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Feature Articles
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Maine fishermen to share disputed waters
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This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
by Susan Jones
CUTLER, ME - A disputed part of the US - Canada boundary was true to its nickname of the "gray zone" in mid-August when Grand Manan fishermen started setting lobster traps in the area, and it wasn't clear what was going to happen next.
The 110-square-mile area in the northeast corner of the Gulf of Maine, which includes Machias Seal Island, is typically lobstered by only Downeast Maine fishermen during the summer months and into the early fall.
But Canadian fishermen were given permission by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to set gear, when a new season was created to accommodate the effort. Normally, the Canadian lobster season around Grand Manan Island, Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 38, opens on the second Tuesday of November and runs through the end of June. The gray zone is part of that district.
Both the United States and Canada claim the gray zone, which is created by the overlap of each of the country's boundary lines. When the International Court of Justice settled the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine boundary between the US and Canada in 1984, the newly created Hague Line did not extend up to Machias Seal Island. At the time, the court was given a starting point of 44°11'12"N, 67°16'46"W and moving seaward.
Maine and Grand Manan lobstermen were expected to meet in early September to talk about their conservation rules and fishing practices in the disputed area.
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The gray area shows the disputed zone that is created by the overlap of the US boundary claim, which extends to the eastern line, and the Canadian boundary claim, which extends to the western line. (Keith Kastelic Graphic)
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New season opening
The new Canadian season for the gray zone, described as area 38B, opened on Aug. 15.
With several thousand Maine traps already being fished in the area, there had been concern that tangles and snarls would ensue as the Grand Manan fishermen added more gear, and that these gear conflicts would lead to traps being cut in an escalating situation.
But in the days following the Canadian opening, enforcement officers reported there had been no serious trouble. Both countries acknowledged that some trap lines had been set over, and that the gear had been straightened out without incident.
"We haven't had any big complaints," said Lt. Alan Talbot, who is the head of Division II of the Maine Marine Patrol. "My officers on the scene are telling me they haven't seen trouble yet."
Don Brown, who is the DFO area chief of Conservation and Protection in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, concurred.
"We had people out there with patrol vessels," he said. "So far it's been a normal opening."
Since the gray zone is a disputed territory, a "flag state" enforcement effort is taking place, according to Talbot, which means each country enforces its laws on its own fishermen.
There has been an increased enforcement presence since Aug. 15, including a US Coast Guard cutter, the 76' Canadian patrol vessel Cumella, and the Maine Marine Patrol's 35' Sentinel.
The potential for gear conflict is heightened by the area's unique natural conditions. Tidal currents sweep Machias Seal Island at average speeds in excess of 2 knots.
If lobster traps are rigged with buoys, the buoys run under except at slack tide. Lobstermen have learned that to find gear at any time, they have to use 50" balloons with 120 fathoms or so of rope to mark the ends of their 10-12 trap trawls, which are held in place with huge anchors.
Effort
Lobster gear is most dense along the eastern part of the gray zone since it is the most productive bottom. Maine fishermen routinely talk to each other about where gear is set and how it will swing with changing tides to avoid setting over each other. Now, that communication should include Grand Manan fishermen, who have their own practices for running gear.
"Right now, everyone is trying to deal with (the situation)," said Cutler lobsterman Norbert Lemieux, who fishes in the gray zone. Describing that much of the Canadian gear had been set around Machias Seal Island, he said, "There have been tangles and it really slows you down to sort them out."
Maine fishermen have found the Canadian gear to be rigged with floating rope to the buoy, Lemieux said, and that buoys rather than balloons were being used.
Lemieux, who is the chairman of the state's lobster management Zone A council, estimated that about 20 Maine fishermen mostly from Cutler have traps in the disputed area. Though the Zone A trap limit is 800, he said that not everyone fishes the maximum amount of gear and not all of their traps were set in the zone.
"I estimate there are about 6,000 Maine traps right now," he said, adding that more Maine gear gets shifted to the zone as the run of lobsters improves into September.
Nine or 10 Grand Manan fishermen had started setting traps in the days following the opening of the new season, according to Laurence Cook, who is chairman of the Lobster Advisory Board for District 38.
When the DFO created the new 38B season, it determined that 7,500 traps could be fished in the area. Since the Canadian trap limit is 375, that meant as many as 20 licenses would be approved to participate in the 38B season.
Cook said that all 20 licenses were expected to be fished during the new season, which closes on Oct. 31. He is among those who already have traps set in the area.
As the amount of gear increases, most everyone agrees the need to talk and resolve differences becomes greater.
Conservation
Besides setting practices, there are differences in the rules governing each country's lobster fishery, and each group of fishermen believes in the conservation effectiveness of its approach.
Fortunately, there are also some basic similarities, including the 3-1/4" (82.55 millimeters) minimum carapace size and the prohibition on the possession of berried females. Both also have a prohibition on possession of v-notched females, but there is a difference in its enforcement.
For Maine fishermen, the v-notch law is zero tolerance, which means a female lobster with a v-notch of any size or manner of mutilation cannot be kept.
But for Grand Manan fishermen, a v-notch definition is not spelled out in the law, according to Don Brown. The rule says there can be no possession of v-notched or mutilated females, but there is discretion on the part of the officer about what is actually a v-notch, he said.
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While it is difficult to get a measure of the amount of lobsters taken from the gray zone, landings in the area generally have been on the rise over the last 5 years. According to DFO, in Canada's LFA 38, the catch in millions of pounds has been: 1.41-1997; 1.57-1998; 1.93-1999; 1.89-2000; and 2.25-2001 (preliminary data). District 38 has 136 vessels.
(Keith Kastelic Graphic)
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Maine has a maximum size and many of the Downeast fishermen have long believed those 5" and larger females have been critical to preserving lobster broodstock. There is no size maximum in Canada.
"We'll be putting back those oversize females and they'll be keeping them," said Lemieux. "It's hard telling how much damage it will do to the future of the Maine coast's resource."
The cornerstone of Canada's management philosophy is closed seasons, according to Laurence Cook, and the year-round effort by Maine fishermen undermines that approach. Furthermore, he points to a steep increase in the number of Maine traps in recent years, and that some of the gear has strayed over the line into Canadian waters.
"The effort goes up (but) with no economic benefit for Grand Manan fishermen," he said.
Lemieux, however, sees that year-round presence of gear differently.
"We've been farming the lobsters," he said "The availability of bait in the traps is food for the lobsters."
Years ago the lobsters never stayed on the bottom, but migrated off, said Lemieux , who has been fishing for 27 years.
"We're helping more than we're hurting," he said.
About five years ago the Grand Manan fishermen started talking with DFO about the gray zone. They either wanted it closed for conservation, or they wanted a fishery when product was there.
Negotiations
In addition to the fact that there is a overlapping claimed area, a few things are clear. First, neither country seems to be interested in going back to the World Court for a settlement of the disputed area. And second, both countries would prefer to have a local resolution of differences by the fishermen involved.
That sense comes from Maine Commissioner of Marine Resources George Lapointe and Greg Peacock, who is the executive director for federal and provincial relations, Maritimes Region of the DFO.
According to Cook, who has agreed to participate in the September meeting, examples of a fair fishing plan might include having the same trap limit and some kind of closed season.
Lemieux , who has also indicated a willingness for talks, isn't sure how far apart the fishermen are on specifics.
"We'd like to work it out without having a (trap) war," he said.
Fishing territory is limited for Cutler fishermen, Lemieux said. They are hemmed in by their neighbors and the Hague Line. Adding any effort can come only at their expense, he said, even a well-controlled effort.
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