AUGUSTA — The LePage administration this week reaffirmed that it was open to changing rules that would allow some groundfishing boats to land and sell lobsters in Maine.

The governor’s willingness to consider the practice, known as by-catch, comes on the heels of the messy divorce between Gov. Paul LePage and ex-Department of Marine Resources chief Norman Olsen.

Olsen, who supported a by-catch policy to revive the state’s groundfishing industry, stepped down abruptly last week. He said the administration had caved under pressure from the lobster industry, which views by-catch as a threat to its fishery.

But administration officials maintain Olsen’s departure was the result of the former commissioner’s communications style, not a split on policy initiatives.

LePage told reporters in South Portland this week that he was “absolutely” open to legislation that changed the state’s by-catch rules. That position has also been confirmed with administration officials, including acting DMR chief Pat Keliher.

The day after Olsen’s resignation Keliher told the Lobster Advisory Council that by-catch was still on the table, but that other initiatives to revive the groundfish industry would likely come first.

Despite assurances that the administration would move forward with a thoughtful approach, Keliher’s comments received a cool reception from some lobstermen. The industry has long argued that its fishery should not be sacrificed to save a groundfish industry that nearly fished its resource into oblivion by forsaking conservation efforts.

Lobstermen, mostly in Down East and the Midcoast, quickly moved against Olsen after the commissioner outlined his stance on by-catch during the Maine Fishermen’s Forum held in March.

The lobster industry has offered a cautious response to LePage’s recent statements about by-catch.

Patrice McCarron, who heads the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said the group was confident that LePage “understands the lobster industry’s concerns regarding landing dragger-caught lobster in Maine.”

Meanwhile, Olsen contends that his views about by-catch should come as no surprise to the industry, which he said had heard them well before the March forum.

“I was asked about this at my hiring interview,” he said Wednesday. “I talked to the governor about it. And I certainly discussed it at length before the legislative hearing that confirmed me.”

While industry representatives ultimately approved Olsen for the DMR post, some say his push for by-catch grew more insistent after his confirmation. 

The administration also indicated that Olsen’s communication style made it difficult to garner political support for what would be a controversial policy change.

Olsen didn’t view it that way.

“I’m still confused, I admit it,” he said Wednesday. “The governor orders me to make sure that these people … know that I’m listening, which I guess would have meant lobster by-catch is off the table. Then, when confronted with it, (LePage) tells the world he’s for (by-catch).”

Olsen added, “I guess it’s about who’s putting on pressure on any given day.”

It’s unclear what a change in by-catch policy would look like. But the plan Olsen had supported is similar to LD 170. The failed legislation was introduced in 2007 and prompted a contentious debate that drew thousands of lobstermen to a public hearing at the Augusta Civic Center.

Olsen said his proposal would allow groundfish boats to fish and land the federal quota of lobsters — 100 lobsters a day for a maximum of five days — 50 miles from the Maine coast and beyond.

The plan would also require draggers to take only lobsters conforming with Maine, not federal, size and catch regulations.

Olsen argued that Massachusetts groundfishermen were already taking lobsters 50 miles outside the Maine coast. The difference, he said, was that those boats were landing their catch in Massachusetts, not Maine.

According to a study that accompanied LD 170, the majority of lobsters taken in Maine are caught within 3 miles of the coast. There are about 5,600 licensed lobstermen in the state. About 1,400 have federal permits that allow them to fish beyond the 3-mile area.

Proponents of LD 170 argued that most lobstermen don’t fish beyond 35 miles from the coast.

But lobstermen say it’s unrealistic to believe that by-catch would revive the groundfish industry, adding that allowing dragged lobsters to be sold could hurt the Maine brand and depress market prices.

Some in the lobster industry hope the political popularity of helping the groundfish industry won’t trump the impacts of allowing dragged lobsters to be sold in Maine.

LePage was scheduled to meet with Portland Mayor Nick Mavodones on Thursday to assure the city that the administration supported efforts to help the groundfish industry.

smistler@sunjournal.com

Olsen responds to critics

Fallout from the split between Norman Olsen and the LePage Administration continued this week as the ex-Department of Marine Resources chief responded to a post on the Pine Tree Politics  blog that raised questions about Olsen’s claim that he couldn’t get a meeting with the governor for nearly six weeks.

Meanwhile, Gov. Paul LePage hit back against Olsen’s other allegations in a 1,600-word parting statement last week. LePage, talking to reporters Monday at an event in South Portland, called “unequivocally fabricated” Olsen’s statement that said the governor planned to forsake collaboration with Portland on marine issues because the city wouldn’t support him politically.

Olsen, in a statement released today, stood by his original statement.

Olsen also took issue with the PTP post, which provided documents showing that the ex-DMR chief had many opportunities to meet with the governor. Olsen had previously said that he needed to wait nearly six weeks to meet with LePage “on time-critical issues of resource management worth tens of millions of dollars to the State.”

In the most recent statement, Olsen acknowledged that he participated in other meetings with the governor. However, his request for a private meeting with LePage to discuss specific policy initiatives and communication problems went unfulfilled for nearly six weeks.

He also provided emails that he said demonstrated that he had been cut off from LePage. The administration has not responded to a request to verify his claim.

The following is Olsen’s statement from this week:

“All commissioners are routinely involved in any number of meetings and public events that involve the Governor and various participants.

These meetings are called for specific purposes, are focused on a specific topic or agenda, and are strictly time-limited.

The meetings cited in a recent blog were all meetings for specific purposes with other participants, and were focused on specific topics. They did not provide me any opportunity to confer with the Governor on other substantive issues.

I specifically requested a private meeting with the Governor on specific issues, to receive his guidance on his agenda, to brief him on and receive his support for Department initiatives, and to ensure that we were properly communicating.

I waited six weeks for that meeting, which was divided into two sessions on June 27 and 29.

With specific regard to Portland, the Governor could not have been clearer.

My original statement stands.”

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