Incoming Gov. John Baldacci asked George Lapointe to continue as Commission of the Marine Resources Department (DMR). One of Baldacci’s first cabinet appointments, Lapointe must be confirmed by the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources and the state Senate.
Blair Pyne, Chair of the DMR Advisory Council, lobbied for Lapointe’s reappointment. With all the changes and events of the last few years, Pyne believes that it would be “terrible” to wait for a new commissioner to figure things out.
“George is up to speed with all the stuff that going on,” he said, “and he’s on the ball. We know that he’s straightforward, fair, and he lets you know what’s going on. It’s a kind of love-hate relationship.”
Lapointe sees Maine’s budget crisis and its impact on DMR – and all Maine agencies – as his biggest challenge. “We have buckets of issues to deal with,” he says, “including aquaculture, groundfish, the effects of limited entry as it perks through the system.”
He expects the Pew Oceans Commission report on managing marine fisheries to be released soon, as well as a federal report on oceans. “As a state that deals with federal policy, Maine will have to deal with their recommendations, and they will be many,” he said.
First appointed DMR Commissioner in 1998 by former Gov. Angus King, Lapointe followed Robin Alden. Both commissioners have overseen great changes in the management of Maine fisheries.