L E T T E R T O T H E E D I T O R
About Time
It’s about time that the Maine Legislature started thinking “outside the box” and began making the changes that need to be made to Maine lobster license laws. There are those who think we should stay with the “status quo” and change nothing. Everytime a bill comes up, all the newspapers cry out that the industry is against this bill, and the industry is against that bill. If just once our governing body would ask the industry what it thinks, instead of taking the word of a chosen few.
Every place else in the world a fisherman has the say regarding where his license will go when he no longer uses it. Christina Lemieux is a Maine native and an advertising executive in London. She said it best in the MLA Landings newsletter because the building of European cathedrals sometimes took centuries to complete.
The Maine lobster industry is a wonderful example of cathedral thinking because many fishermen pass on their livelihood to their children or grandchildren. They have a vision for the lobster industry that extends beyond their own career and a vested interest in managing the resource so it will reap rewards or future generations. Thus it’s important that we not only promote our products as sustainably managed, but also highlight the legacy. Today’s fishermen are determined to ensure a fishing future for their descendants.
My first lobster license cost me $5. I was taught by my father to mark (V notch) a couple lobsters a week to insure the brood stock. He taught me which ones would have seeds. I have done this for about 60 years. I don’t do it anymore. I am a fourth generation fisherman with two sons and two grandsons. My two sons have been stern men with me but now I am getting to the end of my fishing. But I can’t give my boat and traps to them or to my grandsons who also work on boats. I have to end 65 years of building a successful industry to give my license to whoever’s name comes out of the lobster license lottery hat.
The federal lobster license can be given or sold, both here and in Canada. Every other state in the U.S. conforms. Maine is the only state that doesn’t. Any other business can be passed on. The Maine lobster license should be the same.
Scientists are wondering why the number of breeders with V notches are declining. What is the sense of building a business for someone you don’t even know?
Change this. “It's the right thing to do.”
Kittridge Johnson
Winter Harbor, Maine