Conflicts and Solutions: Politics and Fisheries

David Etnier of Maine's Dept. of Marine Resources opens his talk with a recollection of the proposal to site an LNG terminal in his hometown of Harpswell: "it started out divisive, became acrimonious, and on the day of the special election there were bomb threats called in to the polling place." Process is important; having "big amounts of money on the table brings out the worst in people."

He's also talking about the state's process in siting and approving leases for aquaculture projects - another relatively new phenomenon that required a new regulatory framework. He seconds Deerin Babb-Brott's comments on the importance of earning the public trust.

Will Hopkins, of the Cobscook Bay Resource Center in Eastport, focused on strengthening communtiy-based approaches to resource management. His organization includes the primary spokesman opposing LNG development in Passamaquoddy Bay, as well as the main proponent for the project from the tribe. "It got quite heated" in board meetings: the board recalled the extremely divisive Pittston oil refinery debate 30 years ago, and resolved that the organization would neither support or oppose the project, but provide good information on ecology and economic development in the area.

In eastern Maine, a recent study by the the Electric Power Research Institute estimated the potential for as much as a gigawatt of electricity. Besides Sauer's Ocean Renewable Power Co. (heard from earlier today), there are other proposals in the works as well: here's a 2006 Working Waterfront article on the EPRI study and another tidal power proposal.

Last but not least is John Meschino, a lobsterman from Hull, MA. They had their own LNG proposal recently - Meschino's daughter, chair of the board of selectmen, wrote to the developers and told them that if they could prove why their town needed them, they would open discussions. "The developers never came back," he says with some satisfaction. No bomb threats necessary. Pictured below: one of Hull's turbines with the Boston skyline beyond.



Hull has its own power company, which generates its own power with two onshore wind turbines. With research and feasibility study support from the state, Hull is now considering four additional ocean-based turbines, 1.5 miles east of Nantasket Beach. Here's a Globe article on the proposal. As a lobsterman, Meschino wonders about the effects of electromagnetic fields from ocean transmission lines on groundfish like lobsters.