to
value-added lobster products,” Coons said. “With the growing importance of the
Asian market and a large number of Asian exhibitors, there are sales opportunities
right on the show floor for U.S. and Canadian lobster exporters.”
New Meadows Lobster in Portland doesn’t exhibit, but owner Pete McAleney is
D
espite a sluggish economy and challenges such as low prices and high fuel costs,
lobster will have an increased presence at the International Boston Seafood Show,
March 11-13. The Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC) has expanded its booth size
from 10’ by 20’ to 20’ by 40’ feet, forming a pavilion to accommodate some dealers as well.
This is a big jump, particularly since the MLPC did not exhibit at all in 2007.
“In the past several years there’s been a ‘softness’ in the marketplace,” said Dane
Somers, MLPC executive director. “But now we’re seeing cautious optimism.” The pavilion will include seven Maine lobster dealers: Bar Harbor Foods/Looks Gourmet, JP’s
Shellfish, Little Bay Lobster, Lobster Web, Maine Coast Shellfish, Ready Seafood and Sea
Salt Lobster. Chef Wilfred Beriau will be providing lobster cooking demonstrations at the
pavilion throughout the show.
Eight Maine Lobster companies will exhibit independently: Browne Trading, Calendar
Islands Maine Lobster, Cobscook Bay, Cozy Harbor Seafood, Greenhead Lobster, Linda
Bean’s Perfect Maine, Portland Shellfish and Shucks Maine Lobster.
one of those dealers walking the floor. Well, he doesn’t so much walk the floor any
more, he says. “I pick an aisle and stand at the end of it and let everyone walk by me.
If you walk the floor, everyone walks at the same pace and you miss people!”
McAleney agrees. “The benefit is you get to see in person the people you talk to
all year. It’s not so much that you get more business, but you increase relationships,”
he said. “And you don’t have to worry about your business back home, because everyone else is there, too, wheeling and dealing.”
Linda L. Bean, owner of Linda Bean’s Maine Lobster, headquartered in Port
Clyde, exhibits regularly at the show. She often launches new products there. In 2011
she unveiled five new lobster products and a frozen clam chowder. “To exhibit at the
IBSS is costly. Some exhibitors spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to be there
— their booths are enormous, weigh tons, and need to be shipped, assembled, and
disassembled, all in a matter of days. To do this, their sales need to be ‘plenty’,” said
Bean. “Maine lobster booths are modest to small. It accurately reflects the fact that
our claw fishery is precious, containing a limited quantity in a small designated area
of the world’s oceans…. (but) Maine lobster is a world brand, like Alaska salmon.
For me, starting my sixth year in Maine lobster, it has value just to see that Linda
Bean — taking a stand for ‘all Maine, all the time’ — is still in the game.”
As the show grew, manufacturers began exhibiting processing equipment. Originally, seafood products and equipment were commingled on the show floor. Eventually they were divided into two separate but contiguous shows. The show has come
a long way since 1982, when nary a lobster processor could be seen. This year the
International Boston Seafood Show and Seafood Processing America gathering will
bring together the thousands of people and companies from around the world who
make seafood their business.
Somers would like to see a revival of the old days at the show, when Maine dealers mostly clustered on two sides of an entire aisle at the show with a banner overhead
proclaiming Maine Street. “We’ve been trying to get a pavilion together for years now,”
said Somers, who took over the council in 2008. “But people were reserved, taking a waitand-see attitude. Last year the attitude changed. People became optimistic that at least
things wouldn’t get worse.” Buoyed by increased interest from huge emerging markets
such as China, Somers points out that ever-increasing lobster landings demand new markets. “Where will they all go? Conditions in the US and Europe are still iffy, but things are
improving in Asia.”
In addition to its increased presence at the show, on the evening of March 12, the
MLPC will host a grand tasting-style Maine Lobster Reception at the nearby Exchange
Conference Center on the Boston Fish Pier, the historic home of the New England Fish
Exchange, now a function space overlooking Boston Harbor.

March 2012 - Maine Lobstermen`s Association

Transcription

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