Lobster Zone G Council Meeting
Town Center Fire Station, Cape Elizabeth
November 16, 2006 – 7:00 p.m.

 

Present: Peter Eaton, David Provencher, Brad Parady, Matt Nowell, Steve Taylor, Jodie M. Jordan, Robert LaFlamme, Jim Henderson, Dave Sullivan, Ed Foye, Mike Waldron, Ron Marsh, Dave Kaselauskas, Donald Foye, Ed Hutchins, Vincent Balzano, Marshall Alexander, Tom Casamassa, Joe Nickerson, Sarah Cotnoir, Donna Hall, Col. Joe Fessenden, Lt. Jon Cornish, MPO Daryen Granata and Sgt. Rick LaFlamme.

Meeting began at 7:10 p.m.

Due to the lack of a quorum, the minutes from the last meeting could not be approved.

Lt. Jon Cornish said he is hoping to have Lobstermen and Shrimp draggers work together. DMR will have a boat in the water on opening day (December 1st). It is reported that there will be about 80 -100 shrimp draggers over the 151 day season. Nova Seafood, Cozy Harbor and Oak Island are (3) of the processors. Because of the abundance of shrimp, they are in hopes of less conflict.

Four of the Portland shrimp draggers attended the meeting. Vincent Balzano spoke and showed charts of the area where they will be towing; the areas that they have traditionally towed.

Lt. Cornish explained the DAM zone from 11/18/06 through 12/02/06. Marine Patrol will be checking on gear, but will not confiscate traps. They will, however, photograph any illegal gear, and turn it over to the Feds and they may surface in the future with a violation. The bottom third of a buoy line can be float rope.

Jim Henderson gave an LAC update. Bob Baines was re-elected as Chairman. There is a proposal to have a separate waiting list for students. This proposal would affect apprentices. A high school diploma or a GED component was removed from the bill as an entry requirement to get a lobster license.
Col. Joe Fessenden stated that NH lobstermen will possibly be grandfathered if they sold lobsters in Maine in 2005-2006. They can buy a transport license for $635. There is a big concern about Massachusetts and Rhode Island boats with Federal permits fishing across all the zones and selling their catch in Maine. The bill “An Act To Create a Nonresident Lobster and Crab Landing Permit” has been put in that would create a new permit that would allow nonresident lobster fishermen to land their catch in a Maine port. The permit is proposed to be a little over $2,000.
$70,000 will be allotted for the safety course for apprentices, so an apprentice will pay for only a portion of the course.

The Portland Fish Exchange is hurting financially. They would like to make a change so that dragged lobsters could be landed in Maine. A bill could be proposed this session to allow lobsters to be harvested in ways other than by conventional lobster traps and land them in Maine.

John Butler wants to step down from the LCMT position and is looking for a replacement.

There is a Take Reduction Team meeting on December 6-8 and there may be a final whale rule at that time.

The herring TAC for Area 1A went from 60,000 mt down to 50,000 mt for 2007-2009. O’Hara’s has no frozen or fresh bait anywhere – none even in Canada. One bait dealer is bringing bait from the West Coast; over 3,000 miles away. Boats (O’Hara) on Georges haven’t caught fish in over a week.

F G tagging system – 95 Zone F fishermen have purchased the extra tags.

Ed Hutchins feels that if you don’t apprentice in Zone G, then you shouldn’t be allowed to fish in Zone G. Zone G does not require an apprentice’s sponsor to have held a commercial license for 5 years or require that an apprentice to do their apprenticeship in Zone G in order to get a Zone G license. Since there wasn’t a quorum, the council could not vote to send the lobster management zone options out to referendum. The options will be put on the next meeting’s agenda for discussion.

Donna Hall was introduced by Sarah Cotnoir; she has taken Sarah’s place at DMR.

The next meeting was set for York possibly in January.

Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.