A bill to allow Maine lobster fishermen to haul their traps at night throughout most of the year in the disputed “grey zone” has again drawn attention to the 165-square-kilometre fishing area centered around Machias Seal Island that is claimed by the U.S. and Canada. Cutler fishermen are supportive of the legislation, since they say it would help them prevent Canadian fishermen from hauling their traps, while Grand Manan fishermen say any bad apples in the fishery can be found on both sides of the border.
     Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias submitted the bill, which would remove all nighttime restrictions on lobster fishing from Labor Day to Memorial Day, at the request of a group of Cutler fishermen. Nighttime fishing presently is allowed after November 1 through Memorial Day. A similar bill was considered during the 2016 legislative session but did not pass, as it was opposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which didn't want the Marine Patrol out in the grey zone at night, says Cutler fisherman Brian Cates. "But they're never out there," he adds.
     Noting that Canadians can fish at night, Tuell says the American fishermen want to be on hand to manage their gear so it's not molested, adding that "there really isn't any reason why we can't fish side by side under the same rules, or as many of the same rules as possible."
     Cates, who is a member of the Lobster Zone A Council, says the bill "would put us on a level footing with the Canadians." He alleges that American fishermen are finding their gear hauled and lobsters taken from their traps. "If we're able to be there at night, they won't bother your gear." He says the problems develop when "the lobsters start showing up" in the fall. "It's not all the fishermen. Just one or two will haul our traps. If they knew they could be caught, they'd not be wiling to take the risk."
    Cates adds, "It's my livelihood. It's how I make a living. If someone's going to take my gear, I need to do something. Our government isn't going to; the Marine Patrol isn't going to."
However, Brian Guptill, president of the Grand Manan Fishermen's Association, says, "I expect you have people who act poorly on both sides of the border." He adds, "If you respect other fellows' gear, they'll respect yours."

Fishermen caught in the middle
     Tuell says the Cutler fishermen feel the Canadians "are trying to push the American fishermen out." Cates agrees, stating, "The Canadian government is trying to put pressure on the area. They'd like the American government to sit down and draw a new line, and the fishermen are paying the price." Cates alleges, "They're only letting them fish there to get a blow-up" among the fishermen.      "Their government is very aggressive trying to take this area from us."
  "It's very frustrating, battling this issue with the Canadians in the grey zone," says Cates, who acknowledges that the Canadian government has a legitimate claim in the area. "But our own government is not helping us out."
     He notes that this fall the Canadian government placed a tower on North Rock, which is north of Machias Seal Island. "It's a flagpole -- taking a stand." Guptill, though, says that the beacon was placed there by the Canadian government simply to lower maintenance costs, as it will cost less than maintaining the buoy that was there.
     The fisheries dispute has been brewing for nearly 20 years, when Maine and Canadian fishermen both began lobstering in the area, with Cates saying that in the early years Canadian patrol boats harassed the U.S. fishermen. "It's been a battle for 20 years now. I'd like to see a resolution." However, Guptill notes that it was the U.S. Border Patrol that was boarding Canadian vessels in the grey zone this past summer.
     The boundary issue stems from the 1984 Hague line decision, which drew a line between the countries that stopped at Machias Seal Island, leaving the area in dispute. Guptill says that because the Canadian government was not enforcing the boundary line, American fishermen began fishing "in undisputed, sovereign Canadian waters." He says U.S. and Canadian fishermen had been negotiating for about four years concerning the fishery, and the Canadians proposed that while their season was closed that nobody fish in the zone, and when it opened on the second Tuesday of November everyone could fish in the area. "The Americans said we should fish it when they do," says Guptill. The Canadian government then decided in 2002 to permit a grey zone fishery in the summer and fall. "That's when we started fishing there" during the period when the Canadian season is closed, from the end of June to the beginning of the regular season in November, says Guptill. "They asked for it," he says. "They're unwillingness to negotiate got us to this point."
     He says about 50 Grand Manan fishermen fish in the grey zone, but he notes that they can only fish 375 traps, while the limit for Maine fishermen is 800 traps. Also, with black boxes aboard the boats, the Canadian government can tell where boats are fishing and how many traps they are fishing. "On the U.S. side they don't know how many are fishing or how many traps."
     Cates estimates that about 35-40 American fishermen lobster in the grey zone. He says the Maine fishermen also favor nighttime fishing because one can only haul on the flood tide near Machias Seal Island, and if fishermen are limited to daylight hours it can be hard to fish. "It's almost impossible to haul on the ebb without crossing gear," says Cates. Also, there's usually less wind during the night, and with the boat's lights one often can see the balloon buoys more easily than in the daytime. "There's no reason we shouldn't be able to fish at night."
     Tuell notes there are questions concerning the proposal, including how it could be enforced. He believes there should be a joint fisheries commission for the grey zone so that both the U.S. and Canadian fishermen would be fishing under the same rules.
     While Tuell's bill hasn't been fully drafted as yet, he is hopeful that it will be finalized in the coming weeks and given a hearing before the Marine Resources Committee this winter.