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Unfortunately, the December Working Waterfront commentary Lobster and
the Portland Fish Exchange is replete with distortions and outright
inaccuracies. Readers deserve the opportunity to understand the facts
underlying this public policy issue.
There are no
‘pitfalls’ to allowing the landing of bycatch lobsters. Federal law, and
every state on the Eastern Seaboard except Maine, permits the practice.
In fact, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission resoundingly
rejected a proposal to eliminate bycatch lobster landings as recently as
October 2006. Even lobstermen spoke out against the idea.
View lobstermen's opinions
The claim that bycatch
lobsters are too damaged or prone to die is belied by the fact that, as is
noted elsewhere in the article, those lobsters produce significant revenue
for groundfish vessels. Seafood dealers do not pay out thousands of
dollars for dead or dying lobsters.
Regarding fish prices,
the reality is that in today’s global marketplace, inter-auction prices
are generally within a few percentage points of each other. However, in 2005 the Portland Fish Exchange
provided fishermen higher prices than the auction in Gloucester,
Massachusetts for 13 of 21 commonly sold groundfish items. Exchange
prices beat those of the New Bedford auction 19 of 21 times.
In fact, the Portland
Fish Exchange has proven so successful at providing fishermen with high
prices that those Massachusetts auctions were modeled after Maine’s.
The discussion
regarding selling lobsters or other seafoods at the Exchange entirely
misses the point. Whether lobsters are sold on the auction or to another
waterfront dealer is irrelevant. What matters is that the vessels with
bycatch lobsters bring their fish to the state as well. The Exchange is a
barometer of Maine’s groundfish industry. Our goal is to preserve Maine’s
traditional fleet, processors, and working waterfronts by bringing cod,
haddock, and other groundfish to the state. Without a Maine groundfish
business, there is no need for a Portland Fish Exchange at all.
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