State and Local

September 17, 2013 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

It’s the position of the Maine Department of Marine resources that statements made today by PETA are nothing more than another disingenuous attempt to advance their agenda and negatively impact Maine's most important coastal industry and the economy it supports.  PETA has not sought to change the animal-welfare statutes as they affect lobster through legitimate public processes, but prefers to seek media attention by attacking Maine businesses.

Furthermore, after consultation with the DMR’s lead lobster biologist Carl Wilson, it is the position of the Department of Marine Resources that what is shown in the video is compliant with state and federal laws and regulations, including Maine’s animal-welfare statute.

The Maine lobster industry is a state-of-the-art industry selling the best seafood in the world.  Through its strict adherence to all laws and regulations, the Maine lobster-processor sector consistently demonstrates its commitment to food safety, as well as the freshness of Maine’s iconic lobster. As a result, Maine lobster is known around the world as a unique, high-quality product.

 

September 16, 2013 — HAMMOND, Ore. — They came, they saw, they had fun with fish.

More than 1,000 people were on hand Saturday for the first day of the Commercial Fishermen’s Festival.

And none went away from the Hammond Marina disappointed, having had the opportunity to eat lots of fish, take part in competitions and meet fishing “celebrities.”

Among the latter were Capt. Rick and Donna Quashnick, of the fishing vessel Maverick. The couple, who appeared in the earliest seasons of Discovery Channel’s “The Deadliest Catch,” were on hand and people flocked to the boat throughout the day. They even conducted cooking demonstrations featuring tuna and crawdads, said Cyndi Mudge, one of the organizers.

“It was awesome to get a ride on the boat,” one visitor, Tina Protsman, posted on Facebook afterward.

Fans of “The Deadliest Catch,” which, while entertaining, has also helped the world learn about the perils of commercial fishers, waited in line throughout the day to meet visiting captains and crew, including Johnathan Hillstrand from the F/V Time Bandit and Bob Perkey from the F/V Seabrooke. Author Spike Walker, who now lives in his hometown of Yacolt, Wash., was also on hand. Walker’s much admired book “Working on the Edge,” about the dangers of commercial fishing in Alaska, helped spawn the TV show.

Read the full story at The Daily Astorian

September 16, 2013 — The National Marine Fisheries Service is offering vessel owners a chance to avoid having to carry a fishery observer in 2014.

The agency plans to exempt up to 14 boats that agree to take part in a pilot project to test electronic monitoring systems.

Find out more at the Deckboss Blog

 

August 16, 2013 — Alaska’s record salmon season has permit brokers hopping as buyers seek to break into or expand their opportunities in many fisheries. 

Notably, brokers say there is “a lot of great buzz” at Bristol Bay, despite a lackluster sockeye fishery that saw the bulk of the red run come and go eight days early.

“Prior to the season the drift permits went for under $100,000, but we just sold one for $125,000,” said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. Most of the bump is due to optimism about the sockeye base price of $1.50/lb, a $.50 increase from last year.

Data from the state Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission show that Bristol Bay driftnet permit values have remained near or well over $100,000 since 2010, and increased steadily each year after dropping below $20,000 in 2002.

This summer also was a great one for salmon seiners, which has driven up interest in those fishing permits.

“These folks had good seasons and made some money. They’re going to be looking to expand their operations, pick up another permit, another boat or upgrade,” Bowen said.

Salmon seine permits at Southeast Alaska have the distinction of being the highest priced at more than $300,000.

Read the full story at The Fish Site 

 

 

September 17, 2013 — BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has taken a step toward making his state’s battered fishing industry eligible for federal disaster assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Earlier this month, Patrick officially certified that Massachusetts fishermen who chase bottom-dwelling groundfish had suffered ‘‘substantial economic injury.’’

He cited the poor health of key fish stocks and this year’s devastating cuts in the allowed catch.

Patrick wrote further in a letter to the SBA that the industry has been so economically damaged, that federal subsidized loans are essential.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

September 13, 2013 — After suffering from another plunge in fishing-industry business tied to federal catch limits, Scott Memhard wonders how much longer his Cape Pond Ice Co. can remain open.

A half-mile away on Gloucester’s waterfront, Sheree DeLorenzo Zizik wonders when she can finally start work on a new 101-room hotel at the site of a former Birds Eye food plant to serve the influx of tourists this city has seen over the past few years.

The plights of the two companies — a struggling ice maker serving fishing boats since 1848 and a partnership hoping to build a gleaming new hotel hosting out-of-town visitors — shows how this city of nearly 30,000 residents is slowly transforming amidst a depression-like downturn in the local fishing industry.

The transition hasn’t been painless or simple. The industry’s decline has prompted city officials to explore changes to the allowable developments within its port area, in anticipation of potentially opening up some of the land to non-fishing uses. These efforts have raised concerns that city officials could go too far and permanently alter the waterfront’s character, making it tougher for the fishing industry to rebound if the strict catch limits are eventually lifted.

For now, though, the fishing industry seems more concerned with survival. Commercial fishermen are reeling in the wake of new groundfish restrictions that took effect on May 1. “It’s horrible,” said Russell Sherman, owner of the 72-foot Lady Jane trawler in Gloucester. “My catch is way down (by more than 20 percent), and I’m trying to sell my boat. We operate on only a 10-percent margin. But I can’t sell the vessel because no one wants it. There’s no way out of this business, except maybe just to bail out.”

Read the full story at the Boston Business Journal

September 13, 2013 — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo visited Montauk on Thursday morning to call for updating flounder regulations that he argues stifle the state fishing industry—otherwise the state will sue. Mr. Cuomo urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately reassess regulations on the number of summer flounder that may be caught legally by commercial or recreational fishermen and said the state is prepared to file suit to ensure that the fishermen get a fair deal.

Read the full story from The East Hampton Press

PORTLAND, Maine, — September 11, 2013 — Maine’s lobster industry is trying to market its brand more broadly and increase sales of the state’s best-known seafood.

Now, Maine’s lobster industry is trying to market its brand more broadly and increase sales of the state’s best-known seafood.

The annual marketing budget for lobsters will increase more than sixfold to $2.2 million under a law taking effect in October, launching what some call a new era for the industry.

The goal is to get more people in the U.S. and abroad to buy Maine lobster and related products at restaurants and in stores, while increasing prices to help fishermen boost their incomes.

Marketing was little more than an afterthought in the lobster industry before the 1990s, when the annual catch was typically 20 million pounds or less. That changed in 1991 with the creation of the industry-funded Maine Lobster Promotion Council, a small operation whose budget last year was about $370,000.

But the lobster harvest has ballooned to previously unimagined levels — a record 127 million pounds was hauled in Maine last year — and prices have remained low since tanking when the global economy went sour in 2008.

Read the full story at the Times Dispatch 

 

September 15, 2013 — A mystery of sorts threatens to stunt Massachusetts' small but growing oyster industry after illnesses linked to bacterial contamination forced the state to shut down beds for the first time ever.

The culprit is the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterium, which has occurred in state waters since the 1960s. Theories abound about the recent increase in illnesses linked to Massachusetts — but those are only theories.

"Honestly, I'm confused by the whole thing," said Don Merry, an oyster grower from Duxbury, where oyster beds have been closed.

Average monthly daytime water temperatures in the region rarely approach the 81 degrees believed to be the threshold that triggers dangerous Vibrio growth. Rising average water temperatures locally, while not reaching that threshold, could be causing environmental changes that cause strains of Vibrio to thrive, said Suzanne Condon, associate commissioner of the Department of Health.

In addition, virulent Vibrio strains that aren't as temperature-sensitive may have been carried from overseas in ships' ballast water in the past decade, said the state's chief shellfish biologist, Michael Hickey.

Meanwhile, it has been only six years since states were required to report Vibrio illnesses to federal officials. So testing for it is relatively slow and underdeveloped and can't yet predict, for instance, if outbreaks are coming, Hickey said.

The bacterium causes gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and cramping, but the illness is generally severe only in people with weakened immune systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the U.S. has about 4,500 cases of Vibrio infection annually.

Read the full story by Jay Lindsay of the Associated Press at the Cape Cod Times