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DEPT. OF MARINE RESOURCES
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Maine Lobster Zone F Council Meeting Minutes November 3, 2005Lobster Zone F Council Meeting Council Members Present: Elliott Thomas, David Merryman, Gary Hawkes, Jason Hillman, Jeff Adams, Michael Wintle, Jim Doughty, Raymond Gilliam, Richard Yenco, David Johnson. Other members present: Andrew Ulrickson, Adam Ulrickson, Dean Wintle, Bill Doane, Terry Stockwell, Sarah Cotnoir, Lt. Jon Cornish and Sgt. Paul Joyce. Call to Order Elliott Thomas called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm. Election of Officers The following slate of Officers was elected: Gary Hawkes moderated the remainder of the meeting. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the May 31, 2005 meeting were approved as written. Reports and Updates Lobster Advisory Council Update: Elliott Thomas presented a brief summary of the September 21, 2005 LAC meeting. The seven Zone Councils voted to spend the 2005 Lobster Seed Fund by distributing seed lobsters into Zones A and B and making $84,000 available for research. $40,000 will be used to support ongoing programs (Lobster Conservancy’s intertidal work, MLA’s ventless trap survey, Bigelow Lab) and $44,000 will be set aside for an RFP to look at aging and growth. The Lobster License Plate funds for 2005 were awarded two research projects - a water quality project in Casco Bay, a heavy metals project concerning shell diseased lobsters vs. healthy lobsters - and 3 education projects. John Sowles reported on the Maine trawl surveys and requested further cooperation from the lobster industry. Members of the Council gave him suggestions on how to better notify fishermen. Bill Hoffman reported on the Massachusetts Cod Survey and was looking for suggestions on how to obtain better cooperation from the industry. Heidi Bray presented a summary of the proposed landings and reporting program. This was similar to the presentation made here in October. It is a dealer reporting program, not a harvester logbook program. DMR Update: Terry Stockwell gave the update. Stock Assessment The stock assessment is encouraging for Maine, but there is too much effort. Suggest that Carl Wilson come to our January meeting to present results. Whales One hundred twenty coils of warp are out for testing. Video taken in the vicinity of Monhegan shows that the warp is laying about 3 feet above the bottom. Additional warp will be out for testing in the spring, along with depth sensors. DMR also wants to look at foraging patterns vs. gear configurations vs. bottom types. The whale rules should be out in either January or February. Shrimp The surveys show that this should be a banner year. The season may be twice as long as last year. Industry wants 140 days starting 12 December. A hearing will be held on November 8th at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Proposed Rule-making Several technical corrections are proposed: Apprentices will have 30 days to send in their logbook to the DMR after the 50-day logbook is completed. Rules will be synched with State Statutes to allow family members to run the boat of a person with a medical exemption. The Zone E/F boundary is off 1 degree in the rule from the charts issued in the original rulemaking. This will be corrected in this rule-making. Other proposed rulemaking: Rigged to fish is defined - if it has a hauler, it is a lobster boat. Wet storage is to be limited to 14 days during shrimp season. There was a discussion on this and those present thought that 30 days was fine and 14 days too short due to weather conditions, being iced-in, etc. Marine Resources Committee: As this is the second legislative term, very few bills will be appearing. The most notable will be a bill defining taxation rules for property used for fishing. Other: There will be a meeting on Chebeague on November 7 regarding the Hope Island aquaculture lease. Richard Yenco says that his district feels that June is not the best month to switch tags, and that July would be better. The regulations require that new tags be on by June 1st. New Business The CAT A discussion was held about the CAT. Elliott Thomas has contacted Annette Higgins at the CAT, and they will come down after the contract was signed with Portland. Some of those present thought that this would be too late, so Mike Wintle will arrange a meeting as soon as possible. Exit Ratio The results of the vote for changing the exit ratio were overwhelming in favor of changing from 3:1 to 5:1. A motion was made by Jeff Adams and seconded by Elliott Thomas to request that the exit ratio be changed from 3:1 to 5:1. The motion passed unanimously. A letter signed by Gary Hawkes was given to Terry Stockwell to bring to the Commissioner. A Public Hearing will be scheduled, and comments will be prepared. It will then go before the Marine Resources Advisory Council and the Commissioner for approval. Apprentice Questionnaire A new bill passed last year allows for changes in the apprentice program on a zone specific basis. Specific changes allowed are: an increase in the length of time an apprentice must be enrolled in the program, a requirement that a sponsor to have held a lobster license for 5 years, and a requirement that an apprentice may enter the zone only if he has apprenticed in it. This was discussed, and a motion to send out a questionnaire regarding this to Zone F license holders was made by Elliott Thomas and seconded by Gary Hawkes. Motion passed unanimously. Fishing Vessel Safety Council Update Elliott Thomas presented a summary of the preliminary recommendations of the Fishing Vessel Safety Council. The council recommends that state licensed vessels be required to carry the same safety equipment as documented vessels for the waters they are fishing in. The council has also developed a safety training course outline. They would like to see this is a requirement of the apprentice program. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted |
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