F R O M T H E C R O W E ’ S N E S T
Future Resource Security
Heading into another lobster season we’re looking at prospects that are again in the unprecedented range. Lower than 2012, but in pounds double 2002 and five times 1992. The average price in 2012 was within one cent of the average for 1992. Supply and demand. But if the same 800 traps caught 5 times more lobster, the earnings were 5 times higher in 2012 than 1992. Maybe not profit, but the amount of income coming over the side. Market development will help cushion a possible decline in landings.
That’s the easy part of what the industry is looking at. A part that may not be apparent or even visible at times, includes protection of the health and access to the marine resource generally and the lobster resource in particular. The complexity and range of issues that constitute what has to be described as “this challenge” can be illustrated by example with the pesticide bill that was recently not passed by the Maine legislature. That bill would have banned the use of two pesticides, methoprene and resmethrin, both known threats to lobster, near waterways or the shore.
Patrice McCarron of the MLA noted the good intentions of the legislator who brought the bill forward, but said that banning these two pesticides would give the industry a false sense of security regarding protection from pesticide use. The reason is that the inevitable replacement pesticide could be far worse and it’s real threat detected too late. In addition, banning just these two could preclude a comprehensive look at more of the chemicals entering the marine environment and broader regulation of them.
While there are a lot of things fishermen would rather be thinking about, thoughts about the immediate and distant future status of their resource become more important every year. There are more interests homing in on the marine environment and they all want something from it. The Marine Highway is how the federal government refers to it’s vision of coming changes to commercial marine transportation systems.
Canada’s open pen finfish aquaculture is industrialized, highly consolidated and powerful enough to trump the will of the fishing communities who are currently protesting that industry’s impacts on their fishing grounds.
These can be deceptively difficult issues. Some, like sorting out pesticide chemistry use and regulation, bring new demands on fishermen and fishermen’s associations. Change, information, communication and participation are key words for future resource security.