August 2012 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. NEWS FROM THE DOWNEAST LOBSTERMAN ASSOCIATION From the Director –
All of the talk at the dock, festivals and newspapers is the ongoing price and amount of lobsters that are being caught for this 2012 season. I understand that it is very diffi cult to get bait, haul your gear, maintain your boat and possibly market your own lobsters and get to the meetings that are all about this one subject. This is exactly what belonging to an association is all about. I’m not just talking about our association, but please get involved.
It has been a privilege to still be able to have our own individual businesses, which for us is our lobster/fi shing license and family owned businesses, such as our boat, traps, managing overhead and “yes” marketing and managing our own quality product.
This is what owning a small business is all about in this fast moving society that we live in. We are facing issues that our fathers and grandfathers never had to think about----“what is the global market doing today?” I don’t think my father could even fathom or “care” about the global market, he just wanted to fi sh. My mother worried about the overhead and paid all of the bills. That’s the way that I grew up, much the same as everyone else that is probably reading this. Now, we are stewards of our own product and unfortunately, responsible to the “PR” that goes along with it. There are so many variables that I have been gathering for the lobster industry and the answer to the pricing situation. Just a few of these comments are as follows: too many disagreements and trust problems between the fi shermen and the dealers; no one trusts each other in any sector of the industry; we can’t keep a processing plant going in this state; too
many regulations and rules; our pride and self worth is going down the tubes – we’re proud of our heritage and industry, this is embarrassing; the problem is shipability of a weak product; the pot haulers are moving too fast, they are coming up with the bends; we need to handle our product in a more careful manner; they will die anyway after they hit the water. This is just a sample of what I have been hearing lately and a lot of it is true. Now, what are we going to do to help ourselves? I believe it can be done if we all work in agreement. When I was at the Lobster Advisory Council meeting last week, I heard one of the members say that the week that he didn’t fi sh hard, he had his lobsters carred-up. He also said that he had to keep checking his lobsters for dead loss. He also stated that he had just a little taste of how the dealers must keep an eye on the product and that he understands a little better that he took the loss of the dead lobsters that week. I believe that Canada went through that just a few years ago. They were bringing in so many lobsters during that particular season that the dead loss was unbelievable. They had to do something about that situation so it would not happen again. This was a sad waste of precious food.
On the positive side of this scenario, the L.A.C. Subcommittee has been working very closely with the L.A.C. advisory board who have scheduled more working meetings to try to solve some of these problems that we’re having. The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner attended our last D.E.L.A. meeting with little notice – due to the circumstances of the lobster industry. We had a very good meeting that evening, with information that was up front and
questions answered that our members asked. The session went very well with our Board thanking them for the immediate work that they have been doing and for their concern for our fi shermen.
The Maine Lobster Promotion Council has the month of August planned for “special lobster month” which will kick promotion to the front. This is a right now plan that should help our tourist industry and get the attention to the media that our Maine lobster product is available and the best product for the plate. The long term solution to this will take a little more time and patience and work on our part also. Do we fi sh within our means which will also cut down our overhead? How about days that work better with the dealers, so they don’t have too many to move all at once? Do we allow the new shells to fi rm up a little before we handle them too much? Should quality of our product have an impact on the price that we are paid? A large amount
Commercial Fishing News
of dead loss could have an impact on the quality, which could change who is weeded out at the buying stations. Loyalty and quality can be a big factor if your lobsters are going to be trucked out of state or country. They need to be able to withstand the trip. All in all, this unusual situation of an early shed may not happen again for a long time, if it happens again at all. This may be the cause and effect that will force us to take a look at this crisis and plan ahead. We have more meetings planned in the near future. If you choose, (it is a matter of choice), we are open to new memberships and welcome you and your family or business to “come on board!” We are all in this together and we can make a difference for our future and our family’s future. We also appreciate gifts of donations.
See you around the dock, Sheila
dassatt711@yahoo.com and downeast
lobstermen.org.
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