Bay History: 2001-2005 Environmental Conflicts & Initiatives.

The below archived Penobscot Bay Watch media releases  discuss relevant local/state/federal events & issues  as they rose and fell during Governor King's 2nd term and Governor Baldacci's 1st term .  2/2/01 - to 2/7/205  Topics  Knox county airport expansion, state rockweed conservation, Samoset marina sprawl, local landfills, out of state waste imports, dredge spoils, state trawl survey &, shedder lobster impacts,  salmon fishpens,  state aquaculture task force, shellfish farming, a Sears Island LNG terminal plan - and more!

NOTE some  internal links are outdated

2001

2/2/01  State delays decision on  Owl's Head airport expansion to  April. (jetification)

3/1/01  Lobstermen residents battle Samoset Resort over harbor fishing grounds  marina sprawl. Samoset

3/5/01  Picketers protest resort's controversial plan to build a yacht marina in Rockland Harbor's best lobstering area , Samoset

3/16/01  Did MBNA dump contaminated dredge spoils into Rockland's municipal landfill 

3/26/01 Rockland City Council rejects Samoset marina plan  

4/4/01  Federal agency rejects Samoset marina plan; orders eelgrass study of Rockland Harbor

6/6/01   Beach grasses shielding the sand dunes at Pemaquid Beach Park may finally gain additional protection

7/26/01 * US Fish and Wildlife Service bans the harvest of seaweeds at three National Wildlife Refuges on the Maine coast  

8/21/01 * Fishermen, islanders, conservationists fight fishpen sprawl: Penobscot Bay lobsters, wild salmon said at risk 

10/01/01  * Maine DMR Commissioner restricts state research videotapes, bans videotaping of future state trawl survey catches 

10/4/01  * Conservation Law group sues General Alum & Chemical Corp for polluting Penobscot Bay

10/21/01 * Fisheries panelists call for revamped fishing & aquaculture laws

11/8/01* 25 lobster boats out of Corea confront the Department of Marine Resources' survey trawler

11/22/01  Mainers criticize Snowe support of federal plan to bail out foreign fishpen companies

2002  

1/31/02 Aquaculture meeting raises Maine "open meeting law" concerns

2/4/02  Marine ecology chief and former Maine aquaculture official raise many eyebrows re  their handling of the trawl survey,  and aquaculture improprieties

2/8/02 Atlantic Salmon Federation calls for fishpen-free Penobscot Bay

2/11/02 Hearing on aquaculture reform brings together different points of view 

2/13/02 Legislators press fishpen industry for details on pesticide use

2/18/02 Commercial fishing industry, conservationists, tourism industry representatives call for fishpen moratorium 

2/19/02 Maine legislature to consider aquaculture moratorium 

2/22/02 DMR ordered to release files on aquaculture violations to Legislature 

2/25/02 Maine aquaculture reform bill attacked by DMR, aquaculture industry

2/26/02 Voices in the Maine aquaculture reform debate 

2/27/02 Legislature's Marine Resources Committee gives coastal towns power to regulate aquaculture 

3/2/02 DMR threatens to shut down lobstering if April trawl survey is resisted 

3/5/02 Fishermen sign petition to the Maine legislature calling for local control of aquaculture 

3/8/02 Marine trades, building industries in Knox, Waldo and Hancock county say fishpens harm business (Penobscot Bay Watch, 3/8/02)

3/30/02 Fishy Business: Aquaculture Reform Flames out in Maine

2003

4/7/03  Northport, Maine Speaks Out on Maine Aquaculture Bills 

4/10/03 Maine legislators hear pros and cons of aquaculture reform 

4/25/03 Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Aquaculture Task Force gets thumbs up

7/14/03  Rockland may accept construction waste from out of state for disposal in its quarry dump  

7/24/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force Gets Underway

8/7/03  Continued Marine Bioinvasions prompt tough new federal rules

8/15/03  Criticism has arisen concerning Governor John Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Marine Aquaculture

8/19/03  Maine Aquaculture Task Force hires Canadian consultants for fish farm economics study.

9/11/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force holds second meeting at the University of Maine's Darling Center

9/25/03 Aquaculture Task Force to hear from public & NGOs on fishfarms' impacts on property and scenic values

10/14/03  Aquaculture Task Force to explore coastal towns' role in decisionmaking 

10/17/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force opts for baywide management study 

10/28/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force Online Audio from the October 16 meeting in Rockland, Maine 

11/18/03  Criticism concerning aquaculture report submitted by a former DMR commissioner.

12/19/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force report to call for smaller municipal role, bigger fishfarms, more studies

2004

1/9/04 Study on carcinogens in farmed Atlantic salmon available online 

1/28/04  Final Draft Report: Governor's Task Force on the Planning and Development of Marine Aquaculture.

2/9/04 Maine legislators to get presentation from Governor's Task Force on Aquaculture

2/18/04Maine legislators to hear from public on major aquaculture bill .

2/23/04 Legislators urged: drop acreage boost from aquaculture bill.

3/1/04 Opponents of Northport mussel farm expansion call it threat to navigation 

3/12/04 LNG tankers could force 15% drop in Penobscot Bay lobsterfishing 

4/20/04 Searsport residents warned by Harpswell lobstermen: Don't trust LNG corporations 

5/5/04  Federal Wilderness Proposed for 13 Islands off the Maine Coast 

7/28/04 Controversial decision by organizers of a statewide forum on LNG to block a Harpswell fishermen's organization 

8/24/04  Fishermen speak out against wasteful pair trawl herring fishery off Maine 

8/31/04  Released documents show politics behind Baldacci Sears Island LNG policies

2005 

2/7/05  Beginning of Maine's coastwide Bay Management Project 

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