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TRUMP’S REAL RECORD ON MAINE’S FISHERIES

Trump pretends his environmental rollbacks are about fishing jobs, but Mainers aren’t taking the bait

TL/DR:

Climate change is hurting Maine’s fishing industry:

And Trump’s push to open the state’s coastal waters to offshore drilling would make the situation even worse:

  • President Trump wants to open up Maine’s coastal waters to offshore drilling.
  • The Trump administration rolled back key offshore drilling safety regulations implemented in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster.
  • Fishing managers, in calling for waters from Maine down to North Carolina to be excluded from offshore exploration, said that opening up the Atlantic region’s coastal waters to offshore drilling would jeopardize marine life and fishing industries.

Trump needs Maine Senator Susan Collins, who has voted with the President 94 percent of the time, to advance his pro-pollution agenda:

  • Maine Senator Susan Collins has voted with President Trump 94 percent of the time.
  • Senator Collins’ staffers have boasted about her support for President Trump.
  • Trump endorsed Senator Collins for re-election because he needs her in the Senate to advance his pro-pollution agenda.

 

RESEARCH

Climate Change Is Hurting Maine’s Fishing Industry

Maine’s Lobster Fishery Is A Nearly Half-Billion-Dollar Industry. According to data published by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the value of commercial fishing landings in 2019 was $673,910,558 and 73% of that value or roughly $491,954,707.34 was from lobster. [Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2019 Landings (value) by Species – pie chart, 2/20/2020]

Rising Ocean Temperatures Will Impact Maine’s Fisheries. In May of 2018, the Portland Press Herald reported: “Two new scientific studies are highlighting the current and future impacts that rising ocean temperatures will have on lobster, clams and other important commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. Research on nearly 700 North American fish species predicts Atlantic cod habitat could shrink by as much as 90 percent by century’s end and that lobster populations could shift 200 miles farther north as a result of climate change. Meanwhile, a separate research project suggests Maine’s soft-shell clam industry could collapse unless steps are taken to protect the fishery from green crabs that are thriving in the state’s warming waters.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/23/2018]

Lobster Distribution Could Shift 200 Miles North By 2100 Because Of Climate Change. In a story on recent research on the impact of climate change on Maine’s fisheries, the Portland Press Herald reported: “The study led by researchers at Rutgers University predicted that: The remaining U.S. Atlantic cod habitat – primarily off New England’s coast – could shrink by 90 percent by 2100. Lobster distribution could shift another 200 miles north, putting more of the crustaceans in Canadian waters and out of reach of Maine fishermen. Likewise, populations of Atlantic sea scallops that fetched Maine fishermen $9.3 million last year could shift more than 430 miles northward.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/23/2018]

US Atlantic Cod Habitat Could Shrink By 90% By 2100 Because Of Climate Change. In a story on recent research on the impact of climate change on Maine’s fisheries, the Portland Press Herald reported: “The study led by researchers at Rutgers University predicted that: The remaining U.S. Atlantic cod habitat – primarily off New England’s coast – could shrink by 90 percent by 2100. Lobster distribution could shift another 200 miles north, putting more of the crustaceans in Canadian waters and out of reach of Maine fishermen. Likewise, populations of Atlantic sea scallops that fetched Maine fishermen $9.3 million last year could shift more than 430 miles northward.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/23/2018]

Atlantic Sea Scallops Fishery Worth $9.3 Million Could Shift More Than 430 Miles North Because Of Climate Change. In a story on recent research on the impact of climate change on Maine’s fisheries, the Portland Press Herald reported: “The study led by researchers at Rutgers University predicted that: The remaining U.S. Atlantic cod habitat – primarily off New England’s coast – could shrink by 90 percent by 2100. Lobster distribution could shift another 200 miles north, putting more of the crustaceans in Canadian waters and out of reach of Maine fishermen. Likewise, populations of Atlantic sea scallops that fetched Maine fishermen $9.3 million last year could shift more than 430 miles northward.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/23/2018]

Maine’s Shrimping Industry Has Been Hurt By Rising Ocean Temperatures. According to CNN, “At 63, he’s been fishing off the Gulf of Maine for over 34 years. Shrimp used to be plentiful there. Back in 2000, Goethel remembers seeing 100 commercial boats out in the harbor. Now, he’s just one of a handful of local fisherman struggling to make a living. ‘There was life on the docks, there were people working,’ lifelong fisherman Arnold Gamage, 64, agrees. ‘Now, it looks like a ghost town.’ Maine’s fishing industry has been declining for years due to factors like overfishing and increased regulation, but there’s another culprit eating away at profits: Maine’s ocean waters are warming — and it’s killing northern shrimp….Manning suspects the Gulf of Maine will continue to warm but hopes it won’t at its current rate. ‘I’d be afraid to predict it continue the way it is,’ Manning says. Goethel, Gamage and Libby are in the same boat. They’re hoping colder temperatures will make a comeback, not only for the sake of their businesses, but for their communities. ‘The people in Maine just love shrimp,’ Gamage says. ‘There is no shrimp in the world that can come close to comparing to Maine shrimp.’” [CNN, 4/21/17]

Trump Wants To Sell Out Maine’s Coast For Offshore Drilling

The Trump Administration Announced It Would Allow New Offshore Oil And Gas Drilling In Almost All United States Coastal Waters. “The Trump administration said Thursday it would allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States coastal waters, giving energy companies access to leases off California for the first time in decades and opening more than a billion acres in the Arctic and along the Eastern Seaboard. The proposal lifts a ban on such drilling imposed by President Barack Obama near the end of his term and would deal a serious blow to his environmental legacy. It would also signal that the Trump administration is not done unraveling environmental restrictions in an effort to promote energy production.” [New York Times, 1/4/18]

January 4, 2018: Interior Announced Plan To Open 90 Percent Of Outer Continental Shelf To Oil And Gas Leasing. “U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke today announced the next step for responsibly developing the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024, which proposes to make over 90 percent of the total OCS acreage and more than 98 percent of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federal offshore areas available to consider for future exploration and development. By comparison, the current program puts 94 percent of the OCS off limits. In addition, the program proposes the largest number of lease sales in U.S. history.” [Department of Interior Press Release, 1/4/18]

Trump Administration Plan Would Allow Oil Drilling In Nearly All Waters Off The U.S. Coast. On January 4, 2018, Fortune Magazine reported: “The Trump administration plans to allow oil drilling in nearly all waters off the U.S. coast, according to a proposal unveiled Thursday. The Trump offshore drilling plan would let oil suppliers drill in protected areas of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans — places where governors, attorneys general and lawmakers along the East and West Coasts oppose offshore drilling.” [Fortune Magazine, 1/4/2018]

The Trump Administration Rolled Back Major Offshore Drilling Safety Regulations Put In Place After The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Disaster. “The Trump administration on Thursday made public its rollback of a major offshore-drilling safety regulation, significantly weakening an Obama-era rule that was put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and sent 4.9 million barrels of oil gushing into the sea, causing the worst oil spill in American history. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who was confirmed by the Senate last month to head the agency that oversees the nation’s public lands and waters, announced the plan Thursday afternoon in Port Fourchon, La., the vast industrial hub that serves as the onshore base for most companies that drill in the Gulf of Mexico.” [New York Times, 5/2/19]

Trump’s New Rules Weakened Government Oversight Of Offshore Drilling Operations. “In addition to reduced testing of blowout preventers — the Obama-era rules required 30-minute tests every 14 days, whereas the new rules reduce that to 5-minute tests every 21 days — the new rules also eliminate a requirement that companies report some of those safety-test results to the Interior Department. Beyond that, the rule removes a requirement for an Interior Department approved independent expert to verify safety measures and equipment used in offshore drilling operations. And it removes a requirement that drilling operators provide real-time data from wells to onshore observers.” [New York Times, 5/2/19]

Fishing Managers In The Northeast US Have Stated That Opening Up The State’s Coastal Waters To Offshore Drilling Would Jeopardize Marine Life And Fishing Industries. According to Associated Press: “Northeast fishing managers say offshore drilling for oil and gas off New England and the mid-Atlantic states is a bad idea because it could jeopardize marine life and industries.” [Associated Press, 2/2/2018]

The New England Fishery Management Council Called For East Coast Waters From Maine Down To North Carolina To Be Excluded From Offshore Exploration In The Atlantic Region. According to Associated Press: “also The New England Fishery Management Council agreed Tuesday to send a letter to the federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management calling for the exclusion of East Coast waters from oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf region. The council reports to the federal government and its recommendation applies from Maine to North Carolina.” [Associated Press, 2/2/2018]

Maine Senator Susan Collins Has Supported Trump 94 Percent Of The Time

In 2017 And 2018, Senator Susan Collins Voted With President Trump 94 Percent Of The Time. According to New York Magazine: “According to CQ Roll Call, she voted with Democratic presidents between 49 (Clinton in 1999) and 85 (Obama in 2009) percent of the time and with Republican presidents between 59 (Bush in 2008) and 88 (Bush in 2001 and 2002) percent of the time. But according to the same publication, in 2017 and 2018, during the period of the Trump administration when Republicans had a narrow majority in the Senate and every vote counted, Collins voted with Trump 94 percent of the time.” [New York Magazine, 2/18/2020]

February 2020: At A Washington County GOP Event, Senator Collins’ Bangor Office’s Director Boasted About The Senator’s High Support For Trumps’ Agenda. According to Maine Free Beacon: “A staffer for Senator Susan Collins told a crowd of GOP voters on Saturday that President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would want them to support Maine’s senior senator. ‘I can assure you that there’s two people that want you to vote for Senator Collins. One is the Senate Majority Leader and two is our president, President Trump’ Carol Woodcock, the director of Collin’s senate office in Bangor, told local Republicans during a Feb. 15 Maine GOP event in Washington County that was captured on video by an attendee. […] During her remarks, Woodcock also seemed to embrace the criticism by Collins’ Democratic challengers that she is a reliable vote for President Trump. ‘[Maine House Speaker and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate] Sara Gideon…is criticizing Senator Collins voting for the president 94 percent of the time. She obviously thinks that’s an effective message,” Woodcock said. […] The 94 percent alignment came during a period when Collins was often the swing vote in the Senate and helped to advance dozens of Trump administration policies, appointments and judicial nominations.” [Maine Free Beacon, 2/18/2020]

President Trump Endorsed Collins Days After She Announced She Would Run For Re-Election To The Senate. According to News Center Maine: “President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Maine Senator Susan Collins on Monday. The president’s tweet was in response to a tweet by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that read: ‘My friend @SenSusanCollins showed unbelievable courage during Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation and at other times when our country has needed a steady voice. We need her to ensure a GOP majority in 2020. Please support her today.’ In response, Trump tweeted, ‘I agree 100%!’” [News Center Maine, 12/24/2019]