Catching lobsters with a dragger on the Maine coast.

Catching Lobsters with a groundfish trawler along the Maine coast
Click this link for photographs from two successive "tows" of dragging gear by the Maine/New Hampshire trawl survey in the waters of outer Penobscot Bay--from the initial haul-in of the net to the dumping out of the (primarily) lobster catches.

(Excerpted from Maine Department of Marine Resources annual trawl surveys of the state's marine waters. 2000 footage.)

Chilloa-ing effect on free speech at Maine Fishermen's Forum

Struggle to protect nearshore fishing grounds divides forum organizers. Opponents of efforts by the Samoset Resort to gain state permission to build a 550 foot yacht pier in a nearby Rockland Harbor commercial lobstering area brought their grievances to the Maine Fishermen's Forum in the form of a flyer featuring a photo of a lobsterman fishing the area that would be "taken" by the Samoset for its pier, floats, dozens of moorings and its no-fishing yacht access lanes.

The popular Fishermen's Forum brings hundreds of Maine lobstermen and other fishworkers together each year for three days of networking and seminars on the industry, marine science and fishery regulations

The flier about the breakwater controversy was liberally distributed throughout the Forums' display table areas on several days.

On Saturday, copies of it reached Samoset officials, and shortly after that, a grim-faced Chilloa Young, forum organizer, stalked through the halls with Maine SeaGrant official Paul Anderson sheepishly in tow, seizing about half of the offending literature before it was taken up by fishermen browsing over the dozens of display tables.

Asked if she had vetted all fliers at the Forum, or was quashing the lobstermen's complaint at the bidding of the resort, Young said that only those that paid for display space could distribute fliers at the event. (Needless to say, a small but significant percentage of the fliers at the Forum were from groups that had NOT paid for space, but being inoffensive to the owners of the facility, remained on display.)

The flier's distributors learned an important lesson: the bright red headlines of the second wave of fliers made them easy prey for the censors. The black and white version distributed Thursday apparently escaped their attention.

The incident showed both the clout of the well-connected Samoset resort's owners, who are being represented before state environmental agencies by the governor's brother Robert Baldacci, and the timidity of the commercial fishing industry's boosters in Maine, who frequently look the other way when big development projects gnaw away important inshore fishing grounds. Tsk tsk Chilloa and Paul...Whose side are you on, anyway?

Lower Penobscot River Watershed Coalition meets Feb 26, Bangor.

Like Penobscot Bay, the tidal Penobscot River plays an important role in the fish and wildlife ecology of the Gulf of Maine. The Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition is meeting February 26th from 10:00am – 2:00pm, at the Fish &Wildlife Building, 650 State Street, Bangor, ME to discuss protecting and restoring these values. The meeting is sponsored by Penobscot River Restoration Project Info: Gayle B. Zydlewski 207-862-3382. The draft agenda follows:

1. Review agenda

2. Introductions & Updates

3. Values of the Lower Penobscot Watershed that are worth preserving

4. What needs to happen to preserve these values

5. Overview of the Penobscot River Restoration Project

6. Discussion of Land Trusts and Watershed Councils

7. Elements of a Mission Statement

8. Discussion of organizational structure

9. Action items/next steps

10. Schedule next meeting

11. Other

Directions to Fish and Wildlife Bldg in Bangor:
Coming from I-95, take exit 187 (Hogan Road exit). If you are north bound, take a right onto Hogan Road and go to the Mount Hope intersection (third traffic light) and turn right. Approximately .3 miles take a left at the bus kiosk. This is the back entrance of the BMHI campus. Go past the large green barn. There will be a large parking lot on the right hand side of the road, and at the end of this is a three way-intersection. Turn right and look for the three-story rectangular brick building with a bronze deer sculpture in the front yard. That's the Fish & Wildlife Building. ASC is on the second floor.

If you are south bound, take a left on to Hogan Road and follow the directions.

Feb 14th legis ponder Kennebec migratory fish restoration, reimbursing Commercial Safety Councilors, limit mahogany quahog fishery to boat owners

Wednesday: Feb 14^th 1:00 pm PH
Room 214, Cross State Office Building

Public Hearing on Marine related Bills

LD# 324-Resolve to Require the Dept. of MAR to Report on Results on Anadromous Fish Restoration on the Kennebec River System

257-A/A to Allow Expense Reimbursement for the Commercial Fishing Safety Council

156-A/A to Require All Holders of Mahogany Quahog Licenses to Operate Their Own Vessels When Fishing for Quahogs (concept draft)

More info: Veronica Snow, Marine Resources Committee Clerk Tele: 207-287-1337

Lobsters from away, landing at a dock near you.

Bill seeks to lure out of state fishermen to land their lobsters in Maine.

LD 311 "An Act To Create a Nonresident Lobster and Crab Landing Permit"
Sponsored by Representative Walter Wheeler

"This bill creates a new permit that allows nonresident lobster fishermen to land their catch in a Maine port."

A farewell to seagulls?

Legislation would make it a crime to feed a seagull or any "migratory bird"
on public intertidal land on the coast of Maine and its islands.

LD 384 An Act To Further Protect Water Quality in Coastal Waters by Representative Leila Percy, Phippsburg expressly prohibits a most basic form of interspecies communication practiced in our area: tossing food to seagulls, ducks on the shore of the Gulf of maine.

"Prohibition. A person may not intentionally feed any migratory bird or seagull on public property in the intertidal zone."
As always, the fine folks in the state legislature's Marine Resources Committee
would be pleased to learn your point of view on this or any other marine legislation before them.

Shortnose Sturgeon, Elver fisher safety bills before marine resources committee Feb 7th

Augusta: Legislature's joint marine resources committee schedule
Wednesday: Feb. 7th 1:00 pm

9:00-10:30 am FY08-09 Budget hearing in Approp Committee.
1:00 pm Presentation: Sea Grant UMaine Cooperative Extension
Reports: Boater Safety and Endangered Species
Work session on LD# 140-A/A to List the Shortnose Sturgeon as a Marine Endangered Species
Work session on LD# 77-A/A to Provide for the Safety of Elver Fishermen Using Dip Nets

Sears Island: next state meeting Feb 5, '07 9 to 3

Sears Island Planning Initiative Steering Committee meets February 5, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Searsport. NOTE start time of 9:00. AGENDA:

I. Welcome, Introductions and Agenda Review (9:00 -9:15)
II. Presentation of DOT White Paper on Container Port Parameters (and Q & A) (9:15-10:15)

BREAK (10:15- 10:25)

III. Presentation on Proposed Easement Language (10:25-11:15)
IV. Private Meetings among Affinity Groups for Discussion of DOT White Paper and Proposed Easement Language (11:15 - 12:15)

LUNCH (12:15 – 1:00)

V. Whole Group Stakeholder Discussion of Draft Consensus Agreement (1:00 - 2:00)
VI. Followup Private Meetings among Affinity Groups (if necessary) (2:00-2:30)
VII. Next Steps & Adjourn (2:30-3:00)

Useful Links:
Fair Play for Sears Island
http://fairplayforsearsisland.org/
Maine Dept of Conservation Sears Island webpage
http://www.state.me.us/doc/initiatives/SearsIsland/SearsIsland.shtml

Bay Management Study final report out: Weak on solutions

"Managing Maine’s Nearshore Coastal Resources: Final Report of the Bay Management Study" Click Here

The report was just given to the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee
What's in it?

It starts by stating the problem:
Maine’s nearshore coastal waters are under increasing pressure from a variety of influences. The potential exists for both increased user conflicts and for further environmental degradation. At the same time, there are signs and symptoms that Maine’s current methods of nearshore management need improvement. Without embarking on enhancements to nearshore management, the health of the marine environment, the livelihoods and recreation that depend on it and the essence of Maine’s character may be at risk.

Solutions? Nothing new here.
A. Move towards regional management of nearshore waters.
B. Increase the amount, availability and accessibility of nearshore data and information.
C. Improve the state’s framework for nearshore management.
D. Increase the amount and diversity of funding sources.

Rockland Lobsterman to City Council: Save Our Industry from Marina Sprawl

Rockland lobsterman Artie Johnson tells the Rockland City Council to protect his industry! Waiting for Maine DEP to deny the Samorock yacht pier proposal is nervewracking to all concerned.

Salmon manure - Maine DEP tightfisted on details

Under an aquaculture agreement with the federal EPA, Maine oversees the NPDES pollution permitting license for finfish aquaculture. The salmon farms dotting the downeast coast must file monthly monitoring reports with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, detailing the amount of manure that has emanated from the up-to million farm salmon swimming in foreign-owned cages from Passamaquoddy Bay to Blue Hill Bay at any given time.

Read DEP Fact Sheet on Salmon farm pollution monitoring (PDF)

The reports arrive at MDEP's Bangor office in a tabulated format that Maine DEP, several years into receiving these reports, says it has yet to come up with a good way of printing them out or otherwise making them available.
to
This has angered and frustrated coastal environmentalists seeking this info -- vital to keeping track of these absentee-owned marine hog farms. But MDEP has persisted making these reports available to the public as paper printouts. on unscannable unreadable gray paper stock with the oversized table figures overcompressed to the point of unreadability.

The MDEP official in question Matthew Young admitted that "the printed form is a challenge to read" and agreed to "look into the possibility of creating a cd-rom with the electronic reports we have now...".

Further Young'll see where the agency as it as far as adding this waste discharge data to its publically available database. Watch this space...

Rockland lobster fishery protection debated at City Council meeting.

On January 8, 2007, A lobsterman and a conservationist spoke their minds to the Rockland city council about the Samorock pier proposal.
Click here for coverage of that council meeting,
Excerpt: Pier proposed near Rockland Breakwater...On the application to build a pier near the Rockland Breakwater, Ron Huber, executive director of Penobscot Bay Watch, and Art Johnson, a Rockland lobster fisherman, asked the council to take a position opposing the Samoset pier project.

“If built, the pier itself will close off fishing in the productive near-shore waters,” said Huber. “More fishing ground will be lost to the approach routes that would have to be kept free of lobster traps to avoid fouling the props of boats using the pier. It would increase pollution into this cleanest, most natural part of Rockland’s inner harbor.”
http://knox.villagesoup.com/print/Print.cfm?StoryID=84873

City harbormaster Ed Glaser has been too lukewarm about the subject, in their opinion, and can an earful from city fishermen, whose traps bring millions of dollars into the local economy. About two dozen harbor lobstermen have signed a petition to the city which was delivered last month.

Maine Legislature: 2007 bills so far

The 2007 session of the Maine legislature is underway. The first 200 bills that they'll be taking on can be read here.

One bill LD 16 will decriminalize lobster trap molesting!

Dragon Cement - which toxic wastes does it burn?

Back in November Dragon Cement rejected a request by Neighbors for a Safe Dragon (NSD) for the company's fuel/waste burning logs. Why? "Trade secrets," of course. NSD complained to Maine DEP's Peter Carney. He wrote to Dragon in early December, stating that the company must either (a) ship NSD their fuel logs with the 'trade secrets' blacked out, or (b) ship the uncensored list to DEP. The agency, he wrote, would decide whether the things Dragon wants redacted deserved it. Then DEP would pass the fuel logs to NSD either censored or not--though first giving Dragon a chance to appeal this to state court. Stay tuned...

Fishermen's opposition to Samorock pier rises.

Opposition rises among lobstermen opposed to Samoset's second attempt to build and operate a private pier nearby the Rockland Breakwater. See also Lobstermen's 2001 opposition and that of their community to Samoset's first attempt.

MEDIA:
* WCSH TV Portland, Bangor Maine Dec 29, 2006
"A proposal for a New Pier in Rockland has local lobstermen boiling...."

* Village Soup News, Knox County, Maine. " Dec 28, 2006 A petition suggesting Rockland take a stand for the Rockland Harbor lobstermen was delivered late Friday evening to City Hall...."

* Courier Gazette Rockland, Maine "A petition signed by 23 lobstermen has been filed with the city in opposition to the proposed Samoset marina next to the Rockland Breakwater. The petition will be presented to the city council..."

* Feds opposed earlier Samoset pier plan for rockland Breakwater 5 years ago. Read letter from National Marine Fisheries Service

Sears Island - talks continue.

Two accounts of yesterday's meeting in Searsport...

Tanya's Mitchell's account of the meeting Here

Peter Taber on yesterday's meeting on Sears Island.
Sears Island Update
By Peter Taber

“Today’s the critical day,” Deputy Conservation Commissioner Karin Tilberg predicted Tuesday in Searsport at the start of what many had long hoped would be the end of a now seven-month-long citizen planning initiative, its claimed goal to achieve a consensus recommendation to Gov. John Baldacci to decide the fate of Sears Island. “It’s going to happen today or it’s not going to happen,” she said.

Five hours of generally unproductive talk later, it clearly wasn’t going to happen. But as the new year rolls around, the approximately 40 “stakeholder” participants were assured, there will be more talk, lots of talk. Starting in January, there will be meetings both large and small. Those attending will mostly be from the ranks of the two now-dominant positions that have emerged from half a dozen lengthy open meetings since May, from an unknown number of smaller technically public but unannounced meetings, from a blizzard of email and telephone traffic among the participants.

One group is a familiar one that includes transportation industry representatives and officials of the Department of Transportation (DOT) who are straightforward in their desire for major port development on the west side of the island. According to a large map of the island prepared by the DOT’s Rob Elder on display in the meeting house behind the Searsport Congregational Church where Tuesday’s gathering was held, this would close off for port development some 300 acres of what at present is an entirely wild 941-acre island, the largest such public island property on the East Coast.

The other major group of initiative stakeholders are those ostensibly in the preservation camp, most of whom until recently argued for maintaining the entirety of the island in its natural state. Considering the stormy political history of the island, focus of the longest-running environmental battle in New England history, many of these stakeholders now appear prepared to make some truly astonishing concessions to the first group, their primary caveat being that they, too, should be allowed to embark on physical development of their own on the island in the form of some sort of “education center.”

Indeed, responding to a draft consensus proposal primarily authored by Jonathan Reitman, the Brunswick attorney serving as facilitator for the state-sponsored process, on Tuesday elements of this group made public a compromise version that would give the DOT the green light to start “marketing” perhaps 141 acres of the island for a cargo container port. Reitman had suggested about 241 acres with possibly about another 50 acres serving as “a flex easement.” The compromise version was prepared by Steve Miller, director of the Islesboro Islands Trust, who along with Scott Dickerson, his counterpart at Coastal Mountains Land Trust, has led the drive for non-industrial development of the island. It was unclear whether all the others present calling themselves environmentalists were endorsing this version. Most of these stakeholders spent a considerable portion of the early afternoon closeted away in a private planning session of their own closed to the press. What was clear, after they finally emerged for the open public session, the only criticism heard of the Miller proposal came from the mainline port proponents, who didn’t feel it went far enough to suit them.

The environmentalists included two representatives of the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Sierra Club footed much of the bill for a succession of legal maneuvers that stymied port developers and forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enforce provisions of the U.S. Clean Water Act. This activity brought attention to the enormous environmental damage that would be caused by a container port with a marginal wharf on the west shore of Sears Island, the very sort of project now being reconsidered. It also led to criminal investigation of some of those involved in the major preparatory work that did take place for the project, something that only failed to result in prosecution because the statute of limitations ran out. Further, it led to Normandeau Associates, which conducted some of the planning studies on behalf of the DOT for the project, having its privilege to bid for federal contracts suspended. The Sierra Club’s activities also resulted in the state agreeing to an $800,000 settlement to avoid prosecution for illegal filling of wetlands at the proposed port site. And, most significantly, it was this legal effort that ultimately forced Gov. Angus King to conclude in 1996 that the cost of mitigating for environmental damage made continuing with the port project an economically unsound idea.

Tuesday’s meeting opened with Tilberg seeking to clear the air in the wake of a Bangor Daily News article last Friday whose banner headline announced “Sears Island group reaches consensus on port.” “This is a very delicate time,” she cautioned as she went on to strongly deny suspicion her department was anything but transparent in its dealings, that it certainly would never attempt “to plant articles.” The story with its misleading headline was widely circulated by other news media including Maine Public Radio. Reporter Tom Groening said he “cringed” when he read the headline and blamed “some 25-year-old copyeditor” for the error.

END

Maine DEP still undecided on Samorock pier-sprawl plan for Rockland Breakwater.

Jim Cassida, Maine DEP's permit reviewer for the Samorock's plan for a yacht pier next to the Rockland Breakwater, continues to delay. Several days ago he answered an inquiry as to the status of the plan with:

"We are again waiting for a revised visual analysis. I will keep you posted. Jim"

So the wait continues...

DMR politicizes aquaculture decision

Maine Department of Marine Resources' aquaculture administrator is
throwing roadblocks in the way of a Rockland aquaculture proposal apparently in order to benefit a developer with personal ties to Governor Baldacci that is seeking to build a pier in a nearby location. At the same
time, Maine Department of Environmental Protection is poised to reject
the developer's pier proposal, due to its impact to the area's marine
resources.

Rockland resident Neal Parker filed an application with DMR on January
12th of this year for an experimental lease to grow sponges, eelgrass
and coralline algae in a two acre site near the Rockland Breakwater.
The species would be bottom-cultured with no cages, lines or pens.
Lobstering and recreational fishing would be permitted to continue
within the lease area.

While the proposal has met with acceptance by the residents and lobster
fishers of the area, DMR has done everything possible to slow down decision
making on Parker's application, apparently to benefit efforts by a
politically connected developer to build a pier in the same area. The
developer, Samorock LLC, is represented before state agencies by
Robert Baldacci, Governor John Baldacci's brother. Samorock owns
the Samoset resort.

DMR aquaculture administrator Mary Costigan has tried a variety of
tactics to delay decisionmaking on Parker's proposal. According to
documents released pursuant to a Freedom of Access Law request , Costigan
sought a scoping session on the proposal before receiving ANY comments
on the proposal. The scoping session was ultimately not held,
following objections by another DMR official.

Costigan then ordered a public hearing on the proposal, despite a lack
of public interest during the March comment period in doing so. Public
hearings are not required on experimental aquaculture leases unless
five or more individuals request one. Only three requests were
received. The would-be pier developer Samorock LLC did not request a
public hearing.

Moreover, while the agency typically holds public hearings on
experimental aquaculture proposals a few weeks after the close of the
comment period, Costigan has set the date for Parker's hearing for
late August, effectively preventing him from beginning work on his
lease site until next year.

By contrast, DMR received a mussel farm proposal in May and
will hold the public hearing in July, according to the mussel farm
applicant's father, Erick Swanson.

Remarkably, while Maine DMR's aquaculture administrator has been
bending over backwards to favor developer Samorock over its own
aquaculture applicant, officials at Maine Department of Environmental
Protection are poised to reject Samorock's pier proposal due to its
adverse effects on juvenile lobster habitat, the harbor lobster
fishery, shorebird nesting habitat and the aesthetics of the
breakwater area, according to DEP official Jim Cassida, who is
handling the application for that agency.

Cassida will be meeting with representatives of Samorock today to give
them an opportunity to withdraw their pier plan before the agency
rejects it.

Maine DEP proposed rejecting a similar Samorock proposal in 2001. The company withdrew its proposal at that time.

Sears Island's future at stake at meeting May 30th

On May 30th the Sears Island Planning Initiative Steering Committee will meet at the First Congregational Church of Searsport from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. All are welcome.
DOC info on Sears island meetings Click Here
DRAFT AGENDA
I. Welcome, Introductions and Agenda Review
II. Goals for the process
III. Proposed Groundrules for Effective Communication and Dispute Resolution
IV. Proposed Steering Committee Protocol
V. Composition of Steering Committee and Resource Circle
VI. Overview of Process, Proposed Work Plan and Timeline; discussion of public participation event(s)
VII. Creation of Subcommittees:
* Education (including materials)
* Public Participation
* Site Visit
* Other
VIII. Identification of Issues
IX. Summary and Adjourn

Public hearings June 12-13 on 2006-07 sea urchin seasons

(DMR) announces two public hearings on proposed rules to establish the 2006-2007 Maine sea urchin fishing seasons. Rules for both zones (Zone 1 to be followed by Zone 2) will be discussed at both hearings.

• Monday, June 12, 6pm at the Science Building Lecture Hall, University of Maine, 9 O’Brien Avenue, Machias.
• Tuesday, June 13, 6pm at the Lincoln County Communications Center Meeting Room (lower entrance behind the courthouse), Route 1, Wiscasset.

Agency contact person: Margaret Hunter
Mail written comments to: attn L Churchill
AGENCY NAME: Department of Marine Resources
ADDRESS: PO Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04575-0008
TELEPHONE: (207) 633-9584