Libby is a life-long fisherman from a Port Clyde fishing family. He has been active in fisheries management in various capacities for years. He helped establish the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association (MFA), which represents ground fishermen who are developing innovative approaches to sustainable fishing techniques and stock management methods. He was also instrumental in founding Fresh Catch, a marketing organization that has developed regional markets for fresh seafoods. The emphasis is on freshness and quality for its customers, and value added for the fishermen. The organization is meeting the growing demand for locally produced foods, while leaving more profits in local economies, Fresh Catch has said. As a small boat fishermen from a community that has seen its fleet decimated, he is seen as a desperately needed voice by the small boat fishery in New England, which for years has said that it has been underrepresented on the NEFMC. Although the larger number of New England fishermen are small-boat, family owned operations, large-boat and corporate fleets have held sway in management. The federal policies that come down through the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have opened the door to this consolidation. Critics have said NMFS policies are based on misguided 40-year-old politics and a misunderstanding of the resource that have been encouraged by the corporate beneficiaries. NMFS has confessed to having driven failed policies. However, consolidation continues at a rate that has alarmed fishing communities along the entire New England coast. Those communities have expressed the hope that the Libby appointment will bring greater balance to the council. Council membership is voluntary, and membership is by appointment. Appointments are made via a complicated process that involves recommendations to the seat, efforts in Washington, D.C., where the appointments are ultimately made by the Secretary of Commerce, nomination by the home state governor and marine resources commissioner, all with lobbying by the groups supporting the various candidates for a seat. Each appointment is a 3-year term, with two terms possible. A member can be reappointed to a third term after an interim of three years. |
