February 2023

From the Director -

How did everyone weather that cold snap that we just had?! In some areas, the wind
chill was a low as -50 degrees, with a lot more boats coming up at the yard and there
seems to be a lot of frozen pipes in homes everywhere. The weather had a five minute
frost bite and hypothermia warning. Thank goodness there were warming centers
throughout the communities. Thank you to everyone that gave a helping hand.

            There isn't a whole lot happening within the fishery at the moment. A lot of guys are
out there in this cold scallop dragging. I really commend them for their bravery to the
cold this year. As for the rest, traps are being mended, buoys are getting sanded and
painted, and doing the task of getting the whale friendly ropes ready for this next season.

            At this point in time, if you had funds withheld from your catch, the bonus checks
should be coming out soon. With the winter being such a difficult one, this will be a help
with our winter expenses. Our Commissioner told the Lobster Advisory Council at the
January meeting that checks, which are meant to offset the expense of the whale safe
rope, will be issued by the ASMFC and should arrive this spring. Pat stated that "The
Commission will be writing the checks, so make sure you don't see the envelope and
throw it away." The DMR will keep us posted as to when they should be starting to
arrive. The funds come from a $14 million appropriation approved by Congress last
year. This was also referred to as the Omnibus spending bill. This bill delayed the new
protection rule for the endangered whales for six years. This includes $55 million for
research and development of new technologies for monitoring the whales.
               
             All associations, including DELA were asked if we thought the formula for
determining who will receive funds is fair. Taking all things into consideration, they
worked very hard on coming up with a fair solution. DMR looked at the last three
licensing years (2019, 2020 and 2021) and came up with 4,976 harvesters among all three
classes of licenses. It was actually discovered that 1,023 were "extremely latent" due to
there was no record that they fished at all. Then the DMR ruled out payment for 1,167
that had minimal harvesting over those three years. They had fewer than 50 trips over the
entire three-year period. So this deemed that the remaining 46 percent of license-holders
were eligible, which will give them a check for $1 ,700. The Federal permit holders who
made more gear changes to comply with the rules, will be eligible for a $3,500 payment.
They will also qualify for a check if their landings exceeded the eligible poundage of
32,392 pounds but did not have 50 trips over the three-year period. The Lobster Advisory
Council called the formula "reasonable and equitable."

My biggest concern with this whole proposal, is that bureaucracy does not take too
long to do their research and paperwork to get the funds out to the fishermen. A lot of
guys are going to the banks for equipment loans, which puts the "cart before the horse."
Although I will admit, the overall expense of modifying the gear will cost a lot more than
the amount that has been allotted to us. Every little bit helps, that's for sure, we just need
to see it as our compensation before we have to pay out our own money to get this done
in time for the season. This rope work has definitely been an added expense and a lot of
extra labor to keep us compliant.

DELA will be at the Maine Fishermen's Forum in March. It will be good to see
everyone there once again! Please come by and see us and sign up for membership or
renew your membership if you haven't already. We have all been in this fight as a unified fishery effort. For those that do not know, we represent the Maine Fishermen's Forum,
the RED Board, (Maine lobster license plates), the Board of the Lobster Institute, we are
on the Governor's Council of the Fishermen's Working Group concerning the windmills
and representing our fishermen with sharing in the Maine Coastal News for our reports.
I try to put concerns out in my articles that concern our marine industry, in hopes of
preserving our traditions and our community working waterfront and living concerns.
We do not want to see our way of life disappear in time due to changing times.
There are still generations that are living this way of life and want to continue for our next
generations. We have a convenient membership form in the Maine Coastal News also.
We have a few open seats on our Board of Directors, so stop by if you really would like
to be involved and help to make a difference.

Take care and see you soon,

Sheila

FEBRUARY 2021
From the Director -
Welcome to 2021! We can hope that it is a better year than the last one for sure. It is a continuation, as we know, the COVID Virus will not go away overnight and it will take a while for the vaccine to make a difference. At this point in time, there are still no open meetings such as the Maine Fishermen’s Forum due to the fact that the Board did not know how to do the distance ruling. There are a few virtual events that are in the schedule in place of the Forum that is usually held each year. The events will be Shellfish Day, U. S. Coast Guard Safety Seminar, a Young Fishermen event, etc. When the schedule is finalized, it will be posted on the MFF Facebook page and website>www.mainefishermensforum.org> and announced media releases and email notifications.

The Maine Fishermen’s Forum Scholarships are still available this year. There is a total of $40,000 to be awarded to students whose families are involved with the fishing industry. There will be a drawing on March 5th with the results on the MFF website and Facebook page. There is a Forum Scholarship application, must be in their second year of college or vocational school and need to submit a transcript along with the application.

Prior winners are not eligible for the drawing. Applications can also be requested by calling 207-442-7700. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, March 3rd. Please contact MFF Coordinator Chilloa Young at coordinator@mainefishermensforum.org. for more information.
We have all been wondering where the CARES ACT checks are, which have been slow in arriving. The DMR and Commissioner have been very good about sending us updates and I’m sure that they are just as frustrated as we are. There is a little light at the end of the tunnel, as some folks have reported that they are starting to arrive in the mail.

Some have said that they are dated as early as December 14th when the check was issued.
So hang in there, it seems that we are learning the “Art of Patience” this year.

Also, with the help of the CARES ACT, the Maine DMR has launched a new Maine Seafood Brand Campaign. This fund has an allocation of $1,000,000 of the $20 million CARES ACT relief funds that was allocated by NOAA for Maine’s commercial fishing and seafood industry. “Like producers across the globe, Maine’s seafood industry continues to face the challenge of rapidly changing markets,” said DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher, “but this challenge also presents an opportunity.” “With more Maine people cooking from home, we have an opportunity to support Maine’s seafood industry by promoting the premium products we produce here at home.” said Gov. Mills.

Whale report: The recent court decision in Center for Biological Diversity v Ross, requires NMFS to finalize new regulations by May 31, 2021. If NMFS does not finalize the regulations by that time, lobster fishing will have to immediately shut down. NMFS will be accepting comments through March 1, 2021. So please, stay involved! The next issue is the petition that was submitted to Massachusetts to stop vertical lines, promoting ropeless fishing. WABI TV, Channel 5 did an interview with Mike concerning this petition, as Maine doesn’t usually get involved with Massachusetts issues, but a letter was sent from Maine to Massachusetts giving them our support, to not support ropeless fishing. Maine will be their next stop, as we all know.

We are all concerned about the Offshore Wind Project that Governor Mills is involved with. There is a site that you can sign up on that keeps you updated. It is called the Maine Offshore Wind Interested Parties List. On the web, it is called the Governor’s Energy Office. The e-mail is offshorewind@maine.gov. At this point, the State has announced its intention to apply for the country’s first offshore floating wind research in the Gulf of Maine. The Governor feels that it will allow the State, involve the fishing industry and many others to learn about the impacts of floating offshore wind together.

This will enable us to understand the technology and resources, but yet, to protect the interests, industries and the environment that we live and work in. We have all joined together with a letter to Governor Mills, asking for more time for the proper research and area concerns for the fishing industry, with MLA and other industry groups as well as individual fishermen that wanted to sign on the letter. We are all in this together and the bigger the voice, the stronger the support! Please send us your comments and suggestions by visiting our Facebook Page.
This is a lot to take up and consider for our future. Please feel free to contact us at any time, through email or by phone, 207 322-1924.

Please take care and I hope to see you sometime soon,
Sheila