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Maine Policy Review Volume 20 Issue 1 Maine's System

2011 Building a Sustainable System for Maine Robin Alden Penobscot East Resource Center, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Alden, Robin. "Building a System for Maine." Maine Policy Review 20.1 (2011) : 87 -95, https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol20/iss1/16.

This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD SYSTEM FOR MAINE: COMMENTARY

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Fisheries start out as wild food— the price of . Nationally, aqua- Building a something wholly different from almost culture has grown almost 400 percent anything else that we consider part of the during the 1980s and 1990s, to a level . Hunting and is now of almost $1 billion, 20 percent of which considered sport, not food production, is marine species (U.S. Commission for Seafood System and aside from some mushrooms and Ocean Policy 2004; U.S. Department of berries, little wild product makes its way Commerce 2011). However, aquaculture is for Maine into mainstream food commerce anymore. not the focus of this commentary for two Fishermen, the primary producers, have a reasons. First, aquaculture producers are By Robin Alden unique connection to the natural world. well-aware that they are producing food They spend their days engaged in that and are part of both the industrial-scale primal human activity, trying to catch food system () and the niche and aine could have one of the premier things, using their wits to observe and high-value local food markets (). Mmarine food systems in the world: exploit the natural systems that each year, More importantly, however, the people working the length of the coast, if we are lucky, produce more for them to primary challenge and strategic require- on rocks, on flats, in coves, and on our catch—and for us to eat. ment for a healthy, sustainable marine food nearshore and offshore waters, producing But for just this reason, and fish- supply for Maine is, first and foremost, fresh, healthy, top-quality seaweed, shell- ermen are often outside the ken of food- adequate stewardship of the Gulf of Maine fish, , and fish, getting paid system thinking. From the land side, ecosystem. Aquaculture is one user of that top dollar for their efforts and providing a perhaps the marine source of supply seems ecosystem, but should not be viewed as the flow of high-quality protein into meals in too unreliable, depending as it does on the inevitable evolution of most marine food Maine and beyond. serendipity of water, temperature, sunlight, production for the state. In the short term, Maine has location. The state’s more and restraint on man’s greed—and the per acre aquaculture production looks than 5,000 miles of shoreline abuts the resultant bewildering myriad of regula- impressive. Experience with marine aqua- Gulf of Maine, a marine area roughly tions. And from the fishing side, with few culture in Maine during the last 30 years, equivalent to the area of the state of exceptions, fishermen do not think about however, has brought us face-to-face with Maine, 30,000+ square miles of relatively the size or desires of the consumer market the some of the adverse consequences of clean water and a highly productive or the order from the customer before intensive culture in the marine environ- ecosystem. Every year, the currents and they leave the dock. Instead, the fisher- ment that present real ecological limits to sunlight and marine plankton combine to man’s preoccupation is that of the hunter, this business. Salmon aquaculture is produce more for us to harvest, truly figuring out how to harvest the bounty chasing cures to disease and parasites, all something out of nothing. It is a stunning of the Gulf of Maine. The product on of which have documented implications location to build a sustainable marine deck is the “catch,” not food. The market for the health of the marine environment. food system. Indeed, the food supply is the guy at the dock—and he unloads And, as disease has struck the oysters in from the Gulf of Maine is one of the and buys the whole trip’s catch. the fabled Damariscotta River, the security state’s greatest natural assets. In 2010 the of the future of culture has also landed value of Maine seafood was $449 AQUACULTURE been shaken. Nationally, the Oceans million, with a final value to the Maine Commission, while acknowledging the economy estimated at $1 to $1.2 billion quaculture, the marine equivalent of promise of marine aquaculture, also identi- (Charles Colgan, personal communica- Aagriculture, is another part of marine fied issues with marine governance, use tion, May 2011). food production in the state. Its value has of as feed, invasive species, and Despite this, fisheries are often left varied in recent years between $35 and the ecological effects of offshore aquacul- out of the thinking about systemic change $100 million, which represents 11 to 18 ture among the concerns about all scales in the food system. Understanding the percent of the state’s marine landings, the of marine aquaculture from local stock reasons for this is a first step toward variation closely tied to both variation enhancement to ocean ranching (U.S. building a unified food system. in production of and Commission for Ocean Policy 2004).

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Maine is investing in the develop- system thinking can provide some clarity marine populations than previously under- ment of aquaculture of both native species to Maine fisheries policy. stood, but that those local structures and and ornamentals, which are used not for Diverse, community-based seafood events often exert the dominant influence food but for the aquarium trade. The production should be Maine’s top fish- on the species. The local “ecosystem state has identified aquaculture as one of eries priority if the state is to achieve a dynamics create stronger intra- and inter- the state’s sustainable technology clusters sustainable seafood system. This focus specific intereactions within local (Maine Technology Institute 2008). on community-scale production is modules...than over the much larger foot- Over the last 11 years the Center for important for both ecological and food print of the entire ecosystem” (Steneck and Collaborative Aquaculture Research at system reasons. Wilson 2010: 410). Within the Gulf of the University of Maine has developed Maine, for example, it is now known that 200 and is exploring Ecology and Governance smaller subunits of have extensive commercial-scale, on-land halibut produc- First, it is important to understand genetic, physical, and behavioral differences tion. The center is also raising green sea that there are two basic approaches to (Ames 2004; Cadrin et al. 2009; Kovach et urchins, looking to options for on-land, fishing: highly mobile or local. The highly al. 2009; Steneck and Wilson 2010). sea-cage-rearing and sea-ranching for mobile abundance, When management is done at the commercial culture. A federally funded moving from area to area wherever there is Gulf of Maine-wide scale, per the 1970s program to teach commercial fishermen lots of product. The local, or community- thinking, however, the management struc- cod farming is also underway. Downeast scale fisherman stays within range of his ture favors highly mobile boats and these Institute is working on the commercial- or her own harbor, fishing a smaller area, localized subunits can be fished out in scale techniques for several shellfish species usually shifting between species depending what is called serial depletion. This is what including hard , sea , and on seasonal availability and local abun- has occurred off the Maine coast in the softshell clams. There is a place for aqua- dance. Much of the tension within fish- last 30 years. In waters off eastern Maine culture, if we learn from the history of eries management occurs in the push-pull and other inshore grounds, groundfish agriculture and explore how aquaculture between these groups as they compete for have been depleted and have not recov- can be practiced within the limits of a access to resources. ered, despite recovery off southern Maine healthy marine system.1 The real challenge for the state, and New Hampshire, probably the result however, is to make sure fishermen don’t of localized ecological phenomena or the : destroy the resources. Small or large, local extirpation of local populations of fish NEW POLICY INSIGHTS or centralized, the bald fact is that with no (Cadrin et al. 2009). fish, the state will have no fishermen, no When serial depletions are taking iewing marine-resource products processing, no Maine seafood. place, neither the management system nor Vas food can put the complexity of New science has introduced a critical the fishermen receive feedback about these fisheries issues into a coherent frame- ecological reason for focusing on more depletions: When catches go down, fish- work that makes sense for both busi- local fishing and management of marine ermen simply move on to areas of higher ness and the natural environment. It resources. Our understanding of ecological abundance. Because catches are being can assist the state to improve fisheries scale in marine science has advanced measured at a larger scale, spread over the policy, capture more value for each dramatically in the last 30 years. In the areas, management science may not recog- pound caught, and make the bounty 1970s when the federal Magnuson Stevens nize the depletion, and because fishermen of the Gulf of Maine a foundation for Conservation and Management Act was are still fishing, managers will not have to the state’s food security. Fisheries policy passed, the common scientific wisdom was grapple with the implications of the can emerge out of the obscure world of that marine systems were large, open depletions. This approach favors boats never-ending regulatory conflict that systems. It was thought to be necessary, for that adopt a highly mobile strategy, isolates it from the rest of the public, example, to manage all the cod from moving from one area of abundance to connecting the perspective with Eastport to Cape Cod as one unit. Now, another. This strategy is described, using that of “shore people,” who interact with however, marine science has not only a term from economics, as “roving fish first and foremost as a meal. Food- revealed far more local stock structure in banditry” (Olson 2000).

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A counterexample to this is lobster winkle harvesters or -digging crews. harvesting and industrial-scale food where there is a level of local governance However, what the state would lose is any production and distribution have been that better matches the finer-scale ecology. incentive for all fishermen not to simply and will continue to be an important Recent science has also shown fine-scale strip mine and move on. The state would part of Maine’s seafood system. But these ecological complexity for lobster. For also lose the local ecological knowledge businesses operate outside the bounds of example, instead of lobster larvae drifting and real-time feedback that harvesters can the state’s fisheries production, often great distances, creating one big lobster contribute to local and state stewardship sourcing raw product globally to fill in population as previously thought, there when they know and observe and work for seasonal or resource- and regulatory- are local “hotspots” where eddies keep the the system at the level of the urchin ledge, driven supply shortages. floating larvae near where the eggs were or the cove, or the bay. What is critical for Maine is that released, thus resulting in local production For the future of Maine’s fishery, the state policy prioritizes a healthy business (Steneck and Wilson 2010). Maine’s lesson from the new ecological science and environment for community-scale fishing lobster management has several local governance work is the importance of and the distribution and processing elements that operate at close to this prioritizing preservation of local-level infrastructure that can support it. ecological scale. The fishery is traditionally fishing and creating mechanisms so that Sustaining diversified, community-scale territorial and based on day boats. Maine feedback about local changes in condi- harvesting so that Maine fishermen are created an additional level of local lobster tions can be integrated into management able to harvest and sell the resources management, nested within state manage- and business decisions at all levels. As long adjacent to their communities will ment, through creation of seven local as this happens, the allocation decision provide the state with the resilient and zones. The local lobster zone rules are between local and mobile harvesting is adaptive capacity to use its marine nested within statewide rules, then not a zero sum . Statewide and resources long into the future. regional rules developed with other regional manage- lobster-producing states within Atlantic ment structures States Marine Fisheries Commission, all are already well in Diverse, community-based seafood working with the federal government place and highly (Acheson 2003; personal experience). mobile boats in production should be Maine’s top Given the complexity of marine any fishery will ecological systems, multi-level governance survive better if fisheries­ priority if the state is to achieve is always required. “... the various local fishing and approaches used together can slow down management a sustainable seafood system. the roving bandit effects, and can replace produces a destructive incentives with a resource healthy marine rights framework that mobilizes environ- ecosystem with mental stewardship, i.e., one that builds surplus. This is a far better outcome for Three elements are necessary for the self-interested, conserving feedback them, as well, than if they are permitted Maine to have a sustainable marine food that comes from attachment to place” to skim the abundances for short-term system: abundant and diverse supplies of (Berkes et al. 2006: 1558). profit with the unwitting result that the fish, the rights to catch them, and a busi- Without state policy that pays specific productivity of the marine system is ness model that supports local seafood attention to preserving the niche for local degraded. production by Maine fishermen the length harvesting, Maine could easily have a of the coast. These three are similar to the fishery entirely made up of highly mobile Food elements Russell Libby describes in his harvesting units: large-scale groundfish Farming has shown us, in Maine commentary on agriculture in this issue: boats, lobster boats that roam the entire and nationally, that industrial-scale ecologically sustainable farm practices, coast, going to areas, such as is the case production alone is not the answer to farmland, and a food system that returns right now off the eastern part of the state, healthy food, farm jobs, or food security. value to farmers and provides food secu- where lobsters are abundant, roving peri- In fisheries, larger-scale offshore fish rity to the state.

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WHERE WE ARE NOW an ecological phenomenon that some region. Our once-abundant nearshore sea suggest is a result of the removal of apex scallops have been persistently depleted predators such as cod (Steneck and Sala for more than a decade everywhere except Abundant and Diverse Resources 2005). The fishery also is recognized for in Cobscook Bay. Sea urchins, fished Maine fisheries have abundance, but its excellent management, protecting all down in the early 1990s, are now at a face a potentially critical lack of diversity. critical life stages, habitat, technology and chronically low level, abundant in only in Today, Maine’s seafood story is lobster— the mobility of the fishery (Acheson 2003; localized areas year to year. lobster and virtually only lobster. This Ames 2010). The 40-year average lobster situation is the state’s greatest fisheries landings from 1950 to 1990 was approxi- The Right to Fish and strength and its greatest vulnerability. mately 20 million pounds; since then, Diversity of Opportunity Lobster accounts for a staggering 83 lobster landings have increased steadily to It is inconceivable that an island fish- percent of Maine’s wild fishery in terms of the staggering 93-million-pound produc- erman somewhere on the Maine coast value. In 2010, Maine’s fishery products tion in 2010. might not have the right to go fishing. Yet had a landed value of $449,000 million, Softshell clams and Northern this situation already exists for numerous of which 17 percent was cultured Atlantic are two other species with good current species, jeopardizing the long-term salmon; $308 million of the remaining abundance. Clams are managed locally by sustainability of fishing communities. $371 million value came from lobster. municipal clam committees, and where During the next two years, Maine will Maine’s other well-known fisheries barely those function well, the flats produce a reexamine the rules that control fishing contributed whole percentages of the total good living for local people. Northern and lobstering in Maine waters. This is a value: shrimp, four percent; clams, four shrimp is a cyclical species, currently at a pivotal event: at stake in the 126th percent; , two percent; worms, two high point in its cycles. Shrimp is at the Legislature will be key questions such as percent; urchins, one percent; and southern extent of its range, and in addi- whether rights to fish Maine waters will, groundfish (a collective term for about 18 tion to good fishery management, its for the first time ever, be bought and sold species of white fish that include cod, abundance is dependent on such factors like a property right. The choices the state , and ), one percent; sea as water temperature and sunlight makes in the next two years will deter- scallops made up only 0.4 percent patterns in February when eggs are mine the shape of its fishing communities (Maine DMR 2011a). dropped and hatching. in the future. For Maine to have an abun- The picture is only somewhat Beyond these three, Maine’s marine dant and sustainable seafood system, different when viewed by weight. In 2010 resources are not in good shape. The state Maine’s new licensing structure needs to lobster accounted for 37 percent of the has lost most of the production of our be designed to support community-scale tonnage of marine products landed; 23 anadromous fish such as alewives, , fishing and food production. percent of the state’s landings were and salmon that run up rivers to in Access to licenses and permits is, for , a species that is no and return to the ocean to live fishermen, the equivalent of access to longer processed for food in-state, but as adults. Herring, the other major forage farmland for farmers. Fish are a public instead is used as lobster bait; 10 percent fish in the ocean, is being fished offshore resource, thus fishermen need permission of the weight was farmed salmon. If one by mid-water trawlers and herring quotas to fish for them. These rights are, of takes out the herring landings because are being lowered due to concerns about necessity, limited as part of overall they are not food, lobster accounts for 48 the health of the Gulf of Maine stock. constraints to prevent fisheries depletion. percent of the total landings and farmed Groundfish that once supported a fishery The methods used to limit entry define salmon for 13 percent (Maine DMR larger than the lobster fishery and were the structure of a fishery. Abundant fish 2011b). abundant inshore are no longer there. and lobsters could be jumping out of a No one understands for sure why the Now, groundfish stocks are rebounding healthy Gulf of Maine, but these Gulf of Maine is producing such an abun- off southern Maine, but east of Penobscot resources would be of no use to a sustain- dance of lobster, particularly in the eastern Bay the groundfish have been so depleted able marine food system for the state if part of the state. It is agreed that this is for 20 years that there has been virtually coastal Maine people don’t have the right not simply a change in fishing effort. It is no commercial groundfish fishery in that to catch them.

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Current state and federal entry urchins, which require a lottery entry controls are a confusing mix of rules that when someone gets out of the fishery. A Food System That Supports differ for each species and at both levels. As a result, in 2010 only 46 Maine Community Fishing Both systems pose severe challenges to the fishermen pursued groundfish and only For food production, the importance ability of Maine fishermen to fish for a 38 were active in the herring fishery. In of supporting community-scale fishing is diverse mix of species near their homes. contrast, 4,292 fishermen went lobstering obvious. Local, community-scale fishing, The cumulative effect has resulted in (DMR, personal communication, April when fishermen fish from their home incredible regulatory complexity and a 2011). (See Table 1.) harbors, catching different species as they marked loss of diversity of opportunity for are available locally in season, produces a Maine fishermen. TABLE 1: Number of Active wide variety of products—clams, periwin- Federal fishing permits are limited Commercial Harvesters kles, shrimp, , lobster, fish—at in Maine* and are property, with fishing rights different times of the year. Highly mobile initially distributed as a windfall to those fishing, chasing one species or suite of boats that caught the most prior to the Fishery 2008 2009 2010 species over a much larger area, following distribution. This policy has favored large, Lobster/ 4,523 4,372 4,292 fish abundance seasonally and over time specialized boats with hired captains Soft clam 1,636 1,709 1,725 just as Maine’s redfish fleet fished from rather than Maine’s small-scale diversified, Worms 693 767 759 Penobscot Bay in the 1950s to northern independent fishermen. After 34 years, Newfoundland in the 1970s, can produce federal management has essentially elimi- Periwinkle 510 534 653 large amounts of one species or suite of nated access by all but a few Maine fish- Elver/glass 362 285 307 species to fill orders predictably and keep ermen to three major fisheries: groundfish, Sea urchins 416 342 313 industrial-scale processing plants running. herring, and scallops. Before the Other bivalves 142 191 344 For years, looking at fish as food Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and meant trying to fit wild harvesting into an Management Act in 1976, most Maine Shrimp 205 130 220 industrial production model that can fishermen would have participated in at Scallop 215 153 220 mesh with the food processor and retailer’s least two of these fisheries in any given Halibut 119 174 152 need to have consistent supply. In the long year. Their operations were diversified, Other species 94 111 133 run, however, we have learned that the fishing lobster, groundfish, herring, scal- ecosystem has not been able to support Seaweed 76 61 56 lops, and shrimp at different points in the industrial-scale fishing, and Maine’s coast year and in their lives. Now, federal Groundfish 67 55 46 has seen the loss of plants that process permits are acquired through purchasing a Herring 33 39 38 redfish, , and groundfish. boat with a permit, often an insurmount- Total 9,258 Where does Maine stand with the able financial hurdle for a fisherman who shoreside infrastructure to support a more only wants to fish seasonally. Prices for *2010 data are preliminary sustainable, community-based seafood usable federal permits range from around system? $10,000 or less to more than $1 million Right now, the implications of this First, the state faces one big chal- depending on the fishery. loss of diverse fishing rights has been lenge: the 93 million pounds of lobster Maine fishing licenses are annual masked by the unprecedented scale of the landings, the majority of which are landed rights with annual fees, with a variety of recent lobster harvest. However, when in a pulse from July to October. Maine’s different restrictions that range from the lobstering becomes less profitable, fish- iconic lobster-based economy is brittle, lobster fishery, which requires a two-year ermen will have no alternative fisheries. vulnerable to a highly consolidated apprenticeship and in some locations, Plain and simple, if the licensing situation lobster-wholesale market, to the cost of long waiting lists, to the scallop fishery, is not corrected, Maine will lose its fishing money, to the cost of fuel, and to many which is currently closed to anyone who communities. Fishermen no longer have substitute seafood products from around did not have a scallop license when the the adaptability that makes local fishing the world. Much of the state’s lobster fishery was closed two years ago, to both economically and ecologically viable. product goes to Canada for processing.

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Furthermore, as the report from the exceptional niche processing upon which between fishermen, co-ops, and farmers, Baldacci administration’s lobster task force to build. Home crab pickers have made resulting in a report that identifies areas reported, “Remarkably strong ‘Buyer the transition to small Department of of common purpose. The Eat Local Power’ constrains every sector of the Agriculture-inspected facilities. Clams are Coalition, MOFGA, and now Slow industry, as all players struggle to sell the shucked in many towns. Isolated gourmet Foods Maine all view seafood as part of same undifferentiated and commoditized seafood companies exist. Maine’s foodshed. product, seeking to extract value from The state is also home to innovative Finally, these efforts are just begin- volume” (The Moseley Group 2009: 2). approaches to connect consumers with ning to introduce a new idea: fishing to This is a familiar story for Maine. In fishermen such as Port Clyde Fresh market. This is a key idea in making the past, when the state was catching Catch’s community-supported fishery community-scale, diversified fishing and groundfish, much of it went to Canada. (CSF) and the regional support provided good conservation practices pay. It’s a new Often fresh product bypasses Maine by Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. mind-set for a fisherman to leave the consumers and is processed out of state Maine’s lobster co-ops, many founded in harbor to fish to fill market orders, rather and shipped back into the state for the late 1940s, are now being joined by than fishing to fill the boat. consumption. Many consumers do not new ones such as Calendar Island and a realize that, unless you are in Portland, if scallop co-op being catalyzed by Cobscook WHAT TO DO you buy fish in the store it is probably Bay Resource Center. not local. Traceability and other forms of is a difficult business, product differentiation are increasingly Good Fishery Management and the state has competed unsuccessfully being understood as key elements of effec- Articulate a vision for state policy. both with Canada, which provides a tive marketing of local and sustainably This vision should prioritize a decentral- variety of supports to its processing sector, caught seafood. These efforts face chal- ized rather than a centralized model: and with the large, low-priced labor pool lenges: there is no MOFGA-style certifica- Maine fishermen should fish locally from and transportation hub around New York tion available to Maine seafood, nor is communities from Kittery to Eastport, City. Furthermore, mechanized processing there common agreement on what the and Maine sea products should be local requires large volumes of one type of fish, standards for “sustainable seafood” should and sustainable food whether they are as we had when we had an industrial be. Indeed, seafood consumers face a eaten locally or shipped out of state. The redfish fishery in the 1960s–1980s. The bewildering and contradictory array of state needs coastal fishermen to harvest lesson is that state must look beyond this “dos” and “don’ts,” as Catherine Schmitt the diversity of resources available model to build its seafood food system. describes in this issue. Maine businesses (seaweed, periwinkles, cod, for example). Our coastal fishery produces small and nonprofits are engaging with this They are important to the economy of volumes of a large variety of products, and issue, however. Efforts range from Ingrid remote communities and to provide a our food system needs to optimize that Bengis Seafood’s direct-to-chef business to supply of local food. This vision, and the situation. the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Gulf key policies that support it, should be Maine’s seafood system has diverse of Maine Responsibly Harvested Seafood developed through a facilitated, public strengths upon which to build. The certification program. A new Maine process in order to build a lasting, broad- Portland Fish Exchange provides the Seafood Marketing Network has just been based approach that will transcend short- structure for a fair market for fish, a launched that aims to link these efforts term politics. consolidation point, and has a cluster of together in the absence of state action. Take a page from lobster. Other large fish-processing plants around it. In addition, there is growing connec- species should be managed with owner- Value-added lobster is expanding beyond tion between the farming and agricultural operator, territoriality, habitat protection, a few traditional processors in Portland, community and fisheries organizations. In and common-sense rules that protect crit- with Linda Bean’s lobster business and 2009–2010 the By Land and By Sea ical life stages of the creature. Shucks Lobster and numerous smaller project, facilitated by MOFGA and Landscape ecology. Start practicing efforts to develop value-added products Penobscot East Resource Center fishery management the way landscape produced in-state. The state also has some (Penobscot East), hosted conversations ecology is done, recognizing the importance

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COMMENTARY of different places in the ocean and the stewardship and incentive to clean up done with private funds and support importance of interrelationships between watersheds that could not be achieved by permit banks that provide the rights to forage and fish. state-level policy alone. younger fishermen rooted in coastal Involve fishermen. We cannot maxi- communities. This would be appropriate mize the benefit of our diverse inshore Rights to Fish for Russell Libby’s “A Fund for Maine.” resources and many different ecological Maine license workshop. Convene a Fleet diversity. Advocate for change conditions without the local knowledge workshop seeking national and interna- to federal policy to boost fleet diversity by and constructive participation of fish- tional ideas for a new state licensing creating a new class of federal permit for ermen. system that provides for affordable owner/ coastal fishermen and other measures to Open the rivers. The potential operator entry to diverse fisheries for fish- restrict consolidation. opening of the Penobscot and St. Croix ermen in local communities. It should Working waterfront. The first chal- rivers to alewives, smelt, and salmon pres- build upon the lobster fishery’s unique lenge in turning the catch into food is ents the state with a huge opportunity to two-year apprenticeship program and getting it off the boat. Working docks are potentially reverse the decline not just of consider how to incorporate the licensing fundamental infrastructure for fishing. river-run fish, but of marine species such of multiple fisheries in one system. Access There should be continued focus on as cod, haddock, and . Efforts to should be based on knowledge and current use easements to secure working open the many small coastal dams that commitment rather than access to capital. waterfront in perpetuity. Support for the restrict habitat are also important. The results of the workshop should national Working Waterfront Coalition’s Support clean watersheds. Fishing inform the debate in the 126th initiatives may provide additional federal interests should link with and support the Legislature. funds for the state’s efforts. efforts of MOFGA and local watershed Support owner-operator rules for Public waterfront access. Without a associations to protect the quality of state fisheries. The requirement that the public wharf to land at, fisherman cannot watersheds. Land-based bacterial and owner be aboard is pivotal to the current be independent of the wharf operator chemical pollution runs downstream. We business model for the successful, local where he unloads. As waterfront space produce more than nine million pounds lobster fishery. Owner-operator should be becomes scarcer, public fish pier space of softshell clams worth more than $12 the foundation of Maine’s fishery manage- becomes more critical to a diversified set million a year to the 1,700 active clam ment for other state fisheries also to of market options. diggers who work the flats. This could be preserve its fisheries and its fishing greatly expanded if runoff after rain events communities. Canada’s “Resetting the A Community-Scale Food System were cleaner. Fishing voices can help those Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada” Expand information exchange ashore who are working to reduce farm- also recognizes the importance of owner- between farming and fishing. Fishermen based runoff. operator rules (People’s Food Policy and fish dealers can learn a lot from Support municipal clam manage- Project 2011). farmers’ efforts at branding, developing ment. Public health monitoring and tech- Permit banks. Create permit banks local food networks, and establishing nical assistance should be made available to mitigate the effects of federal permit direct-to-consumer markets. This should to support clam management. Maintain policies that do not constrain consolida- include systematic examination of the adequate General Fund support for the tion or the migration of federal fishing priorities set through By Land and By Sea. Maine Department of Marine Resources rights out of Maine ownership. To work Prioritize development of versatile, (DMR) and bacterial monitoring within these current rules, the fishing small-scale processing. The first step is of clam flats. This service is as much infra- rights will have to be bought back. It will careful business planning to determine a structure for commerce as roads are. It is take between $10 and $25 million to buy feasible approach. This is essential, given necessary for public confidence in our back enough federal access to groundfish, that most marine products are not landed shellfish and for public safety. Similarly, scallops, and herring for Maine fishermen in edible form. The closer to the landing technical assistance from the DMR allows to be able to build these species into a site they can be processed, the more municipal management systems to regular year’s work when combined with energy efficient the operation is, and the leverage state resources and produce local lobstering. These purchases should be higher the quality of the product.

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COMMENTARY

Rebuild infrastructure. Last identified in the Maine Lobster Industry If we are take care of the Gulf of summer, when Penobscot East Resource Strategic Plan, most fishermen are not Maine’s marine resources Maine will Center in Stonington was running a aware of the developments in the food always have plenty to eat and, indeed, research fishery and needed ice so that the market related to food quality and more marine products than we can eat fish could be caught and sold in a special values-based issues such as local and in-state. And if we retain our place-based CSF, the nearest ice-maker was in Port sustainable. Even in the lobster business, fishing, providing access for community Clyde, 2.5 hours away. Ice and cooler on-board handling can improve the fishermen to catch and market the diver- storage are critical factors in handling fish. survival and quality of lobsters in the sity of Maine’s coastal resources in fishing Catalyze a distribution network. market chain. communities distributed the length of the Sustainably caught seafood products need a Fishermen’s co-ops. Co-ops can coast, Maine will gain optimum benefit distribution network similar to that which provide a locus for both education and from those abundant resources. Crown O’ Maine has for agricultural prod- action. It’s a long way from the buying/ In the next several years, Maine faces ucts. This is important both for seafood wholesaling lobster co-ops founded in the both opportunity and threat. The likely that will be consumed in Maine and for 1940s to vertically integrated co-op busi- redesign of Maine’s fishing-license structure seafood destined to larger markets. Maine’s nesses such as Ocean Spray, and the transi- provides an opportunity to reaffirm the coastal geography with its long peninsulas tion will require education that it is possible state’s commitment to community fishing, presents fishermen with a significant hurdle. to be more than a price-taker. It will also or alternatively, the chance to make deci- Furthermore, this will address the critical require multifaceted technical assistance sions that will doom the state’s rural fishing lack of product quality control in the and capital. Efforts such as Calendar Island communities to extinction. Maine also has regular middlemen distribution channels. are starting in this direction. the opportunity, in this business-friendly Clarify regulatory issues. A Publicize and pilot fish-to-market environment, to develop the seafood infra- University of Maine Cooperative models. Fishermen fishing to fill orders structure: co-ops, versatile processing and Extension bulletin that clarified regulatory rather than fishing to fill the boat is one distribution, which can allow the state to issues for shared transportation, distribu- way of making lower catches or conserva- adapt successfully to an ever-changing food tion, storage, and sale of farm and seafood tion measures yield a better return. If fish- market and an ever-changing marine eco- products would greatly facilitate develop- ermen are controlling their connection all system. What a recipe for prosperity.  ment of on-the-ground collaboration the way through to the consumer, through among food producers by making it clear vehicles such as CSFs or a distribution what is, and is not, possible. network such as Crown O’ Maine, this ENDNOTE Examine the CSF model in Maine. approach has tremendous promise. In Maine, where most fishermen are Institutional buying. Increasing 1. More information about aquaculture owner-operators who fish daily, CSFs are institutional buying by educational insti- projects can be found on the following web pages: halibut (www.ccar. more difficult than they are for company tutions and health care facilities provides um.maine.edu/halibut.html); green boats or trip fishermen. An owner-oper- the best approach for moving large sea urchins (www.ccar.um.maine. ator fisherman cannot be ashore inter- volumes of locally caught seafood prod- edu/urchin.html); cod(www.ccar. acting with customers without foregoing a ucts. This will become possible once the um.maine.edu/cod%20academy.html); full day’s fishing income. Alternatives to a processing issues are addressed shellfish (www.downeastinstitute.org/ research.html). CSF for Maine, including fishermen-to- consumer networks and facilitating CONCLUSION seafood at farmers’ markets, may need to REFERENCES be developed. bundant resources, rights to fish Acheson, James M. 2003. Capturing the Expand information and educa- Athe diversity of resources available Commons: Devising Institutions to tion. Fishermen need to see their catch locally, and a business model that supports Manage the Maine Lobster Industry. as food and need more information and community-scale fishermen. These are the University Press of New England, Hanover, NH. education about quality handling and the three critical elements for a sustainable nature of the consumer market. As was seafood system in Maine.

94 · MAINE POLICY REVIEW · Winter/Spring 2011 View current & previous issues of MPR at: mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/?q=MPR BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD SYSTEM FOR MAINE: COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY

Ames, Edward P. 2004. “ Stock Structure in the Gulf of Maine Department of Marine Resources Steneck, Robert S. and Enric Sala. 2005. Maine.” Fisheries 29: 10–27. (DMR). 2011a. Preliminary 2010 “Large Marine Carnivores: Trophic Ames, Ted. 2010. “Multispecies Coastal Maine Landings by Ex-Vessel Value. Cascades and Top-Down Controls Shelf Recovery Plan: A Collaborative, Data Collected jointly by Maine in Coastal Ecosystems Past and Ecosystem-Based Approach.” Marine Department of Marine Resources Present” Large Carnivores and the and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, and National Marine Fisheries Conservation of , ed. Management, and Ecosystem Service, Augusta. http://www. Justina Ray, Kent Redford, Robert Science 2: 217-231. maine.gov/dmr/commercialfishing/ Steneck and Joel Berger. Island MaineLandingsByLivePounds. Press, Washington, DC. pp. 110–137. Berkes, F., and T.P. Hughes, R.S. Steneck, PieChart.pdf.pdf [Accessed May 21, J.A. Wilson, D.R. Belwood, B. Crona, Steneck, Robert S. and James A. 2011] C. Folke, H. Leslie, J. Norberg, M. Wilson. 2010. “A Fisheries Play in Nystron, P. Olsson, H. Osterblom, Maine Department of Marine Resources. an Ecosystem Theater: Challenges M. Scheffer and B. Worm. 2006. 2011b. Preliminary 2010 Maine of Managing Ecological and Social “Globalization, Roving Bandits and Landings by Live Pounds. Data Drivers of Marine Fisheries at Marine Resources.” Science 311: Collected jointly by Maine Multiple Spatial Scales.” Bulletin of 1557-1558. Department of Marine Resources Marine Science, 86(2): 387–411. and National Marine Fisheries Cadrin, Steve, and Dave Martins, Jon U.S. Commission for Ocean Policy. Service, Augusta. http://www. Loehrke, Lisa Kerr, Greg DeCelles, 2004. An Ocean Blueprint for the maine.gov/dmr/commercialfishing/ Dan Goethel, Crista Bank and Geoff 21st Century. Final Report. USCOP, MaineLandingsByLivePounds. Cowles. 2009. Stock Structure of New Washington, DC. PieChart.pdf.pdf [Accessed May 21, England Groundfish: Connectivity 2011] U.S. Department of Commerce. 2011. and Heterogeneity at Multiple U.S. Department of Commerce Scales. NOAA/UMass Cooperative Maine Technology Institute. 2008. An Aquaculture Policy. USDC, Marine Education & Research Introduction to Maine’s Technology Washington, DC. Program, School for Marine Science Sectors and Clusters: Status and & Technology, Amherst. http:// Strategy. Maine Department www.gmri.org/community/seastate/ of Economic and Community Cadrin_Steve/Cadrin_Steve.pdf Development, Augusta. [Accessed May 22, 2011] Olson, Mancur. 2000. Power and Robin Alden Kovach, Adrienne, Timothy Breton, Prosperity. Basic Books, New York. is executive David Berlinsky, Isaac Wirgin and People’s Food Policy Project. 2011. director of Lorraine Maceda. 2009. Genetic Resetting the Table: A People’s Insights into the Stock Structure of Penobscot Food Policy for Canada. People’s Cod in U.S. Waters. Gulf of Maine Food Policy Project. http://peoples- East Resource Research Institute, Portland. http:// foodpolicy.ca/files/pfpp-resetting- www.gmri.org/community/seastate/ Center in 2011-lowres_1.pdf [Accessed June Kovach_Adrienne/Kovach_Adrienne. 6, 2011] Stonington, a pdf [Accessed May 22, 2011] nonprofit orga- Schmitt, Catherine. 2011. “Adrift in a Sea Libby, Russell. 2011. “An Abundant Food of Information about Sustainable nization whose System.” Maine Policy Review 20(1): Seafood: The Maine Consumer 61–65. mission is to secure a future for fishing commu- Perspective.” Maine Policy Review The Moseley Group. 2009. Maine Lobster 20(1): 96–104. nities in eastern Maine. Alden was commis- Industry Strategic Plan. Governor’s sioner of the Maine Department of Marine Task Force on the Economic Resources from 1995 to 1997. She founded and Sustainability of the Maine’s Lobster Industry, Augusta, ME. ran Commercial Fisheries News, a regional fishing trade newspaper, and was instrumental in starting the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in the mid-1970s.

View current & previous issues of MPR at: mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/?q=MPR Volume 20, Number 1 · MAINE POLICY REVIEW · 95