Hot Topics at the 2019 Maine Fishermen's Forum

Maine Fisherman's Forum  Feb 28, March 1st & 2nd Samoset Resort Rockport Three days of full immersion in Maine's fishing culture and industry, and its scientific and management cutting edges. Workshops galore! Free and open to the public

Thursday February 28, 2019
(9:00‐10:30 am)  Applied Shellfish Science Block, DMR & DownEast Institute  (DEI) clam seed projects (9:00‐10:00 am) DEI mussel seed presentation (10:00‐10:30 am)

1:00pm  Scallops Public Scoping Hearing: Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.  The New England Fishery Mgmt Council NEFMC wants to  safely develop "a growing directed scallop fishery in federal waters in the Northern Gulf of Maine" but must prevent a "derby" fishery of unrestrained dredging.

1:00 pm Monhegan Room Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps and Large Trawlers (eMOLT): Real Time Bottom Temperatures. Host Sheila Dassatt, Downeast Lobstermen’s Assn.
The Gulf of Maine itself is experiencing significant environmental change and as temperature is an essential parameter in the movement of commercially important species, it is a critical piece of knowledge for fishermen. The Environmental Monitors on Lobster Trap (and Large Trawlers) Program (eMOLT, see www.gomlf.org/emolt/) has been collecting bottom temperature data for nearly two decades, and now observations are reporting in real-time. Staff from the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation will show how to access the data both on and off the water, and offer opportunities to get involved. We will also share other ways of accessing real-time ocean information and forecasts through NERACOOS, and discuss with participants plans for future information products.\

Friday March 1, 2019
9:00 am Rockland Room Fishery-Dependent Data: What's in it for You? 
Although a lot of "data" gets collected from fishing vessels and seafood dealers, it isn't always clear how these data are used in  decisionmaking  This seminar is on how fishery dependent data is used, why it is important, and how it can help fishermen, scientists, and managers to make informed management decisions.

9am 9:00 am Rockport Room Maine Lobstermen’s Association 65th Annual Meeting  MLA's President, Kristan Porter, will offer his reflections.

10:30 am Rockland Room  Students in the Eastern  Maine Skipper's Program pose the question "How Do We Use Technology in Any Form to Contribute to Sustainable, Safe and Thriving Local Fisheries' Futures? "

10:30 am Rockport Room Update on Right Whale Status. Topics: Research and Potential Regulations , population and entanglement updates, an overview of where things stand with potential management actions and pending court cases, an update on the results from the ongoing DMR vertical line research project, and a demonstration of a new prototype for the Time Tension Line Cutter.

1:00 pm Rockland Room Quota Leasing Costs in New England's Groundfishery . In 2010, the majority of the New England groundfishing fleet switched from the Days At Sea management system, which controlled fishing catch by limiting days fished, to the Sector system, which limits catch using annual allocations of hard quotas.  This seminar will  be on the cost of leasing annual catch entitlements in this fishery.

1:00 pm Rockport Room DMR Lobster Science and Management Update In this double session, the results of DMR's lobster monitoring programs and new research projects will be presented and discussed.

2:45 pm Rockland Room Open Forum with NOAA Fisheries Leadership 

Saturday March 2, 2019
8:00 am Samoset Pool Water Survival Training: Water Safety and Emergency Egress Training
9:00 am Golf Club Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association - Annual Meeting

9:00 am Rockland Room Maine Lobster Boat Races 2019 Pre-Season Meeting The Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association (MLBRA) will hold its annual meeting to discuss the upcoming 2019 race season.

9:00 am Rockport Room  Youth and Maine's Fisheries& Aquaculture,  Maine Ocean School, a public magnet school in Searsport that offers an ocean themed high school education and transferable skills ocean-related career skills hosts a Leadership Forum" and  Aquaculture Workforce mtg". 

9:00 am Camden Room Preserving Maine's Working Waterfronts: How are We Doing, What's It Going to Take?  Maine still has a working waterfront, but these waterfronts are under increasing development pressure. As property values and taxes rise and residential or tourism based uses increase how will Maine hold on to its working waterfronts?

10:30am  Rockland Room The Food Guys  Think you know chowder? Think again.  Come try some interesting new dishes that COULD be called chowder.

10:30 am Rockport Room  Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative  Annual Presentation. Learn what the marketing teams  have been up to, promoting Maine lobster worldwide.

10:30 am Camden Room Technical Strategies for Anchoring Floating Aquaculture Systems

1:00 pm Rockland Room You & Your Money - Planning for the Retirement You Want

1:00 pm Rockport Room Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation  Warming Waters, Emerging Species and Market Changes: Lessons Learned from Southern New England’s Black Sea Bass and Jonah Crab fisheries

1:00 pm Camden Room Scallop Farming in Maine 

2:45 pm Rockland Room Show Me the Money: Options for Funding My Business’s Growth,

2:45 pm Rockport Room Developing Viable Fisheries and Markets for Green Crabs: Current and Future Opportunities and Challenges The invasive E

2:45 pm Camden Room Space-age Data and Shellfish Farming: How Data from Buoys to Satellites can Improve Site Selection

End

Bay History: 2007. Maine DEP rejects Samoset Pier Plan

Knox Village Soup 2007

Department of Environmental Protection denies Samoset pier

By Lynda Clancy | Apr 19, 2007

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ROCKLAND — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has denied Samorock LLC a permit to construct a pier, ramp and float on Rockland Harbor.

DEP Commissioner David Littell signed the order April 13, according to Jim Cassida of the DEP. Samorock, the parent company of the Samoset Resort, has until May 13 to appeal that decision to either the Board of Environmental Protection or Knox County Superior Court.

The DEP order, issued under the site location of development law, follows months of review by the state’s environmental agency of Samorock’s proposed pier.

"After reviewing the evidence in the record and viewing the project site, the department finds that there is at least one practicable alternative to the project that would be less damaging to the environment," the order said.

Samorock LLC, which owns the Samoset Resort in Rockland and Rockport, is moving through the regulatory process with both towns, as well as with the state, to permit a major expansion. The project includes construction of a pier, as well as new condominiums and cottages.

Two weeks ago, the Rockland City Council approved in first reading a proposed zone change that would allow Samorock LLC to construct 45 housing units on 18 acres adjacent to and accessed by the road leading to the Samoset Resort.

Last fall, the DEP issued an order approving the Samoset's condominium plans for Rockland.

In Rockport, the town’s planning board gave final approval to the Samoset’s proposed 49 cottages, a community building and a spa at its April 11 meeting.

As proposed by Samorock, the pier would be closer to the proposed Rockland condominiums and accessed from Samoset Resort property. It would extend into Rockland Harbor by 550 feet. The 12-foot-wide pier would include a 50-foot ramp and a 140-foot float, according to the draft permit on file at the Augusta office of the DEP.

The total length of the pier, ramp and float would be 740 feet.

The proposed float would accommodate three to four boats at a time for on-loading and off-loading passengers, the DEP said.

The order's suggested practicable alternative to the pier would be to use existing marina facilities in Rockland Harbor, as well as the existing ramp and float attached to the Rockland Breakwater. The order suggests the Samoset use road and water shuttles to transport residents and Samoset guests to and from their boats located at moorings in the established mooring area of Rockland Harbor.

The order concluded that the pier would unreasonably interfere with existing scenic, aesthetic, recreational and navigational uses, and that it would unreasonably harm a significant wildlife habitat.

END

Historic Wabanaki camp in Rockland ravine to be 'time capsuled'.

Maine State Archaeologist Arthur Spiess has written us with a report on his recent examination of a ravine on the northwest edge of Rockland Harbor. He'd gone there an inquiry from Penobscot Bay Watch concerning a recollection from a retired fisherman that Indians had made a summer camp there in the 1940s. The camp's location on the then-Samoset Road allowed them to sell basketry and other craft goods to tourists visiting or departing the first Samoset Resort.

Archaeologist Arthur Spiess found an relatively undisturbed trash midden on the upper edge of the ravine. Its contents dated from the late 19th century to the 1940s, leading him to concur with the fisherman's account--that a summertime Indian encampment occupied the ravine site in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

If confirmed, the location, dubbed ME 372-036 would be the first coastal Indian campsite of that era to be found and examined in midcoast Maine. Audio mp3 of the field visit. More Details: Click here Examination will have to wait, as ME 372-036 will be lightly buried upon the imminent filling of the ravine. Covered by geotextile cloth, then soil and sod, it will be available for future archeological digs in the coming years.

Dr. Spiess' further inquiries have found that Passmaquoddy Indians also camped at the ravine site.

MDEP nixes Samoset pier! Rockland Breakwater lobstering saved!

Rockland harbor lobstering, recreational fishing saved from resort pier plan.

Maine Department of Environmental Protection has rejected a proposal by Samorock to build a 550 foot pier in the scenic and fishery-rich waters adjacent to the Rockland Breakwater. The agency cited impacts to irreplaceable scenic resources, and noted the proposal's potential impacts to existing lobstering, recreational fishing and swimming uses of the site.

Maine DEP permit reviewer James Cassida wrote today: " The denial was issued by the Department on April 12th."

Rockland harbor lobsterman Arthur Johnson said "A lot of fishermen depend on Rockland harbor for their living. This is prime fishing area and next to a National Historic Landmark. This area should be protected forever from development of this type."

This marks the second time opponents of Samoset's pier plans have prevailed.
The city of Rockland's harbor commission has received a proposal to zone the harbor waters near the breakwater as a lobster fishing area. This would prevent future attempts at encroachment by marina sprawl wannabes.

Samoset has threatened to block public access to the historic breakwater if it didn't get its way. It is also seeking a zoning change from the city of Rockland allowing it to double the density of condominiums it has proposed to build near the breakwater.

Fat chance on either!