Fishpenury - bursting the myth of  local prosperity through centralized industrial aquaculture

A recent PPH editorial, claiming that "Maine salmon farms can meet concerns of environmentalists" 
shows what a shallow grasp of the agressive campaign by the multinational marine feedlot industy  to take lease control over as many acres of Maine's best inshore  fishing grounds as they can before Mainers catch on to the game and let coastal communities fence them OUT.

Just like the  land grabs that  gave control over the publicly owned Maine Woods to big business in the 19th century, this 21st century corporate land rush is exploiting an absentee investor-friendly  state government  to overturn the present system of public fisheries and 

The public relations firms that these multinational have hired are doing their best to deceive the public 

 confuse company revenues with host area prosperity  to reach out from the shore to  lease control over Maine's (and America's) greatest public lands expanse - the rugged Gulf  of Maine and the sunken barrier island on its seaward rim - the barely submerged Georges Bank plateau.

It has established a revolving door industry /government
maze of seamounts, craggy basins and sunken canyons  that makes up the 
As the admit,  multinational salmon feedlot operations clustered in Cobscook Bay  have failed spectacularly  to help the downeast Maine , which as state economic figures  remains
"beleaguered"   "depressed"  "prostrate" etc etc 

Maine's remarkable lenience with fish pen operations led the absentee investors who own them 
to shave costs at every turn; the 

Instead, our  support federal aid that would indemnify 
the salmon farms around Cobscook Bay, just as it does traditional farms. This aid 
would allow the aquaculture industry to start over and implement better practices 
(such as fallowing sites and age classed stocking) this time around.  

A tightly centralized multinational 

As both  the industry will admit,  multinational marine feedlot operations clustered in Cobscook Bay  have failed spectacularly  to help the downeast Maine economy, which as anyone will tell you, remains
"beleaguered"   "depressed"  "prostrate" etc etc 

 More than a decade into intensive  salmon farm operations there

a decade of tremendous growth and proposerity 

 Maine state Dept of Marine Resources, the lead agency in the
AQ licensing process here, and the representatives and fishpen applicants of
YOUR industry, are alike minimizing to the greatest extent possible the
release of relevant scientific and economic information to those
decisionmakers/community leaders committed to the wise use and stewardship
of Penobscot Bay.

* The Maine state director of Marine Ecology, John Sowles, has forbidden
public access to state videotapes of the actual catches of a special inshore
bottom trawl survey carried out in eastern Penobscot Bay. - the  focus of
fishpen aquaculturists.  JS is backed up by his Commissioner, who has
pronounced these public videorecords officially "confidential."

Dear Mr.Lodato, Thank you for raising these important points to our US Senators about the proposale bailout of abentee owned fishpen operations in Maine Senator Snowe and Senator Collins: will you please respond to Mr Lodato (and to I and the many others that have recently written you) about this? Please direct the USDA and the OMB to hold a public hearing before the proposed bailout is finalized. There the Federal government can explain to Mainers why it wants to award millions of tax dollars to poorly-run foreign owned fishpen companies that have fouled Cobscook Bay, putting the wild fish and shellfish resources at risk along with the aquaculture livestock. At the public hearings you can order, (just like you did when the proposal to list the wild salmon as endangered came around) the government will hear from the people of downeast Maine about THEIR ideas on what to do in this circumstance. Instead of a bailout that perpetuates control over inshore waters by absentee corporations, I think you will find them asking you to take this opportunity to restore aquaculture in downeast Maine back to local residents and communities. Ron Huber Penobscot Bay Watch On Mon, 17 December 2001, Bob Lodato wrote: > > 17 December 2001 > > Dear Senator Collins: > > I want to express my dismay at your decision to support the 24 million > dollar bailout of three foreign corporations. These same corporations > caused the infectious salmon anemia epidemic in Cobscook Bay, which is > the reason they claim to need this bailout. It is unconscionable that > these private companies, who each have private insurance to cover losses > from a terrible mistake just like this, are asking for money from our > government. > > They are not American companies. They are the entire cause of this > environmental disaster. They have probably worsened the plight of the > endangered native salmon population…and you are in support of giving > them money to compensate for their losses. Providing twenty four > million dollars in political pork to foreign corporations is not the > way to solve Cobscook Bay's woes. In fact it will worsen them, because > this pork is rewarding bad behavior. Agribusiness will see that they can > be irresponsible and still count on being rescued financially when > disaster occurs. > > Mainers want the twenty four million in federal tax dollars to be spent > on cleaning up and restoring Cobscook Bay, and not on rewarding the > careless actions of the very foreign agribusinesses that caused the > disaster. Please allow, and help bring about, a hearing in Maine on the > proposal to bail out these foreign corporations. Thank you. > > Sincerely, > > Robert Lodato > 29 ½ West Main St. > Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426 > > CC: Ann Veneman, Secretary > U.S. Department of Agriculture > 14 Street and Independence, S.W. > Washington, DC 20250 > > CC: Mitchell Daniels, Director > c/o Karen Keller > Office of Management and Budget > Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Room 252 > 17th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue NW > Washington, DC 20503 |------------------------| | Ron Huber | | Executive Director | | PENOBSCOT BAY WATCH | | 418 Main Street | | Rockland, Maine 04841 | | (207)594-5717 | | http://www.penbay.org | | -----------------------| * * * _________________________________________________ FindLaw - Free Case Law, 

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 Maine salmon farms can meet concerns 
of environmentalists 
     
The arrival of infectious salmon anemia in the aquaculture pens of Cobscook Bay is 
nothing short of a disaster. For residents who've no other industry to turn to these 
days, the disease doesn't simply threaten the fish -- it also threatens their way 
of life.   
 
 We agree with environmentalists who have criticized the past practices of the salmon 
farms: in some ways, ISA is a symptom of poor husbandry, not its cause.   
 
 That does not mean, however, that the farms should bear the brunt of ISA's ravages 
alone and risk being shut down. Instead, we support federal aid that would indemnify 
the salmon farms around Cobscook Bay, just as it does traditional farms. This aid 
would allow the aquaculture industry to start over and implement better practices 
(such as fallowing sites and age classed stocking) this time around.   
 
 We also believe that the federal government should be using some of the money dedicated 
to preserving Maine's endangered wild Atlantic salmon to ensure that aquaculture 
practices don't threaten restoration efforts.	
 
 Aquaculture in Maine provides good jobs for Down East residents in a region well-suited 
to the industry. It deserves a second chance. What's more, so do the people of eastern 
Maine.

Cobscook Bay salmon farms can do better.	 

Dear Mr.Lodato, Thank you for raising these important points to our senators.

 Senator Snowe and Senator Collins: will you please respond to Mr Lodato (and to I and the many others that have recently written you) about this?  

Please direct the USDA and the OMB to hold a public hearing before the bailout is finalized.  There the federal government can explain to Mainers why it wants to award millions of tax dollars to poorly run foreign owned fishpen companies that have fouled Cobscook Bay. 

Instead of a bailout that perpetuates control over inshore waters by absentee corporations, will you take this opportunity to restore aquaculture in downeast Maine back to local residents and communities? 

Ron Huber

On Mon, 17 December 2001, Bob Lodato wrote:
> 
> 17 December 2001
> 
> Dear Senator Collins:
> 
> I want to express my dismay at your decision to support the 24 million
> dollar bailout of three foreign corporations. These same corporations
> caused the infectious salmon anemia epidemic in Cobscook Bay, which is
> the reason they claim to need this bailout. It is unconscionable that
> these private companies, who each have private insurance to cover losses
> from a terrible mistake just like this, are asking for money from our
> government.
> 
> They are not American companies. They are the entire cause of this
> environmental disaster. They have probably worsened the plight of the
> endangered native salmon population…and you are in support of giving
> them money to compensate  for their losses. Providing twenty four
> million dollars in political pork to  foreign corporations is not the
> way to solve Cobscook Bay's woes. In fact it will worsen them,  because
> this pork is rewarding bad behavior. Agribusiness will see that they can
> be irresponsible and still count on being rescued financially when
> disaster occurs.
> 
> Mainers want the twenty four million in federal tax dollars to be spent
> on cleaning up and restoring Cobscook Bay, and not on rewarding the
> careless actions of the very foreign agribusinesses  that caused the
> disaster.  Please allow, and help bring about, a hearing in Maine on the
> proposal to bail out these foreign corporations. Thank you.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Robert Lodato
> 29 ½ West Main St.
> Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426
> 
> CC: Ann Veneman, Secretary  
> U.S. Department of Agriculture  
> 14 Street and Independence, S.W.  
> Washington, DC 20250  
> 
> CC: Mitchell Daniels, Director 
> c/o  Karen Keller
> Office of Management and Budget  
> Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Room 252  
> 17th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue NW  
> Washington, DC 20503

(1)   CONTACT OMB AND USDA 
 
Mitchell Daniels, Director  
Office of Management and Budget  
Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Room 252	
17th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue NW  
Washington, DC 20503  
Email: Karen Keller (Daniels' assistant) at karen_e._keller@omb.eop.gov  
(include the "period" after the "e" in karen_e._keller@omb.eop.gov 
TEL (202) 395-4840, Fax (202) 395-3888	
 
and  
 
Ann Veneman, Secretary	
U.S. Department of Agriculture	
14 Street and Independence, S.W.  
Washington, DC 20250  
Email:	<a href="mailto:agsec@usda.gov">agsec.usdas.gov</a>