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L A N D I N G S
NEWS & VIEWS FROM MAINE'S LOBSTERING COMMUNITY
In January 2013, the MLCA launched Landings, a monthly newspaper which balances
its content amongst science, history, resource sustainability, economic development,
and human interest stories. Through Landings, MLCA educates the public and lobster
industry stakeholders about the unique characteristics of Maine’s lobstering traditions,
its history and heritage, ongoing research to maintain the sustainability of the resource,
and its non-harmful and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices.
Distributing more than 6,500 copies of this 24+page publication free via mail each
month to all of Maine’s commercial lobstermen, state government agency staff, elected
state officials, Congressional delegation, subscribers, marine businesses; and to the
public at various locations around the state including ferry terminals, marine supply
stores and annual educational forums.
Guest Column: Keep an eye out for sea turtles this season
First published in Landings, June, 2016. On July 12, 2015, Maine Marine Patrol learned that a six-foot-long leatherback sea turtle was entangled in the vertical lines of pot gear off the coast of Kennebunkport. Two officers, Chris Hilton and Ben Burns, diverted from their normal duties to help the turtle. It was important to reach the sea turtle quickly. Sea turtles, like their reptilian cousins, breathe air; the animal may drown if it cannot reach the surface to breathe due
Jun 21, 20163 min read
NEFMC May herring workshop brings out conflicting sectors
First published in Landings, June, 2016. The New England Fishery Management Council held a two-day workshop in Portland in May to discuss options for future herring management. Nearly a hundred stakeholders from government, conservation and the commercial fishing community shared their competing views on the importance of herring in the ecosystem and to the coastal economy. The workshop was organized by the Council as part of its development of Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Her
Jun 15, 20162 min read
Legislative Update: May 2016
Marine Patrol Gets Salary Increase A sincere thank you to everyone who pitched in on LD 1523 Resolve, To Provide Wage Parity for...
May 12, 20164 min read
MPO staffing poses problems in southern Maine
First published in Landings, February, 2016. There’s a delicate relationship at work between Maine lobstermen and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). Ask any lobsterman and it’s likely he or she will grumble about unnecessary regulations and high trap tag fees. But ask them about their local Marine Patrol Officer (MPO), and it’s just as likely that there will be grudging praise. Likewise, many MPOs commend lobstermen in their areas, citing their hard work and generally
Feb 12, 20165 min read
Got bait? DMR bait list finalized
First published in Landings, February, 2016. In 2012, the state Legislature gave the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) authority to review and prohibit the use of any freshwater or marine organism as lobster and crab bait that poses an unacceptable risk to the marine environment and consumers. The new authority was in response to the growing use by lobstermen of frozen bait made up of species caught on the West Coast, in fresh water or abroad. Those species potentially cou
Feb 6, 20163 min read
MLA Update: February 2016
MLA Directors Meeting Summary The MLA Directors met on January 6 in Belfast. Matt Jacobson, Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative...
Feb 5, 201610 min read
Lobster supply sees changes from 2010 to 2014
First published in Landings, January, 2016. The National Marine Fisheries Service publishes Fisheries of the United States (FUS), an annual yearbook of fishery statistics for the United States. The report provides data on U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries landings and values as well as other aspects of U.S. commercial fishing. In addition, data are reported on the U.S. seafood processing industry, imports and exports of fishery-related products, and domestic supply a
Jan 26, 20162 min read
Legislature to consider changes to lobster licensing system in 2016
First published in Landings, January, 2016. On November 19, Maine’s Legislative Council voted to allow LR 2423 An Act To Improve Maine’s Lobster Licensing and Limited-entry System, sponsored by Rep. Walter Kumiega, to be considered during the Second Regular Session of the 127th Legislature which convenes in January. The bill had previously been rejected for consideration during this session. Pressure to consider changes to Maine’s lobster licensing system has been building fo
Jan 21, 20166 min read
DMR takes conversations with lobstermen seriously
First published in Landings, November, 2015. Each year since he became head of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in 2012, Commissioner Patrick Keliher has held a coast-wide series of meetings with Maine lobstermen to have what he terms “conversations” about the state of the industry. The meetings, often held in the winter months when lobstermen have hauled their traps ashore, have required many hours of agency staff time and hundreds of miles of travel in order to reac
Nov 4, 20154 min read
Cashes Ledge nominated to be a National Monument
First published in Landings, October, 2015. In mid-September a coalition of environmental organizations, including the Conservation Law Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, petitioned President Barack Obama to designate Cashes Ledge and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts, a chain of undersea formations about 150 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, as National Marine Monuments. These woul
Oct 14, 20154 min read
Lobster meetings wrestle with entry, effort
First published in Landings, October, 2015. The Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) recent round of eight meetings with the lobster industry generated some heated debate, with eastern Maine zones largely in concurrence with DMR’s proposals and zones from midcoast to the west expressing concerns. DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher and several key staff members hit the road for the third time in recent years, this time to speak directly with lobstermen about some potential changes
Oct 1, 20159 min read
Lobster licensing topic of DMR meetings
First published in Landings, September, 2015. Ever since the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) released “An Independent Evaluation of the Maine Limited Entry System for Lobster and Crab,” a report prepared by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in December, 2012, lobstermen, state legislators and DMR staff have stepped up efforts to wrestle with how to improve the current licensing system. The issues noted in that report were the amount of latent effort existing in
Sep 3, 20152 min read
Recap of Marine Resources Committee activities
First published in Landings, July, 2015. The first session of the 127th Legislature has been relatively uneventful in the Marine Resources Committee. The committee has passed technical bills on such things as spat collection, elver exporting and elver quota transfer for medical reasons, as well as LD 98, which increased trap limits in the Swans Island Conservation Zone to 600. We enacted a measure that increases the penalty for “scrubbing,” removing the eggs from a female lob
Jul 30, 20151 min read
Additional Canadian lobster fisheries gain MSC certification
First published in Landings, July, 2015. The Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf and southern Gulf of St. Lawrence lobster trap fishery received certification by the Marine Stewardship Council in May. Following an independent assessment conducted by SAI Global, lobsters from the region are now eligible to bear the blue MSC eco-label, which demonstrates they come from a well-managed, environmentally sustainable source.The lobster fishery joins 259 other MSC-certified fisheries across
Jul 25, 20151 min read
Proposed reopening of Georges Bank areas concerns offshore lobstermen
First published in the Boston Globe, June 16. Reprinted in Landings, July, 2015 with permission. The council that oversees the region’s fishing industry voted [in June] to reopen vast swaths of Georges Bank to fishing, a decision decried by environmentalists as a blow to conservation efforts, but lauded by fishermen as a boon to their business. The vote by the New England Fisheries Management Council could lead to the opening of more than 5,000 square miles of some of the wor
Jul 19, 20153 min read
What is a Fisheries Management Plan? Part 1
First published in Landings, July, 2015. This summer lobstermen will once again haul in Maine’s signature crustacean by the millions. Boats will roar out to sea each morning and return laden with lobsters, putting money in the hands of lobstermen and the many small coastal communities that depend on them. Also this summer the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) will be working with the Lobster Advisory Council in developing a draft fishery management plan for lobster to put
Jul 8, 20157 min read
Guest Column: Lobster outlook positive, consolidation taking place
First published in Landings, June, 2015. The multi-year high points of lobster landings are continuing both in Maine and Canada. Maine lobster landings were 123.6 million pounds in 2014, making this the first time in more than 100 years of records that landings have exceeded 100 million pounds four years in a row. Canada Canada’s landings will be about 185 million pounds for 2015, probably a record. Landings for southwestern Nova Scotia (Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34 from H
Jun 26, 20154 min read
New England Fisheries Management Council Approves Omnibus Habitat Amendment, remaining issues to ...
Reprinted with permission from the New England Fishery Management Council in Landings, June, 2015. The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) made final decisions, referred to at the meeting as final preferred alternatives, on most sections of the Habitat Amendment at its meeting in Mystic, CT. Once all elements of the action — proposed area designations and those identified as vulnerable and requiring protection from the impacts of fishing — receive Council approv
Jun 11, 20154 min read
Federal Observer Coverage required in Maine Lobster Fishery
Published in Landings, June, 2015. Everyone is aware that groundfish vessels must carry fisheries observers aboard to collect data on the catch. But did you know that observers are assigned to lobster boats as well? The Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) is a federal observer program run by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, a part of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The program has been in place since 1989 with a mission to c
Jun 5, 20153 min read
What you need to know about how a bill becomes a law
First published in Landings, May, 2015. You wouldn’t be blamed if you admitted to finding the legislative process somewhat confusing. Cloture, amendments, public hearings and work sessions — it all seems like a complicated mess. But, if you take a closer look, it’s clear that the process is in fact very orderly, if time consuming. Understanding how the state Legislature works is important for Maine’s fishermen, who often face a bewildering array of proposed laws whenever the
May 14, 20156 min read
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