Saving Seafood

MAINE: Elver fishermen unite as tribes agree to new rules

March 9, 2016 — ROCKPORT — Last year, Maine fishermen harvested elvers worth more than $11.4 million from the state’s streams and rivers. That made the fishery for the tiny, translucent juvenile eels the fourth most valuable in the state, but it still wasn’t a good year.

A cold, dry spring delayed the migration of elvers from the sea into the rivers where harvesters set their gear. As a result, Maine fishermen landed just 5,259 pounds of the tiny wrigglers, little more than half the 9,688-pound quota allocated the state by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The good news was that those elvers were worth $2,171 per pound to the harvesters fortunate enough to catch some.

When the Maine Elver Fishermen Association gathered for its annual meeting Saturday morning, harvesters received some good news from Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher and former MEFA Executive Director Jeffrey Pierce.

Emergency legislation enacted that morning should give fishermen a better chance to actually fill the quota, and Keliher said he also hoped it would reduce friction over the elver fishery between the state and Maine’s four tribal governments.

Of immediate consequence, the new law extends the elver season, which begins on Tuesday, March 22, from May 31 to June 7 and allows fishing every day of the week. Under the prior law, the fishery was closed on weekends as a conservation measure.

Initially, LD1502 gave Keliher flexibility to set the 48-hour closures before the season to take account of the tides and minimize the impact on the industry. With fishing limited by a fixed quota since 2014, though, the closure became unnecessary.

The legislation also allows licensed fishermen to chose before each season starts what type of gear they will use — fyke nets or dip nets. It does not, however, authorize the use of more gear.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American 

Maine’s 2015 Commercial Marine Resources Top $600 Million for the First Time

March 5, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources: 

Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources topped $600 million in overall value in 2015, according to preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The total,$631,768,531,  reflects an all-time high and an increase of more than $33 million over the previous record set in 2014.

The largest single increase in value was in Maine’s lobster fishery. The fishery saw the overall landed value jump by more than $37 million and the average per pound value increase by more than 10 percent, going from $3.70 per pound in 2014 to $4.09 per pound in 2015.

The overall value of Maine’s lobster fishery was again by far the highest at $495,433,635. When factoring in bonuses paid to harvesters as reported by 11 of Maine’s 19 lobster co-ops, the overall landed value of Maine’s lobster fishery reached $510,680,048.

2015 marked the fourth year in a row and the fourth year ever in which Maine lobster harvesters landed over 120 million pounds, with landings totaling 121,083,418 pounds. “Maine’s lobster fishery continues to be a major engine for our coastal economy,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“This past year saw a continuation of steady and historic lobster landings throughout the season. The increase in value reflects growing demand for Maine lobster.

“While this year’s value and landings are great news for our coastal economy, we also recognize that lobster represents more than 81 percent of the overall value of our commercial fisheries,” said Commissioner Keliher.  “It shows that we all must be working hard to build and sustain our commercial fisheries and to create more diverse opportunity, be it with traditional commercial fisheries or an expanding the role of aquaculture. This work is critical to ensure we can adapt to changes in landings and value in future years.”  

Maine’s softshell clam industry retained its second place standing in overall value at $22,536,086, a record for the fishery.  The jump in value came on the strength of a 47 cent per pound increase over 2014. At $2.46 per pound, 2015 landings netted harvesters a 23 percent increase in per pound value over 2014 despite a drop in landings of one million pounds.

At $2,171 per pound, Maine’s elver fishery was by-far the most lucrative of Maine’s commercial fisheries on a per pound basis. Despite a season in which landings were well below the state quota due to a cold, dry spring that slowed elver migration and challenged harvesting, overall value increased by nearly $3 million. At $11,422,381, the elver fishery was Maine’s fourth most lucrative behind herring at $13 million.

DMR officials consider 2015 a continuation of the successful rebuilding effort for Maine’s scallop fishery despite a decline in value and meat pounds landed. “We expected 2015 to be lean in terms of landings,” said Commissioner Keliher. “But considering that Maine scallop harvesters landed more than ten times the amount harvested in 2005, this fishery is on the right track.” 

More landings data can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/comfish.htm.

Maine may extend fishing season for eels prized as sushi

February 21, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen are making money on sushi in Maine, the only state in the country with a significant baby eel fishery, and lawmakers are looking to make it possible for them to make more.

Maine’s baby eels are wriggling gold, sometimes worth more than $2,000 per pound at the dock. The baby eels, called elvers, are sold to Asian aquaculture companies who raise them to maturity for use them as food, and they frequently end up in sushi and sashimi. Some end up back on plates in the U.S.

But fishermen must abide by a strict quota system that limits the state fishery to 9,688 pounds per year, and they caught only 5,242 pounds of elvers last year. Fishermen attributed the slow season to a cold spring, which state regulators said slowed the migration of elvers in the rivers and streams where they are caught.

Lawmakers are looking to change the restrictions on the elver fishery to give fishermen a better chance to catch the entire quota. A legislative committee recently approved a plan to extend the season by a week and allow weekend fishing, as opposed to the current limitation to five days per week.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

MAINE: Marine Resources Committee schedules hearing on elver legislation

January 6, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee has scheduled a public hearing on a bill introduced by Rep. Walter Kumiega (D-Deer Isle) that would give the Department of Marine Resources more flexibility in managing the elver fishery.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Room 206 of the Cross Building in Augusta.

Sen. Brian Langley (R-Hancock County) is among the bill’s co-sponsors.

Kumiega, House chairman of the Marine Resources Committee, has proposed a bill that would, he said last month, “provide increased flexibility and promote maximum utilization of the elver quota by Maine’s elver harvesters.”

The law as it now stands calls for a 48-hour fishing closure each week to give the juvenile eels, commonly known as elvers, a chance to pass upstream on their spring journey from the sea to their spawning grounds in Maine’s streams, lakes and ponds. The closed period is now set by statute and runs from Friday at noon to Sunday at noon each week. Kumiega’s bill would let DMR set the 48-hour closed periods by rule prior to the start of the season, based on the timing of the weekly tidal cycle. The department would consult with industry members to determine which weekly 48-hour period would have the least impact on the fishery opportunity by setting the closed periods when the tides are the least advantageous to harvesting.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

 

Maine elver fishermen to have same quota next season

August 14, 2015 — The following is an excerpt from a story published yesterday by the Associated Press, appearing in the Portland Press Herald:

Maine’s elver fishermen will have the same quota next spring when they fish for the valuable baby eels.

The fishermen are dealing with fluctuating volume and value in a fishery that exploded in interest early this decade. Elvers are sold to Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity and use them as food, including sushi. Maine’s fishery for elvers is by far the biggest in the country, and the eels have become more valuable in recent years largely because of a sharp decline in their population across Europe in the 1990s.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages elver fishing, met earlier this month to discuss the fishery. There was no discussion of the possibility of changing the quota, which will remain in effect through 2017, when it will be re-evaluated, a spokeswoman said.

The quota system and Maine’s swipe card tracking system have been valuable tools to manage the fishery, said David Allen, a member of the commission’s American Eel Advisory Panel.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Maine elver fishery rebounded despite weather

June 23, 2015 — MAINE — This year’s catch of elvers was valued nearly $3 million over the 2014 catch, but still a far cry from the record levels recorded in 2012.

The 2015 Maine elver harvest season, which ended May 31, recorded $11,389,864 for the season, significantly higher than 2014’s $8,474,302, according to updated data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. In 2012, the catch of 21,000 pounds of baby eels was valued at $40.3 million.

Total pounds landed in 2015 were 5,242 compared to 9,688 in 2014.

The lower volume of landings was partially attributable to the weather. The cold spring slowed the migration of elvers and the lack of precipitation lowered water levels in streams and rivers, which complicated the catch, according to a release from the DMR. There are 920 active elver harvesters in the state.

Read the full story at Portland Press Herald