By Sheila Dassatt
As I sit here with a new article ahead of me, even I have to make decisions about what to write about. There are so many issues these days and only a few short weeks before we need to make decisions in the voting booths. Which way do we go? I can not and will not try to sway the way that people vote, but I would certainly look at all of the facts before making such an important decision.
Representing our fishing industry, we have so many obstacles that we are facing that we actually don’t know where to begin. Looking back on when I started becoming involved, which was around 2003, Maine did not have much in the line of lobster processing and most of our catch was shipped to Canada for processing. This gave Canada the upper edge on dictating the price of especially our new shell lobsters, as they were trucked “up there” for processing. We, D.E.L.A went to Augusta to speak with the then Governor Baldacci about our concerns. We met with representatives bringing the subject of processing in Maine to give us a better say over our product. This was very important to us at the time. This also took in extensive work with the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, now the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, headed by Marianne LaCroix at this present time. I can honestly say, we did a lot of work over the years, joined together with adjoining associations and over time, helped to establish a working processing environment in the State of Maine. This was a decision that we worked hard on and have (over time) become successful with.
We also worked diligently with compliance over our rope configurations to make sure that a whale can break free of our rope if entangled. This was not an easy time. First, float rope was banned from the surface and we needed to change our gear to all sink rope on the surface. This was difficult, because the sink rope would get snarled in the rocky terrain, especially in the Downeast sector. The rope would be caught in the rocks, chaffed and break. This created a lot of rope testing and the fishermen had to refigure their lines to the legally acceptable rope sizes. As time went on, we had meetings because that wasn’t enough…..each state needed to pick a color that represents their state and also put plastic breakaways in the rope. This meant more rope work and more expense. Each time these changes are made, it involves more rope work and expense to the fishermen. Oh sure, we had a little funding in the beginning to help cover our expenses, but this was just for the first round. Now we are doing the ropes out of our own pockets.
Coming up is the 2025 U. S. -Canada Lobster Town Meeting, which will be held on January 29 – 30th at the Atlantic Oceanside Hotel in Bar Harbor, Maine. This event is the 20th of its kind that is hosted by the Lobster Institute, which I also have served on their Board for many years. These are all events that have helped to make changes for a better understanding for the future of our lobster industry. I am also pleased to see that the event in being held in the Downeast sector this coming year. We are working diligently to steer people toward Downeast, Maine, as we have a lot at stake with our working waterfront and marine industry.
We have been faced with so many issues, such as the windmills that can have a big impact on our fishing industry and now, the solar panels that are popping up in fields that were formerly used for farming, causing a threat to our fellow neighbors, the farmers.
I have had various calls about ropeless fishing, electric lobster boats, electric tenders, which they are finding that the batteries are way too heavy for them to perform with the proper balance in the vessel.
We are full of decisions these days, including the older fishermen that are not technology minded and do not really want to sit down to a computer every time they come in from haul. Unfortunately, a lot that are retirement age are doing just that, retiring and getting out of it. There are provisions to help with the technology, but they just “want to fish” and this has put a damper on the “spirit.” My Dad was like that! ( and I know he wasn’t the only one).
The most recent decision that folks are faced with is where to live. I am reading most recently that Mainers are being “taxed out of their homes.” This is very upsetting for those that have lived in their homes for 40 or 50 years! Where are they going to go? It appears that they are building projects that hold more than one apartment, which as I said in my previous article, this is a separation of levels of their economics, outsourcing the middle class to the “outer limits” of the town. This is just not right.
So, when you get ready to do your “right” to vote, I hope that we take a lot of these issues into consideration and do what your think is best. We do not want to see our fishery disappear in time. We want to save what we have for generations to come, if that is still at all possible. We are already seeing our small fishing villages becoming what some folks would say “a playground” for those that are not that worried about our survival. They may want “green” but do not consider the sacrifices that our fishing families will face if these changes come about. So really THINK before you make some of these major decisions. It can change things for the future with no automatic rewind, or no turning back.
