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Maine Lobster Zone F Council Meeting Minutes April 6, 2006

Present: David Johnson, Elliott Thomas, Gary Hawkes, Jeff Adams, Don Ulrickson, Jason Hillman, Eric Anderson, Raymond Gilliam, Deputy Commissioner David Etnier, Sgt. Paul Joyce, Gary Cummings, Jodie Jordan, Kristen Millar, Mark Olsen, Jeni Menendez, Bill Doane, Marshall Spear, Scott Dugas, Stephen Robbins, III, Tom Fletcher and Steve Hallowell.

Call to Order:

Gary Hawkes called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.

Approval of Minutes:

A motion to approve the minutes of the February 2, 2006 meeting was made by David Johnson and seconded by Jason Hillman. The minutes were approved as written.

Reports and Updates:

Lobster Advisory Council Update:

Elliott Thomas presented a summary of the March 27, 2006 LAC meeting.

Downeast lobster nursery studies: Brian Beal gave a presentation on the Downeast lobster nursery studies. He explained how small lobsters were placed in individual containers in cages and monitored for survival and growth. It appeared that container size limited the growth. The goal of the project is to grow out the lobsters large enough to increase their chance of survival, and accept a physical tag that can be observed by fishermen.

Lobster Seed Fund: Members of the LAC were asked to obtain a decision of what their Zone Councils wish to do with each zone’s seed fund money. A committee was selected to rank and recommend the current proposals for funding. The committee will review the proposals and meet to discuss the recommendations, and Carl Wilson will report back at the next meeting.

Maine Lobster Promotion Council: Kristen Millar presented the Certified Maine Lobster Program. (See below for information.)

Commercial Fishing Safety Council: The Commercial Fishing Safety Council is moving forward with the safety course requirement for the lobster apprentice program and will be presenting this to the Commissioner. Following this, they will be recommending the implementation of regulations that will have the required safety equipment for documented and state registered vessels be the same.

Double-tagging: A public hearing will be held on March 30, 2006 at the Scarborough Town Hall.

Addendum 8: Carl Wilson presented a summary of Addendum 8 to Amendment 3 of the American Lobster Plan. The two main points of the Addendum are 1) the shift from F10 to new biological reference points based on fishing mortality and abundance and, 2) investigating coastwide mandatory reporting and data collection. Public hearings will be held at several locations in Maine. The Portland hearing will be held on April 10th at the Sheraton.

LCMT: The LCMT will be meeting after the public hearings.

Whale Update: Steve Robbins III is the gear specialist and Erin Estrada will be handling whale statistics and research on feeding profiles. The vertical line issue is still to come.

Effort Discussion: A handout on the 10% replacement tags was given to the LAC.

A brief discussion was held on what the Zone would do with our seed fund money. The Council unanimously decided to contribute all of the funds to research.

DMR Update:

Deputy Commissioner David Etnier presented the DMR Update.

Replacement Tags: The replacement tag position paper was presented and discussed.

Position Papers: The DMR will be preparing position papers for discussion on the following topics: tiered licenses, 600 tags for new entrants, students, and tags rather than licenses being the “coin of the realm.”

The Council discussed the replacement tag issue, and decided to recommend that the system remain as it is. The secretary was directed to prepare a letter to the Commissioner stating that position.

Kristen Millar from the Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC) gave a presentation on the Certified Maine Lobster Program. The program begins with lobster bands which say “Certified Maine Lobster.” There will be place mats, posters, and door stickers promoting the program available to restaurants. This will be a pilot program in New England which certifies lobsters caught or lobsters caught and processed in Maine.

The referendum results were discussed. The results were overwhelmingly in favor (90%) of requiring an apprentice to complete the program in Zone F, and that a sponsor be required to have held a license for five years. A motion to request that the Commissioner implement these regulations was made by Elliott Thomas and seconded by David Johnson. The motion was passed on a unanimous vote.

A discussion was held on the proposed double-tagging. In accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act, Deputy Commissioner Etnier left the room during the discussion. The Council is against this proposed regulation. The secretary was directed to write a letter to be included in the public comments.

Whale Update:

Steve Robbins III, the DMR gear specialist, discussed low profile rope, and the pilot program to buy back float rope. The $2 million buy back program will be a pilot program beginning in the west. The program will be administered by the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation. The TRT will meet after the final rules are published.

Elliott Thomas brought up that FPL is planning to dredge at the Wyman Station on Cousins Island. Brian Swan will be contacted regarding the lateness of the dredging.

Next Meeting:

The next meeting will be held on either May 11 or 18 depending on availability of the meeting room.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted
Elliott Thomas
Secretary

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