Lobstermen Organize to Challenge
DMR Policy on Aquaculture Leases

by Mike Crowe

Lobstermen who fish in and around Maquoit Bay off Brunswick have organized to address the growing number of aquaculture leases in their fishing grounds. Their concerns were brought to light when a 40-acre oyster lease was proposed in the middle of the most productive lobster fishing area in Maquoit Bay.

Maquoit Bay lobsterman Tom Santaquida said, “Lobstermen feel like the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has ignored us” in the aquaculture development and bottom leasing process. He said he heard about the lease a week before a hearing for the project. Santaguida said he has fished that part of the bay for many years and 10% of his income is earned on that bottom. He cited families who have fished there for four generations.

A group of citizens with waterfront property opposed the granting of the 40-acre lease in Maquoit Bay, and have hired lawyers to represent them. The citizens group has communicated with the fishermen, but said Santaguida, “The fishermen are an ancillary group to the waterfront property citizens group. The fishermen are pursuing recognition from and representation by the DMR in the granting of aquaculture leases.”

Santaguida said, “I’m not against aquaculture. This is not personal. I don’t agree with the aquaculture application process. The process is the problem. The process of engaging with the DMR on this is cumbersome. It is difficult to participate in or to have a voice in the policy making process at the DMR.” He said the applicant for the 40-acre lease area in Maquoit Bay told the DMR it was not a lobster area.

Santaguida cited lax oversight of site assessments on the part of the DMR as a major problem. Applicants may not know or care if their site has long been an important lobster fishing area, Santaguida said. He also said the DMR’s response to questions about procedures can be inconsistent. He noted getting three different answers from the DMR regarding the official process for the submission of letters for a petition related to aquaculture leases.

“The DMR should have recognized that aquaculture was going to be a big thing and have been able to anticipate bottom rights conflicts,” said Santaguida. “We will fight all the leases. There is no alternative for us but to address this now. There are now eight more lease applications in this area.” Santaguida said the fishermen in his group want this 40-acre Maquoit Bay lease denied. They have a petition calling for the DMR to deny any lease over 10 acres until new rules are in place for the processing and granting of aquaculture leases statewide. They also want to “have a strong recognition of the lobster industry in this process by the DMR.”

Last fall lobstermen in Jonesport-Beals challenged the granting of a lease to Cooke Aquaculture for a 40-acre finfish pen facility over traditional lobster fishing bottom.

A meeting is scheduled with the DMR on April 18 at the Log Cabin in Falmouth at 6 p.m. to air some of the issues. Santaguida said the DMR recommends prospective aquaculture lease applicants talk with fishermen, but he thinks talking with fishermen should be required of applicants.

In a March 20 press release, the citizens group, called Save Maquoit Bay, joined lobstermen from around the state to turn in 189 signatures, 39 more than required, to open rulemaking around aquaculture leases at the Department of Marine Resources.

In the release Paul Dioli from Save Maquoit Bay said, “First, we support aquaculture when it is good for all parties. With more and more aquaculture leases flooding in, the challenge is to build an aquaculture industry that coexists and does not compete with lobstering. Lobstermen we have talked to around the state are concerned their industry is being overlooked and hurt economically. For example, we know lobstermen will not be able to fish an area that has been fished for generations if the 40-acre oyster lease pending in Brunswick is approved by the Commissioner of Marine Resources.

In the release, lobsterman John Powers called the lease “the equivalent of a land grab in the ocean.” He added, “The current aquaculture lease applications in Casco Bay are on prime lobster grounds and the DMR seems to have forgotten the fact that the lobster industry is the number one fishery in the State of Maine. I ask the DMR to listen carefully to the generations of men and women who have made the lobster industry what it is today and protect our livelihood from what has become nothing more than a land grab in upper Casco Bay.”

The Maine Lobstering Union is also supporting the issue, according to the release. Julie Eaton said,” We are concerned that aquaculture leases, especially large leases that are attractive to out of state investors will basically eat up the bottom of the ocean floor. We are seeing more and more large leases in the water.”

The petition language asks for an immediate moratorium on leases greater than 10 acres in size.