unSafe Harbors Rockland Meeting November 5, 2021 Photos

 

Jon Lewis joins Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation - Boothbay Register

 Boothbay Register January 19, 2021

Jon Lewis joins Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation                                       By Crystal Canney, Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation is announcing Jon Lewis, the former director of Maine’s Aquaculture Division, is joining PMFHF’s efforts to protect the ocean.

Lewis said, “I am joining this effort because too many aquaculture leases are being approved without the ability to adequately oversee and monitor those leases.  Lease applications are growing quickly in both number and acreage requested which is leading to increased conflict along the Maine coastline. We have a gold rush mentality with aquaculture. 

PMFHF asked me to join the effort around legislation that would open discussions concerning the size of leases, and the transferability of those leases without a mandatory or even a publicly requested hearing. We need a statewide conversation and plan for aquaculture. Maine has no plan for aquaculture and we need to have that conversation with all stakeholders – the waters are a public trust and should be treated as such.”

Executive Director Crystal Canney said, “We are very pleased Jon has joined this effort. We have heard these same concerns expressed by lobstermen and communities up and down the coast of Maine. We are now hearing from small aquaculturists who believe large, industrialized leases could infringe on the small businesses they own and operate. Maine’s coast is a treasure and we should remember there are those who work, make a living, and recreate on the ocean. The ocean belongs to everyone and should not be put in the hands of a few.”

Lewis, of Boothbay, worked with the Maine Department of Marine Resources Aquaculture Program for 23 years as a scientist and diver and ultimately as the director of the newly formed Division of Aquaculture under the Bureau of Policy and Management. His responsibilities included environmental evaluations of proposed aquaculture lease sites, testimony at public hearings, and monitoring of shellfish, finfish and sea vegetable farms throughout the state.

Prior to joining the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Lewis was employed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for 15 years as a Wildlife Research Biologist with a focus on bears, sea lions, and seals. Lewis received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology from the University of Alaska. He is a United States Air Force veteran.

Maine government's sudden expansion of wind development - fishing industry responds.

The December 16, 2020 webinar about the state of Maine's latest offshore windpower initiative revealed an enormous change in plans. LISTEN BELOW TO AUDIO S OF GOVT & FISHFOLK  AT zoom meeting

Rather than 1-2 floating turbines off Monhegan, the state is now promoting 12 floating  "research turbines"  offshore the Sheepscot River as a 20 year "research" project -  selling power to the grid . Attendees mostly Midcoast fishfolk and reps of both the Maine Lobstering Union and the Maine Lobstermen's Association were  very skeptical of the state's plan as as presented by Celina Cunningham of the Governor's Energy Office and  DMR Deputy Commissioner Meredith Mendelson and the words of Chris Wissemann of Mitsubishi-owned offshore power wannabees Diamond Offshore Wind Development , 

1. Intro by Celia Cunningham, Governor's Energy Office 9 min 

2. Intro Cunningham Part 2. 11 min

3. Maine Deputy Marine Commissioner Meredith Mendelson 4min 28 sec

4.  QA1  Chris Wissemann , Diamond Offshore Wind Devel. Chicago 6min 40sec

 

5 QA 2 John Williamson_Meredith Mendelson 7min45sec 5

6. QA 3 Alan Tracey, Vessel Services, Portland & Cunningham 5min 15sec 

7 Davd Sullivan Maine Lobstering Union 3min 54sec

8. Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermens Association

9. QA_Dan ___  & Cunningham_Mendelson 3min49sec

10. Genevieve McDonald Q: BOEM involvement 1min

11. QA Troy and Celina 1min15sec

12.  QA Tom  & Celina

13.  Closing Remarks 2min37sec

Full meeting 98minute mp3 recording 

LBAs - ME Legislature got 2-agency briefing on Land Based Aquaculture 1/21/20.. AUDIO mp3s

On January 21, 2020, Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee got a briefing on  Land Based Aquaculture by  Dept of Marine Resources and Dept of Environmental Protection  Listen:


1.  DMR Deputy Commissioner Meredith Mendelson, 11 minutes,(CLICK HERE).   DMR slides 4 per link)
slide 1 ** slide 2 ** slide 3 ** slide 4

DEP's Bertocci,Wood and Livesay

2. Three DEP officials for 29 minutes including Q&A:  CLICK HERE FOR MP3) (No slides)
* Nick Livesay, director  Land Division, 
* Gregg Wood director Water Quality Division and 
* Cindy Bertocci, executive analyst at the Board of     Environmental Protection.

Bay Group calls for health advisory labeling of RAS salmon raised in mercury tainted waters

For Immediate release  12/12/19

Contact Ron Huber, 207 691-4634    Adrienne Caldwell 917 753-0563

Penobscot Bay activists call for health advisory labeling of RAS salmon raised in mercury tainted waters.

BUCKSPORT. Plans to grow market Atlantic salmon raised  from egg to harvest solely in water from mercury-contaminated waterbodies have raised concerns in Maine over potential dietary health risks for children and pregnant or nursing women.

In response, environmental group Friends of Penobscot Bay (BLOG) has written to the Maine Centers for Disease Control asking the state to develop an advisory label for salmon raised in recirculating aquaculture systems that use mercury tainted waters. Read letter here       

A recent report found Bucksport to be one of the most mercury polluted river towns in Maine.   While the state has strict mercury advisories on nearly all  Maine freshwater fishes,  and such saltwater species as striped bass, shark and swordfish, not so for RAS-farmed salmon.

FOPB noted that in the case of at least one project underway in Maine Whole Oceans LLC, salmon would  be raised  from egg to harvest in giant tanks filled with water piped continuously from  mercury tainted lower Penobscot River.  Ron Huber the group's  executive director  said that  "because of the real potential for significant mercury uptake by RAS tank farmed salmon exposed to these waters, we are asking  Maine Centers  for Disease Control  to expand its public health protections   by developing a warning label for salmon raised in any water that is considered polluted based on the court ordered of the Penobscot River Mercury Study."

 FOPB river coordinator Adrienne Caldwell, of Bucksport, said, “unlike wild salmon and open ocean net-pen salmon, RAS fishes raised solely in facilities that use water from upper Penobscot Bay or the lower Penobscot River will spend their entire lives swimming in and breathing waters known to have elevated mercury levels." 

"Let's be precautionary" she said. "Whole Ocean's claim that Recirculating Aquaculture Systems reduce mercury concentrations isn't good enough."

 Huber summarized the Whole Oceans project as  "in the wrong place at the right time. Yes," he said, " Land-Based Recirculating \Aquaculture is a growth agribiz, but no, the mercury tainted Penobscot estuary is not the place for it to grow."

" I mean, really?" he added. " Pick the most mercury-fouled river in the United States as water supply for your salmon tank farm startups?  If consumers knew, he added "they would be reluctant to buy salmon from that company,

Caldwell wondered "What were they thinking?".

The Friends of Penobscot Bay will be hosting a number of educational field events in the mercury contaminated area.

SUMMARY 
Maine currently has mercury health advisories for  nearly all fishes captured in Maine lakes and ponds, for striped bass, shark and swordfish, and an outright ban on lobstering and crabbing in the lower Penobscot River, due to significant mercury pollution of the waters and sediments.

   Currently, commercial raised atlantic salmon are considered low in mercury. due to the natural flushing activation of the  bays where net pens salmon farms are operated .   Friends of Penobscot Bay's proposal would add an  special advisory for salmon grown in tanks filled with such mercury impacted waters.  The label would recommend zero consumption of such tank-raised fishes by children under eight, or pregnant or nursing mothers - the same as for other fishes living in those waters.

The advisory labels would be required for
* Wholesale salmon distributors' invoices from a RAS facility with such challenges,
* Retail & online outlets where said fish is sold fresh, frozen or processed,
* Advertisements and commercials promoting salmon from that facility.

Friends of Penobscot Bay

People Who Care About Maine's Biggest Bay

POB 1971 Rockland ME 04841  FB: /penobscotbay

Maine's Land Based Aquaculture sent back to the sea. DMR pleased.

"For all at last returns to the sea -- to Oceanus, the ocean river..."  Rachel Carson was spot on, for that which was taken from DMR, hath  returned to DMR.
     Listen at the links below  to the legislature  switching licensing  jurisdiction over land based aquaculture back to the Department of Marine Resources This per Governor's bill LD 1763 at the Maine legislature May 23, 2019.
Listen to testimony by DMR Commissioner Keliher, then Listen to the complete hearing and work session, 39min.
Keliher was followed by testimony from Friends of Penobscot Bay's exec director Ron Huber and by Bill Keleher, president & CEO of Kennebec Biosciences These were followed by vigorous committee questioning of Keliher. Then the worksession where the committee voted Ought to Pass unanimously

Representative Lydia Blume

The committee held both the bill's public hearing and its work session, severing salmon tankfarm aquaculture licensing from the Dept of Agriculture Forestry and Conservation and restoring it to the Department of Marine Resources.
The bills' name is lengthy but clear:

"An Act To Transfer Responsibility for Licensing of Land-based Aquaculture from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to the Department of Marine Resources"

Senator Dave Miramant

      Huber affirmed the Commissioner's reasoning and cautioned the committee against adopting an amendment put forward by Sebastian Belle of the Maine Aquaculture Association. The amendment would  establishing a tiering system for enforcement. He said it had no right being within this bill on transferring jurisdiction. 

And...with no partisans present for the amendment and studied disinterest in the amendment from the commissioner , legislative uneasiness  led to thumbs downing ehe MAA amendment. Sorry, Sebastian!

DSCF to DMR opponent Kennebec Biosciences opposed the transfer asserting the DACF had the capability restoration to DMR unnecessary.

BACKSTORY DMR had midwifed landbased Recirculating Aquaculture SDystems - time back, developed the basic rules and regs.Then Lepage moved the program to Dept Agriculture Conservation & Forestry which was given a bit of money to have someone keep it going. But this was JUST BEFORE Nordic and Whole Oceans began to work their applications.ACF was not prepared for the magnitude of the projects put forward by Nordic Aqua Farms and Whole Oceans LLC.

Poor salmon tankfarmers are probably wondering why they didn't invest in something more stable, like sandworm aquaculture.

Searsport dredging issue heats up Summer 2015

Local and regional media coverage of the public hearing Held June 9, 2015 by maine DMR about  the proposed federal dredge

* Audio of selected speakers from the 6/9/26 public hearing


Coverage of the meeting
WCSH TV  Searsport Harbor dredging opponents speak at public hearing
Excerpt: "Opponents of the proposal said this dredging will harm the fishing industry. The Friends of Penobscot Bay Group says it will take at least four years for recovery and re-colonization of lobster in the area, and that would cause at much as a $68 million loss for the industry."


Belfast Republican Journal/Waldo Village Soup
Fishermen, environmental activists urge state officials to revisit dredging plans Department of Marine Resources hearing attracts more than 100 people
Fishermen and activists warned officials from the Department of Marine Resources June 9 that a "calamity of turbidity," seven years' bad catch and other hazards await the fishing industry if a major dredging at Mack Point marine terminal goes ahead as planned.

Bangor Daily News
Objections Raised over Searsport Dredging
Excerpt: "During the Maine Department of Marine Resources public hearing on the impact to the fishing industry of the dredging project....[all] who spoke warned of the possible negative effects the dredging and dumping of 900,000 cubic yards of silt and sediment could have on the bay."

DMR's Environmental Coordinator: Powerful official, little accountability.

Brian Swan was the Maine Department of Marine Resources  Environmental Coordinator for nearly 20 years.  This made him one of Maine's most powerful yet little known environmental officials. Why is Environmental Coordinating a powerful job? Read on.

Brian Swan: Does he or doesn't he?

The Environmental Coordinator is responsible for "conducting/coordinating environmental impact reviews for permits and federal consistency determinations for projects in the coastal zone".(1)

Such projects include "Wetland alteration, pollution discharge and dredging/dredge material disposal, both in organized and unorganized territories."  


 When developers come around with applications for coastal or marine development projects, the Environmental Coordinator's job has been to speak for Maine's marine resources. The fate of Maine's plankton, finfish, shellfish, seaworms, seabirds, seaweeds, eelgrass and marine mammals, the fate of the public's and shoreowners' access to the state's coastal waters, the fate of dredging and ocean windpower projects all rest in his hands. 

Why? Because the agencies that issue or deny permits or pollution licenses to developer wannabes consider the Environmental Coordinator's recommendations to be authoritative. 

If he tells a state or federal agency  on environmental permits and licenses like Maine DEP, Bureau of Public Land or fed agencies NOAA and Army Corps of Engineers that there will be "no significant adverse impact" from a dredging project, or armoring an eroding shoreline with boulders,  then those agencies then check off the box for "habitat and water quality of Maine's marine and estuarine fish and shellfish" in the development application. If the E.C. says otherwise,then its full stop for the developer.

What makes the Coordinator so powerful?  To put it simply: without his okay, neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor other federal or state agencies can approve development projects in Maine's territorial sea  or in her her bays, tidal wetlands or tidal rivers. 

This pursuant to the federal Coastal Zone Management Act or CZMA. As Maine's  2013 Guide to the Coastal Zone Management Act notes: 

"A federal license or permit, or other form of federal approval, certification, or authorization, listed below, may not be issued until the State concurs that the proposed activity is consistent with the enforceable policies of the Maine Coastal Program."

The Environmental Coordinator is the Maine state official who must concur on whether or not the applicant has met the "consistency standards" requirements of the Act.

Will a project have a  "significant adverse impacts to marine resources, traditional fishing, recreation, navigation or riparian access",

Whether it is a mammoth dredging project proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S Navy seeking to test sonar off Bath, the UMaine's DeepCwind Consortium floating windpower project off Monhegan, or a coastal homeowner seeking seeking to armor an eroding shoreline, if the Environmental Coordinator decides it'll have "significant" adverse impacts to our state's marine cology " adverse" then its not going to happen.   Details Here federal and here state

Do the Environmental Coordinator protect marine living marine resources or doesn't he?  

Good Bryan

Hard to say. The  record of Maine's former EC  conserving Maine's marine resources is hard to tell. For as far as Mr. Swan was concerned, his decisions and his records were seemingly none of our business. 

In the few Penobscot Bay area Environmental Reviews he has released - under pressure - Mr Swan has warned against   found "no significant impacts" in development proposals that terraformed the shore in Owls Head, Camden and Belfast

Bad Bryan

Is this a trend?  At a recent meeting and email correspondence recent and past, Mr Swan has shown extreme reluctance to making available the memos he has sent the Army Corps of Engineers and Maine DEP over the past two decades, advising them on the environmental impact to marine resources of these projects of reviewing development projects around Penobscot Bay.

Mr. Swan is also "responsible for environmental impact reviews on projects seeking public lands leases on publicly owned submerged and/or inter-tidal lands, which could have an effect on Maine's fisheries infrastructure, as well as reviewing and commenting on municipal comprehensive plans which may affect marine, estuarine and riverine resources"

Quite a loaded plate for a single midlevel DMR official!

He must be familiar with  local, state and federal officials and the  rules regulations laws and ordinances they regulate, ranging from municipal clam committees to Maine DEP, Maine DOT, the Bureau of Public Lands, the Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA and the Federal Highway administration.

When one of those agencies or municipalitiies needs to know if a development proposal would harm Maine's marine ecology, they ask DMR's Environmental Coordinator. Whatever he tells them they accept as the facts, and use it to inform their permit decisions.

From all evidence, however, Swan  rubberstamps every_ coastal sprawl application brought before him!  It doesn't matter if it's a homeowner wanting to "armor" 50 feet of a naturally eroding shore, or Sears Island's port wannabees. Or giant gas tank applicant DCP Midstream-which yearns to gobble acres of coastal forest, turning the natural tea of forest runoff there into petrol-tainted "stormwater" from its asphalt concrete and steel replacement of the existing forest, wetlands and peat.

He approves them all. No matter how big or small, it's always "no significant impacts".  At least that is what one must conclude by reading the few "reviews" of he has written that he has - very  grudgingly -  released.

Are coastal developers so ecologically conscious lately, their projects designed with such exquisite sensitivity?  Evidently Swan thinks so.

We've tried to get him to release copies of the "Impact reviews"  (aka "comments"  that he has written on development projects around Penobscot Bay.  But Brian "No significant Impact, no public hearing" Swan says he can't do that.   He only files projects by the owner's name. And, now,  he can't supply a list of those names. In fact, he says, why don't I go away? Go ask the Army Corps of Engineers for what he sent them, he urged. Or Maine DEP.

So I asked the Army Corps guy: he said get them from Swan. Swan's the originator. He is right of course.

But when I met with Swan, even though his filing cabinet and computer were only yards away from us, he said it would take up to four full work days of sustained effort to find his own files. Regrettably,  have to charge me $400 bucks or more for having to spend all those days hunting through his file drawer of "reviews" he wrote last year.

The tenacity of his opposition to revealing his own work product (not a scrap of it "confidential" by the way) strongly suggests that Brian Swan has something to hide.

rules and laws that restrict and guide development and conservation Maine's coastal zone and the interested parties from across the social and economic spectrum.  He must have the strength to hold firm in dedense opf anture and when to compromise

Under the state's rules, Brian Swan can order a public meeting or even a public hearing be held on a development application, either on his own judgement or based on a show of significant interest from interested persons.  For, the more input he gets from the interested and affected coastal public and private interests, the better his evaluation must surely be.

So how often does Maine Department of Marine Resources's Environmental Coordinator call a public meeting or hearing? 


Public Notice or Legal Notice # 3456348

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of Intent not to hold a Public Meeting The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has determined not to hold a public meeting on a proposal by Bath Iron Works to conduct maintenance dredging of up to 65,000 cubic yards of sandy material about every three years over a ten year period from an ~ 0.40 acre area within their dry dock Sinking Hole, a 5.5 acre ~ - 70 ft. MLW deep area previously constructed in the river. Disposal of materials would be in the river north of Bluff Head, Arrowsic in ~ 98 ft. of water, a location used by the Corps of Engineers for disposal of dredged material from the Kennebec River federal navigation project. Pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. ?480-D, sub-?9 DMR will accept verbal and written comments in lieu of a public meeting. If five or more persons request a public meeting within 30 days of this notice, by June 16, 2012, DMR will hold such a meeting. Contact: Brian Swan, DMR, P.O. Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575; tel.: 633-9510. #4593236

Posting Date:

05/17/2012

US Navy- Maine waters sonar testing 2013 plan. February 27, 2013.deadline for input

Stand up for wild Atlantis with a quick email or two, before the US Navy gets approved by Brian Swan of Maine DMR under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) to carry out sonar testing and other military actions in Maine state waters.

Read  DMR's legal notice about  the Navy application   

The deadline for Maine DMR  to accept public input on whether the sonar  and other actions are safe or not is February 27, 2013.  Details below.

WHAT IS HAPPENING The Navy has to get a Consistency Determination under the CZMA from Maine DMR that states that Maine's  marine wildlife in state waters won't be harmed by the Navy's sonar testing and other actions.  If Maine denies the Navy its approval, the Navy has to appeal directly  to President Obama for permission to override Maine. 

See Maine Guide to the Federal Consistency Review Process (pdf)

The Navy's proposed training and testing activities include  pier-side sonar testing at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Bath Iron Works, surface warship and submarine sonar maintenance, and anti-submarine tracking exercises in state waters.  Outside Maine state waters the Navy wants to carry out "at-sea testing of active sound navigation and ranging (sonar) devices, gunnery exercises, and torpedo tests". 

The  Navy has prepared a draft "Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Overseas EIS"  Maine DMR's  is supposed to read it and decide if it will harm Maine "marine resources". the EIS actually covers the waters along the entire east coast and Gulf of Mexico. But Maine is at the top end of the chain so what gets decided here, matters as precedent. The Navy website includes links to their environmental and conservation studiesm, including marine mammals and seabirds.

DEADLINE FEBRUARY 27, 2013 Written public comments regarding the Navy's getting a consistency determination must be submitted by email or postal mail to: Brian Swan, Maine Department of Marine Resources, P.O. Box 8, 194 McKown Point Road, West Boothbay, Maine 04575-008, brian.swan@maine.gov, on or before February 27, 2013.

.

Swan has been DMR federal  liaison for a long time. He usually just approves whatever the feds, Navy or others, want. YOU have an opportunity to stiffen his resolve to stand up for the wild marine life that the state of Maine proposes to turn its back on, while the navy proceeds with its antisub war games. The deadline is  February 27, 2013, if you want to get your two cents in.

Written public comments to: Brian Swan, Maine Department of Marine Resources, P.O. Box 8, 194 McKown Point Road, West Boothbay, Maine 04575-008, brian.swan@maine.gov  on or before February 27, 2013.

DMR Notice of Federal Consistency Determination. (full text)  Read  below or Click Here for web versionPublic comment deadline 2/27/13 (Note: I boldfaced words and made paragraph breaks for quick reading) "Please take notice that pursuant to Section 307 of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C33.1456, the United States Department of the Navy (Navy) has determined that military training and testing activities that it proposes to conduct in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Study Area (Study Area) are consistent to the maximum extent practicable with the enforceable policies of the Maine Coastal Program.  The Navy has requested the State's concurrence with its determination. The Study Area, which covers the United States East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, extends from the mean high water mark into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and thus includes state and federal coastal waters off Maine and other coastal states. Proposed training and testing activities, which are listed in the Navy's consistency determination, include those that are proposed to occur outside state coastal waters, such as at-sea testing of active sound navigation and ranging (sonar) devices, gunnery exercises, and torpedo tests; and activities that are proposed to or may occur in state coastal waters, such as pier-side sonar testing (at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Bath Iron Works), surface ship and submarine sonar maintenance, and anti-submarine tracking exercises. No activities are proposed to be conducted on land in Maine. Deadline for public comments are February 27, 2013 The Navy's consistency determination and supporting information, the Navy's Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) which assesses the potential environmental impacts of the activities proposed in the Study Area, are available for public inspection during normal working hours at the Department of Marine Resources, 194 McKown Point Road, West Boothbay, Maine or the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Geology, Natural Areas and Coastal Resources/Maine Coastal Program, 17 Elkins Lane, Augusta, Maine. The DEIS and related information may also be reviewed on-line and downloaded from the following Navy website: http://aftteis.com/ Written public comments regarding the Navy's consistency determination may be submitted to: Brian Swan, Maine Department of Marine Resources, P.O. Box 8, 194 McKown Point Road, West Boothbay, Maine 04575-008, brian.swan@maine.gov, on or before February 27, 2013.PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICE

Appeared in: Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram on Sunday, 01/27/2013

Maine Fishermens' Forum 2010, audio of meeting on nearshore windfarming plan

At the Maine Fishermen's Forum in Rockport Maine on Saturday March 6, 2010. a group of wind industry reps and academics, agency officials and ENGOs rolled out a late-in-the-session new bill LD 1810 that would open up all of Maine's nearshore fishing grounds to 40 to 50 year windfarm leases, replete with exemptions from state conservation and pollution laws and a host of other greasings of the skids..  Photos from the seminar
  
Listen below to the wind industry and government speakers at the Fishermen's Forumis event. A skeptical crowd of fishermen listens silently as the speakers make their pitches for leasing off Maine's state waters to  the power industry. Note that NOBODY gets any applause.   Unusual at the 'Forum.

Introduction Dierdre Gilbert Maine DMR  2min
Beth Nagusky, MDEP Office of Innovation 13 min
George Lapointe, Department of Marine Resources  5 minutes
Des Fitzgerald, Principle Power 10 Minutes
Peter Hughes, Fishermen's Energy, New Jersey 12 minutes
Neal Pettigrew, University of Maine  on Monhegan R&D site 11 minutes
Addison Ames, Vinalhaven Electric Coop 10 min
Rob Snyder, Island Institute  10 minutes

Smelt, lobsters, seaweed, shrimp, clams on agenda DMR advisory mtg 12/16/09

Smelt, lobsters, seaweed,  shrimp and clams  are on the agenda for the DMR Advisory Council meeting, December 16, 2009 1:00 p.m. at the   Natural Resource Service Center in Hallowell. The public is welcome to attend. Directions here.
 
The following regulations will be voted upon :

Chapter 40 Smelt Regulations and Chapter 55 Gear Restrictions, sections 20, 60 and 97
(C. Enterline) (PDF format, 68KB, 8 pages)
Chapter 22 Retail Shellfish (New), & Chapter 9.01(D) Update (B. Chamberlain)
(PDF format, 45KB, 6 pages).
Chapter 105 Safety Regulations (C. Fetterman) (PDF format, 134KB, 12 pages)
Chapter 8.20(N) Landings Program, Harvester Reporting, Lobster Harvest (S. Cotnoir)
(PDF format, 11KB, 1 page)
Chapter 25.09 Procedure for Issuing Seed Lobster Permits, and Chapter 25.90(A)(2) & (D)(2) citation correction (D. Gilbert) (PDF format, 21KB, 3 pages)
Chapter 29 Seaweed and Chapter 8 Landings Program – amend for Seaweed Buyer’s surcharge rules (P. Thayer) (PDF format, 115KB, 11 pages)
Chapter 11.10(H)(1,2,8) Scallops - Technical corrections to closure line descriptions (Lt. Cornish)
(PDF format, 11KB, 1 page)
Chapter 1 Watercraft Excise Tax Decal (Col. Fessenden) (PDF format, 11KB, 1 page)
Chapter 45.05(1)(A)(2) Shrimp Season, 2009– 2010 (regular rulemaking) (L. Churchill)
(PDF format, 9KB, 1 page)

nyt photo

Penobscot Bay shallow waters protection plan to kick off at Maine Coastal Waters Conference on Wednesday

Group to kick off Penobscot Bay protection plan at 2nd annual  Maine Coastal Waters Conference at  the Conference Center atop Ducktrap Mountain in Northport.

In addition to renewable energy and climate change's impacts to the Gulf of Maine conference attendees willl consider  Community participation in the management and conservation of coastal ecosystems .

An example of such community action began with last week's  granting by Maine Department of Marine Resources of a special license to Ron Huber, executive director of  Penobscot Bay Watch.  The  license allows group's members to use a 60 foot long small mesh beach seine net to catch and release nearshore juvenile cod and and other small fishes once a month at three locations along the shore of West Penobscot Bay: Stockton Harbor, Searsport Harbor and Rockland Harbor.

Captured fish and invertebrates will be photographed and  their size and color itemized, before they are released alive back into their homes.

"Sampling Maine's nearshore coastal waters for the presence or absence of our native fishes and crustaceans is vital to understanding the ecological health of the most vulnerable part of Penobscot Bay's  ecosystem, its nearshore waters" Huber said.  "We can't know where to go, unless we know where we are." 

"This shallow zone from low tide to 6 feet deep is  an ecological front line. It is where polluted runoff and shoreland development can have their most harmful effect."  Huber said.  "It is extremely important for a fishery recovery of Penobscot Bay that these shallow aters are watched over very closely. Penobscot Bay Watch aims to do just that."

Huber said that people interested in helping with the survey  to contact his group at 691-7485 or by email at ron.huber@penbay.org.  "It's strenuous but  a lot of fun," he said. describing pulling in the seine as "like playing Tug of War with Neptune."   Further information is available at the Penobscot Bay Watch website www.penbay.org

Penobscot Bay Watch: People who care about Penobscot Bay

Mussels of the intertidal- town control? LEGIS

Marine Resources Committee will be looking at two bills tomorrow morning starting 9AM . Wed Jan 30, 2008. One bill proposes granting coastal towns authority to regulate intertidal mussel dredging, instead of the state government; the other would make it possible for the Department of Marine Resources to more speedily close a fishery when a serious bycatch situation threatens. Listen to these hearings live on the web

LD 2006 An Act To Give Municipalities Control of Mussels Located in Intertidal Zones.
"Under current law, a municipality may adopt shellfish conservation programs. This bill expands the definition of "shellfish" to include mussels."

LD 1958. An Act To Make Marine Resources Management More Responsive.

'This bill changes all the rules that are adopted to limit the taking of a marine organism for the purpose of protecting another marine organism from major substantive rules to routine technical rules in order to allow the Department of Marine Resources to respond more effectively to fisheries management needs."