Saving Seafood

Why does the NH Energy Department want more information on offshore wind’s impacts?

December 6, 2021 — Offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine could impact New Hampshire’s economy, environment and energy system, and the state’s new Department of Energy has released a request for proposals to find a consultant to help the state assess what those impacts could be.

Offshore wind development has produced controversy in other places. But the East Coast will likely see a major development of the renewable energy source in the coming years.

Though New Hampshire is likely years away from offshore wind deployment, Granite Staters have shown interest in its potential to create jobs and address the state’s impacts on climate change.

The Department of Energy, along with the state’s Department of Environmental Services, hosted an information session Dec. 2 on the RFP to select the consultant, drawing 25 attendees, according to NHDES. The chosen consultant will then produce an impact report. Funding for the report comes from the American Rescue Plan Act.

State Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, chair of the Commission to Study Offshore Wind and Port Development, said the report could provide information on how the development of offshore wind might impact New Hampshire’s economy, ports, fisheries and environment.

Read the full story at NH Business Review

Lobstering union petitions U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Gulf of Maine closure

December 3, 2021 — Lobster harvesters were forced to remove their gear from a large section of the Gulf of Maine this week. Though their traps may no longer be in the water, the industry is not giving up its fight.

The Maine Lobstering Union filed an emergency application last week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a lower court ruling and reopen the roughly 950-square-mile area, which is slated to be closed through January – and every subsequent October through January – in an effort to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

It’s the most recent development in a monthslong legal battle between members of the lobster industry, who say their livelihoods are at risk, and conservationists, who say the whales are headed for extinction.

Virginia Olsen, a lobsterwoman and a member of the union, said the group looks forward to continuing what it considers a fight to save the industry, and the families and communities that depend on it.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald

A guide to understanding the fight over whales and lobster gear in the Gulf of Maine

November 26, 2021 — Right now, lobstermen are hauling their gear out of a 967-square mile stretch of ocean, roughly 30 miles offshore, in the Gulf of Maine.

Lobstermen don’t want to vacate the area, especially during the lucrative, deep-water, winter fishing season but federal courts and lawsuits are forcing them to do so.

Last week, the Federal First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a seasonal prohibition by the National Marine Fisheries Service on lobstering with buoys and lines in that area. The closure, running October through January, is an attempt to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from deadly entanglements in lobster gear.

Read the full story at Bangor Daily News

 

Industry, politicians deplore reinstatement of lobster fishing closure

November 19, 2021 — As lobster fishermen face an immediate requirement to remove their traps from a swath of offshore waters, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association on Wednesday said the seasonal closure will create economic hardship for many Mainers who have invested in gear, rigged up and are already fishing in the area.

Gov. Janet Mills also said the sudden closure will cause significant economic hardship for Maine’s lobster industry, “will cost hundreds of fishermen millions of dollars, and will have a profound impact on businesses that rely on landings during the lucrative late fall and winter months.”

The statements responded to the newly enacted seasonal closure on 967 square miles of lobstering territory in the Gulf of Maine. The closure was reinstated Tuesday when the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a preliminary injunction by a lower court preventing the shutdown from going into effect.

The closure is part of a plan, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on Aug. 31, that aims to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale by creating new requirements affecting Maine lobstermen. In addition to the October-through-January closure, the plan includes mandates for additional gear marking and gear modifications.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

Lobstermen must start removing gear to save whales, feds say

November 19, 2021 — Lobster fishermen off the Maine coast must begin to remove gear from a new protected area intended to help whales, the federal government said.

New rules make an approximately 950-square-mile area of the Gulf of Maine essentially off limits to lobster fishing from October to January. A federal appeals court ruled this week that the ban is enforceable, despite legal challenges from the lobster industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

Intertidal: Managing the Gulf of Maine’s migratory highway

November 18, 2021 — Travel between countries is beginning again in many places in the world. Travel for humans, that is. For those that live in the natural world, this is the season for migration and travel is just part of the normal cycle of things regardless of political boundaries. This is particularly true in the water where there is a literal fluidity of movement from place to place: shallow to deep, north to south, or salty to fresh. The ocean is perhaps the best example of a global resource where all the water is connected, and so is everything that lives in it.

In an effort to recognize the cross-boundary nature of ocean creatures, states and even countries sometimes work together to monitor who lives where and when. The Gulf of Maine is a boundary-crossing body of water on multiple levels. While it has “Maine” in its title, it stretches across New Hampshire and parts of Massachusetts to the south. To the north, it reaches up into Canada. One of the groups that has pulled together the many parties working on and studying the Gulf of Maine recently received funding to address the issue of marine debris in a collaborative way.

The Gulf of Maine Association is a non-profit whose mission is “to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine and allow for sustainable resource use by existing and future generations”. Partners in the Association have worked together on both research and policy in the past. The recently awarded grant is part of a larger initiative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) North America Marine Debris Prevention and Removal program that provides funding to prevent and remove debris from the oceans across the country as well as down into Mexico and up into Canada.

Read the full story from the Times Record at the Portland Press Herald

Court OKs limits on Maine lobster fishing amid challenge

November 18, 2021 — The United States can impose seasonal limits on lobster fishing methods in part of the Gulf of Maine while the fate of the restriction is being challenged, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

The Tuesday ruling reverses a lower court decision that paused the new rule, which restricts the use of lobster fishing lines in an effort to protect North Atlantic right whales from deadly entanglement in the gear.

Alfred Frawley, a lawyer for a lobstering union and lobster harvesters who sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over its regulation, said the plaintiffs are analyzing the ruling.

Maine’s lobster industry is the biggest in the country. Its lobster fishery caught about $400 million worth of the sought-after crustacean last year, state data shows.

Read the full story at Reuters

NOAA awards $2M in climate-related lobster research 

November 9, 2021 — Several  Maine scientists have received federal funding to learn how the American lobster is affected by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine and across New England.   

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  Sea Grant  announced $2 million in grant s late last mont h for six projects as part of the American Lobster Initiative. The initiative looks to bridge critical gaps in knowledge for Maine’s iconic species.  

“Given the importance of lobster to the economy and culture of Maine, I’m thrilled to have these new projects join the growing initiative,” said Amalia Harrington, a marine extension team member with Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine. “The more we learn now, the better prepared our lobster industry will be in the future.”  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

MAINE: Gov. Mills urges federal government to include fishermen in offshore wind decisions

November 8, 2021 — Gov. Janet Mills on Friday urged the federal government to include fishermen in plans for commercial offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine.

In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Mills said she supports the Biden Administration’s commitment to offshore wind but encouraged them to take a research-driven approach.

“My administration has committed to pursuing offshore wind energy in a way that works best – a thoughtful, deliberate and responsible approach that leads with listening to those for whom offshore wind may not be viewed as opportunity but as a threat to their way of life,” she wrote.

Read the full story at Spectrum News 13

 

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for November 4

November 1, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the States of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on November 4, 2021 from 9 to 11 a.m., to consider adjusting the landing days for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31) for the 2021 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine). At the September 2021 days out meeting, the landing days were set at zero (0) for Season 2. The webinar and call information is included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting

November 4, 2021

9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/881890621. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (224) 501-3412 and enter access code   881-890-621 when prompted. The webinar will start at 8:30 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

The 2021 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 2,373 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the increase of 1,000 mt based on catch information from the New Brunswick weir fishery, the carryover from 2019, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL). There is no research-set-aside (RSA) for 2021 because the participants in the program will not continue their RSA project in 2021.

The Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2021 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31.

Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 or efranke@asmfc.org for more information.

The announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/617bf260AtlHerringNov2021DaysOutMeetingNotice.pdf