|
Nancy Griffin
The Portland Fish Exchange is facing
financial difficulties — not for the first time, because downturns in the
fishery always place strain on related industries. The first display fish
auction in the country, Portland's exchange was planned and launched in
record time, opening in 1986 before the longer-planned New York/New Jersey
Fishport, which was more expensive and lasted no time at all.
Portland's auction is a success story,
no matter what its current financial difficulty. It's a credit to the
Portland waterfront and Maine. It deserves any help the fishing industry,
the city of Portland and the state can provide, so the Exchange will be
around when the fish come back.
Anything, that is, except the idea
that's been floated to allow Maine trawlers to land lobsters which can
then be sold at the auction. This suggestion has too many pitfalls to be
given serious consideration. Lobsters dredged up from the bottom by
trawlers are more likely to be dead or damaged and missing claws, more
prone to die in the tank. Maine lobstermen have worked long and hard to
brand their product as high quality, creating demand for Maine lobsters
throughout the world. Maine lobster is one of the premier seafood products
in the world. Maine's 6,000 lobstermen, having worked hard to win a ban on
the sale of trawler-caught lobsters in the state, won't give this one up
without a fight.
But the fight shouldn't even have to
happen. Changing the rules to allow trawlers to land lobsters is a
slippery slope that could destroy the reputation of Maine lobsters and
perhaps harm the resource itself. Who can say the lobsters landed would be
by-catch or targeted? It's difficult to prove either way. And in case no
one remembers, lobsters used to be, and probably still are for some New
England boats, 'shack.' Shack is the unrecorded, illegal sale of lobsters
for cash that is divided among the crew.
|
