As Director of Industry Development for the Department of Marine Resources, Sue Inches has logged thousands of miles to stay in touch with the seafood processors, wharf owners and other seafood businesses scattered along Maine’s very long coastline. She feels it would be impossible for her to fulfill her job’s mission to support shoreside development without this direct contact to give her firsthand experience with problems experienced by these businesses.
John Norton, owner of Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland, has let her know that he, for one, is appreciative. “There used to be five people in my department,” she says. “John has told me `There’s only one of you now, and I see you more in my plant than I did all five.'”
Inches’ mission is to give support to all aspects of shoreside development related to marine resources, including processing, business development, marketing and waterfront access. A graduate of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology and of University of New Hampshire with a Master’s in Business Administration, she has extensive experience in strategic planning as a facilitator. “I’ve always been interested in sustainable business,” she says.
Since the position she holds was redefined in 1997 from being focused on seafood advertising and promotion to supporting industry development with an emphasis on shoreside infrastructure, she has helped members of the industry in many ways. They include setting up www.maineseafood.org, a website dedicated to the industry; putting out a monthly newsletter, “Seafood Development News,” to pass on information about industry-related opportunities; organizing The Maine Event, a dinner held prior to the Boston Seafood Show to introduce Maine seafood to national and international seafood buyers; and working in conjunction with University of Maine’s Food Science Department to obtain a grant from the Department of Agriculture to fund research on value added seafood products.
The website, which went up in 1999, provides a calendar of events, current news items, a directory of 300 Maine seafood dealers and processors accessible by type of seafood; a 300-link library organized in categories like “Grants and Loans” or “Seafood and Fishing Associations/Organizations” and information about Maine seafood species. Part of the site is dedicated to and maintained by the Fishermen’s Forum and has the capability for continued discussion of issues covered at the forum.
Martin Wendell, manager of Sea Fresh USA of Maine in Portland, who processes monkfish, shrimp and squid, and ships frozen monkfish tails and squid to Europe and Asia and distributes shrimp throughout New England, feels Inches has been a strong advocate to keep communication open between the shoreside industry, fishermen and the Maine Legislature. Recently, she arranged for him and other processors to participate in a meeting with Gov. Angus King and the state attorney general regarding new groundfish regulations.
“Sometimes the processors get lost in the discussions about new regulations,” Wendell said, pointing out that it’s important they be included, because any regulations have a domino effect in the infrastructure of the industry. “Any day, I have a core group of 50 employees, which doubles when we’re doing shrimp and squid production lines,” he says. “A lot of people are dependent on the fishermen’s catch. We count on Sue to watch out for us with meetings about regulations and other issues and make sure we’re included in the discussion and decisions. She’s done a great job that way.”
Inches says research and development on value-added seafood processing is another of her top priorities and that she has been working with several processors to help them determine their next step in product development. She helped Wendell with his research on utilizing whiting by putting him in contact with people who could be a potential market for a value-added whiting product.
“At this point,” she says, “80 percent of the groundfish caught by Maine fishermen goes out of state for processing and 30 to 40 percent of the lobster. We want to see more of that stay in the state. In the long term, an increased demand here could increase the price fishermen receive for their catch.”
Lobster products are a good example, she says. “Maine has close to 70 percent of the U.S. market share in lobster, but still, you go to the supermarket and you don’t see lobster cream cheese spread, or microwave dinners with lobster, or lobster salad in the deli. We know there is increased demand for more convenience food, which has the most profit margin. We need to work on these types of products in Maine with lobster, fish and crabmeat.”
Inches says research has shown that members of the seafood industry have not utilized grant programs as often as their counterparts in agriculture and forestry. To spark greater interest, she created “Seafood Development News,” which is available on-line at the www.maineseafood.org website and can be obtained by e-mail. In addition to serving as a clearinghouse of available grants, loans and other helpful resources, the newsletter informs industry members about upcoming legislative hearings and events. “I think more people are starting to realize there are some resources out there and more are trying for grants,” she says.
She has received calls for information from people with a wide variety of project ideas. Although she does not write grants for these entrepreneurs, she does look for sources of funds and often reviews proposals and offers feedback on them. Three proposals she helped with – an alternative lobster bait, a new type of oyster cage and a time-temperature gauge – have been funded, and she is working on others.
Inches stays in close contact with organizations that work on issues and opportunities important to the seafood industry. She serves on the Maine Technology Institute board, the Maine Rural Development Council board and will soon be part of the Economic Development Council of Maine. She was appointed to the legislative Committee to Study the Loss of Commercial Fishing Waterfront Access and Other Economic Development Issues Affecting Commercial Fishing introduced by state Rep. David Etnier (D-Harpswell).
Recently, the Etnier committee issued its report, which included a mandate for Inches to look into setting up a seafood innovation, marketing and research fund. Her first step will be to determine if members of the industry favor creating a fund that would provide grant money to help them develop new products and find new customers, perhaps re-tooling their processing plants for a different use. Money for the fund would be collected by an industry assessment – she doesn’t yet know the details – and would go directly to the industry. (It could not be used to create programs she would run.) She envisions presenting the idea at different association meetings, as she does not have funding to conduct a survey.
Last summer Inches, always on the lookout for future opportunities for the industry, visited with the Cape Cod Hook Fishermen’s Association (CCHFA) to see firsthand how they market live fish. Although a workshop she organized for the Fishermen’s Forum on shipping fish live had to be canceled, she hopes CCHFA will share its expertise in Maine at another time during the year, perhaps in a one-day “mini-forum.”
Lack of funding is a continual challenge. “Whenever I want to do a project, such as a seafood brochure I’m working on now, I have to raise the money,” she says. “There’s no operations budget.” She also finds working with the industry in general a challenge because it encompasses so many different groups who sometimes have conflicts and different needs. “It’s hard to know how to get fishing groups to pull together in Maine,” she says. “Possibly health care will do it. It’s something that’s affecting everyone.”
She does feel she has developed a productive relationship with the various sectors of the industry. “Members of the seafood industry know I am genuinely trying to be supportive to make the industry stronger,” she says. “It’s hard to be in a government position and have people believe you want them to survive and prosper, but all things I do are towards that end.”