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


Let the season begin! Once again, it seems that this season is starting out like a traditional season, which means June will be a little slow starting and the new shells will start “busting out” in mid-July. This is the general opinion of most. Let’s see if everyone’s predictions are going to be right this year.


There are still boats and traps sitting on the shore, not quite ready to start the ball rolling just yet. When we’re not catching, bait, fuel and time is the same expense as when we have a great day. Start up is the hardest thing to get through until the boat starts covering its expenses.


I’d really like to know how many of you are reading these articles. The reason that I ask is because we receive a lot of calls from people saying that we do not provide certain information such as when and where our meetings are. We post our meetings on Facebook, in this article of Maine Coastal News, Commercial Fisheries News and our website. Please feel free to contact us at any time for meeting questions. If you’d like to have a notice sent to you in the mail, I’d be happy to send one along to you. Communications is very important to all of us. Our mailing address is D.E.L.A., P. O. Box 88, Belfast, ME 04915. Our contact numbers are 207 338-1406, 207 322-1924 and (207) 322-1928 and our website is downeastlobstermen.org and e-mail is dassatt711@yahoo.com. We want each member to have access to our information.


Maine’s Elver Fishery Increases in Val- ue by Nearly $3 Million


June 2, 2015 - The 2015 Maine elver harvest season, which ended offi cially Sun- day, May 31 at noon, netted Maine fi shermen nearly $3 million in additional value over the 2014 season.


Preliminary data from the Maine De- partment of Marine Resources indicate that, despite a decline from the previous season of 4,445 pounds landed, the overall value paid to Maine’s 920 active harvesters in 2015 was $11,389,864 compared to $8,474,302 in 2014. Total pounds landed in 2015 were 5,242 compared to 9,688 in 2014. This year’s to- tal quota, set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, was equal to the total landings in 2014 and will remain in place through 2017. The ASMFC will next re-evaluate Maine’s quota in 2018. The per-pound average for elvers har- vested in 2015 was $2,172 compared to $874 in 2014.


“This year’s harvest represents a success for Maine’s elver industry,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “The swipe card system, which we unveiled last season,


The D.M.R. Dredge meeting was held in Searsport with a lot of representation attending. As far as I know, there was not one person at this hearing that was in favor of the dredge project. I’m sure that they are out there, but the record says that they were not speaking at this hearing.


I learned one very important thing about the media that I’d like to share with you. WLBZ TV asked if they could speak with me prior to the hearing and wanted me to come a little early. Mike and I arrived at the Searsport High School early to oblige the request. After doing the interview and speaking the truth about our participation, the interview was never used. They showed everyone but our interview. Now I’m not usually a “poor sport” about such things, but D.E.L.A. has been very involved with this issue since the very beginning. I had all of our letters with us that date back to the very fi rst one that we sent in. So when people wonder where we are, it is very possible that our participation is there, they just show what they want you to see and hear. I have learned so much in the past few years about how these issues are handled. Another example of the press happened last week when I was speaking with the Associated Press. They were asking me about the current catch, current prices and basic update on lobsters for this season. I happened to mention a little incident of when a family member of Mike’s called from Michigan. They were looking for approximately 50 pounds of lobster for Mother’s Day. I told the reporter


NEWS FROM MAINE DMR


again worked fl awlessly and provided the Department with real time data on landings and value. We also implemented a dealer-to-dealer swipe card requirement and a new elver exporter license, both of which allowed us to more effectively account for elvers at all points in the chain of custody which is critical for the effective management of this resource.”


Landings this season declined due to a number of variables which are outside the control of resource managers and regula- tors, according to Commissioner Keliher. “The cold spring depressed the migration of elvers. The spring was also extremely dry and levels in Maine’s streams and rivers were low so elvers were able to swim in the middle where they could not be caught because of restrictions on fi shing the middle third of rivers and streams.” “Fortunately, though, the value of


Maine’s elvers remained at historic high levels which resulted in an additional $2.9 million in the pockets of Maine’s elver fi sh- ermen.”


Continued on Page 24. Saving the Gill-Netter PHYLLIS A.


of what the cost would be. It was over $800 including shipping. They opted to wait until the price dropped. The point that I was trying to make to the reporter was that it is very hard to market lobster when we have such a fl uctuating price in our product. The press interpreted it that I was telling the family members to wait until the price dropped. This has long been a dilemma in the lobster fi shery for fi shermen and dealers to try and have a consistent pricing arrangement that would help to stabilize the Maine lobster fi shery to be more competitive. Mike feels that this is an important topic that should be brought up at our next meeting. This also leads back to something that the D.E.L.A. Board of Directors has talked about once before and now it is time to get serious and deal with this issue.


The new whale requirements have been published. There was a lot of work and participation of all of the associations and industry representatives. I posted them on our Facebook site if you would like to take a look. For Maine, measures include status quo for the exempted waters, pocket waters, new trawl-up requirements, a new 6 mile line, additional gear marking, and some island buffers that will be allowed to fi sh single traps ¼ mile from the island, all with an effective date of June 1, 2015. The Atlantic Whale Take Reduction Plan was modifi ed to include the new requirements and defi nitions. We are also working with regard to the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP). The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association has reached out to the Maine Associations for further discussion on this program. At this point in time, it is still a work in progress, so we will know more about this as time goes on. We start work on the next Maine


Fishermen’s Forum this Thursday at the Samoset Resort. We will be entertaining an all day session to look at the previous Forum, tweak any problems that we may have had


and work on the next one that is coming up in March, 2016. The Forum Board of Directors is a very dedicated group and want to address everyone’s concerns and suggestions. The next D.E.L.A. meeting is scheduled at the Fishermen’s


for Thursday, July 9th


Friend in Stonington at 6:00 p.m. The July meeting is a good meeting to get together and informally address the current concerns and plan for the upcoming season. This is right on the tip of the Stonington Lobster Boat races and Stonington Fishermen’s Day sponsored by the Island Fishermen’s Wives on Sunday, July 19th


. We also will be


in Belfast Harborfest, Camden Windjammer Festival, Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Race and the rest is up to our stamina! Yes, we would like to get to Machias as well. Please let us know if you would like to attend a D.E.L.A. meeting in the Machias area. We aim to be there for all of our members and people that would like to possibly join and “come on board.” We will see you around, Sheila


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