Saving Seafood

Opinion

Forcing fishermen to pay for the privilege of being monitored

November 30, 2022 — Imagine you live somewhere in small-town America where residents routinely exceed the posted speed limits. To address this problem, the town council votes to require a police officer to ride along with each member of the community every time they venture out in an automobile.

The purpose of the new program is to make sure the speed limits are obeyed. Anyone caught speeding is fined to pay for the program. It sounds like a win-win for everyone, but there’s a problem: The people who designed the program underestimated how much it would cost — there being a fair number of people in the town who go places by car — but overestimated the amount of money it would bring in from fines assessed on people caught driving above the posted limits.

Read the full article at The Washington Times

Op-ed: Fishermen are conservationists at heart, but we need federal investments to ensure healthy oceans

November 17, 2022 — Chris Brown is president of Seafood Harvesters of America and a commercial fisherman fishing out of Point Judith, Rhode Island, U.S.A. Heather Mann is executive director of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, a nonprofit trade association of nearly 30 fishing vessels based in Newport, Oregon, U.S.A., and a member of Seafood Harvesters of America.

Every morning, fishermen on both coasts are up early and heading out on the water in hopes of finding fish. Commercial fishing can be grueling work with long hours and unpredictable outcomes, and these days we’re seeing more uncertainty. We are witnessing big changes on the water and we need robust federal investments in science and technology for NOAA to improve data collection and fisheries management.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Commentary: Our nation’s fisheries face a common enemy: climate change

November 8, 2022 — Recent precipitous declines in Alaskan fishery populations have resulted in devastating closures of key fisheries across the state. Billions of red king crab, Pacific cod, salmon and most recently snow crab have disappeared from the cold, productive waters of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, resulting in cancellations of critical fishing seasons that support local fishermen, seafood processors, and coastal communities.

These far-reaching and calamitous effects reverberate here at home, where the Northern shrimp fishery faces permanent closure, the Atlantic cod fishery continues to weaken, and the threat of shutting down the lucrative and conservation-minded lobster fishery looms in the wake of troubling declines in North Atlantic right whales.

Climate change is a key factor in these disturbing bicoastal declines. In the Gulf of Maine, warming oceans have affected right whale reproduction rates and have also caused shifts in the availability and occurrence of their prey, prompting redistribution of whales into different fishing grounds and shipping lanes. Warm waters have affected important Atlantic cod bottom habitat, challenging recovery efforts. Long-depressed Northern shrimp stocks remain depleted in the Gulf of Maine as reproduction rates sag in water that is several degrees above spawning tolerance. Declines in New England have occurred despite cautious quota setting on these historically overexploited stocks.

Read the full article at the Press Herald

Commentary: For Seafood Watch, facts apparently don’t matter

October 22, 2022 — Maine’s lobster industry is renowned for harvesting the sweetest, most tender lobster meat in the world. Our rocky coastline, craggy ocean bottoms and water that is neither too warm nor too cold set us up perfectly for the Homarus americanus, or American lobster, species we harvest. They are the most sought after in the world, and even inspired the name of a restaurant chain.

Maine’s iconic crustacean is not only a billion-dollar industry, but also a part of our state’s ethos and heritage. We’ve been fishing for these “bugs” since the 1800s, and the industry was one of the first to self-regulate when fishermen adopted a rule 150 years ago to protect the fishery by returning egg-bearing females. Size and other limitations have been put in place since to ensure the population’s sustainability.

Lobstering can be a hazardous profession, too. The typical season for most of Maine’s lobstermen is June to October when lobsters are closer to shore in their preferred habitat of up to 164 feet of water. When the water gets cold, however, they can move as far as 30 miles offshore where conditions are more challenging and dangerous for fishermen.

Read the full article at the Ellsworth American

Seafood Watch’s ‘red’ listing ignores Maine lobstermen’s conservation efforts

October 12, 2022 — Marianne Moore of Calais represents Maine Senate District 6. She is the Senate Republican lead for the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.

Maine’s lobster industry is renowned for harvesting the sweetest, most tender lobster meat in the world. Our rocky coastline, craggy ocean bottoms and water that is neither too warm nor too cold set us up perfectly for the Homarus americanus, or American lobster, species we harvest. They are the most sought after in the world, and even inspired the name of a restaurant chain.

Maine’s iconic crustacean is not only a billion-dollar industry, but also a part of our state’s ethos and heritage. We’ve been fishing for these “bugs” since the 1800s, and the industry was one of the first to self-regulate when fishermen adopted a rule 150 years ago to protect the fishery by returning egg-bearing females. Size and other limitations have been put in place since to ensure the population’s sustainability.

Lobstering can be a hazardous profession, too. The typical season for most of Maine’s lobstermen is June to October when lobsters are closer to shore in their preferred habitat of up to 164 feet of water. When the water gets cold, however, they can move as far as 30 miles offshore where conditions are more challenging and dangerous for fishermen.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

Right rules should be based on science to protect whales and lobstermen

October 10, 2022 — In recent weeks, Maine’s lobster industry has faced a series of unexpected challenges. Lobstermen, along with Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation, were outraged about a warning from an environmental group that urged consumers not to buy lobsters from Maine because of the risk the fishery poses to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

This red-listing was followed by news from federal regulators that they planned to place further restrictions on lobster harvesting much sooner than expected. They planned to do so with no meetings in Maine, which is home to the vast majority of the nation’s lobster fishermen. Mills and the state’s congressional delegation successfully lobbied for a meeting here, which was held Wednesday night in Portland. They are now asking for another meeting in Downeast Maine.

That anger was apparent at the session held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

EDITORIAL: Sunday’s Blessing of the Fleet, a revival of our coastal heritage

September 28, 2022 — Since 1997, the Blessing of the Fleet has honored fishermen and their families who continue to work the waters of North Carolina’s rivers, sounds, bays, and our ocean waters near and far. This service and the processional of (commercial fishing vessels) has reminded generations of local families of their own rich heritage that is embedded in the tradition of commercial fishing.

As today’s generation has gathered over the years, the Blessing has memorialized those men and women who plied these same waters, harvesting oysters and clams, working their nets and pots, building an industry of faith and fortitude that despite all odds, continues today – small, but prouder and more important than ever.

In today’s world, the value of “local” has brought new energy to the commercial fishing industry. A new generation of fishermen is now benefitting from a renewed appreciation for the values of local seafood, the heritage of families and communities it represents and the unmatched taste North Carolina seafood brings to their tables.

Read the full article at Carolina Coast Online

Op-ed: What science says about the sustainability of trawling

September 26, 2022 — Ray Hilborn is a professor in School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington.

With the launch of several recent advocacy campaigns, bottom-trawling is squarely in the crosshairs of some environmental groups and media outlets that regurgitate their press releases.

There is no question that bottom-trawling has environmental impacts, as all food production does, but there is misinformation floating around about the true impact of bottom-trawling, especially in comparison to other types of fishing and food production. With campaigns like #BanBottomTrawling growing, I want to look at what the science says about the sustainability of bottom-trawling.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Viewpoint: Maine aquaculture is a thing of beauty

September 6, 2022 — As a sea farmer, I am asked, almost daily, about aquaculture and its rapid growth in the state of Maine. I take the time to answer because it means that other people also care about our shared ocean and the future of this coastline. 

I don’t see the sector of aquaculture as expanding rapidly. It took us almost three years to complete our application and receive our 22-acre lease in Mt. Desert Narrows. We also have 3,200 square feet of limited purpose sites in the Skillings River, which allow us to run an upweller for our small seed in the spring and to harvest through the ice year-round. The leasing process is long, rigorous and full of scrutiny, as it should be. I understand that, to some, 22 acres may seem like a lot of space for one company. Some would even consider this “industrial.” I’m willing to offer some transparency about my company so that everyone who is interested can understand what we do, how small we are and why I don’t think aquaculture is growing fast enough. 

Read the full article at Mount Desert Island

OPINION: Alaska’s CDQ fishery program is too important to be misunderstood

August 24, 2022 — Fish politics run deep with Alaskans, and many of us have strong opinions about fisheries management issues. However, the Aug. 4 commentary appearing in this newspaper from Mike Heimbuch, a sitting member of the Board of Fish (BOF), was simply misinformed. We write to not only set the record straight, but also to make sure his conclusions about fish user groups not prejudge the opinions of the ADN’s readers or other Board of Fish members.

Particularly striking were his mischaracterizations about the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program, a program whose constituents often come before the BOF and who deserve a fair and impartial forum to advocate for the interests of the 65 Western Alaska CDQ communities. First, they are not Alaska Native corporations. They are Alaska nonprofit economic development corporations whose purpose is to provide economic opportunity, jobs, scholarships and training to its 30,000 Western Alaska residents.

The CDQ program has been in existence since 1992 and is arguably the most successful joint state-federal program in Alaska’s history. The six CDQ groups are estimated to be responsible for approximately 20% of their region’s total employment, with more than $40 million in annual wages to their residents, and more than 1,600 students per year are awarded scholarships. The CDQ groups support millions of dollars in infrastructure grants and funding in Western Alaska to support essential needs like fuel purchases. They are not widely known because they focus their resources and efforts where they matter most, in remote communities like Stebbins, Kwinhagak, Levelock, Atka, St. Paul and Nunam Iqua.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News