Saving Seafood

In another step to reduce environmental regulations, Trump allows commercial fishing in nation’s only marine monument in the Atlantic

June 6, 2020 — Overturning one of his predecessor’s more far-reaching environmental measures in New England, President Trump on Friday signed a proclamation allowing commercial fishing in nearly 5,000 square miles of protected waters off Cape Cod.

The decision undermines one of the main goals of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a controversial preserve about 130 miles southeast of Provincetown that President Barack Obama designated in his final year in office. It was the first marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Connecticut-sized area features a range of unique coral, rare fish, endangered marine mammals, and sea turtles. It contains three underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and four underwater mountains.

Fishing groups had lobbied for the change, saying the restrictions had cost the industry millions.

“This action was deeply unfair to Maine lobstermen,” Trump said shortly before signing the proclamation during a meeting with commercial fishermen in Maine. “You’ve been treated very badly. They’ve regulated you out of business.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Cape scientists forge ahead with right whale research

April 7, 2020 — Over the past week, New England Aquarium scientist Philip Hamilton, manager of the right whale identification catalog at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, has received photos of about 30 right whales taken by people walking the shoreline around Race Point and off Nahant.

Unfortunately, researchers hoping to see them from the air and sea during what they consider the epicenter of right whale migration into Cape Cod Bay essentially have been grounded by weather and coronavirus.

“We lost 22 days there,” said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, a senior scientist and director of the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

COVID-19 fears forced the New England Aquarium to close March 13. Admission fees account for 80% of their $3.5 million in annual operating expenses, and the aquarium announced layoffs and furloughs last week to cut costs.

The Center for Coastal Studies did not lay off anyone, spokesperson Cathrine Macort said, but its offices and lab are closed. The center is watching expenses and applying for federal payroll aid.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Endangered right whales spotted in Cape Cod Bay during spring feeding season

April 6, 2020 — An increasing number of endangered North Atlantic right whales have been spotted feeding off of Massachusetts’ coast in recent weeks, a sign that spring is finally here, researchers at the New England Aquarium said.

The right whales live in shallow waters off the southeastern United States during late fall and winter, the aquarium said. After pregnant whales give birth to their calves while living with juvenile and male whales in the region during those months, the whales migrate to Cape Cod Bay during the spring to feed before heading further north.

“In a time when so much is changing around us, I find the appearance of right whales feeding in these waters as they have for hundreds, if not thousands, of years reassuring. Some ancient behaviors remain,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the aquarium.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape fishermen navigating stormy seas

April 3, 2020 — Late last week Zack Dixon, co-owner of Holbrook Oyster, in Wellfleet, was spending his time filling out a small business loan application and fielding phone and text orders for what he hopes will be a successful new undertaking.

Everything had come “screeching” to a halt on March 15, when Gov. Charlie Baker said restaurants could only do take-out.

“That’s not a figure of speech,” said Dixon. “Sales went to zero. I had deliveries set up for the next day and they were like, ‘No’.”

Restaurants, no longer allowed to serve patrons inside, are taking a beating from the Covid-19 pandemic, and businesses like Holbrook, which has grown oysters since 1995, are heavily dependent on people eating out.

Holbrook, started by the Dalby brothers, who are sixth generation Wellfleetians, quickly switched to a new model, mainly to keep as many people working as they could and to spread some community cheer in the form of the nutritious bivalve.

With the new model, people place an order and Holbrook delivers, anywhere from Provincetown to Orleans free of charge, farther for a small fee. (If you’re interested in this service, call 774-722-1788 or email zack@holbrookoyster.com)

Read the full story at Wicked Local

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod fishermen counting on federal stimulus funds

March 30, 2020 — The Donna Marie was at sea when Gov. Charlie Baker closed restaurants to all but takeout food March 14 to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Owner Chris King called his 60-foot steel fishing vessel and the captain reported he had fish and lobsters onboard. They were able to sell those off, including a fire sale of lobster the next day at King’s fish market in Orleans. They then switched the boat over to scallop gear for the opening of that season April 1.

When restaurants shut down almost overnight, the Cape Cod and New England fishing industry scrambled to adapt. Switching to another fishery won’t be enough to weather this crisis, as the price paid to fishermen tumbled like the stock market in recent weeks.

Industry leaders on a March 20 conference call with state Division of Marine Fisheries Acting Director Daniel McKiernan estimated that 70% of all seafood sold in Massachusetts is consumed in restaurants. Especially hard-hit were the “luxury” seafood species such as lobster, scallops, swordfish and tuna favored by diners.

“They are collapsing. It’s real,” Keith Decker, CEO of New Bedford-based Blue Harvest Fisheries, said of prices. “This is having a profound impact on the seafood industry.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Scientists Work to Save World’s Smallest Sea Turtle

January 9, 2020 — The combination of the curving shape of Cape Cod, the region’s strong winds and currents, and the rapid cooling of the ocean in October and November make for a deadly threat to the rarest and smallest sea turtle on Earth.

That’s the problem being addressed by a series of research projects conducted by an oceanographer at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass., and a doctoral student at the University of Rhode Island. The scientists used satellite-tracked oceanographic instruments called drifters to determine where Kemp’s ridley turtles that are late to return south in the fall are most likely to float ashore near death along the Cape Cod shoreline.

The critically endangered turtles lay their eggs on beaches on the Gulf Coast of Mexico in a mass nesting event called an arribada. After spending their first few years far offshore in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda, many of the young turtles visit the waters of the Gulf of Maine to feed on crabs and other small marine creatures that live on the seafloor.

“There are little warm water bridges from the Gulf Stream that come up here, and we think some of the turtles are riding those into the area,” URI student Felicia Page said. “The problem comes when those little bridges close off and the water in Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine stay warm, which keeps the turtles here longer than they should instead of heading south in September.”

Read the full story at EcoRI

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen Training Pilot Program Coming to Cape Cod in 2020

December 27, 2019 — The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance is working with local partners and fishermen to conduct a pilot training program that will cover basic training such as navigation, boating safety, personal survival, and today’s fisheries.

The course will run in two sessions from late January to early February and from late February to early March in the coming year.

Students will learn about basic maritime terminology, crew responsibilities on board different types of fishing vessels, basic knot tying, offshore survival, first aid, Cape Cod fisheries, and the types of gears used in the region.

Upon successful completion of the course, students and interested captains will be given an opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet event at the Fishermen’s Alliance office to discuss potential hiring opportunities.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Atlantic Halibut Subject of NOAA Research

December 9, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen across Cape Cod to see if the Atlantic halibut is showing signs of recovery in the Gulf of Maine as well as the New England region.

A three-part study is currently underway to see if the halibut population is rebuilding after the size of the fish shrunk over centuries.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is working with local fishermen to understand the life history, stock structure, and movement patterns of the Atlantic halibut.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

What To Do With ‘Peter Pan’ Scallops

December 6, 2019 — They have a name: Peter Pan scallops.

And why?

Because like the famous character, they won’t grow up.

But these scallops don’t live in Never Never Land. They reside in a place called Nantucket Lightship South, roughly 20 miles east and 60 miles south of the elbow of the Cape; take the Great South Channel (rather than the second star to the right), and straight on until morning.

Why won’t they grow up?

Scientists and fishermen have more than one theory, but most agree on a few factors:

These scallops, all born as part of the 2012 year class, settled in water much deeper than typical scallop grounds, around 35 fathoms (210 feet) down, which means that they might not be getting as much nutrient to feed on. Plus, the set that year was phenomenal; packing many animals close together might be another reason why they are stunted.

When researchers say “many animals,” they really mean it. In 2019 surveys, it appears that the biomass of scallops in this one area about 10 square miles (though the big concentration is in roughly four square miles), is more than 35,000 metric tons, a weight that doesn’t include shells, only the little round bodies we eat. That translates into more than three billion animals – with a ‘b’.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

US places further limitations on midwater trawlers catch of herring in New England

December 5, 2019 — As New England lobster harvesters struggle to keep up with the high cost of bait, due in large part to the short supply of Atlantic herring, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued further restrictions to protect the forage fish’s dwindling stocks.

As part of an amendment developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) and approved Nov. 19 by NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, midwater trawling has been prohibited within 12 nautical miles of the coastline that runs from the US state of Maine to Rhode Island 20 miles off Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, reports The Vineyard Gazette, a Massachusetts newspaper.

The change will give the herring a “buffer zone” to migrate without being pressured by commercial vessels but also allowing them to be eaten by other fish, aiding the health of the overall ecosystem, Janice Plante, the NEFMC’s public affairs officer, is quoted as saying.

Local fishermen, boards of selectmen, state legislators and environmental groups have been pushing for stronger management of the midwater trawl herring fishery for more than 20 years, according to the newspaper.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News