Saving Seafood

Herring fishing in Gulf of Maine to shut down for about 2 months

August 9, 2021 — Commercial fishing for herring will all but shut down in the inshore Gulf of Maine for about two months to help conserve the species.

Atlantic herring are an important bait fish that are harvested extensively off New England. The fishery has been limited by new restrictions in recent years because of concerns about the health of the fish’s population.

Interstate regulators said herring fishing will essentially be shut down in inshore areas off Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire until Sept. 30. They said that’s because fishermen are approaching their limits for the quota of the fish.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

2021 Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Management Workshops Series to Begin on August 12th

August 4, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The 2021 Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Management Workshop Series is about to begin. Five separate workshops have been scheduled between August 12 and September 20. Each has its own theme, but all of the workshops are based on two common threads: (1) the new understanding that Atlantic cod may consist of five distinct biological stocks instead of two – Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank – as currently is the case; and (2) outcomes from the June series of Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Science and Assessment Workshops.

The objectives of this management-focused series are to:

  • Identify potential options for cod management measures;
  • Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the options;
  • Identify socioeconomic impacts that should be evaluated.

Read the full release here

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Moves to Zero Landing Days for Season 1 on August 3, 2021

August 2, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery is projected to have harvested 92% of the Season 1 (June 1 – September 30) allocation by August 3, 2021. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Area 1A fishery will move to zero landing days through September 30, 2021, as specified in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring.

Vessels participating in other fisheries may not possess more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day harvested from Area 1A. In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are expected to reconvene in September via conference call to set effort controls for the 2021 Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31). An announcement will be issued once the meeting is scheduled.

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

The announcement can be found athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringSeason1ZeroLandings_08_2021.pdf

$900,000 in Funding Recommended for Atlantic Salmon Habitat Restoration

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is recommending nearly $900,000 in funding for four partners to implement projects that restore habitat for Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine watershed. The Gulf of Maine distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It’s also one of nine NOAA Species in the Spotlight.

Atlantic salmon are an iconic species of the Northeast. They once returned by the hundreds of thousands to most major rivers along the northeastern United States. Now, they only return in small numbers to rivers in central and eastern Maine. These populations comprise the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment.

Proposed projects funded under these partnerships will improve fish passage. They will remove or modify dams, culverts, and other barriers blocking Atlantic salmon from reaching their habitats. They will also restore the structure and function of streams used by Atlantic salmon for spawning and rearing.

We’re recommending nearly $900,000 to fund the first year of four multi-year efforts:

  • The Atlantic Salmon Federation will implement five projects to restore access to Atlantic salmon spawning and rearing habitats in the Kennebec River watershed. They will also conduct a fish passage feasibility study at the Chesterville Wildlife Management Area Dam on Little Norridgewock Stream. ($213,854)
  • Project SHARE will replace undersized culverts at 13 sites, connecting habitat for Atlantic salmon across the Dennys, Machias, Pleasant, Union, and Narraguagus River watersheds. They will also conduct fish passage feasibility studies at the Great Works Dam and at Marion Falls fishway. Funding will also support freshwater habitat restoration work in the Narraguagus River watershed. ($303,225)
  • The Nature Conservancy will complete the final designs to remove Guilford Dam and restore the adjacent floodplain, which will reconnect habitat for Atlantic salmon in the Piscataquis River watershed. They will also restore access to high-quality habitat by improving fish passage at three high-priority road crossings over streams. ($250,000)
  • The Downeast Salmon Federation will support fish passage feasibility studies at the Cherryfield Ice Control Dam on the Narraguagus River and the Gardner Lake Dam on the East Machias River, to support future habitat restoration in these watersheds. Funding will also support fish passage improvements at the Gardner Lake Dam. ($131,000)

Degraded habitat is one of the largest obstacles facing the recovery of threatened and endangered species like Atlantic salmon. Habitat restoration helps repair areas that have been destroyed by development, blocked by dams, or otherwise subjected to habitat destruction. Through funding and technical assistance, NOAA supports projects that restore the habitats that threatened and endangered species need to recover.

Where have all the codfish in the Gulf of Maine gone?

July 30, 2021 — The “New World” was built on the codfish. In the 1600s, John Smith built a colony of fishermen on the Isles of Shoals off Strawberry Bank, New Hampshire.  According to his writings, the cod were so plentiful that you could walk across the water on their backs.

While this is obviously a huge exaggeration, there were a lot of cod.

Without means of refrigeration, salted fish was the best way to ship large amounts of protein to countries throughout the world without worry of spoilage. The colony of fishermen on the Isles of Shoals spent their days fishing, cutting and salting the cod for shipment to England.

What happened to the iconic New England cod?

The entire colonial economy in New England was built around this iconic fish. So much so that the weathervane atop the State House in Massachusetts is a golden codfish.

So, what has happened to the cod?  If you are a recreational fisherman, you know that you are allowed only one fish per day at certain times during the year. The commercial fishermen have all been given a personal quota for cod.  If they reach their quota, they need to purchase or lease more quota from someone who has extra. The price to “lease” these fish in order to catch them can be exorbitant.

To keep fishing for other fish, many of the commercial fishermen must pay more for leased cod than they can sell the actual fish for. Cod has become a commodity on the market being bought or hoarded by non-fishermen to make money off the backs of the active fishermen.

Read the full story at SeaCoast Online

Funding Recommendations for Atlantic Salmon Habitat Restoration in Maine

July 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries is pleased to announce the recommendation of nearly $900,000 in funding for four partners to implement projects that restore habitat for Atlantic salmon in Maine.

The Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and is one of nine NOAA Species in the Spotlight.

Proposed projects funded under these partnerships will improve fish passage by removing or modifying dams, culverts, and other barriers blocking Atlantic salmon from reaching their habitats.

Degraded habitat is one of the largest obstacles to recovering protected species like Atlantic salmon, which is an iconic species of the Northeast. Proposed projects funded under these partnerships will target priority habitat restoration actions needed for Atlantic salmon recovery. These projects will also benefit other native species that contribute to the health of the Gulf of Maine, such as river herring, sea lamprey, American shad, and American eel.

Read our web story to learn more about this recommended funding.

Read the full release here

MAINE: Fishermen slow offshore wind farm development

July 26, 2021 — Actions by Maine fishermen directly affected the process of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine with a bill signed into law on July 7 by Governor Janet Mills.

The measure was a response to plans that surfaced last year for a 16-square-mile, 12-turbine wind farm, called a “research array,” off the southern coast of Maine.

Proponents promised good jobs and cheap, green electricity. Fishermen weren’t so sure. They envisioned wind farms springing up throughout the Gulf of Maine, harming marine life and damaging coastal communities.

“We as fishermen work and take care of the water,” said Virginia Olsen, a Maine Lobstering Union director who lives in Stonington. “We feel these things will get dumped on the water and then someone will say, ‘Just leave them there, it’ll be a coral reef.’ But it will just be trash left for us.”

Fishermen scored a victory this legislative session with a measure that bans offshore wind turbines in state waters. Lawmakers also prevented the state from allowing wind farms in federal waters to link to the mainland.

But the new measure may only slow, not stop, the spread of wind farms. After three years, it permits wind farms in federal waters to link to the mainland if certain conditions are met.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Gulf of Maine Research Institute Announces Sale of New England Marine Monitoring

July 23, 2021 — The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has sold New England Marine Monitoring, Inc. (NEMM) to Vesper Company.

NEMM is a leader in video electronic monitoring technology and services for fisheries. Its technology solutions lower the cost of monitoring relative to traditional human at-sea monitors and also improves data quality. Founded by Mark Hager, NEMM was one of GMRI’s first ventures to support and grow the region’s waterfront economy and ocean technology markets. Now, thanks to the sale to Vesper Company, a private firm that partners with entrepreneurs, NEMM will be able to grow its service to New England’s fishing fleet and develop its technology platform.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Are sprawling fish farms coming to swallow Maine?

July 23, 2021 — On a chilly Sunday in June, Sarah Redmond steers her pickup outside of an old sardine cannery here in Gouldsboro, Maine, leaps out, and pulls from the truck bed what looks like lobster traps oozing with slimy, withered vegetable matter. “I’m doing research on dulse,” she says, about the tough, purplish seaweed that is higher in protein and lower in iodine than other varieties. Seaweed is popular in Japan, she says, but Americans find it too intense. “We sell it mostly as an ingredient and as seasoning,” she says. “It’s a flavor enhancer, in chips, bread, cereal — you can sprinkle it on as a barbecue rub. It’s got vitamins, minerals, fiber.”

Wearing thick rubber muck boots, jeans, and a camouflage baseball cap pulled low over a loose ponytail, Redmond looks every inch the farmer she is. But unlike most farmers, her crop is seeded on ropes strung through 55 acres of saltwater. Redmond, 40, owns Springtide Seaweed, the nation’s largest organic seaweed farm, based in this onetime cannery on the shores of Frenchman Bay. In addition to dulse, she grows sugar kelp, skinny kelp, and alaria kelp.

Redmond’s farm is part of a state-supported effort to build an edible-seaweed farming industry. Maine is home to the bulk of the country’s kelp farms; the state’s seaweed harvest is expected to grow from 54,000 pounds in 2018 to 3 million pounds in 2035. It’s an audacious experiment in a country that does not traditionally eat much seaweed, but it is seen as essential to bolstering Maine’s fragile economy.

Driving this investment is fear: Last summer, the Gulf of Maine recorded its all-time hottest temperature — 69.85 degrees. The Gulf is one of the fastest-warming bodies of saltwater on the planet, and the locals know full well that as water temperatures continue to rise, lobsters — by far the state’s most lucrative fishery — will abandon Maine for cooler Canadian waters. Lobster brings over $400 million dollars in direct revenue to Maine each year, and lures visitors from all over the world to restaurants, seafood shacks, and festivals. But perhaps not for long: In 2018, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and several research partners estimated that by mid-century Maine’s lobster population will plummet by as much as 62 percent.

To fend off economic disaster, Maine is striving to wean itself from its dependence on lobster, and on all wild fisheries. It has little choice. Wild Atlantic salmon all but disappeared from the state decades ago, as have cod and northern shrimp. Sea urchins have been harvested to near extinction, and wild clams and mussels are increasingly scarce. As one wild fishery after another falters, a growing number of ambitious, far-sighted people like Redmond see the future of Maine — and in some sense the future of food — in the cultivation of water-dwelling plants and animals.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

New coral protections off New England take effect this month

July 19, 2021 — New coral protections are scheduled to take effect in the waters off New England later this month.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has published new rules designed to protect corals on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. Those are two key commercial fishing areas off the New England coast.

The new protections take effect on July 26. One of the new rules establishes the Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area, which is located on the outer continental shelf in New England waters.

Read the full story at the Associated Press