Fishing Industry

Glen Libby, chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association, authored a Maine Voices article for today’s Press Herald about fisheries management. He call the current days at sea approach a “dismal failure” but expresses hope in a new sector based management and other ideas like CSFs.

“In addition to forming a sector, our fishermen have created Community Supported Fisheries based on the successful agriculture model, Community Supported Agriculture.

In partnership with the Island Institute, this has allowed us to change the current marketing structure from catching high volumes of lower-quality fish that sell for a low price to catching low volumes of higher-quality fish that sell for a premium price.

By selling directly to the people of Maine, we have established a way to keep Maine’s fishermen fishing, and our customers now feel a strong sense of ownership for the fishery and the fishermen in the Gulf of Maine.”