Page 2 THE QUODDY TIDES 26 January, 2018
THE SHIP STAR LYGRA heads in toward the Port of Eastport during the snowstorm on
January 17, as a freshly made snowman looks on. (Don Dunbar photo)
Scallop fishing area
in Cobscook closed
The Department of Marine Resources end of January 11 indicated the target re-
(DMR) implemented a targeted closure of moval of 30% had been exceeded in the
a portion of Cobscook Bay that includes Johnson's Bay and Eastport breakwater
the area off the Eastport breakwater and portion of Cobscook Bay. The closure was
Johnson's Bay in Lubec, effective Janu- implemented to preserve the remaining re-
ary 21. The closed area extends from Ken- source as broodstock and to protect the
dali's Head in Eastport south to the Lubec juvenile scallops for future seasons. The
bridge and west to a line drawn from the DMR is concerned that continued harvest-
eastern side of Shackford's Head, East- ing for the duration of the 2017-18 fishing
port, to Seward's Neck, Lubec. Areas season in these areas would remove any
north of Kendall's Head and inner Cob- remaining broodstock as well as negative-
scook Bay remain open to scallop fishing, ly impact the seed scallop resource that is
Survey results from DMR's scallop sur- essential to the ongoing recovery of the
vey conducted by staff during the week- scallop resource in these areas.
Scallop license lottery topic of hearing
by Edward French tional draws would be allotted for each
The legislature's Marine Resources year, from 2009 to the current year, in
Committee will be holding a hearing on which the applicant was a primary crew
Friday, February 2, on a bill to allow new member on a scallop dragger and for each
entrants into the scallop fishery, which has year from 1995 through 2009 in which the
been closed to new licenses since 2009. The applicant previously held a Maine cam-
hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in room 206 mercial scallop drag license. The DMR
of the Cross Building in Augusta. had originally proposed other weighting
The Department of Marine Resources criteria for extra chances in the lottery but
(DMR) had held hearings, including one eliminated them after several fishermen
in Machias, on the proposed lottery system suggested during the hearings that the
for new licenses in October and made some multiple criteria were too complex. Also
changes to the proposal based on comments based on comments made by fishermen,
made by fishermen. The legislature may the DMR amended the proposal to clarify
now make further changes based on public that fishermen who have been convicted
input it receives at the hearing, of a marine resource violation that result-
Under the current DMR proposal, two ed in suspension of their license within
annual lotteries, one for drag licenses and the past seven years would not be eligible.
one for dive licenses, would be estab- Some fishermen also suggested delay-
fished. For drag licenses, two new entrants ing any new entry into the fishery, as ev-
would be allowed in the fishery for every ery year the DMR has had to implement
three licenses that are retired, which, based emergency closures to prevent depletion
on the number of licenses retired in the of the stocks. However, the DMR notes
past several years, would mean three or that in 2009 the fisher'-y was worth less
fewer licenses would be available. To en- than $600,000 while in 2016 the value
sure that there is opportunity for both had grown over 10 times, to nearly $7
younger and older fishermen to enter the million. The rotational system that the
fishery, one of the licenses would go to a DMR uses to manage the fishery takes
fisherman between the ages of 19 and 30 advantage of the relatively fast growth and
and one would go to a fisherman age 31 or low natural mortality of scallops. The
older. For dive licenses, one entrant would agency believes that allowing three or
be allowed in for every license retired, fewer new drag licenses each year is mi-
The regulation also establishes the eli- nor compared to the over 500 current drag
gibility criteria to enter the lottery and licenses and that distributing new licenses
factors that would give fishermen addi- will maintain a future for the scallop fish-
tional chances. For drag licenses, addi- ery in Maine.
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TWO FISHERMEN SAVED (from page 1)
boat had taken on too much water and the be raised again. If anyone does find any-
stern went under, thing, they can contact him through Face-
Shawn Moody jumped into the water, book.
but his father Owen was still in the cabin Making the fisher,/safer
as the boat quickly rolled over. "I don't
know how that older man got out of that The sinking points out the dangers of
boat," says Miliano. "It was really scary." dragging for scallops and urchins from
Shawn Moody swam over to his father, small boats that are not actually designed
and Miliano threw them a life ring, as he for dragging. Also, the Coast Guard does
and his crew pulled them to their boat. "It not have any requirement that commercial
took all we had, but we couldn't get them fishing vessels under 79 feet in length
in," he relates, with the two men's Mus- have a stability inspection. According to
tang flotation suits and boots filled with Josh Smith, officer in charge of Station
water, making them very heavy. Two oth- Eastport, the Coast Guard had boarded the
er draggers came alongside, and the cap- vessel for a routine inspection about an
tain and crew member of the Wet Dreams, hour and a half before the sinking.
Dennis Moody Jr. and Rick Guptill, While no scallop and urchin boats have
jumped aboard the Alexis Shay to help sunk while dragging during the past seven
bring the men aboard. "They were a big years in the Cobscook Bay area, eight
help," says Miliano. Moody and Guptill draggers sank in a 20-year period before
live near Owen and Shawn Moody in then. The most recent incident involved
the Miss Priss, which sank near Falls Is-
Roque Bluffs. The other vessel that came
alongside to assist was the Logan James, land after hitting a ledge in 2010. The
captained by Roger Preston with crew year before, five sea urchin fishermen died
member Travis Preston of Roque Bluffs. in Cobscook Bay when two vessels, the
Miliano estimates that the two fisher- Bottom Basher and the All American,
men were in the water for perhaps 12min- sank. Previous to that, other scallop or
utes. The crew on the Alexis Shay had urchin draggers have sunk in or near Cob-
called 911 and the U.S. Coast Guard, and scook Bay, possibly after their drags
Miliano says the son was not responsive, caught on bottom. The Matthew and Mark
suffering from hypothermia, with the wa- sank near Falls Island in 2002; the Scrap-
ter temperature being 39 degrees. The py-Doo sank near Goose Island in Cob-
Maine Marine Patrol vessel Vigilant with scook Bay in 1999; the Four Sisters sank
Captain Andy Fuss and Officer Brian Bro- off Eastport in 1996; the Jodie Lynn went
die arrived shortly, and then U.S. Coast down off Denbow Point in 1994; and the
Guard Station Eastport's 45-foot rescue Surf Tide sank off West Quoddy Head in
vessel met them within about 10 minutes, 1990, with the loss of one life. In addition,
with Owen and Shawn Moody, Miliano other vessels have had close calls or sunk
and Richard Bassett transferring onto it. for other reasons in the Cobscook area.
Miliano says the Coast Guard was there Following the 2009 deaths, an effort
"in a flash," and the coastguardsmen was made to increase safety aboard the
quickly began treating the Moodys for hy- draggers, including having the National
pothermia on the Coast Guard vessel. The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Coast Guard reports that the station re- do nautical survey work in Cobscook Bay
ceived the distress call at 11:54 a.m. and to develop new charts identifying obstruc-
tions for draggers; encouraging fishermen
had picked up the men and was back at
to lower the tawing block when dragging,
the Eastport breakwater by 12:33 p.m.
At that point, both fishermen were hy- in order to increase vessel stability; hav-
pothermic but responsive, the Coast Guard ing them wear personal flotation vests or
reports. They were transported by suits; and advocating for them to use a
Downeast EMS ambulance to the Calais buddy system when fishing. While new
charts have been produced, no regulations
Regional Hospital, where they were treat-
ed and later released. "I'm just glad that concerning other safety measures, though,
everyone's all right," says Miliano, who have been enacted. In a Facebook post,
spoke later in the day with Shawn. Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias says he
Of the sinking, Marine Patrol Sgt. Rus- plans to talk with fishermen to see what
sell Wright of Lubec comments, "They changes can be made to make the fishery
were very fortunate that there were boats safer and then, after doing research, will
right there. Most of the boats had left by introduce a bill in the legislature that will
then. If they were by themselves, it could reflect the values of the fishing communi-
have been a different outcome." Wright ty"
notes that at least 35 to 40 draggers were
in Cobscook Bay earlier in the morning, Whiting man wins
but most had caught their quota and come
out of the bay by the time the sinking
right to elver fish
happened. Draggers had concentrated
more into inner Cobscook Bay after the
Department of Marine Resources closed
the area off the Eastport breakwater and
over to Johnson's Bay, Lubec, effective
January 21.
Owner Jesse Moody, who is Owen's
nephew, was searching the next day for
evidence of the boat. Although no sign
was seen on his boat's depth finder, debris
was found by some boats and Shawn
Moody's wallet was towed up by a drag-
ger. Jesse Moody says he will continue
searching in the coming days, as he hopes
that the Born Again, after being baptized
under the waters of Cobscook Bay, may
In the first lottery since 2013, the Maine
Department of Marine Resources has
awarded the right to apply for a coveted
elver license to 11 lucky Mainers, includ-
ing one from Whiting. More than 3,000
people applied for the 11 available licens-
es.
Each new license holder will receive a
minimum of four pounds of quota, which
at the most recent season's average value
could amount to nearly $6,000 of income.
They will each be authorized to choose
either a dip net or a fyke net for harvest-
ing. Among the lottery winners is Michael
Griffm from Whiting.
This year's elver season begins at noon
l on March 22 and goes until noon on June
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American Restaurant |1 / Septic & Portables I
II Monday-Sunday / Pumping- Homes, Boatsond Campers I
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II 439 Main St Calais II / Cell: 263-7232 I
Business: 207-726-5061 J
