Dear elver industry member:
Many of you may have seen that LD 44, the Department’s elver bill, has been scheduled for Public Hearing by the Marine Resources Committee of the Legislature on Thursday, March 13.
In January, DMR held an elver industry meeting in Augusta. Based on the comments received at that meeting, the Department agreed to withdraw those components of the bill that would have prohibited holding of elvers at a residential dwelling and prohibited holding of elvers for longer than 6 hours. In addition, the Department agreed to withdraw the part of the bill that would have changed the current mandatory lifetime revocation of an elver license for the first offense of selling elvers without using the swipe card system.
Based on my conversations with the Chairs, and other members of the committee, I fully anticipate that the Marine Resources Committee will agree to kill those components of the bill. In their place, DMR will suggest including the industry suggestions of a video training on best handling practices for new license holders, and the authority to maintain a small quota buffer to minimize potential for a quota overage.
I am sending this message to reaffirm my commitment to removing those components of the bill. If you planned to come to the hearing for the sole purpose of ensuring those restrictions do not pass, I do not think you should feel compelled to attend the public hearing.
The hearing can also be livestreamed through the Legislature’s website beginning at 1 pm on March 13 at: https://legislature.maine.gov/Audio/#202
Sincerely,
Pat Keliher
Commissioner