January 31st, 2025 | EDITION #5 | 207-633-9414 | [email protected]

Fisherman Spotlight

Ernest Burgess grew up on Chebeague Island in the 40’s and 50’s. He found himself on the back of his father’s boat in his early years, and always knew he’d become a fisherman himself. When Ernest started fishing with his father he was a small child, so the fishermen on the island called him “Peanut”. By the age of 14, Ernest had grown into a young man and began operating his own boat; a skiff with an 18 HP Evinrude motor named “The Big Leak”. His father gave him 100 junk traps to start with, which Ernest set in the waters around the island and hauled by hand.

Ernest ended up working for several fishermen over the years, including with his buddy Carl Smith and Carl’s father. When Ernest fished with the Smith’s, the crew was out of Portland and would often steam to Platts Bank to longline for halibut and groundfish. When they were at the grounds, they would haul the gear using single-manned dories set off the main boat. During one of their winter fishing trips, Ernest’s buddy Carl and a few other crew members went to haul up gear in their single-manned dories. The sea was a little rough on this trip, and all but Carl’s dory made it back to the main boat. The captain assumed Carl’s dory had sunk, or that he’d gone overboard in the rough seas. The captain waited a while for Carl’s hopeful return before making the impossible decision to start the several-hour steam back to Portland.

Upon returning to port, Carl’s father heard the news that his son hadn’t returned to the boat with the rest of the crew. Carl immediately left to return to Platts Bank in search of his son. Almost as soon as Carl arrived in the area where the crew had been fishing, he started to hear a knocking on the side of the ship.

He went to investigate and saw his son inside the dory, pounding on the hull of the ship. Carl hauled his son to safety. As the two were steaming back to Portland, a strong northwest wind picked up and blew for 3 days straight. Ernest said if Carl hadn’t returned to Platts to look for his son that night, he would have never seen him again.

This trip didn’t sway Ernest from fishing, in fact, he continued to longline on Platt’s Bank and ended up catching what he described as a “truly incredible fish”. The halibut was roughly 400 pounds, and Ernest said that he put over 2 feet of gob-stick down the halibut’s mouth just to reach the bottom of the gill cover. He described pulling the halibut into the dory with only a two-man crew as “a real chore”. The crew returned to Portland victorious, with a great catch to show off.

Over the course of Ernest’s life, he learned one of the most important things he could do as a fisherman is to conserve the way of life. When he was growing up, many fishermen had a “dragger mentality”; they wanted to grab up as much fish as they could to make a decent paycheck, and they didn’t worry about the size. Ernest said that even fish that didn’t have a market were retained because they could be sold to make fish meal at one of the local factories.

Ernest is proud of the lobster industry because they are good at self-regulating. The most important advice he wants to pass on is to “notch your eggers”. After 70 years of fishing, Ernest sees the difference this one conservation measure has made, and he wants to see the lobster industry continue to be successful for many years to come.

Sea Scallop Tagging Program

The DMR scallop tagging program was developed to improve understanding of local growth and potential movement of scallops along the Maine coast. The department has tagged and released scallops in the following locations: Jericho Bay - 950 scallops tagged & released in 2023; Penobscot Bay - 802 scallops tagged & released in 2020; Cobscook Bay - 995 scallops tagged & released in 2017.

Follow these steps if you find a tagged scallop:

If legal size - shuck it & save both shells with tag still attached. If sub-legal size - write down the tag # (or take a photo) and release scallop.
Write down lat/lon, date, & depth of catch location.
Call/Text Carl Huntsberger at Maine DMR, (207) 350-6004
You will receive info on the scallop, as well as a hat & entry into a $100 raffle.

Are you only seeing your 2025 reports in VESL?

You might find that when you open the VESL app and click on 'FIND REPORT', you can only see the reports you have created in 2025.

To view reports created before 2025, you'll need to update the date range filter. You can then select from a number of date range options, varying from the last 12 months, to the last week, a custom date range, or a specific year and month. Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to reset the date range filter in VESL.

General Info

Need Assistance from the Landings Program?

Landings Program staff are available by phone: (207) 633-9414, or by email: [email protected] Monday-Friday from 8:30am-4:00pm

Appointments for in-person office assistance need to be scheduled with the Landings Program in advance. Walk-ins are not accepted at this time. To schedule an in-person appointment, please contact Landings at (207) 633-9414 for a date & time. The Landings Program office is located at: 194 McKown Point Rd, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575.

Need Assistance from the Licensing Dept?

Licensing staff are available by phone:
(207) 624-6550 option 2, or by email: [email protected] Monday-Friday from 8:30am-4:00pm. Harvesters can visit the Licensing Dept. for
in-person help Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. Wednesday & Fridays are closed for in-person help; however, you can call or leave license applications in the drop-box outside. The Licensing Dept. office is located in the
Marquardt Building at:
32 Blossom Ln, Augusta, ME 04330.

Landings Program Updates

Do you need help with Electronic Reporting?

Staff from DMR's Landings Program will be at the Maine Fisherman's Forum on Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 to provide one-on-one assistance to harvesters that need help submitting their landings reports.
Bring your device (phone, tablet/iPad, laptop) and your Maine LEEDS, VESL, or FishOnline (federal permit holders) log in credentials with you.

Do you have a new vessel?

If you have acquired a new boat or obtained a new federal permit, please call Licensing (207-624-6550, option 2) to ensure the boat/permit is associated with your licenses.
If you use VESL to report your landings, please contact Landings (207-633-9414) to update your boat in the app.

Do you need to submit a request for Landings Data?

If you need access to landings data that has been submitted to the DMR for yourself, your business, or for research purposes you will need to complete this Landings Data Request Form and follow the instructions for submitting a notarized data release form.
If you report in VESL, you can click here to view how to download a file of all VESL reports submitted.
If you have questions about how to complete the Landings Data Request Form, please contact the Landings Program at (207) 633-9414.

What's growing on my traps?

Tunicates, or sea squirts, are invertebrates that live in the marine environment. There are more than 3,000 tunicate species and many are native to the Gulf of Maine. Tunicates can be categorized as solitary or colonial, they are all filter feeders that utilize the flow of water to feed on tiny organisms like bacteria. These tunicates emerge as free-floating larvae and eventually attach to solid surfaces, including fishing gear.

While warming waters in the Gulf of Maine have allowed tunicates to grow quickly along the Maine coast, they are also easily introduced in ballast water or on mobile gear. Because tunicates can withstand ocean acidification and low oxygen conditions from algal blooms, they have the ability to colonize successfully and quickly with few natural predators to worry about.

The tunicates ability to reproduce quickly allows them to compete for space, food, and oxygen which in turn limits the availability of natural habitat for native benthic seaweeds and animals. These organisms can also be a detriment to the fishing community, making fishing gear heavier and straining both the harvester and their equipment. Tunicates cannot survive drying out or heavy rain. To remove them from fishing gear and to prevent further spread, it is recommended to leave gear out of the water so the tunicates can dry out. White vinegar has also been used to successfully remove some species, as well as pressure washing once the tunicates have had a chance to dry out. Some tunicates have the ability to regrow from small, broken chunks so scraping them off a trap will not remove them permanently and will actually encourage growth of more colonies. Feel free to contact DMR staff if you would like help identifying a tunicate in your area. Photo Credit: Heather Glon

Landings Reporting Information

Entering Lobster Effort Fields as a State Harvester

Maine LEEDS

Number of traps hauled: The count of traps you hauled on this trip. In the diagram below, 14 traps were hauled.
Number of strings, triples, pairs, or singles hauled: This is where you indicate how many sets you hauled, which depends on how you rig your gear. In the diagram below, the harvester hauled 5 pairs and 1 quad for a total of 6 sets hauled.
Total traps in water at start of trip: The count of total traps you had in the water at the start of the trip. In the diagram below, there are 34 total traps in the water.
Total buoys (endlines) in water at start of trip: The TOTAL count of buoys you had in the water at the start of the trip. Do not include toggles in your count. In the diagram below, there are 12 total buoys (one on each pair, one on each quad, and one on each end of the 6’s).

VESL (State)

Gear qty: The count of traps you hauled on this trip. In the diagram below, 14 traps were hauled.
Gear sets: This is where you indicate how many singles, pairs, triples, quads, etc. you hauled, which depends on how you rig your gear. In the diagram below, the harvester hauled 5 pairs and 1 quad for a total of 6 sets.
Gear in water: The count of total traps you had in the water at the start of the trip. In the diagram below, there are 34 total traps in the water.
# of buoys: This is the TOTAL count of buoys you had in the water at the start of the trip. Do not include toggles in your count. In the diagram below, there are 12 total buoys (one on each pair, one on each quad, and one on each end of the 6’s).

Entering Lobster Effort Fields as a Federal Harvester

VESL (Federal)

Total pots in all areas (This section refers to ALL stat areas)
- Total number of pots in the water: The count of total traps you had in the water at the start of the trip. In the diagram below, there are 34 total traps in the water.
- Number of buoy lines in the water: This is the TOTAL count of buoys you had in the water at the start of the trip. Do not include toggles in your count. In the diagram below, there are 12 total buoys (one on each pair, one on each quad, and one on each end of the 6’s).
- Avg # pots per string in the water: Average number of traps per string across all stat areas (singles, pairs, triples, 4’s, 5’s, etc.).
Effort Section (This section refers to a single stat area. If you fished multiple stat areas, you will have one effort for each area. If you never fish across stat areas, Avg # pots per string, # of buoys, and total pots in area will be the same in the Effort section as what you reported at the Trip Level)
- # of pots hauled in this area: The count of traps you hauled in this stat area on this trip. In the diagram below, 14 traps were hauled.
- Gear sets: This is where you indicate how many singles, pairs, triples, quads, etc. you hauled in this area, which depends on how you rig your gear. In the diagram below, the harvester hauled 5 pairs and 1 quad for a total of 6 sets.
- Avg # pots per string: Average number of traps per string in this stat area (singles, pairs, triples, 4’s, 5’s, etc.).
- Total pots in area: Total number of traps in this stat area at the start of the trip.
- # of buoys: The TOTAL count of buoys you had in this stat area at the start of the trip. Do not include toggles in your count. In the diagram below, there are 12 total buoys (one on each pair, one on each quad, and one on each end of the 6’s).

Click the links below to see detailed instructions & additional reporting tips:

Maine LEEDS:

*Click here to view all LEEDS how-to manuals.

VESL App:

*Click here to view all VESL how-to manuals.