Saving Seafood

Feds accuse Maine man of trafficking in poached baby eels

March 15, 2017 — A 70-year-old Woolwich man has been indicted by a federal grand jury alleging that he trafficked in poached elvers — juvenile American eels — between 2011 and 2014.

William Sheldon, a longtime commercial elver dealer operating as Kennebec Glass Eels, is charged with conspiracy and violating the federal Lacey Act, which prohibits interstate transport or transactions of any species of fish or wildlife illegally harvested or handled in any state.

Each of the seven counts carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Sheldon will plead not guilty to the charges, his attorney, Walter McKee, said Tuesday. He is scheduled for arraignment on March 30 in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Prosecutors say that from 2011 to 2014, while Sheldon was licensed in Maine and South Carolina to commercially harvest elvers, he violated the Lacey Act by buying or selling eels illegally poached in Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina.

Maine’s 2016 Commercial Marine Resources Top $700 Million for the First Time

March 3, 2017 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources topped $700 million in overall value in 2016, according to preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The total reflects yet another all-time high and an increase of nearly $100 million in value over 2015.

“Mainers should take great pride in the success of our commercial fishing industry,” said Governor Paul R. LePage. “The hard working men and women who fish for a living along our coast have established Maine as a leader in the responsible management and harvest of seafood.”

For the second straight year, the largest single increase in value was in Maine’s lobster fishery. The fishery saw the overall landed value jump by more than $30 million while the average per pound value remained over $4 for the second year in a row, at $4.07.

The overall value of Maine’s lobster fishery was again by far the highest at $533,094,366. When factoring in bonuses paid to harvesters as reported by 14 of Maine’s 19 lobster co-ops, the overall landed value of Maine’s lobster fishery reached $547,249,010.

2016 marked the first year ever that Maine lobster harvesters landed over 130 million pounds, with a total of 130,844,773 pounds. It was also the fifth year in a row in which Maine lobster harvesters landed over 120 million pounds.

“The historic landings reflect the hard work of our harvesters to build and sustain this fishery,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “The exceptional value is the result of growing demand by consumers who appreciate both the quality of Maine lobster and the long-standing commitment to sustainable harvesting practices that characterize this fishery.”

At $19,019,337 Atlantic herring, the primary bait source for Maine’s lobster industry, saw an increase in value over 2015 of more than $5 million. The dollar amount ranked it as Maine’s second most valuable fishery, despite a nearly 11 percent decline in landings. “Overall herring landings declined in 2016 as a result of a lack of fish off-shore, resulting in demand that far surpassed supply,” said Commissioner Keliher. 

Maine’s softshell clam industry dropped from second place in 2015 to third in 2016 with an overall value of $15,656,386. The decline in overall value reflected a 13.4 percent decline in per pound value as well as a 20 percent decline in pounds landed.

“One significant factor that contributed to the decline in softshell clam landings was a closure of harvest areas between the Canadian border and Mount Desert Island associated with Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) late in the season,” said Kohl Kanwit, Director of the DMR Bureau of Public Health. While the closure was minimized as much as possible through rigorous testing, many areas were closed for 2 to 4 weeks to ensure public health and safety.   

Maine’s elver fishery was again by-far the most lucrative of Maine’s commercial fisheries on a per pound basis at $1,430.51 a pound. Maine harvesters netted 9,400 of the 9,688 available pounds of quota for an overall value of $13,446,828, an increase of more than $2 million from the previous year. The overall value ranked the elver fishery as Maine’s fourth highest.

“While we can take this moment to celebrate the great value of Maine’s marine resources, we cannot lose site of the signs of change,” said Commissioner Keliher. “The agency and the industry must work to not only safeguard our iconic lobster fishery but also to work together on solutions that ensure the health and resiliency of all Maine fisheries.”

More landings data can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercial-fishing/.

MAINE: Industry, regulators back plan for baby eel lottery system

February 28, 2017 — Fishing regulators and industry representatives support a plan for a lottery system to get new fishermen into Maine’s lucrative baby eel fishery, which is a key piece of the sushi supply chain.

Maine is the only state with a significant fishery for baby eels. They can fetch more than $2,000 per pound at the dock, after which they are sold to Asian aquaculture companies for use in food.

A group of lawmakers wants to create a lottery system to allow new people to get into the fishery when other fishermen leave it. Right now, it’s closed, with 419 fishermen searching Maine’s rivers and streams with their nets for the elvers.

The lottery plan faced a public hearing on Monday before the state legislature’s marine resources committee. Fishermen said the lottery is needed because members of the fishery are aging and someone will need to take their place.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bristol Herald Courier

MAINE: Marine worm, elver hearing is postponed

February 15, 2017 — The Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee is set to hold a public hearing on a controversial bill that could significantly alter two Maine fisheries.

The hearing was originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 13, but due to the snowstorm it has been postponed. An exact date and time should be posted later this week.

Rep. Robert Alley (D-Beals) is offering a bill (LD 115) that would ban dragging for mussels in any Washington County river and close Maine intertidal flats to worm harvesting from Dec. 1 through March 31. Last week, the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association sent a mailing to all marine worm license holders soliciting their opinions on the proposal.

Judging from responses posted on the association’s Facebook page and elsewhere online, there is little support for a closed season and a divided opinion on the dragging ban.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

MAINE: Committee to hear marine worm, elver bills

February 8, 2017 — The Legislature is in full swing and next Monday, the Marine Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on a controversial bill that could significantly alter two Maine fisheries.

Rep. Robert Alley (D-Beals) is offering a bill (LD 115) that would ban dragging for mussels in any Washington County river and close Maine intertidal flats to worm harvesting from Dec. 1 through March 31. Last week, the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association sent a mailing to all marine worm license holders soliciting their opinions on the proposal.

Judging from responses posted on the association’s Facebook page and elsewhere online, there is little support for a closed season and a divided opinion on the dragging ban.

A few harvesters commented on Facebook that a four-month closure could cost Maine diggers the opportunity to ship worms to the busy European bait market during the winter. When digging resumed in the spring, they said, there would be little incentive for European buyers to come back into the Maine worm market. That could leave harvesters and dealers with an oversupply of worms for the domestic market, and that could reduce prices.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Quota for elver catch could change in 2018

February 2, 2017 — Interstate regulators say the fishing quota for Maine’s expensive baby eels could change in 2018.

Fishermen are allowed to catch about 9,700 pounds of the eels, which are also called elvers, every year. The elvers are shipped to Asian aquaculture companies to be raised to maturity and used as food.

The fishing season comes in the spring and is closely monitored by state authorities.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will re-evaluate the quota before the 2018 fishing season. An arm of the commission will review the stock later this year before any decisions are made.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

One on One with Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher

July 12, 2016 — In the five years since Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher took on the agency’s leadership, he and his team have played a central role in making the state’s commercial fishing industry stronger.

The industry reached an all-time high in value in 2015, earning harvesters just over $616.55 million, a gain of $33 million over the previous record set in 2014. With the economic impact on dealers and related business, the industry has an overall value of closer to $2 billion. Maine products range from the flagship lobster to the elver, or baby eel, which fetched $1,435 a pound in the recent season.

Mainebiz recently talked with Keliher about some of the challenges facing the state’s commercial fishing industry. An edited transcript follows.

Mainebiz: What are today’s pressing concerns for the industry?

Pat Keliher: The changing ocean environment is a major challenge. Water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine are rising and, while it’s been associated with the presence of new commercial species like black sea bass, it’s also been linked to invasive species like green crabs, the decline of species like shrimp and a shift of Maine’s lobster resource up the coast. I’d say that challenge is only going to grow.

MB: How has DMR addressed sustainability in the lobster industry?

PK: We’re planning to invest more department resources in research to ensure we’re not only able to effectively monitor Maine’s valuable lobster resource but also to predict changes that impact the resource and allow us to put forward adaptive management and regulatory changes. As a result of a motion I made in April, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster technical committee will conduct an in-depth analysis of various issues associated with lobster stocks, ocean currents and management measures in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. The goal of this research is to better understand and adapt to the changing ocean environment.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Elver harvest tops $13 million as season winds down

May 31, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — With the end of Maine’s annual elver fishing season quickly approaching, the fishery has generated the third-highest total in yearly landings revenue in the past 23 years, according to state officials.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, May 26, elver fishermen throughout Maine had caught and sold nearly 9,270 pounds of the baby American eels for an estimated statewide gross revenue total just shy of $13.32 million, officials with Maine Department of Marine Resources indicated on the agency’s website. The annual statewide harvest limit for elvers in Maine is 9,688 pounds.

That preliminary value trails only the statewide totals from 2012 and 2013, when there was no limit on the amount of elvers that Maine fishermen could catch between late March and the end of May, when the season used to close each year. In those years, Maine’s elver fishery respectively generated $40.3 million and $32.9 million in statewide gross revenues for the 900 or so licensed elver fishermen in the state. The catch volume totals for those years were 21,600 pounds in 2012 and 18,000 pounds in 2013.

The 2016 season is expected to end either on June 7 or when the statewide quota of 9,688 pounds is reached, whichever happens first.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Elvers catch outpacing last year’s

April 26, 2016 — Maine’s money-making elvers fishery, the only significant fishery in the U.S. for the baby eels, is having a much stronger year than in 2015 as favorable weather has allowed fishermen to capture their quarry.

Elvers are sold to Asian aquaculture companies and eventually become food, such as sushi. Much sought-after, they sometimes sell for more than $2,000 per pound, putting them among the most lucrative commercial fish species in the country.

Last year, fishermen caught less than 5,300 pounds of them against a quota of nearly 10,000 pounds. Fishermen, who seek the eels with nets in Maine’s rivers from late March to early June, have already caught more than last year’s entire catch.

“For us, it’s going well,” said Henry Bear, an elver fisherman on the Passagassawakeag River in Waldo County and the Maliseet tribal representative to the Maine House of Representatives. “Far more productive, and the fish are running good.”

Last year’s fishery was impeded by the lingering harsh winter weather. Fishermen this year have already caught more than 5,500 pounds, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

At Fishermen’s Forum, industry seeks balance between Mother Nature and politics

March 8, 2016 — Julie Keene is harbor master for the town of Lubec. “I’m an elver fisherman,” she said. ”Last year, we got nothing. I didn’t catch my quota. We’re going to have a good year for eels, maybe, this year. But I’m on a quota system. I can’t fish that much.”

Julie’s frustrations were shared by most during the panel discussion “Questioning our Changing Oceans,” a well-attended forum held during the annual Fishermen’s Forum at the Samoset in Rockport, March 3-5.

Rising ocean temperatures, strengthening weather events courtesy of El Nino, and over-fishing continue to change the landscape of the world’s marine industries.

Crab fishermen in the Bay Area of California struggle to pay rent after the once-abundant Dungeness crab shifted habitat north to Alaska. Gulf of Mexico wetlands are decreasing daily. Southern New England fishermen declare complete devastation in the lobster industry due to climate vulnerabilities, and Mainers are concerned.

Read the full story from the Penobscot Bay Pilot