Saving Seafood

MAINE: The waters of Boothbay Harbor have gotten warmer over the past century, data show

January 24, 2023 — Maine’s Department of Marine Resources has maintained a hidden treasure in Boothbay Harbor for nearly 120 years — a daily measurement of sea surface temperatures, which provides an uncommonly long record of a warming ocean.

In the latest Data Monitor, The Maine Monitor broke those daily records (more than 42,000 of them!) into annual averages to show the estimated increase in water temperatures at Boothbay Harbor between 1905 and 2021. It shows a rough increase of 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit on average, from an annual average of 45.3 degrees F (or 7.4 Celsius) at the turn of the 20th century to just over 50 degrees F in recent years.

One important caveat on this data: DMR’s method for collecting the water temperatures in the harbor changed around 1950. Before, measurements were taken three times a day, during the day, using a thermometer in a bucket lowered into the water. In the 1950s, this was replaced with instruments installed just below the surface to take continuous measurements.

Read the full article at the Boothbay Register

MAINE: In a Boothbay Harbor, scientists are tying lobstermen’s ropes in knots to protect whales

October 7, 2020 — A group of state researchers in Boothbay Harbor are testing how much force it takes to snap hundreds of pieces of rope apart as they try to identify knot combinations and configurations of fishing line that will help protect whales from life-threatening entanglements.

Since early 2019, the small group of scientists at the Maine Department of Marine Resources have been testing a variety of different types of rope knotted together by putting them under strain with an old hydraulic tensile testing machine. They do their work in a garage bay on the department’s property on McKown Point Road. They have gone through a couple hundred different combinations of used and new rope tied together in various knots, testing each combination 10 times to determine their breaking points. They expect to try more than 900 different configurations in all.

The idea is to come up with a way Maine lobstermen can affordably satisfy federal laws that prohibit fishing activity from harming protected marine species such as North Atlantic right whales, of which only 400 or so remain. Maine lobstermen have been awaiting a new set of federal rules aimed at preventing whale entanglements that would force them to change the gear they use for the third time in slightly more than a decade.

The Department of Marine Resources researchers are hoping to find rope configurations that fishermen can put together from their existing gear, saving them the expense and trouble of replacing all their gear in order to continue harvesting lobster from the Gulf of Maine, which last year generated $485 million in statewide fishing revenue.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Maine to collect ocean acidification data with new sensors

May 26, 2020 — Maine marine officials said three new sensors installed in a coastal community will help scientists get a better understanding of ocean acidifcation.

The growing acid levels in the ocean are a hazard for some kinds of sea life, including some of those sought by Maine fishermen. Scientists have linked acidification to factors that also drive climate change.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said it has installed the three sensors in Boothbay Harbor. The department said the sensors will help researchers get a better understanding of how ocean acidification and dissolved oxygen levels can change the health of the state’s marine life and ecosystems.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Fishermen who died at sea remembered, as investigation continues

January 30, 2020 — The community is mourning the loss of a local fisherman and his crew member, while the U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate the cause of their deaths at sea.

The Maine Marine Patrol identified Capt. Arnold “Joe” Nickerson IV, 60, of Arundel, and crew member Chris Pinkham, 44, of Boothbay Harbor, as the two fishermen who were pulled unresponsive from the ocean Jan. 23 after the Coast Guard received an emergency alert.

The two men and their boat, the Hayley Ann, a 42-foot ground fishing vessel based out of Kennebunkport, were located near Cashes Ledge, about 70 miles off the shore of Portland, according to Maine Marine Patrol spokesperson Jeff Nichols.

After the alert, an airplane responded, and its crew spotted the sinking vessel and a life raft floating nearby, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Zachary Hupp.

About half an hour later, two Coast Guard helicopters also arrived. A rescue swimmer, lowered to the water from one of the aircrafts, confirmed that the life raft was empty, according to Hupp. The swimmer also confirmed that there were two people in the water, both unresponsive and floating face-down.

The Coast Guard contacted a nearby fishing vessel, the Ella Christine, and its crew diverted to the scene and assisted in recovering the two fisherman.

Read the full story at SeaCoast Online

Fishing industry mourns loss of two respected lobstermen

January 28, 2020 — Maine’s fishing industry is mourning the loss of captain Arnold Nickerson IV of Arundel and his crew Christopher Pinkham of Boothbay Harbor. The two died at sea off Portland while fishing aboard Nickerson’s lobster boat, the Hayley Ann, on Jan. 23.

Nickerson was known by most as Joe.

“I’ve known Joe for years, and he has been an incredibly valuable contributor for two terms on the [Department of Marine Resources] Advisory Council, especially with regard to the groundfish and elver fisheries with which he was most directly involved,” the department’s commissioner, Patrick Keliher, said in a news release.

“I chose him to serve on the council because of his perspective as an experienced, successful fisherman and his calm and constructive approach to problem solving,” Keliher continued. “He was committed to the proper management of Maine’s marine resources, and was willing to give his time to help his fellow fishermen. I always valued his insights and ideas. He was a first-rate fisherman, and an excellent representative for Maine’s fishing community.”

“It is hard to state the depth of the profound sadness that we have all felt at the news that Joe Nickerson and his crew Chris Pinkham perished at sea while out fishing,” Ben Martens, the association’s executive director, said in a press statement.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Fishing community mourns crew lost at sea as hard workers, devoted to their families

January 27, 2020 — Arnold “Joe” Nickerson and Chris Pinkham were remembered Friday as devoted family men and hardworking, experienced members of Maine’s commercial fishing community.

The two men were fishing aboard Nickerson’s boat, the Hayley Ann, about 50 miles southeast of Portland on Thursday when the vessel is believed to have either capsized or quickly flooded. They did not have time to make a radio call, although the boat’s automatic emergency beacon apparently floated free and sent a distress signal. Both men were dead when a  fellow fishermen pulled them from the water.

Nickerson, 60, was a well-known and widely respected fishing boat captain. He lived in Arundel with his wife, Sharon, and had a young grandchild. His boat was named after his grown daughter, according to a friend.

Hayley Brown, 29, Nickerson’s daughter, said in an interview Friday that her father spent his whole working life as a fisherman.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine fishermen who died after boat sank identified

January 27, 2020 — The Maine Marine Patrol has identified the two fishermen who died Thursday after their boat sank.

Officials say 60-year-old Captain Joe Nickerson, of Arundel, and his crew member 44-year-old Chris Pinkham, of Boothbay Harbor, were pulled from the water about 50 miles off the coast of Portland on Thursday.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a distress radio signal was sent out around 12:30 p.m. from a boat called the “Hayley Ann.”

The Coast Guard spotted an empty life raft and the Hayley Ann sinking.

Read the full story at WGME

Efforts to preserve 6 endangered Maine working waterfront sites receive $1 million boost

July 1, 2019 — The Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation is among six working waterfront projects to share more than $1 million in funds from Land for Maine’s Future to support working waterfront access.

Through the Working Waterfront Access Protection Program, $1.14 million has been set aside to purchase development rights through a legally binding agreement between the state and working waterfront owners, in order to ensure the properties remain available to support commercial fishing or aquaculture, according to a release from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The $301,500 “preliminary allocation” to the Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation will help fund demolition and reconstruction of Carter’s Wharf on Atlantic Avenue in Boothbay Harbor, home to 30 lobster fishing boats and a lobster buying station run by Luke’s Lobster.

The wharf could potentially serve an additional 10 to 15 boats, as well as aquaculture operations and allow crab and tuna to be landed, according to the release.

In November, just as Maine Preservation announced that the Boothbay Harbor working waterfront was one of its most endangered historic places in the state, the nonprofit Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation announced it had a purchase and sale agreement to buy the Sea Pier, a commercial lobster buying business.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

A Global Restaurant Group Sided With Maine Fishermen in Their Battle With a Luxury Resort Developer

March 5, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Luke’s Lobster, a restaurant group founded by Cape Elizabeth native Luke Holden, has taken over operation of the historic Sea Pier on the east side of Boothbay Harbor.

The pier, since renamed Carter’s Wharf, was purchased in August by the Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation from fisherman Douglas Carter with the intent to maintain it as a commercial fishing wharf. The parties signed their lease last week, according to a release from the foundation.

Luke’s Lobster will buy all of the catch, which will be served to its customers.

Luke’s Lobster has more than 40 locations including Portland, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, Japan.

The foundation purchased the Sea Pier, adjacent to Cap’n Fish Motel, amid ongoing controversy related to increasing development pressures on the east side of the harbor.

Southport developer Paul Coulombe, whose many projects in town have included redeveloping the former Boothbay Harbor Country Club and Rocktide Restaurant and Inn into Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Country Club, has proposed rezoning the east side of the harbor into a limited commercial district, which would allow hotels, recreational marinas and housing.

In July, Coulombe told the Bangor Daily News he had purchased The Lobster Dock, also an adjacent property, and expected to close on Cap’N Fish’s in November.

But in October, Coulombe pulled his proposal to purchase Cap’n Fish motel and restaurant, just up the road from the Sea Pier, after the town’s Board of Selectmen opted to hire an independent planner to weigh in on the proposed rezoning.

According to a release published Oct. 25 in the Boothbay Register, Coulombe had already invested $500,000 in nonrefundable deposits, and had planned to invest $30 million in a “new hotel, restaurant and world-class conference center” on the site.

Town residents will vote at a May 3 town meeting on whether to establish a Limited Commercial/Maritime District and a Working Waterfront District.

The foundation was formed with a mission to protect Boothbay Harbor’s working waterfront, marine-related activities and access for fishermen, and to educate, president Deanne Tibbetts said in the release.

“We are really looking forward to this partnership and to working with the fishermen here at Sea Pier to create as much value as possible for their product at the shore,” Holden said in the release. “Protecting Maine’s working waterfront and access for fishermen is important for our business and our mission of sourcing the highest quality seafood but also critically important for Maine’s future.”

Luke’s Lobster maintains a processing facility in Saco, and is “dedicated to traceability, sustainability and providing guests with delicious, fresh seafood.” The company buys lobster and crab directly from fishermen and “works with them to return more value to the shore,” according to the release,

The parties involved plan to explore forming a fisherman’s co-operative in the future.

The foundation purchased the property with a deed restriction requiring that it remain a commercial fishing wharf.

“The working waterfront is key to Maine on many levels – not only maintaining access for fishermen but also for tourism and economic development. People coming from out of state want to see the authentic Maine, and that’s our working waterfront,” said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association, the fiscal sponsor of the foundation as it awaits its 501(c)(3) status from the federal government.

“The partnership with Luke’s, an innovative and growth oriented company, with a track record for excellent collaboration with fishermen, is a smart move for the foundation and more broadly for the Boothbay community.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

New Film Highlights Fishing Industry from Fishermen’s Point of View

April 4, 2018 — “The family fishermen are going the way of family farmers,” says one man interviewed in “Dead in the Water,” the new documentary film by Southern California filmmaker David Wittkower showing at Harbor Theater in Boothbay Harbor on Monday, April 9. Shot in New England coastal towns, the film chronicles the struggles of New England fishermen to remain viable in an age of what some might deem excessive federal regulation of the ground-fishing industry.

“It’s a film from the point of view of the fishermen,” Wittkower said in a recent phone interview from his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. “The government regulations have been so tight on fishermen … that they can’t make a living anymore.

“I wanted to show this industry from the human side.”

Increased regulations have driven up costs for fishermen so much that “a three-man boat went down to a one-man boat,” he said. “The amount of work that one man has to do is amazing.”

Running a one-man boat in the ocean can be dangerous. “In the film, someone says that 87 percent of fishermen in the U.S. are suffering from PTSD,” said Wittkower.

“This film opens the door for the world to see how difficult and dangerous the life of a fisherman is. On top of that, the impact of misguided federal regulations on fishermen has never been presented as powerfully as it is in ‘Dead in the Water,’” said John Bell, the former mayor of Gloucester, Mass., in a recent press release for the movie.

“Dead in the Water” was released last November in Rockport, Mass., Wittkower’s hometown, and has since shown in other Massachusetts coastal towns – Cape Cod, New Bedford, and Gloucester, whose declining fishing industry is chronicled in the film.

Read the full story at the Lincoln County News