Inside the DMR: The Office of Policy and Management

First published in Landings, February, 2013.

The Department of Marine Resources Office of Policy and Management, informally known as the Commissioner’s Office, is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the department—everything from organizing personnel, to managing the budget, to making sure the bills get paid.

The Commissioner’s Office also houses DMR staff who work on policy development and marine resource management at multiple levels of government. Their work ranges widely, from issuing aquaculture leases, holding public hearings, staffing the Department’s numerous Zone and Advisory Councils, providing testimony to the Marine Resources Committee in the Legislature, and representing the state on the New England Fishery Management Council, to participating on international bodies like the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee.

Each of these individuals has specific tasks or fisheries that they are responsible for, but also participate in a multi-faceted process to develop changes in the management of a fishery. Since taking office in July 2011, Commissioner Patrick Keliher has made it a priority to reach out to stakeholders and seek their input, either through meetings or by a standing open-door policy. By bringing interested parties together in a forum outside of the legislative or regulatory process, the Commissioner believes he will be able to develop better proposals before submitting a bill to the Legislature or beginning rulemaking. He also believes that two-way communication is key to helping everyone understand and appreciate the various perspectives involved in any of Maine’s fisheries – from the state to the harvesters, dealers, scientists, and interested members of the public.

As an example, the Commissioner recently went on a “road show,” holding 16 meetings around the state to solicit feedback from the lobster industry on three topics: short term solutions to preventing another glut of lobster on the market as we saw last summer; a tiered licensing proposal; and a marketing bill being considered this session by the Marine Resources Committee at the Legislature. DMR received a tremendous amount of very constructive feedback from these well-attended meetings and will be compiling a summary, as well as using it to evaluate if and how the Department will move forward with these three proposals.

Meetings like these are just the beginning of the Office of Policy and Management’s work. DMR submits agency bills to the legislature that advance the purpose of the Department, which is to conserve and develop marine and estuarine resources and to promote and develop Maine coastal fishing industries. The Marine Resources Committee holds public hearings on all the bills that address issues within its jurisdiction, giving interested parties another chance to have their voice heard on issues of importance to them. Currently there are seven DMR-sponsored bills before the legislature, including a bill to provide additional funding for marketing and promotion of the Maine lobster.

Rulemaking is the process by which DMR, or any state department, adds detail to broad mandates outlined in legislation. At DMR, rule development involves input from science, public health, enforcement and policy experts within DMR as well as Advisory Council members. The rulemaking process is again an opportunity for public input during hearings and via comments sent to the agency contact person listed on public notices published in the newspaper and on the DMR website.

As mentioned above, DMR receives information and guidance regarding administration, legislation, and regulation from various advisory councils. They include the Commercial Fishing Safety Council, the DMR Advisory Council, advisory councils for lobster, scallops, shellfish, and zone councils for sea urchins and lobsters which provide policy direction for specific geographic regions of the coast. The councils’ compositions vary, but most are comprised of harvesters, dealers, processors and interested members of the public, and provide valuable perspective to the Commissioner and staff on the many issues impacting Maine’s commercial fishing industries.

DMR also represents the state on two regional fishery management bodies. The first is the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), comprised of the 15 Atlantic coast states, including Maine. The Commission manages near-shore fishery resources that are primarily harvested inside three miles, often across the waters of multiple states, such as lobster and menhaden. The second is the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), which manages regional fisheries in federal waters. Both the ASMFC and NEFMC deliberate through lengthy public processes that provide opportunities for comments from interested stakeholders, supported by fishery specific technical and advisory committees.

DMR staff from the Commissioner’s Office also represents Maine interests on other state and federal boards and Councils, ranging from the Financial Authority of Maine and Land for Maine’s Future boards, to the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team and the Northeast Regional Planning Body, newly formed under the President’s National Ocean Policy to implement marine spatial planning. As the fisheries policy landscape becomes increasingly complex, it has become critical that DMR staff engage in issues that could have a significant impact on state fishery resources, but are less directly connected, such as ocean energy siting.

Finally, to advance its outreach efforts the department has recently created a new position, Director of Communications, and hired Maine native and communications veteran Jeff Nichols. Jeff will also serve as a business liaison, helping to connect seafood businesses with research, funding and development resources that may be available around the state. Jeff can be reached by phone at 624-6569 or by email at jeff.nichols@maine.gov.