Saving Seafood

Marine resources commissioner opposes task force to study addiction in fishing industry

December 6, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — The head of the Maine Department of Marine Resources has come out against a proposed bill to study the high rate of addiction in commercial fishing.

Patrick Keliher said a task force bill that will be introduced by Rep. Mick Devin, a Newcastle marine biologist who sits on the committee that oversees Keliher’s agency, focuses too narrowly on one industry. Keliher acknowledges the commercial fishing industry has a drug addiction problem, but no more so than any other line of work. Addiction is an issue that transcends the fishing industry, he said.

“While I applaud any effort to address the issue of drug addiction in Maine, I believe this bill focuses too much on one industry, when many others are impacted,” Keliher said in a statement Tuesday to the Press Herald. “This is an issue of statewide significance. Addiction does not discriminate. It affects many different professions, and any effort to address addiction should acknowledge that.”

 Keliher said he shared his concerns about the creation of a special addiction task force with Devin, as did members of his staff, before Devin asked the Legislative Council to green-light his bill for consideration by the Legislature when it returns in January. In even-numbered years, the Legislature tries to limit debate to emergency bills. Last week, the council decided, in a 6-4 vote, that the task force bill met that emergency threshold.

Bill calls for task force to stem the tide of addiction in Maine’s fishing industry

December 5, 2017 — Nine years ago, a young “wrinkler” drowned when he was swept away by the rising tide in Lubec Channel.

Kristopher Fergerson, 27, was picking periwinkles, a small edible snail, with a friend to make ends meet after losing his job as a carpenter. The medical examiner labeled his death an accident, but state Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle, a shellfish commissioner, blamed it on drugs. Toxicology results found morphine, Diazepam and ethanol in Fergerson’s blood, records show. The harvester stayed out too long because he needed money to buy drugs, Devin said.

“That was almost 10 years ago, and you’d hope things would have changed, but it’s only gotten worse,” Devin said. “His death has always stuck with me, but I know that it’s still happening. Fishermen are still dying from drugs. Fishermen in my district are telling me that young guys are using drugs and going out to work on the water every day, and that’s dangerous – for them, for the people they fish with and for our local fishing economy.”

Devin wants the Maine Legislature to create a task force to investigate the high rate of addiction among Maine’s commercial fishermen. Last week, a bill that Devin wants to submit to create that task force got a green light from the Legislative Council, which must approve all bills for consideration during even-numbered years when Maine tries to limit legislative debate to emergency matters. The council voted 6-4 in favor of considering the task force bill.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald