June 25, 2020 โ Earlier this month, President Trump traveled to Maine to announce plans to reopen a vast marine preserve, created by President Obama in 2016, to commercial fishing. While ostensibly aimed at helping New England fishermen catch more fish and expand their businesses, Maine fishermenโand fishermen across the United Statesโare grappling with a sobering reality that the presidentโs controversial plan wonโt solve: They canโt sell their fish.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, only half of the fish harvested by Maine fishermen in May sold, and prices averaged 18 percent less in comparison to May the prior year. Landings were also down by more than half, at 44,495 pounds, because many fishermen arenโt going out to sea while the restaurants that are their main markets remain shuttered.
โItโs been a difficult slog over the past couple of months,โ says Ben Martens, executive director of Maine Coast Fishermanโs Association, emotion rising in his voice. โItโs just really scary right now, with the marketplace and COVID, and thinking about how we protect the fishing heritage.โ
For Martens, the presidentโs visit was a missed opportunity to address the real problems facing Maine fishermen. Very few, he says, even fished in the Northeast Canyon and Seamounts stretch of deep ocean before Obama designated it a marine monument to protect its fragile ecosystem and the sea turtles, mammals, and other life it supports.