ROCKPORT, Maine — The state needs to work harder to market Maine seafood as a way to help the industry prosper, Gov. Paul LePage said during an address Friday at the 37th annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum.
The governor recounted a story of when he was in Florida a couple months ago for a wedding and stopped at a restaurant that was touting Maine lobster as its special of the day. LePage said he asked the restaurant owner where in Maine the lobsters came from and the owner admitted that the seafood actually came from Massachusetts.
“He said they were not from Maine but who knows what Massachusetts lobster is,” LePage said.
The governor said when he returned from Florida he asked his office’s legal department to see if there is any legal action the state could take to prevent lobsters from elsewhere being falsely marketed as coming from Maine.
He said that this matter is important because proper marketing can increase the value of a product.
“We have to work harder to make sure there is no substitute for Maine lobster or Maine fish,” LePage said. “We will do everything we can do on our part to make sure that lobster fishermen, when they land their lobster, get credit for it being Maine lobster.”
The lobster industry plays a major role in tourism and the hospitality industry.
The value of last year’s Maine lobster catch was $331 million with landings reaching 100 million pounds statewide for the first time. But, LePage noted, if the per-pound price was as high as it had been in 2005, the catch would have been worth another $150 million.
“The fishing industry in Maine is more than just jobs, it’s an economic engine, but more importantly than that it’s a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle with a great heritage in Maine that we must make sure is made to prosper,” LePage said.
The governor cited Linda Bean’s efforts to market Maine lobster as being what is needed to get more money for harvesters.
He said government can’t tax and regulate the state’s way to prosperity.
Glen Libby of Port Clyde praised the governor’s administration for removing red tape in the efforts of local fishermen to add value to locally caught seafood by processing and marketing.
“We’ve called it red tape, but quite frankly what it really is is a change of attitude,” LePage said. “We have a can-do attitude instead of no we can’t do that. It boils down really to a willingness to work with the private sector. We’re not getting rid of regulations, we’re helping you get through them much quicker.”
The governor said while the seafood industry in Maine has been great on the lobster side it has not been so great in other areas.
He also cited the accomplishments of the administration in helping the seafood industry. That included opening up of 2,000 acres of prime shellfish flats through the work of the Maine Departments of Marine Resources and Health and Human Services.
LePage also said the state purchased six groundfish permits with a total quota of 180,000 pounds in an effort to help rebuild the groundfishing industry in Maine. He said the Portland Fish Exchange has seen an increase in fish being handled.
The governor said that for progress to be made, the state needs the participation of fishermen.
“The only way that the fishing industry can prosper is with the fishermen having a say in the direction we go.”
He said the industry faces challenges such as rising fuel prices, which is why last year the state approved a law to remove the fuel tax for commercial fishing vessels.
The governor said he has directed Patrick Keliher, new commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, to work with the industry to reduce their costs.
LePage also agreed that access to capital for businesses was a challenge. He said Maine is broke and that it will take time for the state to attract capital.
The governor closed his remarks by making a political pitch to the 200-plus fishermen in the room.
“Come November, we’re going to have a real choice. We have the ability to remain a welfare state with entitlements and grow our entitlements or we have a choice of reviving and renewing the American dream,” LePage said.
Keliher followed LePage to the podium and addressed a variety of issues.
“The vision is coastal prosperity at the end of the day,” Keliher said. “We don’t want two or three New Bedfords. We want healthy coastal communities.”
He said this needs to be achieved by working with all parts of the industry and developing a management plan to avoid having federal policies affect the state’s fisheries.
He said the proposed classification of certain species as endangered could have devastating impacts on certain industries. Keliher said the administration will oppose the addition of river herring to the endangered list.
The annual fishermen’s forum continues Saturday at the Samoset Resort. A full schedule is at www.mainefishermensforum.org.
LePage at it again. The guy has no clue. 61%.
Let me clue you in. This is Exactly what Maine fishermen need, streamlined regulations, with Promotion & Protection of the Maine Brand.
http://www.lobsterfrommaine.com/default.aspx
try not to fall for the media campaign against LePage.
Sad. You can’t step outside of your partisanship for a few seconds to acknowledge an economic need in this state.
yes the 61% = Massachusetts liberal transplants
With a mix of Vermonters, people from New Jersey and Long Island, too.
I’m not a big fan of LePage, but he has a good point. Canadian and Southern New England seafood are marketed as Maine products way too often. The Maine brand needs to be protected.
I was shocked too, he might actually be r-r-r-right for once. Idaho marketed its “brand” for potatoes, Maine didn’t. Maine was the U.S.’s largest potato producer, now we aren’t. Don’t let the lobstermen go the way of the Aroostook County potato farmer.
Maine potatoes stay in one place until dug, so it’s easy to brand them. Fish aren’t always that accommodating. Also, Maine’s drop in percentage of potato production has much to do with the growth of huge scale agriculture in places such as California as well as Idaho – the number one producer of table potatoes – as it does with poor marketing, which is no doubt part of it. Aren’t today’s Maine potatoes used as much for seed as for anything else (the McCain agribusiness notwithstanding)?
Maine produces a majority of a potato that are commonly known as Chefs Potatoes. These are great for moist cooking such as mashers, or to be cubed for chowder. They make great Gratins too. In general they are not a good baking potato like the russet is.
Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California and Prince Edward Island are huge producers of Russet Potatoes.
Commercially-frown Maine potatoes used to be our choice every time. Then the flavor and consistency went awry, probably from not replenishing the soil or rotating the fields? – -in any event, that meant looking at exactly which grower had produced the potato. Also, many of the Maine potatoes that make it to market are green. Used to be the case, fairly recently, that one could be assured of the most excellent potato available anywhere.
As to branding: I don’t think that every organization or business should be able to use the word “Maine” in its name. “Maine Heritage Policy Center,” sounds like a state-run cultural institution. Then there is “Maine Heritage Village,” in Wiscasset, a private enterprise. For that matter if one more thing is named “PenBay” I might be sick.
The word Maine would have to become a registered trademark. But who could own that trademark? The State or an individual? Is that type of Trademark even allowed? In my area we have for example-
Bar Harbor Inn
Bar Harbor Whale Watch
Bar Harbor Bank and Trust
Bar Harbor Jam and Jelly Company
Bar Harbor Brewing Company
Again, could some one trademark the name Bar Harbor? Im thinking that it is not allowed.
I’m an Aroostook County potato farmer and everything is just fine here Dane.
Coldwater Crabmeat has its own distinct flavour, you can tell the difference just between Portland and Searsport .
Dont need labels.
Unless your a novice!
Lobster is a most excellent source of low fat protein, give a look see and learn something.
http://www.lobsterfrommaine.com/lobster-recipes.aspx
Most of the lobster pounds around pay a bigger price than Linda Bean!!! Facts in the Bangor are not checked very well. Actually though, it is Paul Lepage who is wrong. And just so Mr. Governor knows, a Canadian, a Maine, and a Massachusetts lobster are all EXACTLY the same species. And they all probably originated from Maine in the first place.
The species isn’t being questioned. It’s about origins and the Maine mystique.
Do some research on Marketing, then you will understand how branding works.
The FDA has it covered!
The FDA says “Maine Lobster” can be used for Lobster caught in Massachusetts because it is a common name for the Same Species caught both in Maine and Mass.
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/SEARCH_SEAFOOD/index.cfm?other=complete
Then the solution is for anyone selling “Maine Lobsters” to call them “Gulf of Maine Lobsters”. It would be true so how would we enforce that?
Have you ever studied economics? Marketing?? Or anything at all business related??? It’s the BRAND LePage is fighting for, not the species! Potatoes are potatoes, but there’s a reason some people choose Maine-grown over Idaho. Cotton is cotton, but there’s a reason some people choose Ralph Lauren t-shirts over Walmart’s. When in doubt, read article headline………..
Potatoes are not “potatoes.” The specific ground in which they are raised, and methods used to grow them, most certainly effects the flavor and quality of a potato, or anything else. Even from front to back yard conditions change and effect the flavor and quality anything growing.
Good move by LePage. It is obvious this is a gap in the marketing of Maine seafood, which outside of New England has a solid reputation and that is why it is used and copied outside of Maine. Hey the other states are laughing at Maine on this one, Massachusetts I guarantee is all over this. Put a trademark, patent or something to it so it is protected. Last laugh should be with the hardworking Maine fishermen who risk their lives and should be compensated fairly.
Lobsters come from the Ocean and the last time that I looked at a Map the Gulf of Maine includes Massachusets!
You are obviously from the depths of massachusetts by the sound of your comments. your label please
Okay. So how would this be enforced? Would every state have Maine Lobster police? No. C’mon, it’s buyer beware.
You can watch the complete address by Gov. LePage at the Fishermen’s Forum here:
http://youtu.be/n8-w8hIoytU
To all you. salad eaters you can eat your tofu Lobster..I like the real thing.
Lobster has less fat in-take then salad or its’ dressing. lol
I remember being in VT for a snowboarding trip a couple years ago, and walking into a supermarket where they had a large tank of “Maine lobster”.
Yet, a quick look at the bands and you could clearly read “product of Canada”.
Maine Lobster is it’s own brand. That’s why they call it ‘Maine Lobster’ and known worldwide. Everybody who has ever had a boiled bug, at a lobster pound, while vacationing, knows what it is and what it is supposed to mean.
If he is really interested in protecting the ‘Maine Lobster’ brand, one thing might be to get Linda Bean’s, Far-from “Perfect Maine Lobster Roll” called something else. Seriously.
But I digress.
Any fisherman could advise us here, that there’s a lot of hype over the Marine Stewardship Council, based in London no less, certification so that Linda Bean can sell Canadian and Maine lobster, without distinction, in Europe. I’m not at all sure that is in Maine’s interest. Ours is the model of sustainability.
Just like at the MA restaurant LePage visited, they called it ‘Maine’ lobster’ when it could be from MA or RI OR Canada because that is ‘what sells’.
Linda Bean has a nice new dock/fishery/processing operation right up on the Canadian border, n’est ce pas?
Like so many who are willing to ‘rape’ the resources for what can be had, she is in it for the cash, not so much the soulful proud industry that is Maine’s fishing community history.
Supplying cheaper gas and bait to fisherman, because she can, to all fisherman who ‘sell’ to her is in her financial interest, mostly.
She’s selling claws to Walmart – frozen.
There’s ‘more where this comes from’, as usual:
—
Lobster Industry Still Waiting To Be Certified as Sustainable
Written by Stephen Rappaport
Friday, December 03, 2010 at 12:00 am
ELLSWORTH — Time and tide wait for no man, but two years after the process began the Maine lobster industry is still waiting to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
After months of contentious discussions that reflected deep divisions within and between the industry’s harvester and processor segments, the decision was made in the fall of 2008 to pursue the MSC seal of approval. Two years later, certification remains somewhere over the horizon despite an initial estimate that he process would be complete by the beginning of 2010.
Certification involves a review of the lobster fishery by an independent third party to determine how well it meets sustainability standards developed by the MSC. A “pre-assessment” of the industry concluded that, with minor changes in management practices, the fishery would most likely qualify for certification.
Last month, Moody International, an independent third-party investigator conducting the assessment on behalf of the MSC, announced that the certification process would likely be completed by the start of the 2011 fishing season in May.
“They’re waiting for the peer review to be finalized,” Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner George Lapointe said this week.
For more maritime news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.
—-
Certification Effort Draws Questions from Wary Lobster Harvesters
Written by Stephen Rappaport
Thursday, September 25, 2008
ELLSWORTH — The quest to have the Maine lobster fishery certified as sustainable by the international Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) took a small step forward this week as members of a working group appointed by Governor John Baldacci began meeting with lobster fishermen to answer questions about the process.
Five members of the working group gathered at the Ellsworth Public Library Monday evening to meet with a handful of lobstermen and others interested in the certification process. Other meetings were slated for Rockland and Portland later in the week.
The working group has already taken the first step in the certification process. Last spring, the group hired a Halifax, Nova Scotia, environmental consulting firm, Moody Marine Ltd., to conduct a “pre-assessment” of the Maine lobster industry. The aim was to determine whether the industry was likely to be able to meet the sustainability certification standards established by the MSC. Funds for the pre-assessment were privately raised by the working group and no state funding was involved.
The report was completed in June, but the working group made the results public only recently. The pre-assessment concluded that there were no significant barriers to getting certification. Now the working group is seeking input from the lobster industry to determine whether to proceed with the certification process.
On Monday, several working group members voiced strong support for certification. Linda L. Bean is the owner of Port Clyde Lobster, in Port Clyde. Her company sells Maine lobster in the European market as well as domestically.
According to Bean, among consumers “there is a huge emphasis and demand for sustainable fisheries. They want to know that fishermen are not raping the resource,” she said.
The push among consumers for sustainable fisheries isn’t limited to the European market.
Hank Rimkewicz runs the North Atlantic Lobster Co. in Danvers, Mass. The company is one of the largest lobster suppliers in the country to supermarket giants such as Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Star Markets, Kroger and Albertsons. For more than 20 years, he said, his company has bought Maine lobsters almost exclusively because they are superior to lobster from other sources.
Rimkewicz reminded the half-dozen or so people at the meeting who were not directly or indirectly involved in the certification effort that Wal-Mart has announced that, after February 2011, it will no longer sell seafood that isn’t MSC certified. Pressure from consumers will, he said, force other large supermarkets and retailers follow suit.
The giant retailer currently buys “many thousands of pounds of lobster, week in and week out,” from North Atlantic, Rimkewicz said. If it other big customers stop buying Maine lobster because it wasn’t MSC certified, the effects on Maine fishermen would be disastrous.
“Products that aren’t certified will fade off into obscurity,” Rimkewicz said, “Boat prices will plummet.”
Adding urgency to the decision of whether Maine should seek certification for its lobsters is the decision of the Canadian lobster industry to pursue MSC certification. Canada buys millions of pound of Maine lobsters annually, some for processing, others for sale in the live market.
According to working group member John Hathaway, president of Shucks Lobster — a dealer and processor in Richmond — Canada’s largest offshore lobster fishing company is pursuing MSC certification for its catch. He also said that he “heard that the rest of the industry is right behind.”
Whether Maine decides to have its lobster fishery certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council could have an impact on the future of lobstermen up and down the coast like the crew of the Three Gs, of Trenton, who were recently hauling their gear near Hardwood Island in Blue Hill Bay.—STAFF PHOTO BY STEPHEN RAPPAPORT
Reaction to the possibility of MSC certification among the five lobster harvesters at the meeting who are not affiliated with the working group was largely wary, but not hostile. A few raised questions about what the process would cost, who would pay for it, and what it would require from individual fishermen.
According to Bean and Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner George Lapointe, the whole certification process could cost $800,000 to $1 million. Bean was confident that the money could be raised from sources within the seafood industry without tapping lobstermen for a contribution.
The MSC program also calls for annual auditing with recertification every five years. Those costs were a concern to Jon Carter, a Bar Harbor lobsterman.
Carter is a longtime supporter of more sea sampling by scientists to determine the health of the lobster resource. He is also one of the relatively few Maine lobstermen who supported DMR requirements for more detailed catch reports by fishermen. The need for both increased reporting and more sea sampling were the two most critical issues raised in the pre-assessment report.
With high bait and fuel prices already a problem for lobstermen, Carter worried about the impact of annual certification audit costs on their overhead.
“I know where you’re going is to get a better price, but you can’t guarantee a better price,” he said.
Bill Anderson, a lobsterman from Trescott in Washington County, had another concern. The MSC is based in London and he wondered how it could have the scientific expertise to decide whether widely different fisheries in many countries were sustainable.
“I don’t want somebody in England writing the rules for all over the world,” Anderson said.
Lapointe explained that the assessment process involved independent environmental and scientific experts familiar with each fishery. He also explained that the experts would use the same stock assessment data and methods used by state and federal fisheries regulators in making lobster fishery management decisions.
Working group member Mike Cote, owner of Look’s Gourmet Food Co., in Whiting, added that the MSC had a financial incentive in seeing to it that fisheries achieved certification. Look’s sells three chowders made entirely with MSC-certified seafood and carrying the MSC seal. His company pays MSC a small royalty for the right to use the seal, which it gained after its facilities were inspected and found to comply with MSC requirements. Cote said the MSC seal was a huge benefit in the marketplace
“They’re just granolas who don’t want us to tear up the oceans, but they have to work with us or they don’t have anything to do,” he said.
“My take is MSC is willing to work with us,” said Norbert Lemieux, a lobsterman from Cutler and a member of the working group.
After getting more comments from the industry, Hathaway said, the working group will make a decision about whether to take the next step and ask MSC to do a full assessment of the fishery. That could take several months. Once the assessment was complete, the industry would still have to determine whether to proceed with certification. How that decision would be made is unclear.
“I just think if we’re going to do this we’d better beat Canada to the punch,” Carter said.
Every time I hear about people talking about Maine lobster in other states all I can think about is that scene in one of the Crocodile Dundee movies where the villain says he had Maine lobster’s flown in for dinner. But seriously, even though the difference from Maine, Canadaian, Massachusetts lobsters may be nothing other than where they are caught and sold from, why not get any benefit for the seafood industry. Any other state would do the same thing, and any business person would do the same thing, better to take advantage and not let the opportunity pass by. Time to get rubber bands that say “Get Real, Get Maine” for Maine lobster.
Fat jokes? Really? Grow up.
As to fin fish who move around a lot, is a Passamaquoddy Bay or Bay of Fundy fish a New Brunswick fish, a Nova Scotia fish or a Maine fish? Some out there might have jigged for mackerel from the wharf at Wilson’s Beach, Campobello, as schools of them got pushed along the incoming tide toward Eastport and lubec. It depends on where it gets hauled ashore, I suppose – s o much for brand name for some species.
Better late than never I guess.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/december/food/fake-fish/overview/index.htm
Untruthful labeling of food and food products occurs often. As a Professional Chef and someone with a lot of experience in shellfish purchasing and selling I have seen it. The Haddock that you think comes from the Gulf of Maine on your Fish and Chips Plate was really caught off Iceland. Your Atlantic Halibut actually is from the West Coast. Maine Salad Shrimp are from Thailand.
And its other things. Chicken labeled as Free Range on Menus are not free range.
What about Maine Blueberries as well? Can we protect the integrity of that product?
I think our ¨¨Maine Seafood¨ brands need to be protected. But how to go about it is the question?
Good point. There was an article 2-3 months ago in the Boston Globe on whether the fish you had on the menu was really that species. The point was the FDA cannot control that with current staff because of the detail needed to inspect. I worked in a fish joint and boy the stories were as varied as the fish about them, one guy told me Grouper came from the Great Lakes near Chicago…
I dunno. Linda Bean did it.
The brand-name marketing aspect of this is a good idea, but how do you define a Maine lobster? Caught in Maine waters? Caught by a lobster boat registered in Maine? Brought in to a Maine port? It seems to me that all of these could be considered as criteria for labeling. Someone needs to get a patent attorney on retainer ASAP.
On the other hand…”He said this needs to be achieved by working with all parts of the industry and developing a management plan to avoid having federal policies affect the state’s fisheries.He said the proposed classification of certain species as endangered could have devastating impacts on certain industries. Keliher said the administration will oppose the addition of river herring to the endangered list.”
So what happened to that “science-based” approach? If a species is at risk of being fished out, the solution is not to avoid regulation. With fishing equipment getting more and more effective every year, and with foreign (unrestricted) boats taking huge amounts of fish off our shores, we need MORE protection, not less. No one will make any money if the herring/cod/scallops/lobsters/tuna/etc. run out.
Hey, if Vermont passed a law protecting the integrity of it’s maple syrup, Maine should be able to handle passing a law protecting the integrity and brand of our seafood.