February 2015 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. Commercial Fishing News D.E.L.A. From the Director From the Director –


This is the eve of the “Big Storm” with most businesses and schools closed tomorrow. We haven’t had much snow up to this point, so we are about due for something like this. I don’t mind as long as we’re not still plowing snow when the daffodils want to come up in the spring! Here’s hoping that everyone stays off the roads and has a safe day or two without having to get out and travel whether it is on “land or by sea.” I am writing this report tonight because we never know for sure if we will still have power for the next day or two. Our January 8th


meeting was cancelled


due to many different circumstances. That was the week of below normal freezing conditions. The day of our meeting was the “coldest” day of the entire week. When we started our day, we had no heat and had to have our furnace re-started. It was also the week that the fl u started its rounds. It just was not the right day to try to continue on, so after careful consideration, it was decided to move the next meeting to Thursday, February 12th


, at Jasper’s in Ellsworth at 6:00


p.m. – same time, same place. We certainly hope that the cold and winter storms give us a reprieve by that date. We apologize if there was any inconvenience by not having our meeting on that particular date. The legislature was also in the process of re-structure, with the swearing in of the new representatives and secretarial staff. Now, the fi rst meeting for the Marine Resource Committee for introductions to the new members and for them to meet our industry representatives was set for this Wednesday and has now been re-scheduled for next Monday due to the weather. They are also setting the time and dates for the legislative bills that are on the docket. We will have the information if anyone needs to know about a certain bill that is coming up. Please feel free to give us a call or e-mail message any time if you have concerns about a bill that is coming up on the legislative schedule. We are here to represent our membership. When we testify, we are speaking for our


entire membership and not our personal feelings.


Any personal opinions that I may have, I state them separately from the D.E.L.A. testimony.


For that matter, you


are always welcome to attend the hearings and speak your own feelings also. Typically, our opinions are pretty much the same as the entire association which is why we are so committed to making sure that our testimony is heard by all. We “say what we mean and mean what we say.”


How many times have you attended meetings and the go to the hearings and say to yourself “which side on they on?” This is when “go with the fl ow” isn’t always to our advantage, especially when our future and the future of our next generation is at stake. D.E.L.A. would like to welcome our new


member, Randy Nichols of the Tradesmen International. Tradesmen International is a group that helps our Associate membership, such as the boat building industry.


Stop


by our booth at the Fishermen’s Forum for more information about the Tradesmen. We welcome our Associate members to stop by with information about your business. You are all very important to the success of D.E.L.A. and we are very proud of all of our members.


Our friends and members of International Special Risks will be “on board” also. We try to cover safety as well as represent membership coverage for your vessel. It all works hand in hand with our marine industry.


The Fishermen’s Forum is scheduled for March 5, 6 & 7th


this year at the Samoset


Resort in Rockport and will be the 40th Anniversary of the event. Please contact me if you’d like a scholarship form for your student attending college.


The goal


this year is to be able to award $40,000 in scholarship funds to students of fi shing families. We want to make this year’s Forum one of the best for all. The Forum Board of Directors has been working on the Forum since September of 2014. A lot of planning and preparation goes into the success of the event.


This year, we will have a guest from the


Wicked Tuna show. We are not sure if Keith Colburn of Deadliest Catch is going to attend or not. At this point in time, he is still crab fi shing. We will know more a little later…. stay tuned!


The 2015 Canadian/U.S. Town Meeting will be held on March 20 and 21 at the Delta Hotel in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.


by the Lobster Institute and the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation.


This will once again be hosted This


year’s meeting is dedicated in memory of Klaus Sonnenberg, a former member of the Lobster Institutes’ Board of Advisors and one of the founders of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association who passed away in August 2014. Topics under consideration by the planning committee include:


in North Falmouth, MA. We were not able to attend this year, but we certainly hope that the show was successful. Our best wishes to Bernie Feeney, the Casoni’s and Bill Adler. We would also like to offer our deepest


The “Grey


Zone, sub-legal eggers, effects of ocean acidifi cation, marketing, labor issues, shell disease and market access and quality standards. Please contact Cathy Billings of the Lobster Institute at cathy.billings@umit. maine.edu or call 207-581-2751 for more information.


This is just the beginning of the busy season for the marine industry. There is also the Maine Boat Builders Show, in Portland,


Maine, the Boston Seafood Show , Boston, MA, and much more. The Massa- chusetts Lobster Association just hosted their Annual Meeting over the past weekend at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel


JOHANSON BOATWORKS Full Service Yacht Yard


condolences to Wayne Hamilton and Family for the passing of Loraine Hamilton of Hamilton Marine. In the same week, we also offer our deepest condolences to Gary Libby and Family for the passing of wife, Kim Libby of Port Clyde. Kim was a past member of the Fishermen’s Form Board of Directors. It was an honor and pleasure to have known these two wonderful ladies in our industry and they will be missed very much. We would like to wish the best to Colonel Joe Fessenden as he retires after 40 years of serving with the Maine Marine Patrol. He was always a pleasure to work with. Now it is his turn to go out on the boat and cast over a fi shing line! Enjoy your time off, Colonel Joe! Times, they are a changing whether we like the change or not. We will always cherish the good memories and times that we all have shared over the years. Take care… See you around, Sheila


Rockland, Maine • 207-596-7060 info@jboatworks.com • jboatworks.com


Saving the Gill-Netter PHYLLIS A. 2014 LOBSTER BOAT RACE CD


Over 800 photographs from all 2014 lobster boat races. $12.50, which includes postage.


To order: Maine Coastal News, P.O. Box 710, Winterport, ME, 04496 or call (207) 223-8846 and charge to your credit card.


The Phyllis A. Marine Association - A non-profi t organization dedicated to the preservation of the former gill-netter PHYLLIS A., built at Kennebunkport in 1925, and worked by the Arnold family out of Gloucester for 75 years. To help call (978) 391-3901 or visit their website: www.phyllis-a.org. All donations are tex deductible.


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