Maine business group seeks rare deal to export ‘cape shark’ to Cuba

The cape shark, much more usually recognized as the dogfish, typically finds its dwelling in the frigid, salty waters of midcoast Maine. Having said that, thanks to the attempts of a group of Maine-dependent agriculturalists, the fish may possibly before long be taken by the tides of trade to the warm shores – and markets – of Cuba.

The export of dogfish is portion of a more substantial offer staying brokered by a team of Maine agriculturalists who hope to develop a pipeline of Maine-primarily based agricultural and fishery merchandise to Cuba. The delegation satisfied with reps from the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture in Could and hopes to return in Oct to finalize a deal.

“We’re only interested in aiding Maine,” said Doyle Marchant, the delegation’s leader and co-proprietor of Cedar Springs Agricultural Co. LLC in North Yarmouth.

Among the the proposed exports are seed potatoes and apples together with dogfish. The export of these items is intended to support the Cuban economy, which has experienced in the latest years owing to the coronavirus pandemic, turn into more self-ample though also benefiting Maine’s financial state.

“Our fishing market, if you do a little background on it – new record – is suffering for a ton of factors,” Marchant said. “The edge of Cuba obtaining any food items exports suitable now is extraordinary.”

The trade pipeline concept came about immediately after Marchant was approached by the Cuban federal government last year. Marchant, who has a prolonged historical past with Cuba, was tasked with discovering a low-priced resource of protein for the socialist country to import.

It was then that Marchant reached out to longtime friend Phineas Sprague Jr., owner of Portland Yacht Company. Sprague assisted Marchant assemble a group of businesspeople at the forefront of Maine’s fishing and agriculture industries.

“The fish pier is battling, so what can we do to support Maine?” Sprague claimed. “There are 12 million persons starving in Cuba. Why not go down there and see if we can be handy?”

TRASH OR TREASURE?

As the group searched, the reply offered by itself in the type of a about eight-pound fish that operates rampant in Maine’s coastal waters.

Dogfish is significantly from a valued commodity in the United States. The fish, typically caught as by-catch by fishermen, has these types of little stateside market place price that it is commonly thrown back again overboard when caught.

“It’s typically not well-known in the states since it is a difficult capture,” claimed Suzannah Raber, co-owner of New England Fish Co. in Portland and a member of the Cuba trade delegation. “It’s rough on fishing equipment.”

However, dogfish has proved to be a popular dish overseas. It is commonly exported to the United Kingdom to be applied in fish and chips.

The important export reward lies in the shark’s biology. Dogfish have protein-abundant loins that can be processed stateside, frozen and exported for a sizable profit margin. Alternatively, the entire fish can be frozen and exported, which would permit the Cubans to use the rest of the human body as fertilizer.

“This critter, it has superb, stunning loins,” Marchant stated. “Cuba is trying to create back again their agriculture field, and they’re owning issue having fertilizer. (Mainers) know how to course of action all of the guts and tails and heads into fertilizer, so (the Cubans) are obtaining two for one particular.”

In addition to this financial mutualism, Marchant hopes the agricultural pipeline would serve as a implies of cultural exchange concerning Maine and Cuba.

“(Cultural unity) has generally been a element of our efforts – it’s for the American people today to understand that our neighbors 90 miles absent are not our enemy,” he claimed.

Stephanie Cheney Marchant, Doyle’s spouse and the other 50 percent of the buying and selling duo, echoed her husband’s sentiment.

“I consider that (Cubans) are survivors in the exact same way that Mainers are survivors,” she said. “They are incredibly resourceful.”

EXPORT LICENSES Uncommon

The Marchants have a long historical past of functioning in Cuba and fostering cultural connections. The self-described “facilitators” first commenced their dealings in Cuba 20 a long time in the past, when they ended up between the initial business enterprise entrepreneurs to obtain a trade license.

Per federal laws, there are only 12 groups of items that Individuals can export to Cuba, with the main a person getting poultry items. No products can be imported from Cuba, nevertheless.

Only a meager 37 export licenses have been issued by the Office of Commerce’s Bureau of Sector and Stability so far this year, according to a spokesperson. The Marchants are 1 of these scarce several.

“When (the U.S.) initial opened up the capability to export agricultural goods, the license was just one sheet of paper – it was incredibly easy,” Stephanie Marchant mentioned. “Every calendar year, we would have to renew it, and every single calendar year it got a little little bit thicker and thicker.”

Just after buying a license and paying time in the country, Doyle Marchant explained how his time in Cuba has helped to dispel some of his preconceived notions about the state.

“Once I identified where by the reality lay and the amazing character of the Cuban people, it was very brief in advance of part of my heart was in Cuba,” he mentioned.

Earning A Distinction

Doyle Marchant in Cuba Photograph courtesy of Doyle Marchant

For the duration of their time in Cuba, the Marchants have manufactured a selection of substantial-profile pals. Doyle Marchant began working with the condition-owned small business Alimport in 2002, which opened the doors for him to meet one particular of his closest buddies in the state, Ramón Castro – brother of Cuba’s former president, Fidel Castro, who died in 2011.

Now, 20 many years and numerous business enterprise promotions afterwards, Marchant believes he has developed an unmatched level of belief with the Cubans. This rely on, he reported, will make him the appropriate man to guide the trade delegation.

“Money is not (the Cubans’) currency – their forex is have confidence in,” Marchant mentioned. “I have all the believe in – I went considerably outside of everything I ever predicted due to the fact I was sincere with them and everyone else.”

Sprague echoed that sentiment.

“If it was not for Doyle’s persistence in excess of many many years, we never ever would have experienced the capacity to this, because the Cubans don’t have faith in any person,” he reported. “Doyle has been equipped to get himself wherever he is reliable at the optimum levels of governing administration there.”

Whilst this is Marchant’s most current deal, it will not be his past. Looking ahead, he hopes that the future trade pipeline will assist to normalize trade relations involving the U.S. and Cuba.

“I’m hoping that if this is effective, the pipeline will go two techniques … that we’ll be ready to deliver in some large-top quality Cuban products into our program,” he said.

Marchant pressured how significantly his do the job usually means to him and his wife. The duo believes that it is fundamentally a relatives exertion and a person that is their greatest pursuit.

“I could not do it without Stephanie, she’s the level of my spear,” Doyle Marchant claimed. “I can (say) truthfully that this is my life’s greatest pursuit – to make a variation.”

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