New rules could allow Maine’s unbridged islands to hang onto licenses when relinquished by local fishermen, or even increase the number of licenses available for islanders. That could give younger residents a chance to stay and fish when older lobstermen quit or retire, and in the long run it could help preserve a way of life.
Jeff Putnam of Chebeague Island, speaking by cell phone from his 40-foot lobsterboat, said the law is “definitely” a good idea. “I really think it’s necessary. It’s more for the sustainability of the island community than for the fishermen.”
Four year-round island towns have begun the process to apply for the new status, and one is working with the DMR on the details of the program. The new program was too late for 26-year-old Sam Hyler of Little Cranberry Island. After a seven-year wait he finally got his license two months ago to start fishing 300 traps, a limit that increases annually by 100 to the state maximum of 800 traps.
He had worked as a sternman, put in his required two-year apprenticeship with 200 days and 1,000 hours of fishing. “I didn’t have the luxury of growing up in a fishing family,” he said.”I just really enjoy working on the water, the freedom of the ocean, being around other fishermen.” And he likes living on an island. Proof of residency is a requirement for the island license program, and moving from the island within eight years voids the new license.
Putnam pointed out that if a young island person starts fishing before age 18, he can qualify for a license without a wait, but if he doesn’t start early, hecould be out of luck. Putnam grew up on Chebeague and helped start Dropping Springs Lobster Co-op and Calendar Islands Maine Lobster, a gourmet-marketing venture. The co-op now has about 37 members.
Lobstermen from Cranberry Isles, Swan’s Island, Cliff and Chebeague have filed petitions with the Department of Marine Resources to take advantage of the new island licensing rules. Benefits could include a shorter wait for islanders seeking a first license, and in the big picture could help families continue to stay in their homes, since lobstering is often the economic mainstay of island towns.
David Thomas, longtime lobsterman on Little Cranberry Island, said it’s good and it’s fair. If young islanders had to compete with all mainland fishermen for limited numbers of licenses, the island men and women might be waiting so many years that they would have to move off-island to earn a living. “It fixes a mathematical inequality,” he said, where busy mainland lobster ports would have a disproportionate advantage.
Dave Cousens, lobsterman from South Thomaston, agreed. As president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association board of directors, he supported legislation giving island fishermen a leg up on licenses. “On the islands it’s pretty hard. If you don’t fish, there are no jobs. We recognized they’re in a kind of unique situation,” he said.
Hyler, who serves on his island planning board and fishes from a 35-foot lobsterboat, said the new lobster license law is sensible. It might have shortened his seven-year wait: “Was it fair? I struggle with that,” he said. “I do understand the idea behind limited entry, but there are guys like me who are held back and really want to fish.”
The four island communities currently seeking entry to the program are each within one of seven lobstering zones on the Maine coast. The wait time for a lobster license varies in each of these zones, but it is anticipated that the new island rules will significantly decrease the wait for islanders.
The special status for islands is made possible by a 2009 law designed “to protect the long-term viability of island lobster fishing communities” sponsored by then House Speaker Hannah Pingree, herself a native of North Haven island. The Island Institute strongly supported the legislation.
Other year-round island communities eligible for the special lobster license status are Frenchboro, Vinalhaven, Matinicus, North Haven, Isle au Haut, Islesboro, Great Diamond, Little Diamond, Long Island and Peaks Island.
Steve Cartwright is a freelance writer living in Waldoboro.