Saving Seafood

Scallop scuffle: Council set to vote on future for small-boat fleet

September 18, 2020 — On Thursday, Oct. 1, the New England Fishery Management Council will take up an issue critical to the survival of dayboat scallop fishermen in the Gulf of Maine.

Among other issues, Amendment 21 to the Scallop FMP addresses how scallops in the Northern Gulf of Maine will be allocated between permit categories, specifically General Category NGOM and trip-boat Limited Access boats.

At issue is the size of the NGOM set-aside — scallops “taken off the top” and made available exclusively to General Category vessels, and the subsequent distribution of scallop catch amongst all permit categories.

As you’d expect, those who own General Category NGOM permits and those who own the trip-boat Limited Access permits are at odds over how large the set-aside should be. Passionate arguments from both sides have complicated what is actually a very clear choice. That choice is to honor the forward-thinking decision the council made back in 2008 when they chose to preserve and protect a diverse scallop fishery in the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Measures for Season 2 – Call Scheduled for October 16; Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closure in Effect Starting September 23 through November 3, 2020; and CORRECTION to the Eastern Maine Spawning

September 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The following announcement includes information on (1) days out measures for the 2020 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31); (2) closure dates for the Western Maine and New Hampshire/Massachusetts spawning area; and (3) a correction to the closure dates for Eastern Maine spawning area.

Landings Day for the 2020 Area 1A Fishery for Season 2

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met September 17 via conference call to set effort control measures for the 2020 Area 1A fishery for Season 2. The Season 2 quota is 914 metric tons (mt), which is 27.2% of the Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) after adjusting for the research set-aside, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, a slight underage from Season 1, and the fact that the Area 1A fishery closes at 92% of the sub-ACL.

  • Landings days will be set at zero (0) from October 1 until the start of the fishery on October 11 in Maine and October 12 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
  • The fishery will move to three (3) consecutive landings days per week starting October 11 in Maine and October 12 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
  • The fishery will move to two (2) consecutive landings days per week starting October 18 in Maine and October 19 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
  • Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.; landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.

Harvesters are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until October 11 or 12, depending on the state. Landings will be closely monitored and the fishery will close when 92% of Area 1A sub-ACL is projected to be reached.

The Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:

  • Friday, October 16, at 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
  • You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet, or smartphone at the following link:https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/947666941. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. The meeting will be using the computer audio (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (571) 317-3112 and enter access code 947-666-941 when prompted. The webinar will start at 9:00 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
Spawning Area Closures

The Atlantic herring Area 1A fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic Herring Management Board approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal stages III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. However, closures will begin on predetermined dates if sufficient samples are not available.

Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught in a spawning area during a closure and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Western Maine or Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas.

Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closure

There are currently insufficient samples from the Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas to determine spawning condition. Therefore, per Addendum II default closure dates, these spawning areas will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2020 extending through 11:59 p.m. on November 3, 2020. Western Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:

43° 30’ N     Maine coast
43° 30’ N      68° 54.5’ W
43° 48’ N         68° 20’ W
North to Maine coast at 68° 20’ W

The Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area includes all waters bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine coasts, and 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.

CORRECTION: Eastern Maine Spawning Area Closed through 11:59 p.m. October 8, 2020

The Eastern Maine Spawning Area closure extends through 11:59 p.m. on October 8, 2020. Directed herring vessels may begin fishing in the Eastern Maine spawning area starting at 12:01 a.m. on October 9, but may not land herring caught from this spawning area until the Season 2 fishery opens on October 11 or 12, depending on the state of landing. Eastern Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:

Maine coast     68° 20’ W
43° 48’ N          68° 20’ W
44° 25’ N         67° 03’ W
North along the US/Canada border

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mappelman@asmfc.org.

The announcement including motions from the September 17th Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5f64fc77AtlHerringSeason2DaysOutMeasures_WM_MANH_Closures_Sept2020.pdf

MAINE: $2 million awarded for lobster research

September 10, 2020 — Maine’s Congressional delegation announced last week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative will again receive $2 million in funding to support Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank American lobster research priorities. This is the second consecutive year that the program has received federal money for the research to address critical gaps in knowledge about how American lobster is being impacted by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine.

“Maine’s fishermen and women have been careful stewards of our natural resources for generations,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said last week in a statement. “This critical federal funding will build on their efforts to support the health of Maine’s lobster fishery and help ensure its continued success.”

Four of the nine research projects being funded will be conducted by Maine researchers and institutions:

1) Fishing in hot water: Defining sentinel indicators of resilience in the American lobster fishery – University of Maine Orono.

The intent of this research is to develop “sentinel indicators” of resilience for the lobster industry that can be used to detect early signs of vulnerability among harvesters. In pursuit of this research, the authors will use peer-reviewed methods to develop and evaluate sentinel indicators and work closely with the lobster industry, managers, and the Lobster Regional Extension Program to solicit input and distribute results. Although the status of the lobster stock is closely monitored in the Gulf of Maine, no indicators currently exist to detect vulnerability among participants in the industry. Understanding vulnerability is vital to informing future management decisions and coastal community resilience.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

MAINE: Island Institute to Lead Marine Economy Project

September 9, 2020 — The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) and FocusMaine recently awarded the Rockland-based Island Institute a three-year, $300,000 contract to serve as program director for SEAMaine, Maine’s Marine Economy Roadmap/Workforce Development Project, a $2 million project to help the state develop an industry-led roadmap and action plan for growth and greater resiliency in Maine’s marine economy.

Funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the project was awarded to FocusMaine and MTI, who oversee a steering committee being led by Bill Mook of Mook Sea Farm and Curt Brown of Ready Seafood. Additional steering committee members include the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Maine Lobster Dealers Association, and other private- and public-sector partners.

The Island Institute will take the leadership role in managing the many processes and partners involved in developing the roadmap, said Brian Whitney, president of MTI, in a news release.

Recognized as one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems, the Gulf of Maine covers more than 5,000 miles of coastline, including islands. Maine’s marine living resources have long been a mainstay of the state’s economy, particularly in rural areas. While lobster remains Maine’s predominant and best-known export, Maine’s marine living resources economy continues to diversify and now includes fishing, lobstering, aquaculture, life sciences, and value-added processing. Critical supply chain elements like shipping and logistics also support this economy.

Read the full story at The Free Press

Maine lobster industry nets $2 million for research

September 3, 2020 — For the second straight year, $2 million has been awarded for lobster research in the Gulf of Maine. Four of the nine NOAA Sea Grant projects will be conducted by Maine organizations, totaling $559,181 in funding for Maine-based research projects.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, announced the Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative funding on Thursday, saying, “This critical federal funding will build on their efforts to support the health of Maine’s lobster fishery and help ensure its continued success.”

The $2 million will support Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank American lobster research priorities, which is aimed at understanding how environmental changes are affecting American lobster in the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

NMFS, fishermen partners launch ‘plan C’ survey in Gulf of Maine

September 3, 2020 — With their regular fisheries surveys thwarted by covid-19 precautions, researchers from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a pair of Massachusetts fishing vessels have embarked on a three-week longline survey to compensate with new technology.

The 50-foot Mary Elizabeth out of Scituate and the 40-foot Tenacious II homeported at East Dennis have carried scientists on the Gulf of Maine longline research survey for six years, collecting data at 45 stations, according to a description of the program from NMFS officials.

The effort targets areas of rough bottom, where fish typically hide and are hard to sample with trawl gear. Covid-19 has complicated fisheries surveys off every U.S. coast, with NMFS cancel\ling many regularly scheduled 2020 research cruises over crew health and safety concerns.

That trend likewise closed the usual spring window for the Gulf of Maine longline survey.

“When it was clear we’d not be able to do our usual spring survey, we looked for ways to make the best of it,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the Center’s Cooperative Research Branch.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

‘Amazing’ halibut, one of the largest fish in the Gulf of Maine, are making a comeback

September 3, 2020 — Halibut are one of the largest fish in the Gulf of Maine, second only to bluefin tuna, swordfish and large sharks. Historically they were a mainstay of the fishing industry along with cod.

According to Julia Beaty in “A History of the Atlantic Halibut Fishery in Downeast Maine,” halibut were regularly discarded as a trash fish until the late 1800s when New Englanders began icing their catch and selling fresh fish instead of salting them. Schooners began leaving from New England ports to hunt these huge fish with gangs of baited hooks. This caused a massive overfishing and subsequent decline of their numbers by the early 1900s. The numbers declined so drastically in the late 19th century that they are just now rebounding.

The National Marine Fishery Service began regulating the halibut fishery in the 1990s and there is a one fish per trip per boat limit on catch. This has been a boon to their rebound.

This past spring while fishing for haddock my husband, David, caught four huge halibut. They ranged in size from 40 to 60 pounds. In the past, he has caught one or two a year which were large enough to be legal to keep. The current minimum size is 41 inches. My husband caught two halibut near Jeffrey’s ledge in the mid-1990s which weighed 120 to 140 pounds. These were the largest ones he has caught. The record halibut was caught in 1917 and weighed 700 pounds! Normally they range in size from a foot and a half to 6 feet and weigh a few pounds to 150 pounds. I have not found anything written in literature about this, but David has noticed a strange thing about halibut, they seem to swim in pairs. He has found that if he catches one halibut in an area, he can go back to the same spot the next day and almost always catch a second one.

Read the full story at SeaCoast Online

Feds shut down Gulf of Maine herring fishery to protect fish population

August 31, 2020 — A major fishery off New England will be slowed down considerably in September in an attempt to protect the fish’s population.

Atlantic herring are the target of a large fishing industry. They’re used for food as well as bait. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the inshore Gulf of Maine’s fishery for herring will be effectively shut down until Sept. 30.

The fishery is being shuttered for the month because fishermen are approaching a quota limit, the agency said. The shutdown began Aug. 23.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA Will Expand Recreational Cod Fishing off New England

August 25, 2020 — The federal government is expanding the recreational fishing season for cod in the Gulf of Maine in the coming year.

Cod fishing is tightly monitored because the fish’s population off the Northeast has dramatically declined in recent decades. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement the recreational fishing rules “can be liberalized somewhat” without risking exceeding fishing quotas.

Read the full story at U.S. News

Pandemic scraps local shrimp study

August 13, 2020 — When NOAA Fisheries recently cancelled four fishery and ecosystem surveys because of pandemic-related health and safety concerns, it was no real surprise that the Northern shrimp survey was one of the casualties.

It’s was just another indication of the star-crossed nature of the once-thriving regional shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine.

The imperiled fishery, which has suffered debilitating declines in its ability to sustain biomass and recruitment, has been closed since the end of the 2013 fishing season. Six times, the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission looked at the numbers generated by stock surveys and six times it saw no recourse but to shutter the fishery.

Matters devolved to the point that in late 2019, the ASMFC abandoned the previous policy of single-season closures and closed the Northern shrimp fishery for three years, ending in 2021.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times