Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS June 2014 D.E.L.A.'s Director's Meeting Minutes
Jasper’s Restaurant, Ellsworth January 9, 2014
Attendance: President; Hilton Turner, Executive Director; Sheila Dassatt, Ethan Turner, Robert Fortin, John Chipman, Sr., Gerry Chipman, John Chipman, Jr., Theresa Chipman, Terry Savage, Sr., Marty Hamblen, Alan Hamblen, Sec/Treas. Mike Dassatt (on phone)
The meeting opened at 6:37 with President, Hilton Turner presiding. The minutes were reviewed with no corrections. John Chipman, Sr. made the motion to accept the minutes with Bob Fortin seconding. The motion passed. The Treasury Report was reviewed with Sheila answering any questions about the report. Bob Fortin made the motion to accept with John Chipman, Sr. seconding. The motion passed.
Sheila gave the director’s report with the update being read in the Maine Coastal News. A lot of work has been in preparation of the upcoming Maine Fishermen’s Forum scheduled for February 28 thru March 2nd at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. It is confi rmed that Capt. Keith Colburn of the “Deadliest Catch” crab fi shery show will be our guest this year. She also asked if we would like to vote to approve our annual donation to the Lobster Institute for the Canadian/U.S. Town Meeting of $100.00. John Chipman, Sr. made the motion to approve the donation with Terry Savage seconding. The motion passed.
Sheila also reported that Nickerson Associates is working on the annual accounting for D.E.L.A. Jim Black, of J.A. Black Printers of Belfast (also D.E.L.A. member) donated 2000 envelopes to our association. This is a donation worth $150.00.
We discussed the subject of the last meeting hosted by the Penobscot Marine Museum, Maine Sea Grant, the Aquaculture Association and the Lobster Institute. This meeting was held at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast. The subject was about incorporating our fi sheries with tourism, such as lobster tours, showing people how aquaculture works, etc. Terry Savage said that it is quite a procedure to obtain the licenses that are required to have passengers. Navigation is part of the test and you now have to go to West Virginia to take the test. There is a lot to doing this if it is something that you want to pursue. Insurance is also very expensive if you want to take passengers on your vessel. We discussed how D.E.L.A. feels about the dredging project that is proposed for Penobscot Bay. Sheila gave a brief summary of the project and how it is going to work. The big issue is where the dredge spoils are going to be disposed of. The consensus from the board is that we are not opposed to the maintenance dredging but feel that the expansion dredge spoils (if it happens) should be taken to a land fi ll. Dispose of it somewhere else other than back in the water. The expansion project is to remove 950,000 cubic yards of dredge spoils. This is to allow larger ships into Mack Point, Searsport. Sheila passed around the fl yer that was
received by the Al Roker productions. There is no big response to the Roker productions due to how the show portrays the fi shermen. Sheila asked if anyone had been contacted by the production people or had any response to calls that went in to the productions. She said that when she called them to discuss the topic for the show, she did not receive any return calls. What are they planning to do for a main plot for the show? At this point in time, nothing
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MARINE FABRICATORS
has moved forward with the show. There is controversy involved with most of the production shows which is not what the Maine lobster industry wants or needs at the present time.
The directors reported on how things are going in their area. Hilton reported that he wants to get his boat home but the ice is preventing the transport in his yard. There has been so much ice too soon for this winter and it is making it hard to get things done. Ethan Turner is still overboard at this time and doing some fi shing offshore. The
As I am writing this report, we are coming from a holiday weekend. We hope that everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend. Thank you to all that served our country in the U. S. Military during times of war. We have a lot of fi shermen that are veterans.
Mike and I attended the Memorial Day ceremony that was held in Deer Isle at the Congregational Church. This ceremony was to remember the Viet Nam veterans and the boys from “the island” that made the supreme sacrifi ce. After all of these years, this service was a time for honor and closure. There was a picnic at the Odd Fellows Hall that was hosted by the Joshua Davis Lodge with lobster and crabmeat rolls for the veterans and their spouses. The sun even came out to top off the day. When we left home, it was foggy and rainy. It seems as though most of our communities reached out and did that “little extra” this year to thank our military and those serving our country now.
Getting back to work, we saw a lot of traps on trailers ready to go overboard. Without a doubt, the season is about to
begin! We wish everyone a successful and safe season.
D.E.L.A. had a very good meeting at
. We asked Sarah Redmond of Maine Sea Grant to speak with us about a new farming technique. She spoke to us about the signifi cance of growing seaweed and kelp. This is called “The Vegetables from the Sea….resources for seaweeds.” One good opportunity about this is: for the fi shermen that don’t fi sh offshore in the winter this can be a project during the off months. It is also a good way to replenish the health of our ocean vegetation. One question for Sarah was “how do you eat it?” It is soaked and hydrated and used like a vegetable. One important health benefi t is that it is a good source of iodine.
Jasper’s Restaurant in Ellsworth on May 8th
This product can also be packaged and sold at the Farmer’s Markets. We have made
Specializing in Tuna Towers, Hard Tops, T-Tops, and Arches
price at this time is from $4.85 to $4.35 per pound.
John Chipman, Sr. reported that with the U.S.C.G inspection you still need to have a life raft on your boat if it is at least 36’ by January 1, 2015. A motion was made that the inspection should also have notifi cation of where to put the safety gear. The motion was put forward by Bob Fortin and seconded by Terry Savage. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:51. Respectfully submitted, Sheila H. Dassatt – Executive Director
D.E.L.A. - From the Director
some big strides with merging the Farmer’s Markets and the Marine industry. For a long time, there was a barrier there that was not pleasant. Now, with the help of the Maine Farmland Trust Association and Penobscot East Resource Center, we are combining a lot of our resources and products. We are defi nitely making some forward progress with promoting our industry and working with others that are also trying to survive independently.
If you would like more information about
Sarah’s project, her contact information is: Maine Sea Grant –
http://seagrant.umaine. edu/extension and more info is Department of Marine Resources, Acquaculture – www.
maine.gov/dmr/aquaculture and Maine Aquaculture Association – http://www.
maineaquaculture.com/
Our next report goes to the Penobscot Bay Dredging Project. The MLA hosted a meeting at the Belfast Public Library and invited DELA members and industry members that were interested in attending. This was primarily for the fi shermen to have a chance to listen and ask questions of their own. We had a fairly good turnout there with a lot of question and answer time with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Dave Gelinas of PenBay Pilots was also there to give a presentation and answer questions. All in all, I heard some great concerns and good discussion points that were brought up. Once again, for the “most part” the primary concern is not the dredging itself as much as concern for where the spoils are going to be dumped. If the spoils test safe enough to pass certain tests, we do have at least two years to think about a different place to dump this waste and put it to better use. Can the dredge material be used in the Penobscot River if it proves safe? This could possibly cover the tainted area that is affected by the mercury poisoning.
Continued on Page 21.
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