Bills aim to boost lobster marketing fund, processing
Maine lawmakers will consider two bills aimed to boost the state's lobster industry.
The Associated Press reported that the Legislature will consider raising lobster fishing licensing fees to boost the fund used to promote Maine lobster, which comes partly in response to the most recent season's record harvest that drove prices to a nearly 20-year low.
Separately, Maine lawmakers will consider exempting lobster processing equipment from state sales tax with the idea that it will encourage the start of new lobster processing companies and help existing plants to expand. Proponent Sen. Christopher Johnson said the exemption would help level the playing field with Canadian processors, some of which, he said, receive government assistance.
The news service reported that the newly proposed lobster fishing license fee change — rising gradually over three years from $63 to $488 — would seek to eventually raise the budget for lobster promotion to $3 million by 2017. The budget for this year is around $380,000.
Rep. Walter Kumiega, co-chairman of the legislature's Marine Resources Committee, told the news service that the additonal funds and marketing efforts should help increase demand and drive prices up.
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