State and Local

AUGUSTA, Maine — 4/3/13 — Today, the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources met with members of the Passamaquoddy Tribal Council at the State House in Augusta to seek resolution to the license dispute between the Tribe and the State. The dispute stems from the Tribe issuing licenses far in excess of the number allowed in recently enacted LD 451.

“The tone of this meeting was positive and clearly showed that both sides are working to understand each other’s point of view and are committed to finding a resolution to this issue in the near future,” stated Keliher. “We have some more work to do to reach a clear understanding with the Tribe around the license cap and compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission compliance issues that Maine faces.”

Currently, under the management plan established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), Maine can only issue 744 licenses and 1242 pieces of gear.  “Maine remains well under the gear limitations, however by issuing 575 licenses to tribal members, the Passamaquoddy puts the State out of compliance with the license limitation” stated Keliher.

“We’re obligated to enforce state law to remain compliant with the ASMFC plan and we will do so in a fair and just manner with anyone in violation of our laws,” he added. “With that being said, I remain hopeful that we will reach an agreement soon and I will continue to reach out to the tribe in an effort come to an understanding.”

The Commissioner explained that the public will have an opportunity to provide input into statewide management measures during an upcoming ASMFC public hearing on April 30 in the Augusta Armory from 1pm to 5pm. “The public hearing provides an opportunity for broad stakeholder input and participation where management measures, including the concept of quotas for this fishery as asserted by the Passamaquoddy, will be discussed.”

More information on the upcoming meeting can be found on the ASMFC website at http://www.asmfc.org/.

 

 

April 2, 2013 — The Passamaquoddy Tribe's violation of state law by selling more than its allotted number of elver fishing licenses is jeopardizing Maine's fisheries, economy and families, Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said Tuesday.

"The Passamaquoddy Tribe has indeed put the entire elver fishery at risk for Maine fishermen, but not due to the number of pounds of elvers they are landing," Keliher said in a news release Tuesday.

He said a management plan established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission limits Maine to a designated number of licenses and pieces of gear, and the commission can shut down fisheries in non-compliant states — as Maine is now.

Under the management plan, Maine is limited to 744 licenses and 1,242 pieces of gear, Keliher said. The state has issued about 400 licenses for the lucrative baby eels this year and allocated 150 to the Passamaquoddies. But they have refused to abide by the limit, saying they have sold 525 licenses.

That "puts the state out of compliance with the license limitation, regardless of the actual pounds landed," Keliher said.

He said officials must enforce state law to avoid possible closure of Maine's second-most valuable fishery, behind lobster, which would hurt hundreds of Maine families and the economy.

Read the full story from the Portland Press Herald

 

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — April 2, 2013 — Passamaquoddy Indians will keep fishing for lucrative glass eels in the state’s coastal rivers despite a warning from the governor that he might shut down the fishery if the tribe doesn’t follow state regulations, a tribal representative said Tuesday.

State officials say the tribe violated state law by issuing more than 500 licenses to catch the baby eels, known as elvers, which sell for up to $2,000 a pound. State law allows the tribe to issue only 200 licenses.

Gov. Paul LePage told Passamaquoddy Chief Clayton Cleaves in a heated phone call Monday that he would withdraw all support for the tribe and possibly shut down the fishery if the tribe didn’t follow state law, Tribal Council member Newell Lewey said.

The state doesn’t have authority over the tribe on fishing matters because the tribe never relinquished its fishing rights, Lewey maintained. Furthermore, the tribe considers its fishing regulations more conservation-minded than state regulations because the tribe sets a maximum allowable catch while the state puts a limit on licenses but not on how much can be harvested, he said.

Tribal members are going to keep fishing even after Marine Patrol officers and state police confronted four tribal fishermen Sunday night in eastern Maine and seized their fishing gear and after LePage delivered what tribal members considered to be a threat, Lewey said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

 

 

April 3, 2013 — Citing widespread evidence of an abundance of important commercial in shore fish stocks and a scientific study that found flaws in the modeling methods used by the government to set catch limits, a contingent of state lawmakers led by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Senate President Therese Murray are urging NOAA’s top fisheries official to allow the fleet reasonable access to stocks while new studies are conducted into the vitality of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.

Senator Tarr and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, both of Gloucester, were among the 33 signers of a letter sent Monday and released to the Times this morning addressed to Samuel D. Rauch III, the acting administer of fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The lawmakers emphasized to Rauch that a compelling legal case exists for the government to institute a second year of interim catch limits on Gulf of Maine cod, now in line for a 77 percent cut in landings based on a decision by Regional Administrator John Bullard and supported by a legal brief by the general counsel for NOAA that has been withheld from the public.

A delegation from Congress, the New England Fisheries Regional Council and the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition have all argued to Bullard in writing that the Magnuson-Stevens Act allows a second year of interim measures which would reduce but not eliminate overfishing,

The council is an arm of NOAA, comprised of 17 members. The coalition is the region’s largest industry group, representing about two thirds of the commercial fishing businesses, boats and shore-side.

Behind the letter, the authors wrote, is evidence in data supplied by the NOAA Fisheries Social Science Branch, reported by the Times in recent days, as well as reports by Gloucester’s two major auction houses of a “notable concentrations” of cod on Stellwagen Bank and “plentiful yellowtail flounder” landed by boats from Gloucester’s inshore fleet.

In addition, the state lawmakers cited a report published in January by scientists at the University of Washington that “documented that the current abundance modeling methods used to establish catch limits are ineffective at maximizing sustainable harvests.

“The report indicates that reaching the abundance levels developed by current models fails to effective cause maximum sustainable yield for 82 percent of the stocks examined.”

Murray, Tarr, Ferrante and their colleagues wrote that “in the context of large and growing discrepancies between stock assessments and the abundance reflected in harvester observations and landings and the pervasive inaccuracies documented by the University of Washington, the impending irreparable damage that would be caused by planned reductions in catch limits on species such as Gulf of Maine cod is unwarranted and indefensible.”

The letter asks Rauch to suspend the impending 77 percent cut in landings of in shore cod, implement an interim action to reduce but not end overfishing of cod and haddock from inshore waters, complete an interim stock assessment to reconcile current observations with government assessments and develop new limits on landings based on the scientific observations.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Read the letter to NOAA

April 2, 2013 — Gov. Paul LePage threatened retaliation against Maine's Passamaquoddy Tribe if it continues to issue elver-fishing licenses beyond the authorized state limit, a tribal council spokesman said Monday.

Newell Lewey of Pembroke said he and other tribal members were part of a one-minute conference call with LePage on Monday morning in which the governor asked them if the tribe would follow state law regarding the valuable elver fishery.

When they responded that the tribe, not the state, has authority over licensing, catch limits and enforcement for Passamaquoddies, LePage threatened reprisals in a "loud, enraged and demanding tone," said Lewey.

LePage said he would immediately withdraw all support for the tribe and suspend consulting with it on any matter; dismantle the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which promised to uncover the fate of Indian children taken from their families and placed with white families or in foster homes; and fight any proposal for a casino in Washington County, Lewey said.

"He also threatened to shut down the entire fishery," Lewey said.

Repeated calls to the governor's press secretary were not returned Monday night.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

 

April 2, 2013 — The Committee on Marine Resources on Monday tabled action on a bill to reorganize a council charged with promoting the state lobster industry until disagreements over how to pay for the council's work can be resolved.

The bill would increase the amount spent to promote and market Maine lobster to $3 million a year by its third year. The existing Lobster Promotion Council, created by the Legislature in 1991, has a budget of about $350,000.

Committee members still expect to send the bill to the full Legislature this session.

The measure calls for the council budget to be increased to $1 million the first year, $2 million the second and $3 million the third. At that point, the council's work would be evaluated to see whether the additional marketing has raised prices and demand.

"If it doesn't work, we'll all come in here and pull the plug," said Patrice McCarron, president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association in Kennebunk, which has been instrumental in developing the proposal. The additional money would be raised through surcharges over and above license fees charged annually to lobstermen, dealers, wholesalers, processors and shippers.

The bill would not allocate state funding for the council's budget increase, and lawmakers have been struggling over a formula for how much of the cost each segment of the industry should pay.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

 

April 1, 2013 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Today, in an effort to reach out to the tribe, Governor Paul R. LePage spoke by phone with Passamaquoddy Chief Clayton Cleaves to seek resolution. Unfortunately, the call did not result in an agreement by the Tribe to abide by state law.

Pursuant to recently enacted LD 451, the Passamaquoddy tribe is authorized by the legislature to issue 200 elver harvesting licenses. On Friday, March 29, the tribe had issued a total of 575 licenses.

Despite ongoing attempts to communicate these statutory requirements and potential law enforcement actions, the Passamaquoddy tribe has chosen to ignore the law and issue licenses that are invalid.

As a result, the Marine Patrol will continue, with the support of the Governor, Department of Marine Resources Commissioner, Patrick Keliher, and additional law enforcement agencies as necessary, to ensure appropriate response designed to protect the resource as well as public safety.

Last night, the Maine Marine Patrol, along with Commissioner Patrick Keliher encountered Passamaquoddy tribal members in Pembroke fishing without valid licenses and took appropriate action by confiscating gear that may result in issuance of summonses.

Meanwhile, additional enforcement authority over the elver fishery moved closer to passage today when the Marine Resources Committee voted that LD 632 ought to pass as amended, subject to language review.  The amended language included several provisions to improve enforceability of elver laws.

Despite the recent increased attention on the Passamaquoddy Tribe, these amendments address the fishery as a whole.

CALAIS, Maine — March 31, 2013 — Imposing a catch limit is a better way of protecting the state’s elver population than limiting the number of licenses that may be issued to fishermen, Clayton Cleaves, chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point said Sunday at a press conference outside the Wabanaki Culture Center.

Tribal representatives said that limiting the catch to 3,600 pounds and allowing fishermen to use just one net was a better way to manage the resource than issuing a set number of licenses to tribal members.

“Fishing is part of our tradition,” Cleaves said. “It’s part of our religion.”

In a telephone interview after the press conference, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said the tribe started talking about a quota-based system “very late” for it to be implemented this year.

“Conceptually, we’re not opposed to that, but for a successful quota-based system, you have to be able to monitor the harvesters and the dealers,” he said. “They’re not in control of the dealers.”

The press conference, which drew about 100 people to the Wabanaki Culture Center, was held in response to a statement Friday by Keliher that the tribe had put the state out of compliance with fishing restrictions imposed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission by issuing more than twice the number of elver licenses than it should have.

Keliher said that by issuing 575 licenses, the tribe has put Maine out of compliance with federal elver regulations.

“The Passamaquoddys have jeopardized this entire fishery for the entire state,” Keliher said.

Read the full story at The Bangor Daily News

ORONO, Maine — March 30, 2013 — Maine lobster fishermen are turning to the labor movement via the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers to protect and enhance their interests.

John Drouin, a Cutler lobsterman and vice chairman of the Maine Lobster Advisory Council noted that Maine lobstermen operate as independent business owners, compared with Canadian lobster fishermen, who are represented by unions and thus exert greater influence against the processors.

"Until the day comes when we become unionized or one big co-op, we are just 5,000 individuals," Drouin said.

Justin Dyer, a Vinalhaven lobster fisherman sounded a similar theme: "We've never been organized. We need to be proactive in our own industry, and we haven't been." 

Not so. Collective action is not foreign to the "toilers of the sea." History reveals that romantic images generated by our souvenir and gift shops, which cast the lobster fishermen as an independent, sturdy, self-reliant species of workers, may be somewhat limiting.

A glance at the dusty archives of Maine labor history reveals that when they believe they were denied the full "fruits of their labor" (the lobster catch ), lobster fishermen could become militant, engage in collective action, and shatter such stereotypical images of their life and work.

Read the full story from the Portland Press Herald 

 

 

MATTAPOISETT, Mass. — March 30, 2013 — For the first time in five years, the town of Mattapoisett is extending the season for harvesting bay scallops in the outer harbor.

The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen voted last Tuesday to allow scalloping until the end of April and to increase local quotas for fishermen.

“The local scallop population has been strong this year,” said Mattapoisett Town Administrator Michael J. Gagne. “The fishermen out there have been reporting good catches. . . . It’s the first time we’ve been able to [extend the season] since 2008, so we’re very pleased.”

It could well be an even better season for the handful of commercial fishermen who dredge Mattapoisett waters. Not only will they be able to fish for an extra month, they will also be allowed to take twice as many scallops, as the town is raising the daily catch limit from five to 10 bushels during April.

The bay scallop population can vary from year to year, and this has been a “particularly good year” for the mollusk in Mattapoisett, said Mike Hickey, chief biologist for the state’s shellfish program.

Unlike quahogs, which can survive for many decades, the life span of bay scallops is only 18 to 22 months, explained Hickey. They reach maturity when they are one year old, and most only spawn once in their lifetime.

State officials gave the green light to Mattapoisett to extend the season so fishermen can harvest the mature scallops available. Such a move makes sense because the adults “will die in the next month and a half anyway,” said Hickey.

Read the full story at Boston.com