Letter To The Editor, Originally Published in Knox Courier-Gazette
Lobstermen in Knox County are watching as their fishing grounds are being taken away. I attended a hearing for kelp lease in prime lobstering grounds last week for Bob Baines. The chance of this lease being approved is 99 percent, with the track record the Department of Marine Resources has of approving applications for marine aquaculture. There were about 20 of us there to object, but it really felt like what we asked was falling on deaf ears.
Right now, there are leases coming in fast and furious up and down the state, and I don't think people realize we are selling our oceans. Did you know that leases can total 1,000 acres? Did you know they can be transferred without a public hearing? That alone makes me wonder if Maine is ready to sell the ocean and in the process, put lobstermen out of business.
There is another lease soon and we will be there to voice our opinions and we will be heard! This time we will give testimony, so it will go on the record. We were uninformed of the proper procedure for testifying at the Bob Baines hearing, so anything we said was not put on record.
Steve Sutela
Warren