Thursday, Feb 28, 1-4 p.m.: a marketing and branding session titled “More Bang for your Buck — Owning Your Products from Dock to Plate?” hosted by the Mid-Coast Fishermen’s Association, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Island Institute. Find out how to use marketing and branding to get more for your lobster, groundfish or shellfish catch and have happier customers who buy more frequently. Hear from Susan Andreatta of the University of North Carolina, who started the first Community Supported Fishery in the country, on how we can implement similar programs and techniques in Maine. Also participating will be fishermen and their community partners already involved in Maine’s pilot Community Supported Fishery programs. You will also hear from successful community supported agriculture programs and how they can be adapted to fisheries.
Friday, Feb. 29, 1-4:30 p.m.: a double session on Working Waterfront Access, hosted by Maine’s Working Waterfront Coalition. This session will provide an update on efforts to preserve working waterfront access to the coast, and provide information about the toolbox of programs and techniques used to secure working access, from legal tools to legislation. Hear from people involved in the first round of the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program and the application of the new working waterfront current use tax program. There will be a discussion of new efforts to protect commercial fishing access.
Saturday, March 1, 9-10:30 a.m.: a session hosted by the Island Institute titled: “What are the effects of climate change on Maine’s coastal fishing communities?” Hear from fishermen and scientists about the effects of climate change on lobsters, fishermen and communities. This session will be a continuation of a discussion (now in its second year) with a group of fishermen from all over the Maine coast on the impacts of climate change.
For more information and the full schedule of sessions and visit the Maine Fishermen’s Forum website: http://www.mainefishermensforum.org/