A lobster stew

Preparations for a lobster stew look at first like a hodgepodge: a cup of lobster meat, leftover empty shells, a bowl of broth, a stick of butter, cream or milk heating in a pan, minced garlic, and seasonings including thyme, maybe rosemary, salt, black pepper and a pinch of red pepper. But put them together properly and you will have a delicious meal.

Same with preparations to reauthorize the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. The council itself has proposed a two-year extension and a $25 across-the-board in-crease in the license fee surcharge that has been financing the council ever since its establishment in the early 1990s. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association and most other segments of the industry support a bill to that effect, LD 382, introduced by Rep. David M. Etnier, Democrat of Harpswell. That would raise the surcharge from $25 to $50 for harvesters and $200 to $225 for dealers. A work session is scheduled for Thursday, April 26.

But the chairman of the joint Marine Resources Committee, Sen. Kenneth F. Lemont of York County, considers it unfair to raise the surcharge 100 percent for harvesters and only 12.5 percent for dealers. He favors an across-the-board percentage increase and wants it applied incrementally during a four-year extension. Mr. Lemont, a licensed lobsterman himself, says he personally supports the council, but he adds that he surveyed the 150 lobstermen in his district and found that more then half of them oppose the council as currently funded and don’t want any increase.

Leroy Bridges, president of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, agrees in part with Sen. Lemont. Mr. Bridges and his organization want a 100 percent across-the-board surcharge increase, raising it to $50 for harvesters and $400 for dealers. But they want it levied all at once.

Most people involved in lobstering, except for the small group around Kittery, have come to value the council as a reliable spokesman for the industry. It provides prompt and accurate information whenever there is a scare over an oil leak or a disease outbreak or when some animal advocacy group tries to make people stop eating this delicacy. The council took a lead in educating doctors and the general public that lobster is lower than even chicken and pork in cholesterol and fat content. It promotes the sale of lobsters in Maine, across the country and abroad, helping keep the industry healthy even though the effect on price is debatable.

Sen. Lemont, who has tabled the bill a couple of times, now says he will call for a vote at the committee’s Thursday work session. He hopes to get a unanimous report, which would probably lead to easy passage in the House and Senate. A good compromise would be a two-year extension and an immediate 100 percent across-the-board surcharge increase. If he succeeds in bringing together the various views to permit the council to continue and expand its good work, the result could be as fine as a tasty lobster stew.