Big Steaming Pile of BullSh#t
 

Sure you aren't a lobbyist for the midwaters....

The Midwater boats completely and absolutely screwed up the traditional maine seiner and weir fishery and those guys hate you too.

Now way in hell anyone associated with the traditional seiners is going to defend your pair-trawlers.

Nice Try. You put those men out of their jobs, quit trying to spin it.

No one here is that stupid.

Mike proved my point for me
 

Gee Mike - now you've made it easy.

Your letter and Steve's testimony clearly advocate for the reduction in the inshore TAC. Steve talks of a crashed stock and suggests that there may even be a need to close the fishery, but we can't do that because of lobstermen. He chastises Dr. Pierce for considering the economic impact to the herring industry and states the economic impact to him and others is more important. Real nice - we should all be more concerned for Steve in his ocean front home in Kennebunk and a fancy tuna boat than we should be for those 140 people in Prospect.

Steve claims to speak for many, but I doubt the numbers are what he portrays. The MLA is not a supporter of CHOIR and in fact asked to be removed from the CHOIR web site when they found they were listed. The few commercial Maine fishermen that jumped on this bandwagon feeld quite burned and the few that remain are mostly underwritten by PEW-Earth Justice - not hardly a ground swell.

And for all of your denigrating midwater trawls, that's not even the issue here. This is about the summer purse seine fishery and the cannery. The seine boats have gone from approx. 80 landing days in 2006 to approx 28 landing days (during the PS only period June-Sept 31) in 2009. All this under the recommended TAC reductions by you and others. All this with no clear science or assessment for the GOM herring population. Your goal was clear - you hate the big boats, but you also didn't care about who else got thrown under the bus.

As for your article, its all heresay, you weren't even there. I could do the same and offer the opposite opinion, but I won't.

The work of you and your friends as devastated the Maine herring fishery - midwater trawlers, purse seiners, cannery workers and not very helpful to lobstermen either. It also may prove to be a very bad ecosystem choice for us all as the lobster industry tries to replace about 30,000 mt of bait with products from the West Coast, Europe, ect - where ever they can get it.

As for going to meetings, I've been to quite a few - but I didn't see you. No, your at home listening to your tapes - really clued in. Have you ever been herring fishing? Ever been to Prosepct Harbor?

"For options that reduce landings, there would be revenue losses to herring processors and impacts on processing plant employees. The cannery in Maine is particularly vulnerable to options that significantly reduce the Area 1A TAC since the cannery has traditionally been dependant on that area in the summer. Reductions in available
herring, highly variable landings, and increased cost of herring will make it difficult for the cannery to continue to produce canned herring at a profit and keep employees working"
NEFMC - A Herring Specs 2010-2012

Try looking in the mirror Mike and think about the 140 people that lost their jobs in eastern rural Maine. It impacts the whole community; the corner store, gas station, the tax base and the local school. All now being shored up by unemploment payments. You really should visit!

To say nothing of the last US cannery closing and an industry lost.

Sleep well Mike

The difference between your posts and the people you disagree with is that they present a point and you basically just say, "no you're wrong, look in the mirror. I don't know how you sleep at night" and then spin into some other topic.

You harp that the decrease of quotas (that's what this is all about, right?) is what caused the cannery to go under, yet don't provide any proof for it other than hearsay from meetings. On the other hand, there have been numerous references to people *from the sardine industry* that have stated that demand for sardines is in the toilet.

Also, you continue to ignore my point that according to the State of Maine, the historical commercial landings have been consistently and significantly below what the new quota has been set to. Again, isn't that what this is all about, the decreased quota in Maine???

This is my favorite of your comments:
So you're telling us that the decreased quota which was never met has "devastated the Maine herring fishery". And on top of that, all the extra bait that could potentially be off the coast of Maine (which wasn't being caught any way) "may prove to be a very bad ecosystem choice for us" as lobstermen get bait for other, potentially more sustainable areas? How exactly?

MEHerring

If you are so concerned about the smaller local fishermen will we see you support the ASMFC Addendum being pushed by NH to loosen the days out rules for the small boats so that they are not dominated by your industrial fleet?

On another point, tell me, if there is not enough Herring to supply this plant then why all the effort to make sure we have a full set of regulations for carrier vessels that can take Herring from a Pair Trawl at sea and land it in a variety of locations including Canada...hey...Canada still has Sardine Plants doesn't it...wait for it...greed and profit is all your kill it all, sell what you can and dump the rest industry cares about.

Come on now...let get honest...if the money paid to the plant workers at Bumble Bee was the same money paid to the foreigners at the Norpel we might not be talking. It's all about the profit...right.

In all fairness I should tell you that as we move forward with Am 5 every time the council is talking about River Herring and you blame it on Striped Bass...each and every time you say the words "Striped Bass" I say the words ..."Dead Whale". How many did you kill this year sailor.

As I have said all along it is a real shame about the 140 persons. I hope instead of playing on the internet or running to Canada to set up the next country whose fisheries you are going to decimate, at least some of you connected industrial type folks are convincing the LL Bean Lady or Ohara or someone to flip the plant into a Lobster processing facility and give those 140 (average age over 50 by the way) people and those to come after them some longer term job security. Your State just passed a bill within the last week to allow Lobstrs to be sold as processed. A new product that people actually want is now allowed in Maine and there is a worldwide market. Please tell me your goignto use your influence to help them because playing here in the internet with us is not goign to accomplish anything.

As a matter of fact I should send you a thank you note for keeping a political discussion going on a recreational board the week the Striper are arriving...you can do what I can not. Let's keep arguing so more of my recreaitonal brothers learn about your nasty nasty industy.

Your serve

My goodness, where to begin.


MEherring, did you happen to notice I quoted those who were there. You really need to pay more attention. These are your fellow commercial fishermen that you and your friends screwed over. You know it, I know it, and all of the non-herring commercial fishermen in New England know it. No amount of spin from you will ever change that. FACT: Midwater pair trawling for herring in New England created CHOIR.


Wow! And I mean WOW!!

Did it ever occur to you that the midwater pair trawlers are simply not compatitble for the New England region? There is a reason why they had to bring these boats over from Europe and the west cost of the United states. As was mentioned by previous folks, there was never a problem with herring before the MWTs. Ooops, I forgot. The Russians devastated the stock first. After the US booted them from the EEZ, you were later allowed to make that same mistake. Great company you have there.


I said they have "supported CHOIR's positions". Pay attention. Do you disagree that MLA supported the so-called "buffer zone" like virtually everyone except the midwater herring lobby?


Obviously if landings are reduced it will impact processors.

Shhh. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Don't tell anyone. We'll keep this between you and I. The trick is not bending to industry pressure to allow things to get so out of hand that reductions are inevitable. It's called pay it now or pay it later, MEherring.

In other words, had the MWTs never been promoted (yes promoted) by the state directors in the first place, then the TAC in the inshore Gulf of Maine would still be at 60,000 mt as it had beeen for sooooo long before they showed up.

Did you ever hear herring described as "the rice of the sea"? I learned that from a commercial fisherman. Everything changed when the MWTs impacted this region. Everything!

Think about that for a moment and imagine what your friends in Prospect harbor could be doing now with 60,000 metric tons of SUSTAINABLE harvest without pair trawlers.


Sleep well, yourself. There is a reason why you don't give your name.

LOL Tha shame of it all is that as we argue there are still no steps being made to stop the foreign deep water boats from China,Japan,Spain,Russia,France,Brazil,Argentina,a frican nations and so on from raping the ocean with in eye sight of our comercial boats that have to go by all these rules that are made for them.Show me one foreign boat that doesn't go by the same rules we enforce on our fisheries that is held accountable. My point isn't about the rules ,the herring,net sizes of number of fishing days allowed. It's the unfair advantage given to these foreign fleets as they take the fish home can or process them and then sell them on our markets at the expense of our economy so that some poleticians can put more money in their pocets.