November 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. D. E. L. A. F D
From the Director - Here we are just days away from
election day. The ads are coming so fast and furious that I am having a hard time thinking straight these days. Win, lose or draw, I will be glad when the insults and hype is “sort of over” and we can lick our wounds one way or the other. The one thing that we can hope for is to “do what we feel is right.” When I fi rst came into this position, I wasn’t quite sure about some of the issues that we were repre- senting, as far as being a spokesperson. I always remember the advice that “then” Commissioner, George LaPointe
gave to me, which was if there was ever a question, always do what feels like the right thing to do. It works, ethically, morally and respectfully. We have been very busy this season,
with our Annual Meeting starting off the meetings for the fall schedule. The Maine Fishermen’s Forum Board has already had two meetings since September. Each year, we start planning the next Forum as soon as the previous one is behind us. If you are planning to host a seminar for the upcoming Forum, please contact the director that you work with. We are looking at the seminars early this year so we can make sure that we do not have two or three that cover the same topic. With this in mind, the Board of Directors need to review the topics early so we can have a good variety of topics and subject matter. We are looking at safety requirements for fi shermen and hope to off er help, such as the blood pressure and skin cancer screening. This has proved to be very eff ective
for helping to save the lives of fi shermen that might not otherwise have these
check-ups. The screening has already helped more than one person with posi- tive test results. This is just one example of what is off ered while visiting the Fo- rum. The Forum is geared for the entire family, so we look forward to seeing you in March! The Lobster Institute has had their
fi rst meeting of the season also. With a very heavy meeting schedule happening that particular week, I asked our Vice President, Bob Fortin if he was interested in taking my place as my alternate for this meeting. He very willingly accepted the invitation and went to the University of Maine for his fi rst Lobster Institute meet- ing. Thank you, Bob! He will fi ll us in at our next D.E.L.A. meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, November 10th at Jasper’s in Ellsworth. We will also be hosting guest speakers at this meet- ing. Lela Leighton of Leighton Long Tin Accounting and Brian Flewelling of Key Bank will be speaking to us about the Capital Construction Fund. This is off ered to help us manage our funds for protection for the future. Please remem- ber, all are welcome to attend. If you are not a member and interested in our topic, feel free to come along and consider becoming a member. Our membership enrollment is open for new members. There have been a lot of changes
going on these days, such as the new Na- tional Marine Monument that represents 4,913 square miles in Southern New England. D.E.L.A. did sign a letter with Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Associa- tion, The Atlantic Off shore Lobstermen’s Association, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and the Maine Lobstermen’s Union, opposing the closing of very im-
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portant fi shing grounds. “The collective group of fi shermen and industry organi- zations are actively pursing other avenues on how to right the wrong here and as we all know this is NO easy feat in the world in which we live and try to work in. Stay tuned.” This is all in an eff ort to protect coral beds. Another environmen- tal issue that closes down valuable fi shing grounds. I have a letter that came to us from a
fi sherman in Dartmouth, MA that I will share a portion with you: “We just lost the State of Connecticut. Not exactly, but we did just lose 5,000 square miles of commercial fi shing grounds, the equiv- alent size of the State of Connecticut. Ground fi shermen in the Northeast can’t take much more. Each year they take more from us; quota, area to fi sh, and burdensome regulations.” We have been hearing about local
communities struggling to maintain their fi shing grounds due to tourist traffi c on the water (cruise ships). There has been a great concern about bait this year and the high prices added to our overhead. Another issue that we have been dealing with is whether to use animal hide or not as an alternate bait. There are alternate baits that are made with biodegradable ingredients that come from the ocean. Sometimes, what this all comes down to is choices…do we want to
Commercial Fishing News
please tourists to the extreme that we put our fi shermen at risk? After all, after the tourists go home for the winter, this leaves the rest of us to help support our local economies. I don’t really think that they come here to put our fi shermen out of business. If anything, the tourists that I have dealt with are willing to help support the fi shermen. There must be a way to compromise our very precious heritage and coastal villages that want to maintain a certain way of living and provide for our families. Times sure are a changing, so please, stay in touch with any concerns that you may be having. We are an association that represents our members and each member also has a voice in the future of our Maine fi shing industry. We hope to hear from you soon,
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