A delegation of Maine agriculturalists are attempting to create a pipeline of trade between Maine and Cuba. The group, led by Doyle Marchant of Cedar Springs Agricultural Co. LLC in North Yarmouth, has proposed a trade pipeline of Maine agricultural and fishery products to Cuba. “We’re solely interested in helping Maine” Marchant told the Portland Press Herald.
The proposed export pipeline isn’t just limited to dogfish, with goods like seed potatoes and apples being added to the mix. The idea is to help boost the struggling Cuban economy, which has taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the struggling economy, the Cuban government is looking for a cheap source of meat that can be used to help feed their people. “There are 12 million people starving in Cuba” said Phineas Sprague Jr., owner of Portland Yacht Service and a contributor to the project. The pipeline would also help Maine’s fishing industry use dogfish for something, as it isn’t a valued commodity here stateside. Suzannah Raber, co-owner of New England Fish Co. and a member of the delegation says that dogfish is “generally not popular in the states because it’s a hard catch…it’s rough on fishing gear.” Despite this, some places, like the United Kingdom, import Dogfish for popular dishes like dish and chips.
Marchant says that the fish wouldn’t only be used for their meat, but that the rest of the body which many see as a waste product can be used as fertilizer, something the Cuban’s want desperately to kickstart their own agricultural industry. “This critter, it has excellent beautiful loins,” Marchant told the Press Herald, “Cuban is truing to build back their agriculture industry, and they’re having difficulty getting fertilizer. We know how to process all of the guts and tails and heads into the fertilizer, so they are getting two for one.” Marchant says that he also wants to unify the two cultures saying that cultural unity “has always been a part of our efforts.” He continued on saying that “it’s for the American people to understand that our neighbors 90 miles away are not our enemy.” Doyle’s wife Stephanie is the other half of the trading duo, and said that “I think that [Cubans] are survivors in the same way that Mainers are survivors. They are very resourceful.”
The Marchants have been working in Cuba for 20 years, when they were among some of the first U.S business owners to acquire a trade license. They describe themselves as “facilitators”, and are owners of only one of thirty-seven export licenses issues this year by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Stephanie Marchant says that every year they renew their license, the paperwork gets a little more complex. “When [The U.S] first opened up the ability to export agricultural products, the license was one sheet of paper…every year we would have to renew it, and every year it got a little bit thicker and thicker.”
One of the reasons that the Cuban government is so open to trading with the Marchant’s is because of Doyle’s close relationship with Ramon Castro, former president Fidel’s younger brother, who died in 2016. “Money is not [the Cubans’] currency–their currency is trust,” said Doyle. “I have all the trust–I went far beyond anything I ever expected because I was honest with them and everyone else.” He added that he hopes that eventually the trade pipeline can go both ways. Exports from Cuba to the United States are currently embargoed and have been since President Kennedy issued the embargo in 1962. “I’m hoping that if this is successful…that we’ll be able to bring in some high-quality Cuban products into our system.” Doyle said. “I can [say] honestly that this is my life’s greatest pursuit–to make a difference” he concluded.
The delegation is expected to return to Cuba in October to finalize a deal.
