Tag Archives: commercial lobstermen
Days on the water, nights at Town Office: Harpswell lobsterman advocates for working waterfront on 7 committees
Matt Gilley stood in front of a shelf in his Cundy’s Harbor home. It holds a collection of marine oddities from the bottom of lobster traps, such as unique lobster claws, a seahorse, and a full-sized clam that grew inside a Coke bottle. “The fun part of it is, you don’t know what’s going to come up,” he said. Gilley himself is a rarity in Harpswell. In a town with 216 miles of coastline and “working waterfront” on many local signs, he is one of a small group of commercial lobstermen involved in town government, spending his mornings on the water and his evenings advocating for those who work on it. “I want to see lobstering continue, and the only way for that to continue is for there to be another generation,” he said. “If I can do anything to conserve what little we have left so other people can do it, I’m going to do it.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:10
Letter to the Editor: Stan Fox writes in about lobstering regulations and whales
I am 73 years-old and hold a non-commercial (NC) lobster license. NC licensees are limited to five traps, and the lobsters caught cannot be sold. Today, traps cost roughly $100 each; that is to say, I have $500 invested my gear – that’s nothing. A commercial lobsterman, however, fishing the 800-trap limit will have invested $80,000. To save the whales, I have seen that the ropeless traps proposed cost $4000 apiece and they require special on-board electronics. Instead of $500, my traps would cost $20,000, an untenable price for me. But for the commercial lobsterman with 800 traps, the cost would be $3.2 million dollars! Perhaps someone will come up with less costly technology, but for now it seems that someone wants to put lobstermen out of business. >click to read< 12:10
Lobsterman v. Lobsterman – Ropeless Fishing Divides Industry
At a virtual hearing last night, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF), presented the case of five commercial lobstermen who are seeking a Letter of Authorization to test the controversial equipment,,, But nearly 20 commercial lobstermen at the meeting said they were opposed for multiple reasons. Many said testing the gear during the closure puts the entire fishery at risk if a whale does get entangled. >click to read< 07:55
Maine’s leaders seek more time on whale protection rules
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is seeking to delay new federal whale protection rules, citing fears the state’s commercial lobstermen won’t be able to comply. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Mills urges federal fisheries regulators to extend the period for collecting public comment on the new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales by setting a seasonal closure and requiring modifications to gear. Mills said she believes it is “unconscionable” that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration only plans to hold one remote public hearing on the new regulations, which call for reducing by 90% the number of Atlantic Coast fixed gear fisheries, including lobster industry. >click to read< 15:14
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