Saving Seafood

ASMFC 84th Annual Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

November 4, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for ASMFC’s 84TH Annual Meeting are now available athttps://asmfc.org/events/2026-annual-meeting/ the following Management Boards.  The combined document of supplemental materials can be found at https://asmfc.org/resources/management-meeting-materials/2026-annual-meeting-supplemental-materials-november-2026/

American Lobster Management Board – Public Comment

ACCSP Coordinating Council – Recreational Technical Committee Meeting Summary from October 2026  

Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Advisory Panel Report

Shad & River Herring Management Board – Shad & River Herring Technical Committee Meeting Summary; River Herring Alternative Management Plan for South Carolina; American Shad Sustainable Fishery Management Plan for Maine;  American Shad Habitat Plan for Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative; American Shad Sustainable Fishing Plan Request of Submission Extension for Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative; Shad & River Herring Letter from New York Department of Environmental Conservation  

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Revised Public Comment Summary on Addendum II to Amendment 3 (the originally posted Part 2 also includes this revised summary);  Advisory Panel Review of Draft Addendum II and Quota Utilization; Update on Recent Menhaden Fishery Performance; Draft FMP Review for 2025 Fishing Year; Public Comment

Executive Committee – Revised Draft Agenda; Draft Meeting Summary from August 2026; ASMFC Coastal Fisheries Management Law Overview    

Commission Business Session – Draft 2027 Action Plan

ISFMP Policy Board – Revised Draft Agenda; Fishing Effort Survey 2026 Calibration  Factsheets for the Greater Atlantic Region and Southeast Region; ASMFC Stock Assessment Schedule; Public Comment

Habitat Committee – Commissioner Survey Identifies Habitat Priorities and Information Needs

Webinar Information

The Law Enforcement Committee, Habitat Committee and Atlantic Coast Fish Habitat Partnership Steering Committee have unique webinar links that are available as part of the individual committee materials. 

 

Meeting proceedings for all other boards/committees will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, November 9 at 9:30 AM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:15 PM) on Thursday, November 12. To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4458443143765348954 (Webinar ID:199-853-067)

 

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), you may also call in at +1 (213) 929-4212, access code 157-264-158. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.

 

Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

Meeting Process

Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

 

Public Comment Guidelines

To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings: 

 

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunities to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

 

For topics that are on the agenda that have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comments will not provide additional insight to the board.

 

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment, if any, to allow in these circumstances.

 

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comments for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

 

  1. Comments received three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (October 19) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, November 3 will be included in supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, November 6 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Trapped: Soaring fuel costs hurt Maine lobster industry before midterms

October 26, 2026 — Lobsterman Steve Train starts every workday before dawn about $1,000 in the hole, a hike in expenses driven by soaring fuel costs that are hammering Maine’s flagship maritime industry ahead of US midterm elections.

Before hauling a single trap from picturesque Casco Bay, north of Portland, the 59-year-old lobsterboat captain counts the costs: Thirty gallons of diesel at $6.49 per gallon — nearly 45 percent up from one year ago — and three drums of increasingly expensive bait at $260 a pop.

“It’s hard to make a business plan with so many uncertainties and so much change,” Train, who works with his brother, told AFP aboard their 36-foot (11-meter) single-engine boat named “Moira Bay.”

They had just finished unloading 430 pounds (195 kilograms) of American lobster at the Portland pier. “We had a good day,” Train said.

But a storm is brewing — and the fuel costs affecting Maine’s lobster industry feature prominently in November’s midterm vote, where the state’s veteran Republican Senator Susan Collins is fighting a strong challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson.

Read the full article at Yahoo! News

MAINE: Maine farmers and fishermen can get federal assistance to offset high fuel prices

October 22, 2026 — Maine farmers and fishermen can now get federal assistance to offset rising diesel prices.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that farmers and fishermen are eligible for assistance under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $8 billion “Harvest Fuel Relief” program.

Under that new program, farmers and fishermen can get a one-time payment to offset those higher production costs. Rates will be announced in November.

“The rising cost of fuel and other inputs has placed significant financial strain on hardworking farmers, fishermen, lobstermen, and their families. After speaking with both the White House and Secretary Rollins, I am pleased to have been assured that Maine fishermen and lobstermen will benefit from the Administration’s new agricultural relief package,” Collins said in a statement. “I will continue advocating for Maine’s fishermen, lobstermen, and specialty crop growers, who are integral to our state’s heritage, economy, and way of life, to ensure they receive the support they need to overcome these challenges.”

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

Two Nova Scotia seafood companies charged with buying illegally harvested lobsters

October 21, 2026 — The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has charged two Nova Scotia, Canada-based seafood companies with purchasing illegally harvested lobsters as the government works to crack down on black market shellfish.

“The laying of these charges demonstrates the important work that the conservation officer service does to help protect Nova Scotia’s fisheries and support people and businesses that follow the rules. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the service as our new fisheries compliance unit prepares to take the lead for fisheries enforcement going forward,” Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Decline in baby Maine lobsters is warning to the fishery, study finds

October 19, 2026 — A sharp decline in baby lobsters offered an early warning of substantial losses in Maine’s Midcoast lobster population, according to a new University of Maine study that connects falling numbers across successive stages of the crustaceans’ lives.

Researchers found that an 80% decline in baby lobsters sampled between 2010 and 2022 preceded declines farther along in the population: a 70% decrease in young lobsters since 2015 and a 50% decrease in adults large enough for fishermen to catch.
The findings show how a shortage of the smallest lobsters can work its way through the population, eventually reducing the number reaching harvestable size. They also underscore the importance of monitoring lobsters years before they enter the commercial fishery.
The study’s midcoast region, extending from Brunswick to the Schoodic Peninsula, recorded the steepest declines in the Gulf of Maine. That broad study area encompasses the waters off Waldo County and much of Maine’s central coast.
The losses followed a substantial boom. From the 2000s to the 2010s, the number of lobsters sampled in the region doubled before the trend reversed.
The research adds to evidence that the Gulf of Maine’s lobster population has declined since the mid-2010s, raising questions about the future of a fishery that generated more than $461 million in Maine landings in 2025.

Vessel tracking fight ‘ain’t over yet’ after Supreme Court denial

October 19, 2026 — Vinalhaven lobsterman Frank Thompson says his fight against Maine’s vessel-tracking requirement is not over, despite the U.S. Supreme Court declining earlier this month to hear his Fourth Amendment challenge.

Thompson, a fifth-generation lobsterman who fishes from the island community of Vinalhaven, told Fox News that he intends to continue challenging a requirement that electronically tracks federally permitted lobster vessels, including when they are underway for personal use.

“I just told myself, I said, ‘Well, it ain’t over yet,’” Thompson told Fox after learning the Supreme Court had declined his petition.

As National Fisherman previously reported, the Supreme Court declined on Oct. 5 to review Thompson’s case, leaving intact a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the vessel-tracking requirement. Thompson had argued that requiring a GPS device aboard his privately owned vessel amounted to an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The case centered in part on the fact that tracking continues when a vessel is underway but is not being used for commercial fishing. That distinction is particularly important in Maine island communities, where fishing vessels can also serve as transportation to the mainland for errands, appointments, and other personal trips.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Supreme Court declines to hear case of a lobster fisherman who opposes boat tracking

October 15, 2026 — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who alleged the government requiring commercial fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices amounts to unreasonable search and seizure.

Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson sued after his state began requiring all federally permitted lobstermen to install GPS trackers on their boats to collect data that will help manage the industry. Thompson appealed to the high court after losing at the appeals court level.

The Supreme Court formally denied Thompson’s petition on Oct. 5. The decision allows the state to collect “critically important” data, said Carl Wilson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full article at ABC News

Appeals court rules against Maine lobster industry in lawsuit targeting Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation

October 13, 2026 — A U.S. Appeals Court has ruled against the Maine lobster industry in a lawsuit it brought against the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation (MBAF).

A coalition of Maine lobstermen, including Bean Maine Lobster Inc., the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Atwood Lobster LLC, and Bug Catcher Inc., had won a lawsuit against the MBAF over its decision to give the fishery a “red” rating in its seafood watch list. The aquarium foundation appealed that lawsuit, and now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, remanding it with instructions to dismiss the complaint entirely.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Appeals court dismisses Maine lobstermen defamation case against California aquarium

October 12, 2026 — A federal appeals court has sided with the California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium, which faced a defamation lawsuit from Maine lobstermen and groups representing the state’s industry.

The lobstermen sued three years ago, after the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program stripped the U.S. and Canadian lobster fisheries of their sustainability certifications and urged consumers not to buy lobster.

The aquarium said the fishery poses a threat to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full article at Maine Public