DMR Report Card: “Many Serious Impediments And Deficiencies”

by Laurie Schreiber

A recently released “top-to-bottom” assessment of the Department of Marine Resources’ structure, operations, procedures and policies has deemed the agency as insufficient in its structure and management for carrying out its state-mandated mission.

The “Program Review of the Maine Department of Marine Resources” was conducted by a review committee comprised of independent consultants Pete Jensen, David Wallace and David Borden. On September 9, a press release from the office of Governor Paul LePage announced the review was complete and available to the public (maine.gov/dmr).

According to the report, the three consultants have held prominent positions in federal/ state agencies, or headed large companies or divisions in the private sector. Wallace has owned seafood processing companies and fishing vessels, worked for a publicly held company involved in domestic seafood production and international manufacturing of food and seafood products, and served as the vice president and chief operating officer of a major seafood company.

Jensen has been involved in natural resources management for 50 years. He has held positions at the national level in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and as a Director of Fisheries for Maryland, as well as Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Among other positions, he was commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) for many years, and has served on 18 U.S. delegations to international treaties.

Borden has been involved in fisheries management for 38 years. Among his positions, he was the associate director of Natural Resources for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management from 2002-2004, and worked for the department for 30 years.

The review was commissioned by LePage earlier this year, according to the governor’s press release. At that time, said the release, commissioners of all the state’s agencies, including the DMR’s former commissioner, Norman Olsen, were asked by the governor “to assess all operations, procedures and policies in order to improve department functions.”

The review committee started the review process in June, with a deadline of submitting a draft report to the DMR commissioner by late August. The review process was composed of three parts which related to information collection, review of enabling legislation, and personnel interviews. Members of the committee traveled to Maine three times and interviewed 65 DMR staff members (approximately 34 percent of the staff). The committee also met with a limited number of legislators, all of whom serve on the Marine Resources Committee.

According to the report’s executive summary, “The Department is not structured or managed in a way that will carry out the Purpose of the Department as stated in Maine's Marine Resource Law Chapter 603: ‘The Department of Marine Resources is established to conserve and develop marine and estuarine resources; to conduct and sponsor scientific research; to promote and develop the Maine coastal fishing industries; to advise and cooperate with local, state and federal officials concerning activities in coastal waters; and to implement, administer and enforce the laws and regulations necessary for these enumerated purposes, as well as the exercise of all authority conferred by this Part.’”

In the report, the consultants identified “many serious impediments and deficiencies” in the DMR. They recommended that the DMR should be restructured, and activities prioritized, around “a strong legislative policy requiring sustainable resource management based on management plans with clear objectives and goals, all of which are based on the best available science.” There was “a high level of concern” among DMR staff over the status of many of Maine’s fish and shellfish stocks, the report said.

Specific concerns included the question of whether the high level of lobster harvest can be sustained, and whether there are fisheries that exhibit “boom and bust” symptoms of unconstrained harvests followed by steep declines in the resource. The problems are compounded, the report said, in the absence of reference points by which to judge the status of stocks.

“A key concern of the review committee is the fact that 70 percent of the income from commercial fishing comes from one fishery: the lobster fishery,” the report said. “We believe there is a critical need for the Department and State government to take aggressive action on a number of initiatives in order to diversify the sources of income for commercial fishers. Failure to do so could jeopardize a number of coastal communities, should there be even a slight decline in the lobster resource in the future.

“There are excellent opportunities to increase the economic value and job growth of Maine’s marine fishing economy through changes that foster rebuilding stocks, managing fish and shellfish stocks for sustainability, facilitating aquaculture, policy changes to make Maine a more fish business friendly state, and improved management of the Department.”

The report recommended that the DMR develop a budget proposal for the legislature that increases funding by 20 percent, with half to be paid for by additional general fund appropriations and the other half by user fees/license revenue; that the DMR lower costs by reviewing outside contractor services and reassigning contract work to additional seasonal staff; and create a federal aid coordinator position to coordinate federal aid, which makes up 21 percent of DMR funding.

The report had a number of recommendations for improving personnel performance. These included: providing additional educational opportunities for staff, improving internal communications, establishing a system to record staff attendance, developing an overall accountability policy for staffers who work at home, conducting performance reviews, holding regular staff meetings, and planning for staff advancement and retirement.

Among other recommendations:

• Increase the size of the fishery management staff by adding staff who have education or work experience with fishery management programs on a regional or national level.

• Establish a public relations position to provide positive information about DMR activities to aid the public and the legislature in understanding the agency’s operations.

• Prioritize research opportunities and better align them with management goals, promoting economic development, economic diversification, and employment.

• Prepare an annual summary of the status of each major fish stock within the state, and identify a timeline for rebuilding overfished or overexploited stocks and a rebuilding target for each stock.

• Establish a seafood marketing program to promote wild and aquaculture products and the development of a value-added industry.

• Give DMR the "clear authority" to reject management plans that do not meet state conservation standards.

• Increase Marine Patrol enforcement staffing, to be paid for “with General Fund revenue or funds from dedicated accounts that have stable sources of income.”

• Develop a program to train Marine Patrol officers to move into higher ranks.

• Provide additional funding for overtime pay.

• Reduce the administrative duties of officers in the field such as maintaining lobster tags and records.

• Officers should be given an opportunity to participate in reviews of laws, regulations, and policies to streamline field activities and reduce administrative field duties.

According to the report, the committee did not interview anyone from the lobster industry or from the DMR lobster advisory panels. However, according to the report, recommendations for the fishery were based on comments from DMR staff.

These included:

Define “goals and objectives within a management plan framework for the lobster fishery that reconcile the disparate interests of the fishery and industry, while also promoting a healthy and sustainable fishery for future generations. The lobster fishery should be a prime candidate for such an effort given the fact that it generates $313 million for the State’s economy.”

Gradually reduce fishing effort, given “the somewhat uncertain nature of predictive science on lobster.” Specifically, gradually reduce the number of allocated traps.

Partner with the governor’s office and Department of Economic Development to identify internal obstacles that impede development of the value-add shoreside lobster processing industry in Maine.

Create a Maine Seafood Promotion Council modeled on the Alaskan Seafood Promotion Council or something similar. The current Lobster Promotion Council should be folded into the new entity. The council should be funded by a small assessment on landings.

The report also contained specific recommendations for the DMR’s Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries, Bureau of Resource Management, Commercial Monitoring and Assessment Program, Public Health Program – including water quality monitoring and marine toxin monitoring, and Aquaculture Management Program.

The report said that the DMR “would function more efficiently and effectively if structured in three parts: Fishery Management, Fishery Science, and Enforcement. We would leave the Marine Patrol as it is since its missions are clear and, except for being understaffed, is running well. The Bureaus of Resource Management and Sea Run Fisheries perform many of the same scientific functions but for different species. Sea Run Fisheries operations are mostly based in the eastern part of the state where Resource Management has the least amount of staff in that area for the size and importance of the fisheries in that area. It is the review panel’s recommendation that scientific expertise in these two Bureaus be merged, but further separated into two parts: Fishery Science and Fishery Management. There would be great benefits of consolidating all of the fishery management staff in one Bureau, as opposed to the current fractured arrangement where different fishery management staff report to different supervisors. Each of the new units should have its own supervisor who reports directly to the Deputy Commissioner. The science section would be based in Boothbay and designed to do the research and collect the data that would support the fisheries management and policy unit. It is envisioned that management and policy would be directed out of headquarters in Hallowell.

According to LePage’s press release, the governor said the review is “an excellent tool and set of recommendations to be used going forward with the priority setting and reorganization under zero-based budgeting.”

The release said, “With more than three dozen recommendations put forth in the report the administration is unable to comment at this time on each. However, as an example of some of the recommendations the administration is keenly interested in pursuing further are: priority setting, making Maine a more “fish business friendly state”, the role of management plans within the department, a better link between science and resource management, attention on opening clam flats, staff training opportunities and others.”

For complete review http://www.maine.gov/dmr. Go to Program Review of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.