COBSCOOK BAY FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION

COBSCOOK BAY FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION

Officers and Board                                                        Milton Chute
Chair- Leo Murray                                                   Bill Daye
Vice Chair- Jeff Smith                                              Ken Daye
Secretary/ Treasurer- Randy Newcomb               Scott Emery
Richard Bridges                                                       Bruce McInnis
Tom Pottle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Leo Murray (207) 733-4782

February 20, 2001

Fishermen's Association Proposes Conservation and Research Plans for Scallops and Urchins

COBSCOOK BAY - -Opening day of scallop season saw more boats than ever in Cobscook Bay (178 by Marine Patrol count) and catches so low that a season that should last for weeks was over in days. The Cobscook Bay Fishermen's Association is trying to change that.

Through months of meetings Cobscook fishermen have developed plans to conserve the scallop resources in the Bay. In a letter to local residents explaining the proposals, Chairman Leo Murray wrote, " We are not shutting anybody out. We are trying to make the scallops last." The Association is taking to the Legislature proposals to:

Establish a daily catch limit of 120 pounds of scallop meats (or equivalent amounts of scallops in the shell) to extend the working season and help stabilize price.

Establish a meat count of 40 scallops to the pound to allow small scallops to reach reproductive size.

Require scallops to be shucked away from the sorting table to make enforcement of minimum size regulations more effective.

Increase the fines for a first violation from $200 to $250 plus seizure of the catch, and for a second offence, loss of license for one year.

Fishermen from the Cobscook Bay area in Washington County organized the Cobscook Bay Fishermen’s Association for the purpose of conservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of the marine resources of Cobscook Bay. This Association differs from some other fisheries organizations in that it represents all gear types, all targeted species, and membership is open to all commercial license holders who live in the Cobscook Bay communities, including clam harvesters, scallop and urchin draggers and divers, and lobstermen.

Formation of the Association began at a Cobscook Fisheries Forum organized in February, 2000 by the Cobscook Bay Resource Center, where fishermen agreed on the need for a broad based fisheries organization. Legislators, scientists, DMR representatives and members of the Stonington Fisheries Alliance all encouraged Cobscook area fishermen to organize to ensure the health of their fisheries. A series of informal "kitchen table" meetings and public informational meetings led to the election in May, 2000 of a Board of Directors and officers. Approximately 70 people participated in the meetings leading up to the elections.

The Association is focusing on three issue areas: scallops, urchins, and aquaculture.

Building on last spring’s urchin reseeding project, the Association is working with scientists and the DMR to develop an effective and measurable urchin reseeding experiment for spring, 2001. Scientist Robert Russell is making plans to work with the Fishermen’s Association on an "Urchin Translocation Study" this spring. He hopes to answer the following questions through the study:

What are the survival rates of reseeded urchins?
What are the changes in roe content and quality?
What is the effect of reseeding on the seaweed that provides the food source for urchins?

In addition, the Association is working on improving the situation between wild harvest fisheries and aquaculture in the Bay. Murray reported that he and Association Vice-President Jeff Smith, of Eastport, met with a representative of the DMR to express concerns with the aquaculture leasing process. Improvements they would like to see include:

More input from fishermen when siting leases in Cobscook Bay,
Scheduling DMR underwater video surveys in the fall before scallop and urchin seasons open rather than conducting surveys in the spring after harvest has just ended, and

Addressing problems associated with transferring and subleasing of sites.

Leo Murray observed, "Everyone from around the Bay has a common interest in keeping our fisheries going. We need to keep our resources if we can. We can’t exclude others, but we need to try to protect the resource or in ten years we won’t have anything. I’d like to keep fishing and I’d like to see my kids fish."

In the letter to residents of the Cobscook area the Association said, "nobody depends more directly on the resources of the Bay than commercial fishermen. If the fisheries are healthy, so are fishing communities. If not…"

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