And through meetings with the lobster zone councils, they are getting information out to people as quickly as possible. “We want to talk with you, to make sure you get through this lean period,” Joe Murphy, president of Bar Harbor Bank and Trust (jmurphy@bhbt.com, 288-9343), told members of Zone B earlier this month. “We absolutely will help you.” The finance people were asked to meet with zone councils immediately, to hear from fishermen what their needs are and to discuss what the various institutions and agencies can offer. The biggest point made by all the finance people was that, if lobster fishermen are having trouble making payments on their loans, they should talk with their lenders, who will be very likely to make some sort of arrangement to help people get by. This might include some form of refinancing, payment deferrals, or interest-only payments for a period of time. “If you’re a good customer of your bank, they’ll probably be agreeable to working with you, and we can help banks do that,” said Rob Small, a commercial loan officer with the Finance Authority of Maine (rsmall@ famemaine.com, 800-228-3734). “Please don’t be embarrassed to call us,” said Murphy. “We understand the squeeze you’re in. You have my personal guarantee.” Other bankers at the meeting offered the same assurances. “Your success is our success,” said Matt Horton, with the Machias Savings Bank. Small said that FAME, a state agency, provides financing to Maine businesses and to students. FAME can offer loans directly at advantageous rates, or can help banks to lend money by providing loan insurance. Be- cause of the extraordinary circumstance of the industry-wide crisis, FAME is looking into loosening their guidelines for lobstermen, Small said. Herb Thomas, senior area manager with the U.S. Small Business Administration (Herbert.thomas@sba.gov, 592-4522), said his agency offers similar guarantees. “If you’re experiencing problems, you can call me,” he said. Jay Fortier, loan officer with the nonprofit Eastern Maine Development Corporation (jfortier@emdc.org, 800-339-6389), talked about his agency’s Small Business Development Center, which provides one-on-one business counseling, at no cost, on topics such as accounting, financing, and cash-flow issues. Bill Osborne, a regional coordinator with the Department of Economic and Community Develop- ment’s Office of Business Development (bosborne@emdc.org, 942-1438), said his office would be looking at long-term promotion and processing issues for the industry. Osborne said he has been in discussions with two people interested in developing lobster processing plants in Maine. “That’s not immediate,” Os- borne said. “You need to get the price back up for now. But these are long-term plans.” Andrew Varisco, a staff assistant with Senator Olympia Snowe’s office in Bangor (800-432-1599), said his boss is onboard to help the industry. Zone B chairman Jon Carter urged Zone B members at the meeting to pass the word to other fishermen. “I think everyone’s feeling the pinch, whether you’re financially set or not,” Carter said. “Pass it on and say, ‘Hey, if things are tough, talk with your banker.’ The longer the price stays down, the worse the problem is going to be.” Carter said that, although the depressed price is hardly worth the fishing, many guys have to keep on going into the cold months just to have some income. This is particularly true of midcoast and Down East fishermen, said Jack Merrill of Islesford, who is vice president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. Fishermen to the west largely finished up the best part of their season before prices dropped. The east was just heading into the high season. Although fluctuations can be expected in any fishery, this one is particularly dire, said John Stanley, because so many lobster fishermen are locked out of other fisheries. In the past, fishermen used to shift between lobster, scallops, shrimp, groundfish and herring to make a year-round living. “The young guys are going to be locked out of the scallop fishery, we’re all locked out of groundfish, and Gulf of Maine herring is controlled by the Massachusetts fleet,” he said. “That’s the difference between this lean period and past lean periods.” The cost of doing business – buying bait and fuel, maintaining boats – wasn’t as high in the past either, said Carter. And fishermen are now faced with the cost of buying new groundline as well, he added. “You can’t catch a lobster for $2.25 and make any money,” he said. “We all went scalloping, we all went shrimping, we all went groundfishing in the past, and those things aren’t there anymore.” |
