Communication and understanding. Never have they been more essential for the health of Maine’s farming, fishing and forestry industries, which are so vital to the health of the state’s economy.
Some of these enterprises feel their ability to survive is being threatened by increasing restrictions which affect them. Jeff Kaelin, independent contractor for Heritage Salmon and one of the original organizers of the Council on Farming, Fishing and Forestry (CF3), describes the industries as “being under siege, with increasing support for zero tolerance on the use of natural resources.”
Ted Johnson, another person who helped start the group, which meets once a month under the auspices of the Maine State Chamber, notes the difference “between the “70s and 80s, when environmentalists were going after polluters, and now, when the conservation organizations are going after consumers. Not one of us espouses going back to the pollution of yesteryear,” he emphasizes, “but on the other hand, we need to be smart about use.” He cites the pending groundfish regulations as being a real threat to the livelihood of the future of the fishing industry. “Everybody in Maine should be alarmed,” he says.
Representatives of these core natural resource industries believe it is essential they work together to ensure Maine has a next generation of these industries, says Johnson. At informal lunch meetings, participants discuss challenges they are facing and help each other understand why a particular issue is important to them and what they think needs to be done. Johnson, who represents the sand and gravel industry, says “Although huge differences appear on the surface, there is very little difference in the types of issues the three industries deal with: clean water, access to the resource, reasonable, predictable regulations and markets.”
Most of the time, Johnson says, the group, which fluctuates in size and has included advocates and lobbyists from the Wild Blueberry Association, professional logging contractors, the potato board, Maine Import/Export Lobster Dealers Association, Maine Lobster Pound Association and Maine Aquaculture Association, discusses legislative issues and public policy. Two issues that have received prolonged attention have been the forestry referendum two years ago, and a recent proposal for a moratorium on aquaculture licenses. In each case, discussion of the regulations perceived as threatening the survival of one industry prompted members of others to show up and speak at legislative hearings. “It’s a very regular occurrence now that forest and farming people come to marine resource hearings,” says Kaelin.
During the past two years, the group has discussed and sometimes received input from representatives of regulatory agencies about issues like water quality and water use, current use taxation for waterfront property, and truck weights. Sometimes, says Kaelin, the discussion revolves around semantics. “The idea of sustainable, as applied to marine fisheries, may mean something different from sustainable environment to working foresters or to people who regulate the foresters,” he says. “We’ve been able to talk about the differences, and as natural resources people, become better able to communicate amongst ourselves and find ways to work together with regulators and legislators.”
Although most of the group’s time has been spent with regulatory issues, they also learned from Bob Brown and other members of the lobster industry about the need for funds to support lobster research. Ultimately, members of the group spoke out in favor of the lobster license plate bill, which was signed by Governor King in April.
CF3 has opened important lines of communication, Brown believes, sometimes fostering support, sometimes urging caution. “One industry can be so busy with their own little world,” he says, “that they never stop to think about what some other industry is involved with in their world. Sometimes they can find ways they can join together for a more united front. On the other hand, it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you have to say, ‘You better be extremely careful how you proceed, and if you don’t proceed carefully, it may impact my industry. If you don’t take care of that, it may cause real problems.'”
Brown, who has over 50 years’ experience in the lobster business, hopes to see increased participation from the natural resources industries. “All association heads are involved with tons and tons of meetings,” he recognizes, “but those who come to the council find it very interesting to listen to someone else say what their concerns are and what they are doing. Going away with that information just might make their life a little easier – or a little harder.”