Lobstermen and veterans will speak out today at a public hearing on LD 1448 before the Marine Resources Committee.
Under current law, individuals who hold lobstering or other marine resource licenses who serve in the military must pay fees to keep their licenses active while serving, even though they are not lobstering.
If they don’t pay fees while serving in the military, they forfeit their licenses and have to go to the bottom of the waiting list when they return, according to the Maine Lobstering Union.
The bill would allow activeduty service members to maintain their licenses while serving in the military without paying fees, so they can return from service and resume work as a lobsterman.
The hearing is 1 p.m. today in the Marine Resources Committee, Room 206, Cross State Office Building, Augusta.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less