AUGUSTA, Maine — February 12, 2014 — A tentative agreement between state regulators and Maine’s Native American tribes for the upcoming elver season collapsed Wednesday as state officials cited concerns in the Attorney General’s Office that such an accord would violate the state Constitution and be impossible to enforce.
The development raises the already high stakes, with federal regulators threatening to shut down the multimillion-dollar commercial fishery unless the state advances a new management plan and reduces the catch by 35 percent from the 2013 season.
L.D. 1625, a bill advanced by the LePage administration and under review by the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee, is designed to enact that plan and allay regulators’ concerns about the sustainability of the fishery, which is now second in value to the state’s lobster industry.
An agreement with the tribes had been critical to the state’s management plan, which sought to set new limits on the catch without impinging on the sovereignty of the tribes, especially the Passamaquoddies. Last year, the tribe issued 575 licenses, well above the state limit of 200. That led to a clash between law enforcement officers and Passamaquoddy fishermen on the banks of the Pennamaquan River in Washington County.
Last week, the federal Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission gave preliminary approval to the state’s new management plan, which includes a reduction in the harvest to 11,750 pounds statewide, catch quotas for individuals, an electronic swipe card processing system and new penalties that would classify violations as Class D crimes, with $2,000 fines.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald