Maine legislator proposes change to draw landings back to Portland

By Douglas A. Moser , Staff writer Gloucester Daily Times

A proposed law in Maine could redirect thousands of pounds of fish, now sold in Gloucester, back to Portland, by overturning a ban on landing lobsters.

The bill, filed by state Rep. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, would end a ban on fishermen selling lobsters caught in their nets in the state. That ban is blamed for the loss of millions of dollars in seafood revenue to Gloucester. Opposition is expected from the influential Maine lobster industry.

"Our lobsters are being landed in Gloucester," Haskell said yesterday.

All other New England states with coastline allow fishermen to sell a certain amount of lobsters brought in with the rest of their catch. In Massachusetts, the limit is 100 lobsters per day and a total of 500 per week. Once a cap of 6 percent of the total yearly lobster landing is reached, fishermen cannot sell any more lobsters.

In recent years, the effect for Portland, home to Maine's fish exchange and auction, is fishermen have been landing lobsters in Gloucester and now have begun selling their entire catch here.

"The number of trips from Maine boats to Gloucester have quadrupled in the last year or two because of the lobster issue," said Hank Soule, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange. "It's getting pretty dramatic."

A National Marine Fisheries Service study reported last year that between 2000 and 2005, 450 trips by Maine boats landed outside Maine, with an estimated loss of $9.6 million in revenue. In 2000, about $1.25 million was lost, according to the report, and the number jumped to $3.5 million in 2005.

"It really confirmed and put numbers on what's going on," Soule said. "We had a lot of anecdotal evidence from our captains." View the report

David Cousens, president of the board of directors of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, said his organization will oppose any change. Dragging affects the quality of the lobsters because when they spend hours in a net, he said, they wind up with broken claws and damaged bodies.

"It's like harvesting potatoes with a bulldozer," he said. "You'll get a few, but you'll do damage to the rest."

The ban on groundfishermen landing lobsters and size and V-notch restrictions are "the cornerstones of our conservation efforts," which have led to a rebound in the lobster population in Maine.