Saving Seafood

MAINE: Maine Republicans want to end tax breaks over lobster bans

December 10, 2022 — Maine Republicans are pushing back against a boycott effort targeting lobster sales, with a plan to eliminate tax breaks for Whole Foods and other food companies that pull the popular crustacean from their stores.

Legislation expected to be filed by the GOP minority for consideration in the next session would prevent Whole Foods, or other groups that ban lobster sales from getting tax breaks available to Maine businesses.

The proposal would also prohibit the state from entering into contracts with the nationwide grocery store chain.

Last week, Whole Foods announced plans to stop selling lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its retail stores across the country. The company cited concerns raised by a pair of sustainability groups over the impact of the lobster industry on critically endangered north Atlantic right whales.

Read the full article at the Center Square

Offshore Wind – Not Maine Lobstering – Threatening Endangered Right Whales: Bloomberg

December 3, 2022 — Previously unseen government documents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have revealed that the off-shore wind industry poses a severe threat to endangered right whales.

The documents, obtained by Bloomberg via Freedom of Information Act request, will provide ammunition to lobstermen and elected officials as they fight burdensome federal regulations on Maine’s most prized fishery.

Sean Hayes, the chief of the protected species branch at NOAA’s National Northeast Fisheries Science Center, explained the threat wind turbine construction and operation presents to the endangered mammals in a May 13 letter to to officials with the federal Interior Department.

“Additional noise, vessel traffic and habitat modifications due to offshore wind development will likely cause added stress that could result in additional population consequences to a species that is already experiencing rapid decline,” Hayes said in his letter, according to Bloomberg.

Read the full article at Maine Wire

Lobster Fishermen Are Fighting Back Against Whole Foods’ Lobster Ban

December 3, 2022 — With a strong focus on sustainability and how our food is sourced, especially seafood, there was bound to be a moment of conflict between those whose job it is to catch the food and those who protect the environment.

The Maine lobster industry has been downgraded by two seafood-monitoring groups that certify the sustainability of certain seafood products. Seafood Watch, which is operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, labeled Maine lobster “red” in September. Citing the potential entanglement risk lobstermen’s gear caused to the endangered North Atlantic right whale, the group recommended that consumers avoid Maine lobster (via Monterey Bay Aquarium). In November, the Marine Stewardship Council said they would suspend the sustainability certificate for the Gulf of Maine lobster industry. The group acknowledged that there’s no substantial evidence that the industry has harmed right whales but revoked the certification because “the fishery is no longer in compliance with all relevant laws [and] does not meet the MSC Fisheries Standard.” The fishing gear in question is fixed-gear, meaning vertical ropes are continuously in the water (via Marine Stewardship Council). The ban has affected Whole Foods and now fishermen are speaking up.

Read the full article at Mashed

Biden’s lavish lobster dinner doesn’t change his hostility to seafood industry, fish groups say

December 3, 2022 — The following is an excerpt from an article by Fox News:

A pair of fish and seafood associations weighed in on President Biden’s upcoming lavish lobster dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Biden faced backlash on Twitter on Wednesday night from Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden over his upcoming Thursday seafood dinner with Macron featuring Maine lobster.

Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, commended Golden for calling out Biden on the issue and said that his organization has had trouble meeting with the current administration.

Vanasse said that it’s not just lobster, but other seafood industries like tuna and swordfish are having issues meeting with the White House.

“I applaud the congressman for calling out the administration’s hypocrisy when it comes to our domestic fisheries and their policies,” Vanasse said.

“This is not the first time that something like this has happened, but it is good to see, and particularly a Democrat pointing it out because this administration has frankly not been friendly or helpful to our domestic fishing industry,” he continued.

Vanasse said “the most egregious example of that was last summer with regard to the Atlantic Marine Monument, which President Obama created with very little scientific backing using the Antiquities Act.” He noted that the monument move prevents tuna, lobster and swordfish fishing and that America’s “sustainable red crab industry is being kicked out of that area,” as well.

“We spent three years working with the Trump administration to reverse President Obama’s ban on commercial fishing in that area,” Vanasse said. “And they did a very diligent job of looking at science before they agreed to remove the ban and allow our fishermen in that area.”

Vanasse said that the Biden administration has not followed through on its policymaking with science over politics, and that when they “were fighting for our offshore lobster industry, our red crab industry, our fishermen and our tuna fishermen” last summer, they “got one hour to defend the industry with staff at the Department of the Interior before there was even a Senate-confirmed secretary in place.”

He said that on Columbus Day last year, the Biden administration cut off their “fishermen’s right to fish for lobster, crab, swordfish and tuna” in the [Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument], adding that “this administration has been very much in bed with the more extreme environmentalists.”

“And I mean, with regard to the monument, it’s not surprising because the champion of the monument in the Obama administration was Monica Medina, and she’s married to Ron Klain, who’s the White House chief of staff,” said Vanasse. “So when we were fighting for those fisheries, we couldn’t get any Democrats to stand up to the White House. Basically, they just told us that they had tried. They called [the Department of the Interior], they called the White House. They were essentially told that there was no way, because if Trump did it, it had to be bad, and so they were going to reverse what Trump did. No science, no study. One hour of communication with the entire… with all of the people who represent those commercial fisheries that were affected.”

Vanasse said that the White House has likely served tuna and swordfish in addition to lobster, and he thinks Golden’s speaking out “will actually get the president’s attention and perhaps maybe we can actually get the kind of attention from the Biden administration that we were able to get from the Trump administration and not have our fishermen be treated as second-class citizens.”

Vanasse said he does not believe Biden “has personally done much of anything for the fishing industry” and has “delegated it to appointees in his administration.”

Regarding the dinner, Vanasse praised the White House for “thumbing their nose” at “the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and at Whole Foods for blindly following Seafood Watch” and that he was “delighted to see them do that and for them to take a New England domestic fishery and serve it.”

He continued, “That’s what the White House should do. They should be doing this more. But it’s a bit hypocritical at the same time to be moving forward with regulations that are harming our domestic fisheries and also serving the product. You know, they’re trying to have their lobster and eat it, too, so to speak.”

Read the full story at Fox News

NOAA scientists propose more protection for right whales in offshore wind area

November 30, 2022 — The following is an excerpt from an article published by the New Bedford Light:

As America’s offshore wind industry gets ready to launch new clean energy projects off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, conservationists and federal scientists have communicated worries over how the installations could harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale, now numbering an estimated 340.

In light of these potential threats, a federal scientist proposed a “conservation buffer” zone — or area of no wind turbines — of about 10 nautical miles adjacent to the Nantucket shoals and seemingly overlapping with offshore wind development planned in southern New England.

Sean Hayes, chief of the protected species branch at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the letter’s signatory, proposed the buffer zone in a letter this spring to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) — the lead regulator for offshore wind development. According to maps of the wind lease areas, the proposed 20-kilometer buffer beginning at an area called the “30-meter isobath” in the shoals appears to overlap with an eastern portion of the Massachusetts-Rhode Island wind energy area.

Scientists in a 2022 New England Aquarium-led study found an increasing trend of right whales in the waters off of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket during all seasons (instead of just in the winter and spring) and cited climate change as a possible driver with a warming ocean shifting the whales’ feeding and migration patterns.

NOAA Fisheries submitted a public comment to BOEM for the Mayflower Wind project several months before Hayes’ letter (sent in May of this year) that included a similar proposal. While not explicitly mentioning a conservation buffer zone, it recommended BOEM in its environmental impact statement (EIS) include a project alternative of no turbines in a portion of the lease.

“We recommend BOEM evaluate in the EIS an alternative that limits the portion of the lease where [wind turbine generators] can be installed, which would result in no [wind turbine generators] in the northern portion of the lease area,” said the comment letter. “This alternative would reduce project overlap with some of the highest documented densities of North Atlantic right whale aggregations in the lease area…”

The 800-megawatt Mayflower Wind project is currently under review by BOEM. Asked if the company is planning to establish turbine-free areas in the lease as a potential mitigating measure for the right whales, Daniel Hubbard, director of external affairs and general counsel for Mayflower Wind, said by email that they are reviewing information and that “as the permitting process progresses, as with all material presented, we will take it into consideration.”

Research has found turbines will likely affect tidal currents and the water column in which zooplankton (right whales’ food) are found. Whales require dense collections of zooplankton, and any disruptions to that could have “significant energetic and population consequences,” Hayes wrote, particularly for their winter feeding area.

“It’s like the perfect storm of what could go wrong,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF).

Fuller said the area in and around the New England waters where wind development is set to take place was poorly surveyed for right whales before the federal government identified it for multiple energy leases. In recent years, aerial surveys have shown it’s become a year-round foraging habitat for the whales.

Through federal authorizations, the government limits how many individuals of a given species can be incidentally (not intentionally) harassed, disturbed or injured by an activity. Commercial fishing is an existing industry that has operated with such authorizations, which are now being reviewed and given to wind developers.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light

MAINE: Maine lobsterman urges Whole Foods to ‘do more homework’ before pulling lobsters from stores over rare whale

November 30, 2022 — A Maine fisherman slammed Whole Foods’ decision to stop selling Maine lobsters in its stores on Monday, calling on the grocery chain executives to do their “homework” before writing off the livelihoods of hundreds of lobstermen.

Whole Foods announced that it would stop carrying lobsters caught off the coast from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country earlier this month in response to environmentalist concerns that the lobster gear allegedly threatens a rare species known as the right whale, only 340 of which exist today.

In an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime” Monday, Maine lobsterman Jason Lorde denounced the decision, arguing that no right whale has died due to Maine lobster gear and that the fishing community in the state has long complied with laws and regulations to protect right whales.

Read the full article at Fox News 

MAINE: Maine leaders urge retailers not to pull lobsters from cases

November 29, 2022 — Maine’s political leaders are trying to avert a nationwide boycott of American lobster over the industry’s potential impact on critically endangered north Atlantic right whales.

Whole Foods recently announced it will stop selling lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its retail stores across the country. The company cited concerns raised by sustainability groups, including the Marine Stewardship Council, which has withdrawn its endorsement of the U.S. lobster industry.

The move prompted a terse response from Gov. Janet Mills and members of Maine’s congressional delegation, who criticized the decision, and urged national retailers not to pull lobsters from their cases.

Read the full article at The Center Square

MAINE: Maine Political Leaders Slam Blacklisting of Lobster Fishery

November 28, 2022 — Lobster is a traditional holiday dish in the U.S., but this year, it will be slightly harder to find in the supermarket. Multiple high-end retailers, including HelloFresh, Blue Apron and Whole Foods, have stopped carrying the iconic Maine lobster because it has been removed from the Marine Stewardship Council’s sustainable-seafood list – much to the ire of local lobstermen and Maine’s political leadership.

According to fisheries scientists, vertical-leading lobster/crab pot retrieval lines are among the leading causes of injury and death for the endangered North Atlantic right whale, along with ship strikes. There are about 364 of the whales left, and the survival of the species is now down to the survival of each individual – especially the 88 identified females of breeding age.

After a recent court decision that found that NOAA Fisheries is doing too little to protect North Atlantic right whales, a regional assessor for the Marine Stewardship Council initiated a review of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery. On November 16, it decided to re-suspend the fishery’s certification for the second time in two years, effective December 15.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Whole Foods Decision to Pull Maine Lobster From Stores Once Again Divides Politicians and Sustainability Groups

November 28, 2022 — Environmental groups are once again at odds with politicians and fishermen in New England in the wake of a decision by high-end retail giant Whole Foods to stop selling Maine lobster.

Whole Foods recently said that it will stop selling lobster from the Gulf of Maine at hundreds of its stores around the country. The company cited decisions by a pair of sustainability organizations to take away their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry.

The organizations, Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch, both cited concerns about risks to rare North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. Entanglement in gear is one of the biggest threats to the whales.

Read the full article at NECN

MAINE: Maine’s leaders welcome pause on whale protection rules

November 22, 2022 — Maine’s leaders are welcoming a court-imposed two year delay of federal whale protection rules that are expected to impact the state’s lucrative lobster industry.

In a ruling issued last Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg said new fisheries rules aimed at protecting critically endangered North Atlantic right whales will be delayed until December 2024, to give the federal government additional time to design them.

The delay was welcomed news to Maine’s political leaders, who have argued the new rules would be devastating to the state’s storied lobster industry.

Read the full article at The Center Square