Saving Seafood

Maine Supporting Bill to Try to Save State’s Clam Harvest

April 15, 2019 — Maine’s fishery managers are supporting a proposal designed to improve the clam haul by allowing towns to set limits on the size of clams that can be harvested.

Lawmakers are considering the bill, which would let municipalities set minimum and maximum size limits that are at least as strict as the state minimum of two inches. The bill sponsor, Democratic Rep. Joyce McCreight, says the move would allow towns to protect larger clams that can reproduce more.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S News and World Report

Proposal to license more lobstermen put off to next year

April 5, 2019 — A proposal to let dozens of new lobstermen into Maine’s signature fishery is going to be put off until at least 2020.

More than 200 people are waiting for a state license to harvest lobster, and the annual haul has grown in volume and value this decade. Earlier this year, state Rep. Joyce McCreight, a Democrat of Harpswell, proposed bringing people into the fishery if they’ve been waiting for 10 or more years.

McCreight said she’s going to withdraw the bill from the current legislative session and consider bringing it back in the next session, which starts in January. The lobster industry is facing too much uncertainty to bring more than 50 new fishermen in at once, she said.

Lobstermen have had several productive years in a row, but this year the business is facing a bait shortage and potential new fishing rules to protect rare whales.

“We’re going to soon have info about whales and bait. Let’s see what we get,” McCreight said. “I’d like to have a bill — let’s not kill it.”

Many members of the lobstering industry were skeptical of McCreight’s proposal from the beginning and some said holding it over until the next session is a good idea. Bringing new fishermen into the business could have also hurt the state in ongoing discussions with regulators about new whale protection rules, said Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine lobstermen ready for debate over license wait list

February 4, 2019 — There are few things in Maine as coveted as a lobster fishing license, and a proposal to bring dozens of people off the state’s license waiting list has fishermen in the state ready for a debate.

More than 200 people are waiting in the wings for a lobstering license, which has long been a ticket to the middle class for working coastal Mainers. But a proposal before a state legislative committee would bring new people into the fishery who have been waiting for 10 or more years.

That would instantly add more than 50 new fishermen to the industry during an era of high catches and strong prices, but also concern about warming oceans and new fishing restrictions designed to protect whales.

The proposal is up for a hearing on Tuesday before the Committee on Marine Resources. The bill’s presenter, Democratic Rep. Joyce McCreight of Harpswell, said the proposal is designed to help fishermen who have been the victim of a waiting list system that doesn’t often budge. But she acknowledged that there is opposition to the idea, and she’s expecting a lively hearing.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News