Local fishery industry leaders say it's Maine's fault the state has lost so much of its groundfishing fleet to Massachusetts, forcing the Portland Fish Exchange and city officials to scramble to lure more landings.
Bert Jongerden, general manager of the fish exchange, maintains that the types of financial incentives offered to fishermen in the Bay State are desperately needed "to level the playing field" if Maine hopes to hold onto what's left of its groundfishing industry. Those include such measures as allowing them to sell lobster bycatch (the lobsters that get caught in the groundfishermen's nets) or passing a permanent rebate on the 5% diesel fuel tax.
The federal regulations, which have limited fishermen's days at sea since 2006, have certainly contributed to the decline, he says, but the lack of state incentives for fishermen to land their catches in Portland instead of Gloucester, New Bedford and Boston, Mass., has hurt just as much.
Landings at the fish exchange have dropped from 17 million pounds of fish in 2006 to 6.3 million pounds in 2009, and the fish exchange is on pace to see 4.5 million pounds of fish landings this year. The fishing fleet has declined from up to 40 vessels in 2006 to 15 to 20 vessels now, Jongerden says.
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Photo by Robert Bukaty, Associated Press
