Saving Seafood

Lobsters and acidic seas: can shellfish help neutralise one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

August 21, 2026 — For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs.

The only thing more debated than the recipe is the price: the once-humble roll now routinely fetches $30 (£22), or even $50, in a sign of the changing times – and seas.

A third-generation lobster fisherman, Scott Lord spends his days hauling traps on the Gulf of Maine, which is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans. “Whether you agree with who says why it’s happening, it is happening,” he says.

Bycatch that was once plentiful, such as sea urchins, sand dollars or starfish, are increasingly rare. And, most concerning, Lord has noticed the number of inshore lobsters dropping dramatically over the past 15 years, pushing fishers farther and farther offshore.

Motivated to find a remedy, Lord joined a regional shellfish committee. “Why are there not clams where there used to be clams? Why are they not coming back, no matter what we do?” he asks.

Hundreds of miles to the south in Massachusetts, on a sandy crook of land that spins out to form Cape Cod, Adam Subhas, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is trying to find the answers.

Read the full article at The Guardian

After gauge fight, lobster managers rethink strategy

August 14, 2026 — After the collapse of controversial lobster gauge changes, managers are taking a different approach to the future of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank fishery. This time, they are starting with a broader question: What should lobster management be trying to accomplish?

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is beginning a process that is expected to bring fishermen and other industry members into the conversation before any new major management measures are proposed.

At the American Lobster Management Board’s Aug. 4 meeting, ASMFC staff outlined how that process could work. Eventually, it could lead to what is known as a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE), which essentially allows managers to test different management approaches on paper before putting them into practice.

But ASMFC isn’t there yet.

First, managers want to hear from the industry about what the future of the fishery should look like and what needs to be protected, from the lobster resource itself to fishermen’s businesses and coastal communities.

The discussion comes as managers continue to watch changes in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank lobster stock. The 2025 stock assessment found the stock was not depleted, but lobster abundance had fallen 34 percent from the high identified in the previous assessment.

That decline raised concerns and led the Lobster Board to begin looking at what might need to happen next.

Rather than immediately developing another set of regulations, however, ASMFC’s Technical Committee recommended first figuring out what fishermen and managers actually want future management to accomplish.

ASMFC’s Caitlin Starks called that a “critical first step” during the Aug. 4 meeting.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Survey Crashers: Encountering Unexpected New Faces in the Gulf of Maine

August 11, 2026 — The sun was out and the sea conditions were ideal. Fish were being hauled onboard at a consistent rate. I was sampling spiny dogfish on the back deck of the F/V Tenacious II when the captain stopped the hauler and said, “Hey, we caught something different.” I looked up at the hauling station and saw the captain unhooking a chain dogfish, a new species to the Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey . The survey focuses on the rocky bottom habitat in the Gulf of Maine. Every year in the spring and the fall, we partner with two commercial fishing vessels to haul up 45,000 individual hooks from the rocky bottom of the Gulf of Maine from 45 randomly selected locations. We conduct the survey in parallel with the Northeast Bottom Trawl Survey , which samples in the Gulf of Maine during the same time each spring and fall.

Typically we see spiny dogfish, white hake, and haddock along with a variety of other commercially important species. Over the more than 10-year history of this survey, the species caught are typically similar each season. But, occasionally we encounter new species. This spring, during the first trip of the 2026 season, we were excited to encounter a new species.

New species added to our list: the Chain Dogfish

We were fishing in the southeastern corner of the Gulf of Maine on our first leg of the 2026 spring season, when we added the chain dogfish to our list of encountered species. This was the first chain dogfish ever seen in 12 years of the survey. Chain dogfish have a very charismatic pattern on their body, with intricate black lines that stand out sharply against the gray body resembling a tiger.

  • Species: Chain Dogfish (S cyliorhinus retifer )
  • Habitat: Demersal (near the sea floor)
  • Range: Western Atlantic (Massachusetts to Nicaragua)
    • Most abundant off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina in depths between 120 and 2,500 feet.
  • Size: 4 to 24 inches

Another Uncommon Species to the Gulf of Maine: Golden Tilefish

This survey encountered golden tilefish as well, which are also not typically found in the Gulf of Maine. This season, we were fortunate enough to encounter three individuals during the first leg of the spring survey. Like the chain dogfish, our survey typically encounters this species in the southeastern Gulf of Maine. Golden tilefish have a very distinctive coloration and pattern. Golden tilefish are vibrant deep-sea fish sometimes called “clowns of the sea”. They have bright iridescent blue-green backs, scattered spots of yellow and gold, and crisp white bellies. Their heads are rosy-pink and they feature a large, fleshy crest or flap on top. In addition to the vivid coloration, Golden tilefish are considered a delicacy by seafood lovers.

  • Species: Golden tilefish ( Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps )
  • Habitat: Demersel along the ocean floor along the outer continental shelf and upper slopes
  • Range: Throughout the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia, Canada, south to northern South America, including the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. In U.S. waters, they are most abundant from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, down to Cape May, New Jersey, at depths between 250 and 1,500 feet.
  • Size: 10 to 45 inches

Days at sea can be long and the unfavorable weather conditions can make the work difficult, but getting the opportunity to work on a boat in the Gulf of Maine is one of my favorite aspects of this job. At the end of the last haul of this particular trip, after being on deck all day, the sun was beginning to set. The seas were calm and the sky was clear. The sunset over the horizon, turning the sea surface orange while I was finishing data collection and cleaning up the gear was a scene I will never forget.

Being an avid recreational fisherman myself, the ability to collect data that helps contribute information to improve stock assessments and understand fish stocks is very meaningful to me. I also enjoy seeing new and unusual species come aboard during the survey. As ocean conditions change, seeing new species reinforces how essential long-term data collection is to tracking and adapting to the changing Gulf of Maine.

MASSACHUSETTS: A challenging but ‘priceless’ life of a lobsterman

August 3, 2026 — A lot has changed since Tom O’Reilly threw his first lobster pot in the ocean more than four decades ago.

Back then he was using wooden traps which had to be laden with rocks so they would sink to the sea floor. Once the wood became waterlogged the rocks were no longer needed, but they were heavy even when empty. Each pot was hauled up one at a time using only muscle power, a slow and arduous task. And he worked year ‘round.

Now 65, O’Reilly – a big, affable man with short cropped white hair and piercing blue eyes – employs a “stern man,” currently 18-year-old Kyle Moyen, of Manomet. Wooden traps have been replaced by lighter, coated wire traps strung together in groups of 15, each separated from the others by 90 feet of rope. To get the traps up to the boat, Moyen uses a grappling hook to grab the rope just underneath each buoy and O’Reilly threads the rope onto a winch-like device mounted on the starboard rail. He calls it a hauler (brand name: Hydro Slave) and it does most the heavy lifting until each trap is brought alongside the boat where Moyen wrangles it onto the rail. As for lobster fishing year ‘round, that, to O’Reilly’s chagrin, has been reduced by state regulation to help save the endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which fewer than 400 remain.

When I moved to Plymouth in late 2024, I was surprised the following spring to see so many lobster buoys bobbing in Plymouth waters. It was widely reported that even Maine’s coastal waters were becoming too warm to sustain the lobster population, forcing them north into Canadian waters.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the waters of Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine, of which Cape Cod Bay is a part, are warming faster than most global marine environments. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute concludes climate change has caused average summertime water temperatures in the Bay to warm by more than 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1970s. That may not sound like a lot, but even a one-degree average rise can mean the difference between thriving and dying for some species. Local oystermen cite warming waters for a drastic reduction in the local mussel population, for example.

O’Reilly doesn’t dispute the data, but says over the past ten years the temperature has been stable.

“People may disagree with me on this,” O’Reilly says, “but I’ve monitored the water temperature every day for the past ten years, and I don’t see it rising.”

He points to one of the monitors on his boat, the 36-foot Karen M, built in Maine in 1991 and named for O’Reilly’s wife. The monitor shows the water temperature is 65 degrees. “Normally, this time of year, it should be about 70,” he says, “and the lobster population is stable.”

Read the full article at the Plymouth Independent 

NOAA Report Finds Gulf of Maine Warming Slowed for Now, but Ecosystem Remains Unstable

July 28, 2026 — Maine’s fishing ports are doing well for now, but climate change is destabilizing the Gulf of Maine, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest “State of the Ecosystem” report for New England waters. Federal scientists presented the report to the New England Fishery Management Council in April, and published it online last week.

They found that some Maine fishing ports are growing busier, likely driven by the high price of lobster. Stonington, Harpswell and Friendship all see more activity now than they did roughly 20 years ago.

And 2025, like 2024, offered slightly cooler water temperatures after more than a decade of rapid and record-breaking warming in the Gulf of Maine. But the scientists predict that temperatures will warm again this fall, and will continue to rise long-term as the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

To weather these ongoing changes, fishermen and their communities need to diversify their businesses, experts say.

“Things don’t look particularly stable either in terms of the fishery or the ecosystem,” said Joseph Caracappa, a research biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center who edited the report. “We’re seeing big changes that are sweeping across the ecology of the system and fisheries. Even socially, culturally — how communities are structured, where people are fishing, who’s actually doing the fishing.”

This annual report includes contributions from more than 100 scientists across the Northeast. NOAA has had to make do with fewer resources as the federal government’s priorities have changed under the second Trump administration, but otherwise the report has been prepared and published as usual, Caracappa said. And in fact, this latest report debuted a new section dedicated to forecasting ocean conditions in the year ahead.

Read the full article at U.S. News

New report finds temporary relief for warming Gulf of Maine

July 27, 2026 — Cooler weather in the past 2 years offered some relief to the rapidly warming Gulf of Maine, but it’s not expected to stay that way.

That’s according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) latest “State of the Ecosystem” report on New England’s waters, which was released online last week, and previously presented to the New England Fishery Management Council in April.

While the report found slightly cooler water temperatures in 2024 and 2025, the warming trend is expected to come back this fall and continue to rise long term due to climate change. Scientists attribute the trend to the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water up from the Gulf Mexico, appearing to be getting stronger than in years past.

Read the full story at WGAN

NOAA report finds Gulf of Maine warming slowed for now, but ecosystem remains unstable

July 24, 2026 — Although the climate is changing, scientists say fishermen can find a path forward.

Maine’s fishing ports are doing well for now, but climate change is destabilizing the Gulf of Maine, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest “State of the Ecosystem” report for New England waters. Federal scientists presented the report to the New England Fishery Management Council in April, and published it online last week.

They found that some Maine fishing ports are growing busier, likely driven by the high price of lobster. Stonington, Harpswell and Friendship all see more activity now than they did roughly 20 years ago.

And 2025, like 2024, offered slightly cooler water temperatures after more than a decade of rapid and record-breaking warming in the Gulf of Maine. But the scientists predict that  temperatures will warm again this fall, and will continue to rise long-term as the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

To weather these ongoing changes, fishermen and their communities need to diversify their businesses, experts say.

“Things don’t look particularly stable either in terms of the fishery or the ecosystem,” said Joseph Caracappa, a research biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center who edited the report. “We’re seeing big changes that are sweeping across the ecology of the system and fisheries. Even socially, culturally — how communities are structured, where people are fishing, who’s actually doing the fishing.”

This annual report includes contributions from more than 100 scientists across the Northeast. NOAA has had to make do with fewer resources as the federal government’s priorities have changed under the second Trump administration, but otherwise the report has been prepared and published as usual, Caracappa said. And in fact, this latest report debuted a new section dedicated to forecasting ocean conditions in the year ahead.

Read the full article at The Maine Monitor

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Start Date Remains July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.

July 17, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via webinar on July 17 to discuss the start date for the 2026 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery. The Board members previously set the start date for July 19 at 6:00 p.m. as part of days out measures discussed in April 2026 (press release here). The additional meeting was scheduled after some industry members reported a significant increase in bait from the menhaden fishery and imported bait from the Canadian weir fishery on the market. As a result, there are some concerns about the possibility of a surplus of bait at the dock, lack of storage capacity for herring, a crash of the bait market, and general waste if the fishery were to open on July 19. However, not all members of industry expressed those concerns and noted that there are markets for bait. In addition, those industry members expressed that changing the start date at the last minute would cause hardships because crews were already lined up and vessels are prepared to begin fishing on July 19.

Given the lack of consensus among industry and only two days until the original start date, the Board maintained the July 19 start date with landing days starting at 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, July 19.

The effort control measures set in April 2026 are unchanged.

Days Out of the Fishery

  • Landing days will be set at zero (0) from June 1 until the start of the fishery on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
  • Landing days begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m. starting Sunday, July 19.
  • Vessels with an Atlantic herring Limited Access Category A permit that have declared into the Area 1A fishery may land herring five consecutive days a week. The week shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and conclude at 6:00 p.m. on Fridays. One landing per 24-hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
  • Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with an Atlantic herring Limited Access Category C or Open Access D permit that have declared into the fishery may land herring six consecutive days a week. The week shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays and conclude at 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

Weekly Landing Limit

  • Vessels with an Atlantic herring Category A permit may harvest up to 240,000 lbs. (6 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week starting Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.

At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions

The following applies to harvester vessels with an Atlantic herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.

  • A harvester vessel may transfer herring at-sea to another harvester vessel.
  • A harvester vessel may not make any at-sea transfers to a carrier vessel.
  • Carrier vessels may not receive at-sea transfers from a harvester vessel.

Harvesters are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until July 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Landings will be closely monitored and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the Season 1 quota of 1,748 metric tons is projected to be reached.

For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfoc.org or 703.842.0740.

The press release can also be found at https://asmfc.org/news/press-releases/atlantic-herring-area-1a-start-date-remains-july-19-2026-at-600-p-m/

 

MAINE: Maine seeks new ESA tools to speed Atlantic salmon recovery

July 16, 2026 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is asking federal fisheries officials to evaluate whether existing authorities under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could help accelerate Atlantic salmon recovery while maintaining current protections.

In a June 4 letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson requested that NOAA review whether the ESA could provide additional flexibility to expand Atlantic salmon recovery efforts. The Bangor Daily News reported that the request could eventually create opportunities for tightly controlled, conservation-oriented catch-and-release fishing if the species recovers.

The request follows decades of habitat restoration, fish passage improvements and river connectivity projects that have benefited Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish. However, Sean Ledwin, director of the DMR Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, said adult Atlantic salmon returns remain very low despite those investments.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Termination of Gulf of Maine leases casts further uncertainty over offshore wind

July 7, 2026 — The termination of two federal leases in the Gulf of Maine present the latest layer of uncertainty for offshore wind projects, once thought to be key to Maine’s energy secure, low-carbon future.

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a settlement agreement with Chicago-based Invenergy, which included the termination of offshore wind leases in Maine, California and New York.

“It’s a bad deal for Mainers, at a time when energy is getting more and more expensive, we are spending public dollars to not build energy resources and to not bring electricity prices down,” said Nick Janzen with Maine Conservation Voters.

As part of the agreement, the federal government will reimburse Invenergy up to $765 million, which the company will then reinvest in natural gas-fired power plants and geothermal power generation projects.

The administration of President Donald Trump has cited “national security concerns” about the development of offshore wind as the reason for terminating leases, and stopping work on other projects.

“Rather than waiting years for the projects to materialize, the Trump administration is prioritizing investments in existing infrastructure and functioning supply chains that can create jobs now and deliver economic benefits faster,” an Interior spokesperson said in a statement last week.

Read the full article at Spectrum News