Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS July 2013 Commercial Fishing News
Downeast Lobstermen’s Association Director’s Meeting
Jasper’s Restaurant, Ellsworth April 11, 2013
Attendance: President; Hilton
Turner, Secretary/Treasurer; Mike Dassatt, Executive Director; Sheila Dassatt, Ken Dennison, Bob Fortin, Clay Savage, Terry Savage, Sr., Mike Faulkingham, John Chipman, Sr., Gerry Chipman, Richard Alley, Marianne LaCroix
The meeting opened at 6:18 with President Hilton Turner presiding.
Hilton
introduced Marianne LaCroix, acting executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council as our guest for the evening. The Treasurer’s Report was reviewed with Mike Dassatt discussing the funds. It was suggested to table discussion on our rates for membership to the agenda of the next meeting. Motion was made by Ken Dennison to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Mike Faulkingham with the motion passing.
The minutes were reviewed with Mike D.E.L.A. - DIRECTOR'S MEETING MINUTES
Faulkingham making the motion to accept with Bob Fortin seconding with the motion passing.
Mike Dassatt made the motion, seconded by Hilton Turner to nominate Terry Savage, Sr. of Southwest Harbor to the Board of Directors. Terry wanted to give a brief background before the vote was made. Terry accepted the nomination with a unanimous vote of the board to join the DELA Board of Directors. Sheila gave her director’s report which included announcing new members, legislative update and passing around letters and promotional materials. She brought the copy of the DELA testimony on the LD 1097 – An Act to Allow the Sale of Incidentally Caught Lobsters from the April 8th
hearing
at the Marine Resource Committee. We testifi ed in opposition.
Sheila also showed letters from the Passamaquoddy Tribe asking for our support with the opening of the St. Croix River to the natural run of alewives. We testifi ed in support of this bill.
Marianne gave her presentation on the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. She passed out the Annual Report for 2012. She explained the structure of their Board of Directors along with their plans for the year. They also have e-mail newsletters if we would like to sign up to receive it on line. For the season of 2013, we need to change how we are interpreted by the media. The media didn’t help us at all by using words such as “junk.” This made the global news, so they expected low prices. They are working with public relations to launch lobster such as a New York fund raiser to help them to re-build from Hurricane Sandy. We need donations, lobster donations, etc. Marianne also told us about the work
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of Future Shift, which is the company that is researching the best direction for us to market in. Ken Dennison also suggested promoting frozen lobster in areas such as Texas and beyond. We need to go further west, where they do not have a lot of exposure to Maine lobster.
This also
brought up the question of traceability. How does branding work? The MSC brand is guaranteed certifi ed lobster which should increase the value. It is hard to get people to use marked brands. We also need year around demand for lobster. We discussed the Swans Island bill for increasing their trap limit and the waiting list.
Clay Savage updated us on the vote that
was taken. It was a close vote which made the margin a diffi cult decision for DELA to take a stand. Mike D. made a motion to
table our decision until it concerns us. We feel it is up to the fi shermen on Swans Island to determine what they want. They must have a solid majority before DELA can get involved, with our respect. This motion was seconded by Richard Alley with the motion passing unanimously. Terry Savage also updated us on Zone
B’s suggestion to use bio hog rings all the way around and cut one more mesh out for the vent. They want to be able to let the large lobsters out of the traps if they are on the bottom….lost, cut off, etc…eventually ghost traps.
The meeting adjourned at 8:35. The next scheduled meeting is for
Thursday, June 13 at Jasper’s.
Respectfully submitted, Sheila Dassatt, Executive Director
D.E.L.A. - DIRECTOR'S REPORT From the Director –
It looks like this year is following a more “normal” pattern than last year at this time. If we can label what normal is, these days! We’re looking at the beginning of July and the shedders are just starting to appear in our area, ever so gradually. I have a rose bush that blossoms every year around the same time, but I can honestly say, “When the blossoms start showing up, so do the new shell lobsters.” This year, we’re in full blossom which is about ten days early if this is an indicator. By the way, the roses are beautiful this year, they are yellow with the pink trim and even have a scent. I may take the time to “smell the roses” this year and stop worrying about things that may not happen anyway.
I am pleased to say that the marketing bill, LD-486 has passed. This is the bill that was proposed by the L.A.C. Sub-Commit- tee, the L.A.C. Board; the Commissioner and presented by John Suave of the Food and Wellness Group. The bill was “for the most part” favored by the majority of the lobstermen that attended the meetings that were held last spring and summer.
The
good thing about this bill passing is that our industry, including the fi shermen, took part in having a say in the structure of it and whether they approved the bill or not. This is the fi rst step toward taking a little more control of our individual and independent commercial fi shing operations.
The Maine Lobster Promotion Council is working very closely with Future Shift, the company that is studying the best way to market our product. They have followed through with their word and have updated
the R.E.D. Board (Research, Education & Development – license plate fund) with power point presentation and explanation of the work that they have already accom- plished. We have a very extensive explana- tion to questions that we have asked or had concerns about. As a matter of fact, we have a follow-up meeting today to keep our com- munications open and to make sure that we are moving forward with the new marketing entity. This means that the structure of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council will be different than the present and past MLPC. The Board of Directors will be made up of different representation and will be involv- ing more input from our lobster industry. So if we’re going to make this work, we all need to be involved with our product, from “soup to nuts.” We are able to make the choice on our own, which is to decide if we want to sell our product to a dealer, co-operative, or have an established market of our own, which would increase the price to the boat. What I mean by this statement is that some of us are fortunate enough to sell to a local market or restaurant that purchases lobster “direct” from the boat. My Dad used to fi sh the F/V Kathy K. in Penobscot Bay for the owner of Jed’s Restaurant in Belfast. The boat was pictured and featured on the menu and the placemats. The lobster was caught from the F/V Kathy K. in the summer and the scallops were caught in the winter. This was a great system for the restaurant and the fi shermen on the boat. The customers loved the idea of going to the restaurant that provided the catch straight from the boat. This was back
Continued on Page 21.
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