Compromise urchin bill would add 10 more days to season

A legislative compromise on the setting of the sea urchin season has been reached that would increase by 10 the number of days fishermen in this area could harvest urchins next year. However, the proposal by a local legislator to increase the number of days from 45 to 64 for the next season and have the legislature instead of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) set the season has been dropped.

The legislature's Marine Resources Committee has used the bill title submitted by Rep. Ian Emery (R-Cutler) for a measure that would establish a study commission to look at urchin fishery management and report back to the legislature by next February. The committee voted 11-2 for the majority amendment that would authorize the commissioner of marine resources to use the rule-making procedure to establish a 55-day season for Zone 2, the eastern zone, and a 15-day season for Zone 1 for the 2005-06 season. The minority report is the same as the majority report, except it would not increase the number of days for the next season. Instead, they would remain at 45 days for Zone 2 and 10 days for Zone 1. The following year the length of the season would be based on the recommendations of the study commission.

Rep. Emery says that with the "political climate" in the legislature his original bill would not have passed. That proposal, which initially received an 8-5 vote by the committee, would have increased the number of days for the fishery to 64 next year and back to 94 over a period of time. With the compromise to 55 days, the DMR and more members of the committee are now supporting the bill, he notes. "It's about inches down here," he says of the compromise measure. Emery feels "fairly confident" that the legislation now will win approval in the House and the Senate.

The Cutler representative also notes that the present bill may help improve the relationship between the urchin industry and the DMR, which has fallen apart after Commissioner George Lapointe overruled the position of the Sea Urchin Zone Council last year. The council had favored a 64-day season for Zone 1, while the commissioner felt that more cutbacks were necessary.

Rep. Leila Percy (D-Phippsburg), the House chairman of the committee, favored the minority report, noting that much of the testimony that the committee received was from people who are concerned about any expansion of the season. "Once the study commission does its work, then if they feel they should increase the number of days, go for it," she says.

Percy did not support having the legislature set the season because of legislative term limits. New members of the committee often have no background in marine resources, so she believes it is more appropriate for the DMR to establish the season.

Although another urchin bill that was supported by the DMR and would have given the department the authority to establish subzones for management of the urchin fishery received a unanimous "ought not to pass" recommendation by the committee, Percy notes that the study commission would look at the possibility of creating subzones. According to Emery, who proposed the idea of the study commission, the group also would look at current and additional management practices, licensing issues, and maximum and minimum sizes.