AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - A committee of Maine lawmakers will decide whether to recommend a proposal from American Indian tribes who want an agreement about the way they harvest commercial fish.
The Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources will take up the issue on Wednesday in Augusta. Passamaquoddy legislative Rep. Matthew Dana says his bill would allow for cooperative management of lucrative species such as lobsters, clams and elvers.
The committee had a chance to vote on the issue last week but put it off. State Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher opposes the proposal. The tribes’ proposal stems from a conflict with regulators last year about elver fishing.
The Passamaquoddy tribe and state regulators clashed in 2014 about a state requirement that tribal elver fishermen be subject to individual quotas. The tribe eventually agreed.
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