April 17, 2013 — The groundfishing industry in the Northeast is going through a period of painful transition, but its future today is more secure than it has been in many years.
Recent years have been tough for the fishing fleet as reduced catch and higher fuel prices have put increasing pressures on boats and their crews. Strict federal management of fisheries along Maine’s coast has allowed fish stocks to begin to rebound.
Groundfishing is not a lost cause and neither are Maine-based fishing boats.
Today, the question is whether the state has the will to position itself for the future and to protect the working waterfront infrastructure necessary to support groundfishing.
Right now, federal regulations allow groundfishing boats fishing far from shore to catch and land lobster. Called “by-catch,” the lobsters help to diversify the economics of groundfishing without harming Maine’s lobster fishery.
Unfortunately, Maine is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t allow groundfishing boats to land the lobsters they catch while fishing for other species. The result: Maine fishing boats with Maine crews and Maine owners have little choice but to land their catch in Gloucester, Mass., where the “by-catch” is allowed.
Maine law has unnecessarily pushed the state’s groundfishing fleet out of the state.
To be clear, it is legal for groundfishing boats to catch up to 500 lobsters per trip in federal waters. The lobsters must meet state and federal standards. The point of contention is whether those lobsters can be landed in Maine or if they must go elsewhere.
LD 1097 would allow those lobsters to be landed in Portland, under the close supervision and monitoring of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The bill ensures that there will be no impact on Maine’s lobster fishery and gives the department the authority to institute new restrictions if necessary.
Bert Jongerden is the general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange, a nonprofit all display seafood auction that opened in 1986. It is quasi-public and governed by a board of directors representing seafood buyers and sellers, Portland residents and government leaders.
Read the full opinion article at the Bangor Daily News