L E T T E R S   T O   T H E   E D I T O R

Deregulating Pens in Lobster Cove

When I read Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell’s comments on the health regulation update for fish farms I was very concerned. It was stated that the aim of this update is that of controlling the disease pathogens of fish. The catch is how?

The industry’s response to being charged with the use of an illegal chemical that caused an enormous lobster kill was to lobby the federal government to change the regulations to allow such lethal chemicals would legal to use. What’s more, the industry’s response to disease outbreaks is the use of antibiotics, which we all know are becoming increasingly resistant and virulent.

Minister Colwell’s comment that the industry is doing well, but remains small and needs to grow, came as a shock to me especially since the outcome of the review of aquaculture regulations has not been presented yet.

An industry that continues to have huge profits even when dead fish are produced, an industry that sells diseased fish to the public and an industry that causes grave environmental damage while being heavily susidized by taxpayers money is, in my opinion, not a success story and should not be supported.

Why is the provincial government obviously continuing down the same road as previous governments when there is no right way to do the wrong thing? As to Keith Cowell’s statement about addressing the concerns of the communities who come forward with legitimate concerns, I am still awaiting a return call for a meeting with the Minister.

Wendy Watson Smith
President
Association for the Preservation of the Eastern Shore
Nova Scotia, Canada

It’s Broken, So Let’s Fix It!

The issues in Maine’s “limited entry” system are often discussed. From the lengthy waiting lists to 22% of licenses being latent everyone seems to know the system has it’s problems. But at least it gives kids a fair chance at a license, right? On the surface it might appear to be so. But after a closer look you will see that due to its unreasonable requirements the student licensing system is failing to give students the opportunity it is there to provide.

The system requires that students log time with the DMR for at least 24 months before the age of eighteen in order to qualify for a commercial license. This means, that for anyone older than 15, the student license program offers no opportunity to lobster after school. So a student who begins logging hours when older than 15 is treated the same as any apprentice. Therefore a student is allowed to haul 150 traps for seven years, but in the end they will be treated the same as a person who went sternman for a couple of years.

On top of this, students who start at the age of 15 face having to log 200 days of fishing before 18. A difficult task considering kids only get about 60 days a summer to lobster. Although not an impossible task to complete, does the state really expect 15 year olds to work 6 days a week lobstering? The same state that places these requirements on kids who want to lobster, makes it illegal for a child under sixteen to work in any other job for more than 8 hours straight or 40 hours in a week.

In 2012 the State of Maine commissioned a report which found that, “Despite the priority licensing policies for students, there is a strong pattern of exit of the fishery at age 18, likely associated with students not completing the program prior to their 18th birthday.” The report also states, “The ten year average conversion rate of LCS license holders to full time active commercial fishermen is 5%.” Its clear that the student program has failed at allowing this state’s young into the lobster industry. Instead it places students on waiting lists with people who have never hauled their own traps and may never, creating even more latent licenses and forcing young people away from lobstering.

I understand the need for having a limited entry system, we certainly shouldn’t allow just anyone in, but this is absurd. My zone has seen a 30% decline in the number of commercial lobster licenses since 1997 and a decline in the number of trap tags, but it has a 1:5 entry/exit ratio. I will lobster for the next 5 years and when I turn twenty three it will all end. I will be stuck on the same waiting list as people who have never hauled their own traps and who might not have any intent of lobstering.

Even if I wait a decade on a waiting list it will take another four years after getting a commercial license before the state allows me the 600 trap limit in my zone. In all likelihood I’d be well into my thirties before the state allows me to make a living lobstering on my own. This is all because 15 year old me didn’t understand that I would lose my future in lobstering at sixteen if I didn’t start logging my hours.

I have made my objections to this system known. I proposed to the legislature that students who begin while under the age of 18 should be able to complete the requirements as long as they hold a student license. This proposal made it as far as a legislative request number 2602. This would have given kids under eighteen a chance. Many people assume this is the way it works now, because why would the state allow students to buy a license at 16 and keep it until 23 if they are just treated like any new entrant in the end? The State of Maine claims it wants young people to stay and work, well here I am and all I want to do is continue to lobster as I do now. Does the state really expect me to just wait indefinitely for a license? If this limited entry system doesn’t change, my future in lobstering ends when I finish school.

Troy Plummer
Boothbay, Maine