Ph.D. student, report cited in Press Herald article on lobster catch locations
The Portland Press Herald reported that while Maine’s largest fishery brings in more than $500 million a year and employs tens of thousands of people, there is no map that shows where lobstermen trap their catch. This lack of data can be harmful for regulatory agencies responsible for permitting nonfishing activities in the Gulf of Maine, such as wind farms or mining operations, according to the article. The Island Institute, a nonprofit group based in Rockland that represents the interests of Maine’s island and more remote coastal communities, has issued a report on the “spatial characterization” of the lobster fishery, or what a map of the industry would look like if such a map existed, the article states. As fishermen move offshore, coastal fishing patterns will change, said report co-author Samuel Belknap, a former lobsterman who is now a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in anthropology and environmental policy at the University of Maine. “Every fisherman knows that change is the one thing you can count on most,” Belknap said. “If federal regulators want to know what’s going on, and they should want to know that, you need to talk to the people who know every fishing community. It’s a place-based fishing industry. How it works in Cushing will be different than how it works in Bristol. It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of industry.”