AUGUSTA, Maine — Promoting and marketing lobster to the rest of the country could help boost the price fishermen get paid, several industry supporters told members of the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee Wednesday.
LD 182, “An Act to Support the Maine Lobster Industry,” sponsored by Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, I-Friendship, would appropriate $1 million from the general fund and give it to the Maine Lobster Promotion Council.
LD 486, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Kruger, D-Thomaston on behalf of the Department of Marine Resources, would raise $3 million over three years for the promotion council, with 75 percent of the money coming from lobster license sales and 25 percent from dealers.
“I believe Maine’s lobster industry is entering a crisis,” Evangelos told the committee, arguing for his bill.
Water temperature changes have “caused a surge in spring landings, serving to depress the price of lobsters and create unsustainable economic conditions for the industry,” he said. “Combined with record high fuel costs, high bait prices, high insurance and other fixed costs, the lobster industry has encountered the perfect storm.”
Citing state numbers, Evangelos said in the last four years, Maine taxpayers spent $35 million to support dairy farmers and in the last five years, spent almost $40 million in tourism promotion.
“We have spent a total of zero taxpayer dollars to promote and market lobsters in this same period,” he said.
Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said her organization supported the bill and called the proposal “a sound investment for the state,” which would provide “more economic stability for our coastal communities.”
To a question from a committee member, McCarron said the promotion council began marketing Maine lobster in the early 1990s, but the lack of a cohesive, effective strategy and poor leadership marred the effort.
“We want to get a more professional board in place,” she said of the promotion council.
The current status of the industry, with the prices paid to lobstermen at historic lows because of high landings, brought urgency to the bill.
“We’re in tough shape. We can’t afford to not be increasing demand,” McCarron said.
David Cousens, president of the MLA, said currently there are 90 million homes that purchase 120 million pounds of lobster caught by Maine fishermen.
“We need to increase demand,” he said.
Vaughn Stinson, executive director of the Maine Tourism Association, also supported the bill.
“Marketing investments do have a return,” he said. “We’re simply just not marketing it.” The $1 million was not enough, he added, but was a good start.
“You’ll see a very solid return on it,” Stinson predicted.
Nick Battista, marine programs director of the Island Institute, said lobstering is critical to Maine’s islands, where residents held 650 harvesting licenses, more than 10 percent of all state licenses.
“We think it’s a wise investment,” he said of the marketing proposal.
LD 486, which would dedicate funds raised from license fees and dealers, “allows for a reboot of the promotion council,” Kruger said.
DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher said the $500 surcharge on a Class II lobster license in the bill would be more than offset by a 5 cent increase in boat price expected through better marketing.
The bill also would expand the promotion council from nine members to 13. Seven seats would go to harvesters or their designees. Two seats would go to dealers, two to members of the general public, and the DMR commissioner and a representative of the Department of Economic and Community Development would fill out the board.
The council would report back to the Marine Resources Committee before committing money to a marketing plan, Keliher said.
Nelson King of East Boothbay, a fisherman, opposed the mandatory nature of the funding.
“It amounts to extortion,” he said. Fishermen would be forced to pay for increased sales for dealers and restaurants, King added.
But McCarron of the MLA said the promotion boost would help fishermen. Her board voted unanimously to support LD 486, she told the committee.
“The promotion council was never adequately funded,” she said, and urged the committee to ensure that the marketing effort maximize the boat price for lobster.
John Norton, CEO of Cozy Harbor Seafood of Portland, a lobster processor, said the imbalance on the board between fishermen and dealers would increase the distrust that already exists between the two groups. He suggested that dealers be assessed for half the $3 million, instead of the 25 percent.
Work sessions on the bills will be scheduled in the coming weeks.