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 for about ten years, with concern growing in tandem with the amount of time apprentices spend waiting to obtain a commercial lobster license. There are now seven apprentices in Zone B and three in Zone D who have been on the waiting list for ten years. An additional 43 apprentices, spread across Zones B, D and G, have been waiting to obtain a lobster license for nine years.

Over the past decade, there have been many failed attempts within the Maine Legislature to find solutions to the issues of latent effort and long waiting times. Over these years, bills have sought to allow various forms of license transfer or to create exemptions to the lobster limited-entry program. One change did result a few years ago when the Legislature gave the zones authority to base exit ratios on the number of licenses or tags leaving that zone, rather than using just tags retired in the exit ratio. In response, zones A and B have changed their exit ratios from tags to licenses and Zone E is considering a similar change.

Interest in reforming Maine’s lobster licensing system has gathered momentum since the release of “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. Since then, apprentices, state legislators, Department of Marine Resources (DMR) staff and some lobstermen 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 the fishery (those with licenses who could set more traps than they currently do), the long waiting periods for those waiting to obtain a license in most zones, and the lack of a plan for a possible future decline in lobster landings.

During the most recent legislative session, four bills were submitted with proposals to address reforms of the lobster entry system. Rather than take action on these bills, the Legislature killed them to allow DMR Commissioner Keliher an opportunity to engage lobstermen on potential ways to reform the licensing system. In response, the Commissioner and several key staff members hit the road during late summer and early fall of 2015 to speak directly with lobstermen about potential changes to the lobster entry system. This was the DMR’s third round of coast-wide lobster industry meetings. During this most recent round, Keliher explained to lobstermen, “We need to create a functional entry system, but the resource is already fully exploited so we don’t want to increase effort into the fishery. But people on the waiting list are looking for a predictable time frame to receive a license so that they can plan to get into the fishery.”

Based on feedback from these eight meetings, DMR drafted a concept proposal to be used as the basis for the bill sponsored by Rep. Kumiega for consideration by the Legislature this winter. DMR’s Senior Policy Advisor, Deirdre Gilbert, explained to the Lobster Advisory Council in November that the proposal has five major components which encompass changes to the lobster entry program and address latent effort. The DMR has shared its proposal with the Lobster Advisory Council and zone councils (except Zone C, which met before it was available) and feedback on the proposal has been mixed.

The first proposal to be included in the bill is to return to using licenses to calculate exit ratios in all limited-entry zones. Zones would no longer be able to base exit ratios on tags retired. Zones A and B have already voted to change their exit ratio to licenses. Commissioner Keliher acknowledged these changes during his outreach meetings, referring to Zone A as the “poster child” of how to create a more functional entry system. Zone A voted to change its 3:1 exit ratio to licenses, which has allowed 22 people to come off the waiting list in the last two years. However, Zone B also changed its ratio to licenses but remained at 5:1 and has seen only four new entrants in the last two years.

Lobstermen from Zone D and Zone F acknowledged exit ratios based on licenses might work for some areas of the coast, but cited the need for zones to have different tools to deal with entry. Zone D and F lobstermen fear that changing exit ratios to licenses could lead to an increase in effort in their respective areas because licenses with little fishing activing will be retired and replaced with more active effort from new entrants. These lobstermen strongly oppose this change because it takes power away from the zones. DMR countered that the zone councils will still retain the authority to set their exit/entry ratio; however, it must be based on licenses.

The second proposal to be included in the bill is to raise the age by which a student must have completed the apprenticeship program from “before the age of 18” to “before the age of 23.” Gilbert explained that several conditions would apply to this change. The age increase will only apply to individuals who begin the apprenticeship program before they turn 18 years old. This provision would be retroactive, so that those 53 individuals who are currently on the waiting list and meet these criteria would be eligible to receive a license. An additional 11 apprentices are currently in the system and would be expected to receive a license based on these criteria if the bill passes. Moving forward, the additional time (after age 18) would only be available to apprentices who have completed high school or received a GED, but the requirement to remain a student would be waived. Most lobstermen were very sympathetic to the difficulty many students face in getting 1,000 apprentice hours completed while they are in school, and therefore support raising the age. However, there was a mixed response on making this retroactive with lobstermen both strongly supporting and opposing this provision. Many lobstermen also opposed the provision to waive the requirement to maintain status as a student in order to be eligible for this program.

The third proposal to be included in the bill would create a “Limited Commercial” lobster license to be sold at a reduced fee. DMR will propose that the license be sold for half price and be eligible for only 300 tags. If this license is created, the existing half-price over-70 licenses (LCO, LCO2 and LCO3) would be eliminated. This license would be available to all lobstermen to purchase on a voluntary basis, regardless of age. However, once a lobsterman “drops down” to the Limited Commercial license, s/he would no longer be eligible to purchase a full commercial license or a higher tag allocation in the future. The license would be counted toward the exit/entry ratio when it exits the fishery. A Zone F lobsterman stated that he would consider purchasing the Limited Commercial license to help out those on the waiting list, but a 300-tag limit would be too severe. He asked DMR to consider a 500-tag limit instead. Sarah Cotnoir, DMR’s Zone Council Liaison, clarified that purchasing a Limited Commercial license would not have any impact on those on the waiting list when the full commercial license was converted to a limited license. Rather, the Limited Commercial license would only be counted against the exit ratio when it is retired.

The fourth proposal to be included in the bill is to eliminate the limitation on increasing tags by 100 per year for all license holders who have already reached 800 tags. Instead, once a lobsterman has purchased 800 tags, s/he could drop down to a lower number and then back up to 800 without building back at 100 traps per year. Lobstermen did not voice any objections to this proposal.

The final piece of the proposed legislation would waive the requirement that a license holder must have apprenticed in that zone to obtain an island license that is part of the Island Limited Entry Program. Currently, Monhegan, Cliff, Frenchboro and the Cranberry Isles participate in the program.

Several lobstermen questioned why DMR did not include a proposal to require apprentices to renew their spot on the waiting list on an annual basis. And Zone G lobstermen were disappointed that the bill does not contain any provisions to deal with lobstermen on the waiting list seeking to transfer between zones.

Gilbert told the LAC that she does not expect to see the text of the bill drafted by the Legislature’s Revisor’s Office until January 25 at the earliest. Rep. Kumiega added that he expected the Marine Resources Committee would seek to schedule a public hearing on the bill in early February, and hold multiple work sessions during February and March in order to complete work on the bill by mid-March. The LAC hopes to meet in January to discuss the bill once it is available.

Once the bill is printed, it will be available through the Legislature’s website at www.legislature.maine.gov. DMR will email the bill to its lobster industry list. If you wish to receive lobster industry updates from DMR, send your email to sarah.cotnoir@maine.gov.