The start of 2023 marked a change in how lobstermen in the U.S. state of Maine must handle catch reporting.
As of 1 January, commercial lobstermen in Maine – who were responsible for 80 percent of the U.S.’s lobster catch in 2021 – must now report all harvest electronically. Previously, all landings were handled by dealers, with just 10 percent of harvesters contributing reporting (chosen annually by a lottery system).
Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher issued a statement to lobstermen in the state committing to help make a smooth transition to 100 percent reporting.
“I know it isn’t popular, but it’s an important piece of securing the best data possible to understand effort in Maine’s lobster industry,” Keliher said. “Having this information should improve management in a number of ways, including when it comes to both whales and the lobster resource.”
Until the recent change, Maine had been the only state in the U.S. that did not have 100 percent harvester reporting, despite catching the lion’s share of the nation’s catch. Keliher said dealer reports didn’t give a full picture of the fishery because the reports didn’t include where harvesters were fishing, what sort of traps they were using, how many traps they were hauling, or how many endlines they were using.
“All of this is vital to understanding the real footprint of the fishery, to make sure that if and when future management measures are developed, they can be targeted appropriately,” he said. “Without that information, management measures end up being much broader than necessary, because we don’t have that fine-scale information.”
Regardless of the reasons, Keliher said Maine “doesn’t have a choice” about implementing the new reporting rules because it is now required for compliance under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Management Plan.
“While we have been under a lot of pressure to move to 100 percent harvester reporting, we were able to push it back several years to give us time to find the funds needed to cover the cost associated with increased reporting so that we didn’t need to pass it along to harvesters in the form of increased license costs,” Keliher said.
To that end, he said, the Maine DMR developed a new app allowing harvesters to report data using a smartphone or tablet, and the state’s landings program will have staff perform in-person meetings to demonstrate how to use multiple electronic harvest reporting options.
A recently enacted six-year “pause” in new lobster regulations regarding whales as part of a last-minute addition to the U.S. Senate’s omnibus funding budget has reduced the regulatory pressure on Maine's lobster industry, but the fishery still needs to do what it can to accumulate data, Keliher said.
“There is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and 2028, and this information is a critical piece of that work,” Keliher said. “This is just one example of how the department and the industry must work together proactively to strengthen our position in management discussions going forward.”
Photo courtesy of JULIA Culp/Shutterstock
