David Etnier of Harpswell was named Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). George Lapointe, DMR Commissioner, made the announcement on Feb. 28 at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockland.
As DMR’s chief liaison to the Maine Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee, Etnier’s experience in Maine politics will serve him well. A Democrat, Etnier represented Harpswell, Arrowsic, Georgetown and Phippsburg for four terms in the Maine House from 1995-2002.
Long interested in fisheries issues, Etnier served on the Marine Resources Committee. In his third term, he and Senator Jill Goldthwait (I-Bar Harbor) co-chaired the committee. For his last three years in the legislature, he was the Maine legislative member of the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission (ASMFC).
His work in his fourth term on the Appropriations Committee prepares him to deal with tough budget issues facing state government.
Etnier jumped right into the budgetary issues, characterizing them as “DMR’s biggest challenge.” Right now the legislature is working on the emergency budget, which will be in effect starting June 2003, and is also looking at the budget for 2004-2005.
“[The DMR] is a lean organization, as I knew before I got into it; there’s no fat. And it supports Maine’s [marine] fishery – nearly a billion dollar industry – commercial and recreational. Many of DMR’s positions are paid through federal money and dedicated funds from license fees; so it’s the positions paid by the general fund that are the ones we need to look at to save money – and those are primarily jobs at DMR’s Boothbay Lab or on the Marine Patrol.”
Etnier is pleased that at the Marine Resources Committee’s March hearings on the DMR budget, “there was quite an outpouring of industry against personnel cuts, particularly in shellfish. Cuts here will mean closings that are longer in time and bigger in area.”
Etnier pointed out that the current committee, at least, is committed to Maine’s fisheries. “They did a tremendous job listening to what industry had to say.”
Sen. Dennis Damon (D-Hancock) and Rep. Thomas Bull (D-Freeport) are the co-chairs of the committee.
The committee passed its unanimous budget on March 10 and sent it on to the Appropriations Committee, which wants to complete its work on the overall emergency budget before April 1 so it can go into effect in June.
The committee version of the budget proposes raising rates in license fees at an average of 25 percent per license. Most of these fees have not been raised since 1992, and the committee felt it was time to raise them to support DMR jobs that industry wanted and needed.
The other immediate issue demanding Etnier’s attention is aquaculture. “Two years ago proposed finfish pens triggered a lot of interest by residents in Blue Hill and East Penobscot Bay,” he said.
Etnier, 47, replaces Penn Estabrook, a 23-year veteran at the department, who had served as Deputy Commissioner since 1985. He is a familiar face at local fishery meetings. As a young man he worked as sternman on lobster boats and as crew on swordfish boats. He maintains his captain’s license for 50-ton vessels.
In his last two years as a representative, Etnier introduced a bill that would shield waterfront property used in connection with the fishing industry from the aggressive tax rates that have hit shoreline property. It did not pass, but is remembered as an example of Etnier’s work to support Maine’s fishermen.
Joint Committee on Marine Resources Committee:
Sen. Dennis Damon (D-Hancock), Chair
Sen. Peggy Pendleton (D-Cumberland)
Sen. Richard Bennett (R-Oxford)
Rep. Thomas Bull (D-Freeport), Chair
Rep. Nancy Sullivan (D-Biddeford)
Rep. Walter Ash, Jr. (D-Belfast)
Rep. Edward Dugay (D-Cherryfield)
Rep. Leila Percy (D-Phippsburg)
Rep. Kevin Muse (R-Fryeburg)
Rep. Deborah McNeil (R-Rockland)
Rep. Jeff Kaelin (R-Winterport)
Rep. Leonard Earl Bierman (R-Sorrento)
Rep. Stephen Bowen (R-Rockport)
Rep. Frederick Moore III (Passamaquoddy Tribe)