Candidates get excited about the lobster industry at the latest LCN Forum

Passions ran high during a discussion of the challenges facing the lobster industry at The Lincoln County News’ fourth and final Candidates Forum, held at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta on Thursday, October 13.

The forum brought together nearly 50 people and featured candidates for Senate District 13 and House Districts 45 and 46.

Cameron D. Reny, D-Bristol, and Abden Simmons, R-Waldoboro, are the candidates for Senate District 13, which includes Lincoln County excluding Dresden, as well as Washington and Windsor.

Clinton E. Collamore Sr., D-Waldoboro and Lynn J. Madison, R-Waldoboro are the candidates for House District 45, which includes Bremen, Louds Island, Waldoboro, Friendship and Washington.

Rep. Lydia V. Crafts, D-Newcastle, and Merle J. Parise II, R-Newcastle, are the candidates for House District 46, which includes Bristol, Damariscotta, Monhegan, Newcastle and Nobleboro.

During the 90-minute session, candidates were asked what they hear from voters and how they would work on those issues if elected. The candidates also discussed what the Legislature can do to meet Maine’s affordable housing needs, support the lobster industry and help support Maine’s small and micro businesses.

Maia Zewert, Acting Editor-in-Chief of LCN, asked questions and each contestant was given two minutes to respond. Each candidate also had two minutes each for an opening and closing statement.

The six candidates for the forum agreed that the lobster industry is under attack from new rules issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that aim to protect the North Atlantic right whale. They all passionately agreed that there appears to be no rationale or scientific evidence for the new restrictions and that they must be fought at all levels.

The lobster industry was a hot topic that ran throughout the forum, but the candidates really dissected the issue when asked directly, “What actions do you recommend the Legislative Assembly take to support the lobster industry?” ‘one of Maine’s traditional and crucial industries?’

Crafts said she serves on the Marine Resources Committee and is proud to have helped fund the legal defense fund for the lobster industry’s fight against costly and burdensome federal regulations.

In September, a federal judge overturned a lobster industry challenge seeking to block the rules, which argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had made “scientific errors.” The lawsuit argued this, in part, because Maine Lobsters say their gear hasn’t been involved in a right whale entanglement in nearly two decades.

“The bigger conversation has to be about corporate responsibility because ship strikes are a much bigger issue for whale survival and no one wants to take on big business,” Crafts said.

The plan released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration includes a closure of more than 950 square miles in Lobster Management Area 1 to traditional lobster from October through January; requirement for more traps per buoy line to reduce the number of vertical lines; no more color markings on lobster buoys; and the addition of a weak rope link that will allow a right whale to free itself if it becomes entangled. The gear changes came into effect on May 1, 2022, which marks the start of the American lobster and Jonas crab fishing season.

Crafts noted that the lobster industry has been the guardian of the environment over the years and has always complied with federal government regulations.

Simmons said Canadian lobster fishing gear and ship strikes are a bigger threat to right whales and he thinks the industry is being unfairly targeted.

“They’re doing everything they can to kill us,” Simmons said.

Reny also noted that there have never been any documented deaths of North Atlantic right whales attributed to Maine lobster fishing gear and sees no basis for stricter regulations.

“Lobster is quintessential Maine,” Reny said. “It’s not just a job; it is a way of life for so many people.

Collamore, a lobsterer since 1968, was eager to talk about the lobster industry all evening, seeing it as his top priority. He compared the price of a lobster license when he started, $38, with the approximate cost of a license now, $1,400. He showed a new connecting piece now required for lobster traps that is supposed to detach more easily to prevent right whale entanglements.

“It goes in each of my traps and costs $52 to put it in my trap,” Collamore said. “The existing old rope has to come out because you can’t splice it.”

Madison said the state legislature has basically done all it can do in supporting the Lobsters Legal Defense Fund. He said the government needs to step aside and let the companies do it, another theme that ran throughout the forum.

Madison also spoke out against government interference in our economy. He said the federal government must stop “printing money” and handing out “handouts” and that the “massive spending spree” at the state level must be stopped in order to fight inflation.

Madison said most voters he talks to are worried about inflation and how they’ll buy food and fuel this winter. He said he heard firsthand from clients he worked with through the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.

“These people are poor and they are getting poorer, much poorer,” Madison said.

Fellow Republicans Parise and Simmons have both said separately they would also like to see less regulation and less government interference in small businesses.

“The government has to stay out of our pockets, period,” Simmons said. “Stop regulating us to the point where we can’t afford to go to work anymore.”

Parise touted former Gov. Paul LePage’s idea of ​​capping the price of fuel oil at where it was last winter, with the state government picking up the difference. He and the other five candidates all said they heard voters worry about the price of fuel oil and the lack of affordable housing in the area.

Simmons noted that the Waldoboro Select Board, of which he has been a member for eight years, is looking at ways to help people pay for fuel oil this winter.

“At the state level, we need to put pressure on the federal government to turn the situation around,” he said. “Because otherwise we’re going to be in trouble.”

Crafts said the Legislature provided about $8 million for Maine’s low-income home energy assistance program, but much more is needed.

“We have a budget surplus of $600 million and we need to use our public funds well,” Crafts said. “We need to make sure people have warmth and their basic needs are covered.”

All three Republican candidates favored less government involvement in small business, while Reny and Crafts both said government has an opportunity to help the economy.

In Lincoln County alone, Crafts said the federal Paycheck Protection Program saved 6,000 jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crafts expressed support for vocational and technical training, saying it can contribute to Maine’s labor shortage. She said she is proud of the Legislative Assembly’s investment in providing two years of free community college for Mainers.

“It opens the door to a future that will provide small business-ready workers,” Crafts said.

Collamore said small businesses need help, but didn’t provide details on how the legislature can do that.

“They’re the backbone of Maine,” Collamore said of small business.

He said he wanted to keep the federal government from interfering with businesses and keep it “above water,” a reference to the challenges facing the lobster industry.

On affordable housing, Reny linked it to labor shortages, saying companies can’t find workers because workers can’t find affordable housing.

“I’m really tired of seeing working families being left homeless or having to move away from their neighborhood and away from their support systems,” Reny said.

She expressed support for LD 2003, “An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Increase Housing Opportunity in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions”, which was passed by the Legislature earlier this year.

The bill allows Maine landowners to build secondary suites in residential zones and up to two units on land zoned for single-family housing, according to a news release. For larger communities with designated “growth areas”, up to four units could be built. All local building regulations must still be observed.

Collamore says he knows many young people cannot find housing because prices are rising. He suggested the legislature work with cities on incentives to use existing buildings to convert them into housing.

Madison said the Legislature should use excess funds to begin solving the housing problem, especially for seniors.

Simmons suggested using timber harvested from public lands to build housing and stressed that reducing costs is key to alleviating the multiple pressures Mainers face.

“We have to reduce the cost of everything,” Simmons said.

The forum has been recorded and can be viewed online on The Lincoln County News Facebook page.