Maine Coast News

For immediate release March 5, 2002

Contact Penobscot Bay Watch 5904-5717

Fishermen from 42 Maine towns support local aquaculture control

ROCKPORT. More than a hundred commercial fishermen and seafood industry reps from 42 Maine towns have signed a petition to the Maine legislature calling for local control of aquaculture. The petition will be delivered to the Maine legislature's Marine Resources Committee today.

Fishermen at this weekend's Maine Fishermen's Forum lined up at a petition table to add their names to a list of commercial fishermen and seafood industry representatives from 42 of Maine's coastal towns on the petition. See petition wording and list of towns, below.

Many lobstermen, seafood sellers and coastal town residents believe that Department of Marine Resources has long ignored their concerns about the economic damage to Maine's lobster industry and groundfisheries from the heavily subsidized fish pen operations that allow salmon producers to market their product at artificially low prices.

Fishermen especially support the section of the aquaculture reform bill that gives towns which prepare an aquaculture ordinance the power to grant or deny aquaculture lease applications within 2500 feet of their shorelines.

Once the bill is passed, towns that choose to rule on aquaculture applications will need to do two things.

First, add the word "aquaculture" to the list of activities that the town harbormaster regulates, and two, zone their harbors by preferred use.

If an area of the harbor is being used for lobstering, that area would be zoned as a town fishing area. If an area is suitable for aquaculture, it will be zoned that way.

When an aquaculture developer comes to take a look at a town's waters for development sites, the company will know which parts of the harbor it can get a permit for and which ones it cannot.

If the company wants to operate aquaculture in an area that is zoned for another use, it will have to take its plan to the City Council or Board of Selectmen and convince them why it won't harm the existing uses of that area.

Having an aquaculture ordinance will be strictly voluntary. Towns that choose not to create an ordinance will continue to have aquaculture proposals in their waters ruled on by the Maine DMR.

"That basic change will make aquaculture developers no different from any other business wanting to set up in a town." said Ron Huber of Penobscot Bay Watch, whose group circulated the petition. " This is all the fishing industry, the towns and the shorefront landowners are asking for. "

"That's why at this weekend's Maine Fishermen's Forum, more than a hundred commercial fishermen from 42 of Maine's coastal towns signed the petition. They've had it with watching the DMR let fishpens owned by out of state corporations plop down in their towns' waters, no matter what the towns and the fishermen say."

Many aquaculture developers, like other big businesses, do not not like Maine towns having the power to decide whether a would-be developer would fit into a town's economy.

"The ability to say yes or no when Big Business comes to town is a fundamental part of Maine democracy," Huber said. "Legislators that oppose the aquaculture reform bill's "local control" provisions should go meet with their fishermen and seafood industry. I think they'll be in for a big surprise."

The petition wording is as follows:

PETITION

The Maine Legislature is considering a bill to give towns that prepare an aquaculture ordinance the power to grant or deny aquaculture leases within 2500 feet of low tide or the town boundary, whichever comes first.

Do you want your town to be able to vote on aquaculture leases proposed for your town's waters? Then please sign this petition to the Maine Legislature. For more information call Ron Huber, Penobscot Bay Watch (207)594-5717

WE SUPPORT GIVING MAINE TOWNS THE RIGHT TO REGULATE AQUACULTURE OPERATIONS IN THEIR TOWN WATERS.

Signature _____Printed Name __Address:

The list of towns that petition signers came from:

Addison
Bar Harbor
Belfast
Blue Hill
Boothbay Harbor
Bowdoinham
Bremen
Brooklin
Camden
Cape Elizabeth
Cape Neddick
Cushing
Cutler
Falmouth
Farmington
Friendship
Gouldsboro
Harpswell
Kennebunkport
Lincolnville Center
Long Island
Mt Desert
Newcastle
New Portland
Owls Head vPortland
Rockland
Rockport
St George
Scarborough
Sedgewick
South Thomaston
Spruce Head
Standish
Steuben
Stonington
Turner
Union
Waldo
Warren
Wiscasset
York

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