Tag Archives: Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham
Community mourns young lobsterman lost at sea
Tylar Michaud’s boat, F/V Top Gun, was found Friday, July 21, southwest of Petit Manan Bar, with its engine running but no one on board. “The whole community is shaken by this,” said state Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, a Winter Harbor resident and himself a lobsterman. “I don’t think there’s anyone in this community that isn’t somehow connected to Tylar by family or friendship.” Michaud, a Steuben resident, was fishing alone, which carries inherent risks, but relative Michael Faulkingham said Tylar had fished for about five years on his own. He had also worked on Michael’s boat last year. “I know how careful he was and how smart he was on the boat, and how vigilant he was about paying attention and being careful,” Michael said. “He’s been a part of our family for about 11, 12 years. He was exceptionally responsible and wise on the water beyond his years.” >click to read< 08:59
Mother Jones Joins the Anti-Maine Lobster Bandwagon
Mother Jones magazine, a cornerstone of the progressive establishment, ran a lengthy piece today entitled: “To Save Whales, Should We Stop Eating Lobster?” The 2,300-word article can be seen as a reconsideration of the radical environment push to “red list” and otherwise boycott the iconic Maine fishery, and it included some surprise praise for the industry from a federal regulator. But the Monterey Bay Aquarium, sponsors of the left-wing group Seafood Watch, which red-listed the Maine lobster as non-sustainable last summer, is pressuring NOAA to come down harder on the lobster fishery. >click to read< 07:52
Maine lobstermen protest Whole Foods after product ban
Lobstermen and women protested Whole Foods in Portland on Monday, after they decided to stop selling Maine lobster. “It’s unfair, it’s unjust and the collateral damage is when others follow the lead that is not found in science and is based on fear,” Rep. Jim Thorne (R-Carmel) said. This is all stemming from the federal government’s stance on Maine lobstermen being a root cause in the endangerment of the Atlantic right whale. “Maine lobster industry is the gold standard of sustainability, and we don’t harm whales,” Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) said. Photos, Video, >click to read< 10:07
Maine House Republicans choose lobsterman as next minority leader
Republican lawmakers chose a Winter Harbor lobsterman and a New Gloucester business owner as their new leaders in the Maine House of Representatives during a caucus at the State House Monday. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, known as an outspoken advocate for the lobster industry, was chosen as minority leader. Rep. Amy Arata, who serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, was chosen as assistant minority leader. The pair will assume leadership after a disappointing election for Maine Republicans. While the party was expected to pick up seats in the Legislature, Democrats held their majority in the Senate and actually added to it in the House. >click to read< 07:45
Fishermen and politicians pledge to battle for Maine’s lobster industry in Stonington
More than 200 lobstermen and supporters amassed in the state’s most valuable fishing port Sunday to say they will continue to fight any attempts to put new regulations on the industry. Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher, one of more than 20 speakers at the rally, said regulators need to get better data on whale migration patterns in the Gulf of Maine. Julie Eaton of Deer Isle, who fishes out of Stonington, said fishermen have repeatedly sacrificed for years, changing their gear to accommodate new regulations. >click to read< 08:31
‘90% reduction decimates this whole town’: Lobsterman’s rally held in Stonington – “If you’re not here fighting for this, there might not be another day,” said Richard Larrabee Jr. “A 90% reduction decimates this whole town, our children ‘s futures. If my son wants to go fishing, he doesn’t have that option.” Video, >click to read<
Need for legal defense fund spotlights failures of federal lobster management
The Legislature’s recent passage of LD 1916, An Act to Create a Legal Defense Fund for the Maine Lobster Industry, shows a clear move by the state to protect its lobstermen from assumed federal government oversight. LD 1916, sponsored by Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, allocates money from an existing lobster license surcharge to help fund the legal battle against these tough regulations in the courtroom. Lobstermen have argued that the regulations aimed at protecting right whales are unfounded and not science-based. Some have argued that a right whale has not been found in the waters that have been closed off by NOAA since 2010. >click to read< 10:46
$30 million relief fund for lobstermen gets initial nod in Maine House
Starting on May 1, lobstermen in Maine will have to begin using weaker rope or special links on traplines that are designed to allow a whale to break free from fishing gear. The new federal regulations are aimed at preventing endangered North Atlantic right whales from potentially deadly entanglements. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, a fisherman from Winter Harbor in Hancock County, said the proposed $30 million fund from the state will help mitigate the costs for an iconic industry that generates more than $1 billion for the state. “We are going to be hurting for the money to comply with those rope regulations,” >click to read< 13:37
Maine: Lobstering will get more expensive for fishermen
The cost of lobstering in Maine will get a little more expensive this year with the price of mandated identification tags for traps increasing by 50 percent. The Department of Marine Resources has raised the cost from 50 cents to 75 cents per tag for the 2022 season. While it’s the first time in more than a decade that the price has gone up, it’s the latest rising cost for lobstermen, who also face higher fuel and bait prices. “It’s just one more thing,” said David Horner, a Southwest Harbor lobsterman. >click to read< 09:32
151 Maine legislators call on Biden to rescind new lobster fishing reg’s, while the real threat remains
State legislators have submitted a letter to President Joe Biden requesting (DEMAND!) that his administration take steps to immediately rescind new regulations on lobster fishing. The new regulations, which are intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale,,, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a lobster fisherman, initiated the letter. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson also criticized the new reg’s,, “The new 
federal regulations are an affront to the men and women who have made a living on Maine’s working waterfront for generations,,, I’m deeply disappointed that NOAA has decided to dismiss the voices of Maine’s lobstering workforce and chosen to go ahead with damaging regulations that do nothing more than hurt our fishermen, while the real threat to right whales remains, Canadian ships.” Video, >click to read< 16:03
Maine lobster industry rocked by new, unworkable federal regulations
New federal regulations created to protect the endangered right whale will close off a nearly 1,000 square mile strip in the Gulf of Maine to lobstering,,, “I was contacted yesterday by someone from the media to ask me about the closure, and that was the first I heard of a closure because a closure wasn’t even on the table for us. It wasn’t even supposed to be thought of and then, all of a sudden, Joe Biden just decided he needed to close a big area of ocean. It came as a surprise to everybody. It came as a surprise to the fishermen, it came as a surprise to everybody in the state of Maine, every politician. No one saw this 950 square mile closure coming,” Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham said. >click to read< 07:29
Challenges abound, but lobstermen say they’re in it for the long haul
Around 2 a.m. each morning, a parade of trucks from around the region begins the journey down to the Stonington docks, marking the start of another day of lobstering in Maine. In short, a large part of coastal Hancock County and beyond depend on lobster. One of the locals that has made her living off lobster is Julie Eaton, a member of Stonington’s 300-plus lobster boat fleet. She’s been at it for 39 years now and to her it’s not just a job, it’s a way of life. Every fisherman has their own story, but almost all of them say they got into the business because they love working on the ocean. 
For the hundreds of lobstermen in the region, things are going pretty well at the moment, even with the pandemic. While things are going well, if you talk to almost any Downeast lobstermen about the future of their industry, the conversation will come to two things: right whales and wind turbines. >click to read< 13:28
Whales, Warming and Offshore Wind Farms – Lobstering is under attack
As Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham described it, three seemingly combined forces are aligned and have put the bull’s-eye on the men and women in Maine whose lives depend on lobstering, whales, warming and wind power. The right whale protection consortium has heightened its efforts to alter nearly every aspect of Maine’s primary fishing industry by pushing the federal fisheries agencies to limit, reduce and even eliminate the fishing methods currently employed in the local waters and the Gulf of Maine,,, At best, the supposed science is leaning toward saving whales, with little regard for the men and women who are active conservationists every day while doing their jobs. The warming water folks, often the same groups and agencies that are involved with the right whale restrictions, also want to promote bureaucratic rules that will severely impact all forms of fishing. >click to read< 11:06
Time to hit the brakes on offshore wind farms
2017, offshore wind generation appeared to be a dead issue in Maine. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had just completed an extensive study that deemed it too expensive for ratepayers. Now it is moving again at the speed of light. What I would like to know is, why haven’t we started an independent study on the environmental impacts of offshore wind development? We have been told that we need to move quickly given the Governor’s ambitious goals. I have heard this repeatedly and from many people in the Legislature, the bureaucracy, special interest groups and from high-paid lobbyists working for foreign corporations. Where did these goals come from, and why are we using these goals as a target? >click to read< 16:55
More crew means more opportunity for fishermen to make good
As interstate and federal agencies move to cut use of Maine’s chief bait source — herring — by 75 percent and put in new rules to protect right whales, many of us who have fished lobsters through good times and bad face some very scary times in the next couple of years if we do not figure out a way to get the most out of every trap we put in the water. There’s talk of a trap reduction, of reducing the amount of bait we use, even of closing off valuable fishing areas for part of the year to men and women who have fished Maine waters since they could barely see over the side of the boat. Each of these will hurt Maine’s blue-collar fishing families and the towns we live in without giving anyone much hope for the future. >click to read< by Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham11:39
