New faces on lobster advisory council

First published in Landings, August, 2014. 

The state’s Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) has some new faces. The 13-member LAC, which was created by the Legislature in 1997, advises the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner on issues related to the state’s lobster industry.

Each of the state’s seven lobster zone councils nominates one person to represent it on the LAC, a process which takes place each fall. In addition, there are two people on the Council who are lobster dealers, one person who does not hold any fishing license, and three people not from the lobster zone councils who do hold a fishing license. Terry Savage of Holden, Marshall Spear of Yarmouth, Genevieve Kurilec McDonald of Stonington, John Jordan of Yarmouth, and Pete Daley of Hancock are new LAC members all of whom were selected by the DMR commissioner. Members Ted Hoskins, Elliott Thomas, Nick Lemieux, Dana Rice, and Pete McAleney have completed their terms.

“The Lobster Advisory Council is imperative to communicating fishermen’s needs to Augusta,” said newly appointed Genevieve Kurilec McDonald, 31. McDonald is the first woman to serve on the LAC in its history and represents the entire Downeast area. “It’s vital to the industry for fishermen to participate and have a voice in management decisions. I’m honored to be appointed to the LAC.” She noted that her role is to represent the interests of lobstermen from her region and in order to do that, she needs to hear what their concerns are.

Joshua Miller was elected to the LAC by the Zone D lobster council in 2013. The 37-year-old Tenants Harbor lobsterman replaced Port Clyde lobsterman Gerry Cushman. “I was willing to be on the Council,” Miller explained. He has a pragmatic view of his role. “I’d rather participate in the system than not. More and more in any fishery it’s about going to meetings and working with government. We’re still a little sheltered in lobstering in a way but that is changing,” he said.

One of the items that the LAC will be involved in this year is creation of a Fishery Management Plan for lobster in the state. Components of a lobster management plan will include the biological, ecological, and social elements of the lobster industry in Maine. As advisors to the DMR Commissioner, LAC members will be deeply involved in drafting the plan.

“I love it,” Miller responded when asked about the proposed management plan. “At the zone level we keep getting pushed by the Legislature. I think this is a way to get data on how each zone can sustain [management] changes. What we want to know is what’s the OK point. That will be different for each zone.”

“I want to express my appreciation personally to those members of the LAC whose terms have expired. They have provided invaluable input and given huge amounts of their time over the years to the Council’s work,” said Patrick Keliher, DMR Commissioner. “I am looking forward to working with the new members of the LAC as we continue to discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities that face the industry. It’s important that a full range of voices be involved in these discussions.”