Scallop Industry Meeting

Meeting Summary 
7/10/01

Department of Marine Resources
Scallop Industry Meeting
July 10^th 2001- 6:00 PM 

Meeting Attendants 

Industry members present included: Robin Alden (Stonington), Maurice Alley (Beals Island), Chris Bartlett (Eastport), Troy Bickford (Bar Harbor), Kathleen Billings (Deer Isle), Marsden and Donna Brewer (Stonington), Richard and Jeanette Bubar (Stonington), Ben Crocker (Bucks Harbor), Bill Crowe (Gouldsboro), Bill Day (Cobscook Bay), Erin Fisher (Deer Isle), Danny Fitzsimmons (Lubec), Ted Hoskins (Blue Hill), Scott Ingraham (Brooklin), Peter Klemenz (Stonington), Jesse Leach (Penobscott), Bruce McInnis (Eastport), Harold Moody (Stonington), Les Murray (Cobscook Bay) Randy Newcomb (Perry), Kristan Porter (Cutler), Tom Pottle (Perry), Tracy Sawtelle (Perry), Cappy Sargent (Millbridge).  Maine Marine Patrol Officers Alan Talbot, Jay Carrol and Russell Wright attended the meeting.  The following individuals from Department of Marine Resources were also present:  Commissioner George Lapointe, Terry Stockwell, Dan Schick, Scott Feindel, and Samantha Brooke.  

Meeting Summary

On July 10^th 2001, members of the scallop industry met with Commissioner George Lapointe and Terry Stockwell of the Maine Department of Marine Resources to discuss ideas and concerns related to development of a sustainable and economically viable state scallop industry.  A paper outlining ideas previously brought up was distributed to the group to encourage discussion.   Commissioner LaPointe began the meeting by stating the following objectives:    

1. To establish a process that will be followed for all future scallop industry meetings
2. To work through ideas on how to create a sustainable fishery that still supports the needs of the community

The Commissioner also emphasized his desire for industry members throughout the state to take part in the process.  Terry Stockwell went on to stress that the Department welcomes all suggestions and ideas.  Both Stockwell and Commissioner Lapointe stated repeatedly that the Department is committed to taking as much time as necessary in order to create a comprehensive plan that has considered every option.  

What followed was the presentation by individuals of ideas related to a variety of topics 

Entry Controls:  

Suggestions:

• Same day opening for urchin and scallop industry to help balance participation between these two industries
• Limited Entry
• Require enhancement work as part of licensing requirement
• Increase cost for license- using the extra money for research, enhancement, marketing, etc.
• Controlled entry with an avenue for people to enter industry
• Priority given to full time fishermen
• Allow full time fishermen to float between industries
• Moratorium on licenses
• Allowing fishermen from traditional towns to access to permits first

Comments:

• The way the fishery is operated now, it allows the good crop to be wiped out as soon as the season begins
• Increasing the license fee gives a better idea of who is really fishing scallops
• It is difficult to define what full and part time fishermen are- because even income % can give a misleading value. 
• License moratorium helps lessen the concern that a few will work hard to restore population, but then others who didn’t help with rebuilding will reap the benefits.
• If industry is closed, all those fishermen from other industries that help with enhancement would be lost, and that would thwart the enhancement process.  
• Scallop fishing has traditionally been a secondary fishery, and limiting entry into it shuts out those who use scallops as a backup  

Trip Limits 

The only comment offered was that “Days at Sea” are not an appropriate management tool for the Maine Scallop fishery due to the fishery’s structure. 

Gear/ Vessel Modifications

Suggestions:

• Change in ring size
• Lighter dredges should have more flexibility in configuration requirements
• Need to design a dredge that has less impact on the bottom
• Mandate a dredge weight limit, either overall or by boat size
• Change dredge configurations to allow more undersized scallops to escape
• Horsepower restrictions- negative response from the group
• Creation of a gear advisory group

Comments:

• Large boats could become a problem if the lobster fishery goes bad and these fishermen decide scallop instead
• New Bedford drag may cause more damage to bottom
• Dredge weight, not size, could be the problem
• Heavy dredges crush juvenile scallops
• There consequences associated with dredge size limits
• Mussel draggers cause a problem because they can harvest smaller scallops- they only have a 2 ˝” ring size.
• Small boats are penalized by some regulations
• Gear/ Vessel restrictions just create smaller boxes, doesn’t really help industry
• Technology can increase effort (“takes the fishing out of fishing”)

Questions:

• Since there has only been one year since the 3 ˝ ring size was established, shouldn’t the results of that change be monitored before any other changes are made?

Area Closures:

Suggestions:

• Closed nursery and recruitment areas
• Restrict fishing inshore settlement and recruitment areas but leave other areas open
• Allow only certain size vessels (small) to fish in specific areas

Comments:

• Federal water’s example shows that closures can be effective in restoring population size

Landings Restrictions:

Suggestions:

• Meat count
• Increase in minimum scallop size (suggest 4”)
• Maximum size
• No shelling on boat

Comments:

• Maximum size isn’t always effective because people just throw the shells over the edge of the boat
• One cannot make a living on scallops alone any more, and many fishermen have been pushed into other industries.  If scallop harvests increase, other industries will benefit from reduced fishing effort.
• Need to help prevent small scallops from being removed from the water

Aquaculture:

Suggestions:

• Require aquaculture scallops to reach a certain age before harvest, so that they can help enhance the wild population.
• Location of aquaculture sites needs to be regulated so that good scallop bottom isn’t lost
• Need to ensure that lease sites are spread out
• Needs to be a policy that wild scallop spat cannot be use for bottom culture
• Predator control for starfish and green crabs

Comments:

• Concern with the allocation of aquaculture resources
• The aquaculture process can be split into stages- it doesn’t necessarily have to be taken all the way- and still be beneficial (“spit spat”)

Management:

Suggestions:

• Establish Zones/ Districts/ Councils

Comments:

• It may be that different styles of management are necessary for various parts of the coast to suit the needs of various areas (example: Cobscook Bay)
• All industries need to be involved with establishing a management system, because there are a lot of other people affected- fisheries are interdependent.  No group should be excluded from the process. 
• The scallop fishery is too mobile for zones- it would kill certain areas
• Need to ensure that management is still effective, even when industry is thriving, because if there is a low, sustainability will make it less low than it would have been without management efforts (works as insurance). 
• Management must be kept up for it to be effective
• The lobster fishery could establish zones because the fishery is distributed fairly evenly along the coast and also because the zones were predefined by tradition.
• The industry profile changes with shifts in population size

Questions:

• What is the cost of a comprehensive scallop management plan?
• How will we ensure that the state plan is working?
• Are scallop zones inappropriate for this state?
• What states have a thriving industry and what are they doing differently?

Enforcement:  

The idea of increasing fines and penalties was brought up.

Commissioner Lapointe reinforced this idea by stating that reasonable enforceability and administration must be the bottom line for any decisions the Department makes about a proposed plan. 

Federal Management:

Comments: 

• It was noted that the industry should be wary of just mirroring the federal plan- need to seek out new ideas and get input from people who have not participated in the process before.
• The question “How will the state and federal plans relate to one another?” was asked

Habitat:  

Suggestions:

• Local surveys to monitor population
• More research
• Create Marine Protected Areas for known spawning and recruitment grounds

Questions asked:

• Do we know the exact reasons behind the decrease in the scallop population?
• What type of impacts does scallop enhancement have on the ecosystem?

Marketing Strategies

Many industry members present at the June 10^th meeting felt that marketing strategies should be discussed as a part of the management process.  Some suggested strategies included:

• High-end marketing
• Labeled Marketing- (Maine Scallop)
• Using money from licensing fee for promotion

However, Commissioner Lapointe stated that he believed that marketing strategies, though an important factor in the scallop industry should not be considered in the construction of a sustainable management plan.  

Miscellaneous Comments: 

• Dates for changes should be set far ahead of time so that there is plenty of time for the industry to adjust.

• Changes should be small and spaced out over time  

• Some individual desires must be sacrificed to achieve long-term goals

Future Plans:

1. During the fall, meetings will be held up and down the coast at a variety of locations in order to ensure that the maximum number of individuals have the opportunity to share their ideas and concerns.

2. After this input period, the Commissioner will establish a steering committee composed of industry members who will develop a preliminary sustainable management proposal.

3. DMR/industry will continue with the enhancement project releasing spat on two or three controlled sites this summer.

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