Mainecat Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 Trump's pitch to Maine lobstermen falls flat President Trump is struggling to win over Maine voters with his recent pledge to lift restrictions for the state’s lobster industry. Trump was beaming when he traveled to the state just two months ago to tell lobstermen he was reversing protections for some 5,000 miles of ocean territory in a bid to open it to fishing. “You’re going to go fishing in that area now that you haven’t seen for a long time,” Trump said at a roundtable with representatives from Maine’s fishing industry. “Lobstermen and seafood producers, I want to just congratulate you.” But the state’s lobstermen aren’t celebrating. That’s because the area Trump aims to reopen is 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod — far beyond the reach of Maine’s day-boat lobstermen. “This doesn’t help the Maine fisherman at all,” Leroy Weed, 79, who has had a lobster license since he was 10 years old. Most of Maine’s lobstering takes place within three miles of shore, and don’t typically travel more than 30 miles offshore. Maine lobster hauls steadily increased during the Obama administration. The real turmoil for the industry came in 2018, when the Chinese market vanished under a 35 percent tariff on lobster. After Trump’s tariffs hit, Maine lobster trade with China dropped 48 percent. The president has argued that lobstermen’s income was reduced not by tariffs but by Obama’s designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off Cape Cod. “They took away your livelihood. It’s ridiculous,” he said. However, the Obama-era restrictions on lobstering in the area aren’t slated to take effect until 2023. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/510792-trumps-pitch-to-maine-lobstermen-falls-flat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGNHL Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 Considering I finance a good chunk of lobstermen and see the numbers, 2018 and 2019 the bigger issues were bait shortages which caused the prices to go up. Thank NOAA for cutting back the Herring catch for that which hurt the industry far more than some sales lost to China. Demand has been good and despite COVID boat price is staying up there this summer after a hard dip during the peak. Trump opening that ground and spouting how it was gonna be so good for Maine fisherman was dumb though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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