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Fisheries
Mike is committed to rebuilding Maine’s historic ground fisheries industry and has worked to push for long-term solutions that will ensure an efficient and sustainable industry for Maine’s coastal communities. He is also a champion of Maine’s lobster and shellfish, supporting critical research and assistance for the industry.
GROUND FISHERIES
Mike has pushed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Administration to implement policies that will rebuild the ground fisheries while providing the necessary economic assistance to minimize the impacts to local fishermen and fishing communities. In 2009 and 2010, Mike was successful in getting NOAA to provide additional funding to assist the New England fishing industry’s transition to a new fisheries management system.
Mike has met with NOAA Administrator Dr. Lubecheno and NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab to address data collection for stock assessment and push for maximum flexibility in the implementation of the Catch Shares program. Based on these discussions, NOAA has stepped up their efforts to have the most current data available in order to make timely decisions on total allowable catch for species.
On March 18, 2011, Mike joined Maine’s congressional delegation in sending a letter to White House Chief of Staff William Daley requesting that the Administration remain committed to regional groundfishery management plans in order to ensure the sustainability of Maine’s coastal fishing communities.
And most recently, on March 30th, 2011, Mike announced that the U.S. Commerce Department was sending an economic development assessment team to Maine to conduct an analysis of the state’s fishing communities. According to the Commerce Department, in addition to Maine, the teams will visit communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York to conduct meetings with local leaders to help identify economic development challenges and opportunities facing local industries and communities.
According to the Commerce Department, the goal of the visits is to provide customized technical assistance for fishing communities that experienced reductions in groundfish fishing revenues in recent years. The Economic Development Administration (EDA), in partnership with other federal agencies, will meet with local leaders to assess current and emerging economic issues, ranging from infrastructure challenges to development and financing needs. After the assessment, EDA will present a report that captures economic development best practices and customized strategies for long-term strategic planning.
According to EDA, the teams are modeled after the Economic Development Assessment and Evaluation Teams deployed to Gulf Coast communities following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The team approach proved an effective way to further local economic planning efforts by kick-starting a collaborative process among participants from the local community as well as outside experts.
This collaborative effort proved to be effective in the Gulf Coast, and Mike thinks it will be very beneficial to our communities in Maine. He believes it’s critical that we promote economic development strategies for our coastal communities as efforts move forward to rebuild a more sustainable fishery.
LOBSTER AND SHELLFISH
Mike recognizes that the Maine lobster and shellfish industry are major economic drivers in Maine, and he’s fought to support them over the years. When one thinks about the State of Maine, lobsters come to mind. Historically, this resource has dominated the ranks as Maine’s most valuable commercial fishery. Midcoast and Downeast Maine have the most fisheries-dependent communities in New England and effective lobster management is central to their economic stability.
Mike has supported annual funding for lobster research since first being sworn into Congress. This research is extremely worthwhile because it has helped sustain both the lobster resource and the lobster industry in Maine. The lobster industry and the connected businesses employ thousands of people in Maine and throughout the northeast. In all, the industry contributes an indispensible $1 billion a year to Maine’s economy.
Over the last several years, Maine has experienced a series of severe red tides, which resulted in closures of up to 97 percent of the fisheries. Approximately 3,000 harvesters and dealers depend directly upon access to healthy shellfish beds. Mike has worked hard with Maine’s congressional delegation to secure disaster assistance funding for those affected by these red tide outbreaks.
Most recently, in February of 2011, Mike wrote a letter to the House Appropriations Committee to request disaster relief funding for the 2009 shellfish season in Maine, a recently declared commercial fisheries failure, to be included in any funding source for Fiscal Year 2011 or 2012.