** MAINE COASTAL NEWS ** MAINE COASTAL NEWS ** MAINE COASTAL NEWS **
UPDATED August 18, 2003
Contact Penobscot Bay Watch 207-594-5717 email coastwatch@acadia.net
Delays, controversial essay dog otherwise popular Maine Aquaculture Task Force.
Ex-DMR commissioner's essay, failure to appoint comercial fishery representative for panel stir disquiet.
Augusta. Criticism has arisen concerning Governor John Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Marine Aquaculture in Maine, over the failure to appoint a commercial fishing industry representative to the Task Force's Stakeholder Advisory Panel, as mandated by legislation creating the Task Force.
And an essay penned by former DMR commissioner Spencer Apollonio has attracted so much criticism by the public and conservation groups that Task Force adminstrators had it removed from the official list of back ground documents supplied to the members of the Task Force.
Although mandated by LD 1519: Resolve, To Establish a Task Force on the Planning and Development of Marine Aquaculture in Maine Maine Speaker of the House Pat Colwell has to date failed to select a representative of Maine's commercial fishing industry for the Task Force's Stakeholder Advisory Panel. Reached at the Speaker's office, Tim Feeley, an aide to the Speaker, said that Colwell is attempting to work with David Etnier, deputy commissioner of the DMR, in selection of an appropiate candidate. Another staffer Bill Brown, said that the Speaker had selected a candidate, but that person had then declined. Brown said that the commercial fishing slot at the Advisory Panel should be filled by Friday, August 22nd.
The delay has left many disappointed, as the limited number of Task Force/Stakeholder Advisory Panel meetings that will be held means the fishing industry has gone unrepresented at a critical initial meetings, including two recently held in Eastport. Commercial fishermen's livelihoods played a key role in the rejection earlier this year of two fishfarm applications proposed by a Norwegian firm for waters off Perry, Maine, one conservationist noted.
On a related issue, many critics say that the essay submitted to the Task Force by former DMR Commissioner Spencer Apollonio was divisive and accusatory, and contained numerous factual errors.
The essay was removed earlier this month from the list of source documents supplied the Task Force members and moved to a list of draft documents that the Task Force has available for public comment. To date the Apollonio essay has received more than a dozen complaints from conservation grouips and individuals.
See the Apollonio essay "Aquaculture in Maine": CLICK HERE
See comments by three organizations responding to the Apollonio essay: CLICK HERE
All in all, however, conservationists and aquaculturists alike are satisfied with the performance of Maine DMR administering the Task Force. Most consider the process very transparent and responsive to inquiries from the public , the meeting moderator fair to all sides, and Gardner-Pinfold Consulting Economists Ltd the consultant hired by the Task Force for an economic analysis of Maine aquaculture to be unbiased. See Gardner-Pinfold's Proposal to Maine DMR.
The Task Force on Marine Aquaculture in Maine is reviewing the role of municipalities in aquaculture leasing and the impact of aquaculture on Maine's wild fisheries, coastal resorts, tourism and coastal communities, and will issue a report to the Legislature in January 2004. The report will suggest changes to Maine's aquaculture laws for consideration by the Legislature.
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* Background information about the Aquaculture Task Force
* Maine DMR's Aquaculture Task Force web pages
* Maine Fishfarm News Summaries 2003
* Citizens' and groups' testimony about aquaculture bills at 2002-2003 Maine legislative session