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In parts of Canada, lobstermen still catch their own bait not far from where they set their traps. Maine lobstermen once did the same, or bought herring from weir fishermen and stop seiners along nearby shores. But things have changed, and in the 70s and 80s the purse seine fleet gradually moved the herring fishery into deeper water, much to the chagrin of coast-bound fixed gear fishermen.
Now, increasing domination of the fishery by another emerging gear sector, mid-water trawlers, appears to be changing the nature of the herring industry. Mid-water trawling may be the most effective method yet devised to catch herring, and many purse seine and fixed gear fishermen feel it will destroy the nearshore herring stocks that small coastal communities depend on and move much of the fishery even further offshore - beyond the reach of purse seiners.
Contention has arisen as to whether the resource is being managed for the small communities that have historically depended on it, or for maximum efficiency on a purely economic level. Two of the National Standards of the
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Sustainable Fisheries Act appear to be in conflict. Standard 5 promotes economic efficiency, while Standard 8 seeks to minimize the impacts of regulations on traditional fishing communities.
Members of the mid-water trawl sector and many regulators believe it is possible to accommodate economic and community interests while protecting the resource. But increased quotas and relaxed spawning protection, featured in amendments to the current management plan,
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have made some fishermen skeptical.
On July 20, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Fisheries Advisory Council voted 5 to 4, to follow Commissioner George Lapointe's recommendation, and accept the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission plan.
"It was very controversial," said Craig Pendleton, of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA), who sits on the Council.
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