Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS October 2013 From the Director –


Commercial Fishing News DIRECTOR'S REPORT FROM D. E. L. A.


Since my last report, not a whole lot has changed in the lobster world. At this point in time, everyone is hard at work, catching their lobsters and preparing for the long winter ahead. For this season, the price will not go up at a high rate; they are


pretty much holding their own. This leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered for the new marketing collaborative that is being formed.


Check out our new second location!


Yamaha Marine Center of Freeport Rt. 1, Freeport 207-869-4007


The zone councils are meeting at this time, so be sure that you attend your zone meeting and place a nomination for the seat that your zone council will hold on the new marketing council. It is very important that we have your participation with this process in order to make it an effective entity for everyone involved.


Mike and I attended the Zone D meeting and found the nomination process to be very fair and bi-partisan. There was a lot of participation and careful consideration of the names that were brought forth. It was a very good meeting and I hope that everyone’s goes the same. This is what I would call “working together” to take care of our own industry.


A NEW TAKE ON POWER AND PERFORMANCE.


THE NEW YAMAHA F70 MIDRANGE FOUR STROKE:


• 80 pounds lighter than its closest four stroke competitor


• Greatest power-to-weight ratio in its class, with a 16-valve SOHC design


• Surprising midrange punch


• 2.33:1 gear ratio for outstanding acceleration


• C.A.R.B. 3-Star Rated


• Perfect for lightweight fishing boats and pontoons


Find the new Yamaha F70 midrange at YamahaOutboards.com or at this Yamaha Marine Dealer.


New Meadows Marina 450 Bath Road


Brunswick, ME 04011 207-443-6277


www.newmeadowsmarina.com 120


At the same Zone D meeting, Mike explained the problems that could “come to the surface” along with an explanation from Ron Huber, who is the director of the Friends of Penobscot Bay with the proposed dredging project and the dumping sites for Penobscot Bay. Most are in favor of “maintenance dredging” but not the “improvement dredging.” We need to fi nd more dump sites and a better place to put this sediment. The zone took a vote to write a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers with concerns and a request for a public hearing. Sarah Cotnoir informed us that the Commissioner plans to have a public hearing about the dredging concerns for Penobscot Bay. We do not want or need any more problems for the mortality of our lobster resource.


D.E.L.A. has sent in the necessary letter to Mary Colligan, Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources concerning the Large Whale Rule. deadline was September 16th


. I hope you


also sent your letter in with all of your concerns. If you’d like to see a copy of our letter, we would be happy to post it for you. Basically, we covered the same proposals that the D.M.R. worked on with the Whale Take Reduction Team. We were also at this meeting and had a very good discussion about the decisions that were made for the proposal. We did not approve of the closing of Jeffrey’s Ledge and Joran Basin. This would be a great fi nancial burden on everyone that fi shes those areas. We also did not approve of the rope


markings. To change rope just to go outside, they wanted extra markings on the rope. That is way too much labor and expense involved.


The big factor that was brought up at our meetings was also for the safety of our fi shermen, especially those in the smaller


The meeting opened at 6:13 with President Hilton Turner presiding. The Treasurer’s Report was reviewed with Secretary Treasurer; Mike Dassatt explaining any questions that was asked. Mike gave an update on fees, in comparison to other organizations at this point in time. Norbert Lemieux made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report, with Nick Lemieux seconding. The motion passed.


The Minutes were read and discussed


with Richard Alley making the motion to pass and Norbert Lemieux seconding the motion. The motion passed. We had further discussion about working with our membership. We compared our representation with the structure of the newly organized union as far as dues. The co-ops are the ones with the negotiating rights and can have the


The


boats that fi sh around the rocks. We feel that whales are important, but so are the lives of our lobstermen.


D.E.L.A. had our Annual Meeting on September 12th


at Jasper’s Restaurant


in Ellsworth. Deputy Commissioner Meredith Mendelson and DMR Advisor Sarah Cotnoir were our guests.


They


were very thorough with their updates and explanations for questions that were asked. I’d like to “Thank” them very much for their participation with our meeting. I’d also like to “Thank” everyone in our Associate membership that donated prizes for the hat drawing. Every year we have great gifts to pass out that help our Associate members to advertise their businesses. We had fi ve lobster traps that were donated and hats, shirts, gift certifi cates and more. It was also discussed and voted at the meeting to raise our membership fees by $20.00 for each category. If you are up for renewal this month or the month of October, now is the time to get your dues sent in. The offi cial date for the new fees is November 1st


which ties in with our fi scal year. The D. E. L. A. Meeting Minutes


Downeast Lobstermen’s Association Director’s Meeting


Jasper’s Restaurant, Ellsworth June 13, 2013


Attendance: President; Hilton Turner,


Vice President; Nick Lemieux, Secretary/ Treasurer; Mike Dassatt, Executive Director; Sheila Dassatt, John Chipman, Sr., Gerry Chipman, John Chipman, Jr., Theresa Chipman, Norbert Lemieux, Ken Dennison, Richard Alley, Eve Alley, Clive Farrin, Allen Hamblen, Marty Hamblen, Larry Knapp, Terry Savage, Bob Fortin, Jessica Brophy


ability to work with the competition in the “price world.” We still should have control of our own product as independent business owners.


Returning to the discussion about our D.E.L.A. funds, it was asked if we were in favor of raising our dues. Most often, the famous question is: “what are you going to do for me?” To help answer this question, it was suggested to compose a continuous list of our accomplishments over the past few years. It is not our job to work on boat prices, but to represent our membership in working with the people that do work with the marketing sector, such as being part of the L.A.C. sub-committee. This enabled us to have input with the D.M.R., the Maine Promotion Council, the MLA, John Suave, of the Food & Wellness Group and the fi shermen representing our zones on the Lobster Advisory Council.


of July celebration. She said that we need to become more unifi ed as a group. We are all spread out with distance between us. It was suggested to put it on the next agenda to raise our membership rates by $20.00 with an amendment from Clive Farrin to include the rates on the agenda for the Annual Meeting. Then we can vote on this at the next meeting. Clive made the motion with Terry Savage seconding. The motion passed.


D.E.L.A. also has the ability to have contact with the local newspapers such as Maine Coastal News, Commercial Fisheries News, The Island Advantages and the Ellsworth American. Eve Alley offered to help with our D.E.L.A. merchandise at Jonesport during the 4th


Larry Knapp gave us an update on the four turbines south of Boothbay that have been proposed by the Shearwater Company. They plan to bury the cables and cover them with cement. There will be charts with their location for future reference. Larry’s job is to stay in communications


with the fi shermen and the organizations. Richard Alley asked why do they want to put these turbines in the ocean and do they make a lot of noise. Larry said that they don’t really make much noise.


This is a


pilot project that will be 360 feet high and 250 feet below water level.


stanchions. The marine life grows around the bottom of these stanchions.


Continued on Page 21.


There is actually marine life around the There


increase in fees is to help with rising costs for operating. People don’t always realize that when one person doesn’t send their dues in, this could have quite an impact if more than one member tends to forget to send in or simply doesn’t re-new. Please help us to be self-supporting and keep our membership working together. We are all “individuals” and not considered “laborers just yet”, so help us to maintain this status before it is too late. We work very hard to represent one another in this association and do not appreciate being undermined by those that are trying to step on top of us. It isn’t always “about the money.” We care very much about our membership, their families and the generations that are coming up to follow in our footsteps.


Our next scheduled meeting should be set for Thursday, November 14th


at Jaspers


Restaurant in Ellsworth. See you around, Sheila


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32