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Maine Lobster Zone F Council Meeting Minutes May 18, 2006

Lobster Zone F Council Meeting

Call to Order

David Merryman called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M.

Approval of Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes of the April 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 April 26, 2006 LAC meeting.

Lobster Seed Fund:

The recommendations of the proposal review committee were accepted unanimously. The committee decided to nearly fully fund two proposals rather than partially fund a number of proposals.

A spirited discussion was held on the use of the funds for hatcheries. The DMR is looking in to this as the efficacy of hatcheries is unknown. Each of the zone representatives stated how their zone wants to use the money. Zones A and C opted for releasing lobsters. Zones A and C want to spend their share of the seed fund on hatcheries. The topics for research are normally selected after the money is allocated. The LAC members wanted to select the topics at the meeting. The topics selected were aging and growth of lobsters and the efficacy of hatcheries. Zone A changed its allocation of the seed fund to research based on these topics. Zone C will revisit their selection.

Effort Discussion:

The Zone D council is meeting every 2 weeks to come up with a zone-specific effort bill for the Legislature. They are looking at a “4000 tags out-1 fisherman in” entry strategy. They will be meeting on student licenses next.

The DMR presented its position paper on Latent Licenses. Setting control dates is not possible under current state law. In addition, it is difficult to get changes through the legislature and the Department and fishermen have worked hard to keep the changes that have been made in place.

Trap tags as an entry tool were also discussed. The DMR presented a position paper on this topic as well, with many complicated details. Further discussions will be held on this as well as all of the other potential effort control measures at an all-day LAC meeting on May 31, 2006.

Rule Making:

The DMR Advisory Committee will be discussing and voting on the proposed double-tagging regulations at its June 21 meeting. Anyone may attend, but no public comments can be made as regulated by statute.

ASMFC:

The public hearings on Addendum 8 to Amendment 3 of the American Lobster Plan have been held, and the lobster board will be voting on this on May 8, 2006.

The ASMFC Lobster Advisory Panel has determined that a percentage of reporting would be sufficient and will report to the full committee.

Lobster Plan - The vent increase scheduled for next year is not going to happen. Also, 10% reporting from Maine will be acceptable.

There will be 0% tolerance on spawn in herring in 2007.

LCMT:

The LCMT will be meeting on May 23 in Portsmouth, NH.

Dana McIntire will attend the LCMT.

Whales:

The whale plan is expected this summer. The TRT will be meeting in the fall. $20K is available for additional rope testing. None will be given until the present analyses are completed.

The rope changes will go into effect in 2008. DMR is hoping that funding for new technologies will continue.

Patrol Update:

If one has Areas 1 and 3 on their permit, they need to consider that there is a larger gauge size in Area 3.

There have been changes in staff in Cushing and Bar Harbor.

There are new regulations regarding gill netting in the Merrymeeting River.

The Coast Guard will be performing a voluntary safety inspection of the DMR boat in Harpswell on June 6. All are invited to watch and have their own vessels inspected.

Commercial Fishing Safety Council:

The Council is moving toward rule-making for a safety requirement (Drill Coordinators course) for
the Apprentice program.

Prior to rule-making on safety equipment equivalency between documented and state-registered vessels, a clarification from the Coast Guard is needed on 3-miles vs. boundary line. Rule-making is anticipated later this year.

CFSC Next meeting - May 31, 2006, at 0900.

DMR Update:

David Etnier presented the DMR update

The interviews for Terry Stockwell’s position have been held, and the position will be filled very
soon.

Some states have larger minimum sizes for lobsters and possession laws rather than landing laws. This can cause problems for Maine lobsters being shipped to these states.

Effort Discussion:

The goal is to have a consistent plan across the state. Topics covered included latent licenses, tiered licenses, Student licenses, smaller build-up for new license holders. An active discussion took place and each of the potential items was described.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on either June 15th or 22nd, depending on the availability of the room.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted
Elliott Thomas
Secretary

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