State and Local Archives - Page 21 of 940

MARYLAND: Maryland crab processors are rapidly nearing point of no return, industry rep warns

August 19, 2025 — Maryland’s crab fishery has faced labor shortages and heavy competition from cheap imports for several years, but Bill Sieling, the executive vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association, is warning that the issues are now reaching a breaking point.

The Mid-Atlantic U.S. state’s crab fishery, like many seafood subsectors throughout the country, relies on seasonal workers to fill temporary positions. Many of those seasonal workers are from foreign countries, and to fill those positions the federal government allocates H-2B visas to employers through a lottery – meaning businesses have no guarantee on how many temporary workers they’re able to bring in every year.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts commercial fisherman finds success at bottom of sea with new frozen dish

August 19, 2025 — The quality of seafood in New England is well-renowned across the country and the globe.

Now, a Massachusetts fisherman with almost half a century at sea has decided to combine his knowledge of one tasty item from the sea floor and produce a unique dinner item that you can buy in the frozen food section of your store.

“I make seafood pies with clam meat. And I make these clam dinners. Three different dinners,” said Capt. Al Rencurrel, the owner of Nantucket Sound Seafood, based in Fall River, Massachusetts.

For more than 40 years, Rencurrel has been dragging for clams in the waters surrounding Cape Cod and the Islands. He would then take his catch and sell it to seafood distributors. Three years ago, he decided to chart a new course for his clams and company when he started the frozen seafood dinner company.

Read the full article at WCVB

ALASKA: As inflation continues to rise, some fisheries turn to artificial intelligence to lower costs

August 18, 2025 — New technology is coming to Alaskan fisheries thanks to a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The grant was to the Alaska’s Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and the $485,000 will be used to develop technology to incorporate artificial intelligence into the existing electronic monitoring (EM) program.

ALFA is partnering with the Canadian company Archipelago Marine Research to enhance its FishVue AI tool, training it for Alaskan sablefish and halibut fixed gear fisheries. This move is expected to help increase efficiency and lower costs for the fishermen.

“If you participate in federal fisheries, your vessel is over 40 feet, you’re required to have either an onboard observer or an electronic monitoring, an EM camera system, on your vessel for a percentage of your trips that get monitored and that’s federal regulation,” ALFA policy coordinator Lauren Howard explained.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source

MASSACHSUETTS: Introducing the Scallopalooza festival in Massachusetts’ ‘scallop capital of the world’

August 18, 2025 — The following transcript is by WKU:

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

New Bedford, Massachusetts, calls itself the scallop capital of the world, and on Thursday, the city celebrated Scallopalooza. It’s an event close to the city’s working waterfront that celebrates the Atlantic sea scallop and the people who work on the boats. Caroline Losneck has this audio postcard.

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: So while we’re setting up for our scallop shucking contest, which is…

CAROLINE LOSNECK: Like most festivals, Scallopalooza’s fun, but scallops are serious business here. They’re central to the city’s identity and culture. The highlight is a raucous shucking contest where over a dozen local scallopers face off in heats, all up on a stage, to see who can remove the meat from the shell the cleanest and fastest. And spectators in the front rows probably even get some scallop parts on them as a memento.

JOE RITTER: We certainly hope people are going to have a shucking good time at this event.

LOSNECK: Joe Ritter works at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and helped organize Scallopalooza.

RITTER: And the top fisherman from each round is going to go up in the finals, and they’re going to compete for the title of New Bedford’s best shucker. They’re going to get a trophy, and they’re going to get bragging rights, too.

LOSNECK: The impact of the species here is massive. About 80% of the seafood by value that arrives on the docks are from scallops.

RITTER: I would say scallops are to New Bedford like corn and soybeans are to Illinois or Indiana.

LOUISIANA: Conservation group calls for state, federal response after dredging incident disrupts Louisiana shellfish

August 18, 2025 — A surge of sediment has flooded into No Name Bayou due to an ongoing dredging project in the area, disrupting multiple shellfish fisheries and threatening the success of the state’s shrimping season, which started this month.

Natural gas provider Venture Global had been conducting dredging in the area as it builds out a new a liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, U.S.A. However, on 4 August, the sediment escaped from its designated area, flooding into the waterway and burying crab traps and oyster beds.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Alaska salmon harvest tops to 129 million fish

August 15, 2025 — Alaska’s 2025 commercial salmon harvest reached over 129 million fish through Aug. 12, with sockeye, keta and coho catches appearing on pace to reach total annual projections.

Those projected 2025 harvests would add up to 214.6 million salmon, including over 138 million pink, 52.9 million sockeye, 20.8 million keta, 2.3 million coho and 144,000 kings.

Data compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showed the statewide pink harvest at 62.3 million fish, followed by 51.3 million sockeyes, 14.5 million chum, 888,000 coho and 150,000 king salmon.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: Experts say multiple factors contributing to recent shark sightings off Maine coast

August 15, 2025 — The state says there’s more than one reason behind the recent shark sightings off Maine’s coast, and climate change is one of them.

On Monday, drone video captured a shark, believed to be a great white that was 10 to 12 feet long, near Richmond Island, Higgins Beach, and Scarborough Beach.

It was spotted again near Pine Point Beach on Tuesday.

Matt Davis, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, says shark sightings are becoming more common because people are more on the lookout and warming waters in Maine are something sharks are “warming up to.”

Read the full article at WGME

FLORIDA: Wild oyster harvesting is partially returning to the Apalachicola Bay

August 4, 2025 — About 20 years ago, the Apalachicola Bay had 10,000 acres of healthy oyster habitats. Now, that is no longer the case.

The industry collapsed in 2013, which eventually led to the closure of the bay in 2020.

Research showed that there are only about 500 acres of suitable oyster habitats in the bay, representing a historical 95% decline.

Of those 500, fewer than 100 acres are producing enough oysters that can be harvested commercially.

Read the full article at WHJG

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey revokes approval for Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm; company calls it ‘a pause’

August 14, 2025 — New Jersey utility regulators on Wednesday canceled their preliminary approval of the Atlantic Shores offshore wind energy project as the industry continues to struggle with financial challenges and an all-out assault from President Donald Trump.

But the company called the action “a pause,” not necessarily the end of the project.

The state Board of Public Utilities terminated the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate for Atlantic Shores, a proposed two-phase wind farm between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light with 197 wind turbines capable of powering 1 million homes.

On June 4, Atlantic Shores asked the BPU to do so, saying the project is “no longer viable” due to Trump’s war on wind power and economic challenges facing the industry.

But it also indicated it might seek to revive the project in the future, calling the cancellation “a reset period.”

ALASKA: Vessel registration begins for Alaska crab fisheries

August 14, 2025 — Pre-season vessel registration is underway for three Bering Sea commercial crab fisheries, raising optimism that there will be harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow and tanner crab in the 2025-2026 season.

“That’s a good sign that all of the big three crab fisheries will likely be open,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “I expect most crab boats will pre-register for the fisheries, in the hopes that the harvest levels will be higher than last season.”

“Last season, only about half of the crab fleet fished since the harvest levels were at historic lows after several years of closure,” said Goen, who is also one of two voting members from the state of Washington serving on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“Crab harvesters are optimistic for a better season this fall,” Goen said. “The crab stocks looked healthy last season, and several captains thought the harvest levels could have been higher. In addition, we’re hearing reports from some other fishing sectors that come across crab noting there are lots of crab out there,” Goen said. “The snow crab population, in particular, may be bouncing back faster than expected,” she said.

“The industry is anxious to hear reports from NOAA Fisheries’ summer survey to see if it validates what the fishermen are seeing. The survey data will be reported when the council’s crab plan team meets the week of Sept. 8 to start the process of setting crab harvest levels before the scheduled Oct. 15 season start.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman