I’m an 8th generation lobster fisherman from Swan’s Island, Maine. I make my living from lobster fishing, oyster farming, and providing eco-tours in the beautiful waters near Acadia National Park, where I have over 200 years of family history. The purpose of this op-ed is to lay out my perspective on why President Donald Trump is the right choice for fishing families in Maine and hardworking small businesses across America this November.
Now, I have to confess—I didn’t support President Donald Trump in 2016. I was skeptical that he shared my conservative views. I expected flip-flops and broken promises. But four years later, President Trump has followed through on those promises. He has proved to me that he is a man of his word. And in 2020, I can say unequivocally that President Trump has earned my vote.
I live on an island with 370 year-round residents, and lobstering is how we provide for our families. From our perspective, Maine's lobstermen are true environmentalists. We practice conservation every day. If we didn’t, we’d be putting ourselves out of business. Lobstering has provided for my family since 1806. One of our first state conservation laws was banning the sale of egg-bearing females in 1872, long before it was fashionable to be good stewards in the publics eye. Our roots are firmly planted in the responsible stewardship of all God's creation. But all these years later, a treacherous con is being perpetrated by people who want to steal Maine's oceans from the men and women who tend and harvest from it. The architects of this con use a word that we use, but they've changed the meaning of the word. They call it sustainability.
Four years ago, the Obama-Biden Administration used the Antiquities Act(originally written in 1906 to prevent the looting of artifacts out west)to order thousands of square miles of ocean off limits to commercial fishermen. They did it to cater to outside interests: so-called "environmental groups" who have no interest in partnering with local fisherman to steward national resources. None of the activists and bureaucrats who comprise these groups have any history of making an honest living in the fishery. They don't know or care what's best for our resources, or what's best for the families who have been conserving these waters for generations. Instead, their goals are to make our industry unsustainable, and take control of our waters, displacing working families in the process. The Obama-Biden executive order offended us greatly. It set a dangerous precedent by letting "sustainability" power players circumvent ALL fisherman input.
President Trump REVERSED the Obama/Biden decree, blocking the green lobbyists from commandeering the portion of the ocean they were targeting. He reinstated the time-tested rules that allow stakeholder input, and made it clear that he seeks and respects fishermen's views.
The environmental lobby pays lip service to "green" values, but they are flush with a different kind of green: an unlimited flow of dark money that enable them to quietly confiscate our resources and our right to earn a living. Blue-collar citizens don't even have a fraction of the capital and influence needed to defend our heritage from them. Only the Trump administration has been willing to listen to our story.
As long as Donald Trump is president, fishing families like mine will have a voice. If Joe Biden wins, the anonymous sources of the green lobby's dark money will be in the driver's seat. A Harris-Biden administration will hand over our waters and our way of life to the sinister forces around the globe who look to impose radical changes that would greatly damage our coastal communities up and down the eastern seaboard.
President Trump has presided over the most supportive administration to America's Commercial Fishermen that I have seen in my lifetime. Last month, President Trump brokered a deal to end European Union tariffs of 8 percent on Maine live lobsters, and up to 20 percent on Maine lobster products. These tariffs were placed on Maine over 23 years ago during the Clinton administration. Eliminating the tariffs is incredible news for Maine. This president and his team have cut through the red tape and done what no one else could or would do. The men and women who work the waterfront of Maine see that this administration has our back, and we are grateful to them for it.
China's recent tariffs have hit American seafood sales hard, and Maine lobster particularly. The effect of China's hostile trade policy was an estimated loss of 50 cents per pound to Maine lobstermen. But as promised by this President, Maine lobstermen were allocated 50 cents per pound for their losses. Other American commercial fishermen were also allocated funds based on losses in harvesting a multitude of marine species calculated by the USDA, and the funds used in this program were funds already raised and held at USDA.
I strongly support President Trump’s re-election. When he sees something isn't right, he’s fearless in fixing it. He listens to working people and has shown he is not controlled by the environmental cabal who actively lobby against the most sustainable fishery in America, the Maine Lobster Fishery.
I've heard a lot of promises from President's over the years. This is the first President that has made specific promises to Maines Lobster Harvesters, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that he kept each of these promises. I hope others who may have been on the fence for Trump in 2016 join me this time in voting to re-elect President Donald J. Trump.
Stand up for your country.
– Jason Joyce is an 8th generation lobster fisherman from Swan’s Island, Maine
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