Zone B Sees Continued Overcrowding
on B/C Line

By Laurie Schreiber

TREMONT—The Zone B Lobster Council continues to seek a solution to what it says is an increasing proliferation of Zone C traps into Zone B.

“The heart of the problem is that the number of Zone C trap tags coming into Zone B is 67,000, while only 14,000 tags go the other way,” Zone B Council Chairman David Horner recently said, after a visit with other council members to Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher to discuss the matter. “On almost any other line, it’s about equal and it’s a good system. But on the B/C line, it’s 5-to-1.”

Horner was referring to a state law, implemented by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) about 20 years ago, that allows lobster fishermen to set up to 49 percent of their traps in a second zone that is not their declared zone of residence. The law came about after the lobster zone management system was established in the mid-1990s. The system required lobstermen to fish in one of seven zones established along the coast. But the zone boundaries often divided traditional fishing areas. So the new law was devised to allow fishermen to fish at least 51 percent of their traps in their home zone, and 49 percent in a neighboring zone.

In 2006, a new rule went into effect to measure cross-zone activity in Zones F and G by having fishermen attach second-zone tags to their second-zone traps. The same rule was implemented for Zones B and C fishermen in 2010, and the rule went statewide in June 2017.

DMR information shows that, for 2017, 175 Zone C license-holders bought 59,091 second-zone tags for Zone B, and another 24 Zone C license-holders chose Zone B and at least one other second zone when they purchased 8,684 second-zone tags.

For that same time period, 74 Zone B license-holders purchased 12,562 second-zone tags for Zone C, and another nine Zone B license-holders chose Zone C and at least one other second zone when they purchased 2,362 second-zone tags.

By comparison, the numbers between Zones A and B are more on par with each other. For 2017, 22 Zone A license-holders purchased 6,993 second-zone tags for Zone B, and 24 Zone B license-holders purchased 5,695 second-zone tags for Zone C, and another four Zone B license-holders chose Zone A and at least one other second zone when they purchased 1,372 second-zone tags.

In 2017, Maine Representative Brian Hubbell (D-Bar Harbor, representing Bar Harbor, Lamoine, and Mount Desert) introduced two bills at the request of the Zone B Council.

LD 149, “An Act To Provide Additional Management for Limited-Entry Lobster Zones,” was a concept draft that proposed potential mechanisms to deal with the situation. According to the draft summary, those mechanisms included:

• Prohibiting a license-holder, who was not holding a license before the bill’s effective date, from fishing traps in a limited-entry zone that is not his declared zone;

• Prohibiting a license-holder from fishing more than 25 percent of his traps in a limited-entry zone that is not his declared zone;

• Prohibiting a license-holder from fishing more than 25 percent of his traps in a limited-entry zone that is not his declared zone and that does not have trap limits and exit ratios consistent with his declared zone;

• If a license-holder fishes in a limited-entry zone other than his declared zone, subjecting him to the most restrictive management measures of both zones;

• Requiring the DMR commissioner to review annually rules regarding the relative number of second-zone tags and allowing the commissioner to propose rule changes to ensure parity of zone access and stability of zone effort related to double tagging.

LD 616, “An Act To Ensure Consistent Access To Limited-Entry Lobster Zones,” would have enshrined the first bulletpoint above.

“Neither bill gained support from fishermen from other zones or from the Department of Marine Resources so they were both killed in committee,” Hubbell said via email.

But Horner and Zone B Council member Chris Goodwin said the matter is worth pursuing.

“We have approximately the same effort in Zone B that we did 20 years ago,” said Horner. “But where Zone C was wide open, it’s now so lopsided that it’s like a zone and a half here.”

Horner was referring to Zone C’s open-entry system, which contrasts with limited-entry systems long in place in Maine’s other lobster zones. Zone C’s open-entry system was in place until it began debating limited entry in 2016; Zone C officially implemented a 1:1 limited entry system in March 2017. As of 2017, Zone C had 948 commercial lobstermen, and Zone B 523, according to the DMR.

“They have twice as many people to start with as we do,” Horner continued. “They could fish more tags in Zone B than Zone B does. We’re trying to stop the increase.”

In written testimony presented to the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee in March 2017, in support of Hubbell’s proposed legislation, Horner requested a cap on Zone C tags fished in Zone B based either on Zone C’s participation when the tag rule was first implemented, in 2010, or on current, although higher, numbers.

The 49/51 rule was well-intentioned, he wrote: “Its intention was to protect against pushing fishermen out of historical bottom but now that’s exactly what it is causing. For every guy that grabs a knife to protect his living several more refuse to break such a law and sadly ‘just move further east.’”

Horner was referring to “trap wars” such as an episode that took place in the summer of 2016. According to the Bangor Daily News at the time, territorial disputes centering on the boundary line between Zones B and C resulted in fishermen cutting surface buoys from each other’s traps, costing lobstermen hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost gear.

Horner wrote that legislation to cap Zone C expansion into Zone B would solve the problem.

Tremont lobsterman Matt Davis said he’s seen the problem worsen over the years. The Davis family’s traditional fishing grounds are near the B/C line, between Swan’s and Bartlett islands. Davis held a Zone B license during most of his childhood, but lost it when he changed residency to pursue another career path. A short time later, he decided to return to his family’s heritage of lobster fishing. Unable to renew his license due to his change in residency, he entered the apprentice program, then took a license in Zone C, Maine’s only open zone, added his name to the Zone B waiting list, and was finally awarded a Zone B license.

That’s given him 14 years to watch events unfold on the boundary line, he recently said.

“I’m on the line, but slowly each year I’m moving further east because it’s so overpopulated,” he said. “There’s just too much gear in too little of an area.”

Long-time fishermen can usually tell when new gear has come their way.

“When you stop recognizing the buoy colors, it’s a giveaway,” Davis said. “It’s also the fact that, every year, new boats show up.”

Trap congestion has caused Davis to move more of his gear further to the east. That, he said, in turn puts more pressure on eastward fishing grounds. At the same time, he said, congestion is causing trap line to snarl.

In his testimony before the Marine Resources Committee last year, Davis elaborated, “We are faced with too many traps and not enough space to put them all in. This is resulting in trap loss from either molestation or accidental sinking. The continuous amount of snarled lines is unbelievable and ultimately our fishermen are moving to avoid this. There are now balls of entwined traps growing each year, which eventually submerge and become underwater hazards due to inability to lift and clear them. When I first started, it was disappointing to lose 30-40 traps each season. Now I am lucky if I can keep it under 120 per year.”

Davis added, “We are not trying to force anyone out of our zone, we are just asking for better management of areas that were overlooked when our laws were written.”

The situation is unfair, he said recently via email: “We are still letting Zone C fishermen receive Zone B tags when they get a new license. Meanwhile, we have had fishermen on our Zone B waiting list for over 10 years. We could have given those tags to people who apprenticed here, and would not have a waiting list right now. Ultimately, these tags would have been spread out over the zone instead of focusing on the lines. This overcrowding would not be an issue.”