Saving Seafood

BILL MCWEENY: Innovation can save whales and lobstermen

June 21, 2021 — The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) claims that NOAA’s rulemaking efforts to address entanglement threats are an overreach because right whales no longer come to the Gulf of Maine, and over many decades, only one right whale has been found in Maine lobster gear.

I feel it is important to correct MLA on several counts, as it is unfortunately presenting only a small part of this complex story. First, since 1980, right whale scientists have photographed right whales throughout their range and have documented at least 1,617 entanglements involving 87 percent of the population based on the presence of entanglement scars or attached fishing gear. The research suggests that right whales are being entangled in all types of United States and Canadian east coast fishing gear with often 60 or more entanglement events per year.

Also, while some right whales have shifted their distribution, they still occur in waters that Maine lobstermen fish in every month of the year with some sightings in Maine state waters. Acoustic data backs up past official and opportunistic sightings confirming that right whales are no strangers to Maine fishing grounds. A recent deployment of acoustic buoys recorded calls from right whales off Casco Bay, Monhegan Island, Milbridge, Great Duck Island, Lubec, the Schoodic ridges, all around Mount Desert Rock and many calls from Outer Falls.

MLA states on its website that only one right whale has ever been entangled in Maine gear, and that was in 2002. It is mistaken. It is true that there was a right whale entangled in Maine lobster gear in 2002 and it was disentangled and is probably alive today because of that. But the MLA fails to acknowledge two other cases.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

As Offshore Wind Industry Nears New Hampshire, Potential New Workers Show Interest

June 3, 2021 — New Hampshire colleges, trade workers and policy makers have high hopes for job growth in the Northeast’s burgeoning offshore wind industry, even if we’re still years away from wind projects in the Gulf of Maine.

That was a major focus of a roundtable on wind industry development at the Port of New Hampshire in Portsmouth Tuesday, with Congressman Chris Pappas, the League of Conservation Voters and members of New Hampshire’s offshore wind commission.

Pappas, a Democrat, sits on the House Infrastructure committee and said he hopes to see an intersection between President Biden’s $2-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal and his goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of U.S. offshore wind by 2030, as part of his climate change plans.

“While we do need to be talking about our roads and bridges, the conversation can’t stop there,” Pappas said. “It’s got to involve our port infrastructure … and we need to be thinking about the kind of renewable energy development that people here are hungry for. And we’ve got a solution that is just off our coastline.”

Read the full story at New Hampshire Public Radio

REP. BILLY BOB FAULKINGHAM: Time to hit the brakes on offshore wind

June 1, 2021 — In 2017, offshore wind generation appeared to be a dead issue in Maine. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had just completed an extensive study that deemed it too expensive for ratepayers. Now it is moving again at the speed of light.

In 2019, eighty percent of Maine’s electricity generation came from renewable energy sources. Maine leads New England in wind power generation. We rank sixth in the nation and wind provides 24 percent of our net generation. I point this out to say that Maine is a leader. I see many people advocating offshore wind development portraying Maine as being in the back of the pack on renewables, which is far from the truth.

What I would like to know is, why haven’t we started an independent study on the environmental impacts of offshore wind development? We have been told that we need to move quickly given the Governor’s ambitious goals. I have heard this repeatedly and from many people in the Legislature, the bureaucracy, special interest groups and from high-paid lobbyists working for foreign corporations. Where did these goals come from, and why are we using these goals as a target?

Read the full opinion piece at the Mount Desert Islander

Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Workshops Scheduled for June, July 2021

May 21, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The biological stock structure of Atlantic cod and its implications for science and management will be discussed during two different rounds of public workshops. The first series, which begins on June 1, 2021, will cover the science aspects, while a second series, to be held later this year, will cover the management side.

An Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Working Group was formed in early 2018 to inventory and summarize all relevant peer-reviewed information about the stock structure of Atlantic cod in U.S. and adjacent waters.

Atlantic cod currently is managed as two stocks – Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. However, the working group concluded in its 2020 report that the population of Atlantic cod in New England waters consists of five distinct biological stocks as follows:

  1. Georges Bank;
  2. Southern New England;
  3. Western Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod winter spawners;
  4. Western Gulf of Maine spring spawners that overlap spatially with the Western Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod winter spawner stock; and
  5. Eastern Gulf of Maine

Read the full release here

MAINE: Freeport artist’s work to benefit Brunswick-based fishermen’s association

May 19, 2021 — Brunswick-based Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association has partnered with Freeport artist Maegan Monsees, owner of Mae in Maine, to offer a Fishermen’s Association rope gathering bucket.

The association is a non-profit that works to enhance the sustainability of Maine’s fisheries by advocating for the needs of community-based fishermen and the environmental restoration of the Gulf of Maine. Online retail sales of products like Mae in Maine’s Evergreen Gathering Bucket, along with apparel and other gifts, directly benefit the association.

To make the buckets, Monsees dyes and sews cotton rope. The Evergreen Gathering Bucket is then constructed on a sewing machine and coiled by hand.

Read the full story at The Times Record

Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area Closes For the Season

May 10, 2021 — The Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area closed on Thursday after NOAA determined that 100% of the 2021 default total allowable catch for the area will be taken. As of May 6, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations is allowed to fish for, possess, or land scallops in the area until March 31, 2022.

According to NOAA, Framework Adjustment 33 is currently under review and will implement a 2021 NGOM LAGC TAC of 119,222 lbs. when finalized. The agency explained that because Framework Adjustment 32 default TAC will be harvested by May 6, the closure is required before Framework Adjustment 33 can be finalized.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area

May 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective 0001 hr May 6

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to all federally permitted limited access general category scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on May 6, 2021.

As of May 6, 2021, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that 100 percent of the 2021 default total allowable catch for this area will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2022.

Framework Adjustment 33 to the Scallop FMP is currently under review and will implement a 2021 NGOM LAGC TAC of 119,222 lb when finalized. Because the Framework Adjustment 32 default TAC will be harvested by May, 6, a closure is required before Framework Adjustment 33 is finalized. After Framework Adjustment 33 is in place, the difference between the 2021 NGOM LAGC final catch and the Framework Adjustment 33 TAC will be deducted pound-for-pound from a future fishing year.

If you have declared a trip into the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, May 6, 2021, you may complete the trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

Exemption for Maine and Massachusetts Vessels Fishing Exclusively in State Waters

If you have a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit, you may continue to fish in Maine or Massachusetts state waters within the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area under the State Waters Exemption program. If you are fishing under an Individual Fishing Quota scallop permit (Limited Access General Category A), any pounds landed under a state waters only trip will still be deducted from the vessel’s allocation.

Exemption for Limited Access Vessels Fishing Compensation Trips Under the Scallop Research Set-Aside Program

This closure does not affect the Limited Access fleet that was allocated a separate Total Allowable Catch of 97,500 lb for the 2021 fishing year under Framework 32 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Limited Access Total Allowable Catch will be harvested by vessels that are participating in the 2021 scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

Read the full release here

Mills files proposed moratorium on wind power in heavily fished waters off Maine’s coast

April 30, 2021 — Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is seeking a temporary ban on the development of offshore wind in waters managed by the state.

On Wednesday, Mills introduced legislation – sponsored by Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York, chairman of the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee – that would impose a 10-year moratorium on new wind power projects in state waters.

In a statement, Mills said the state is “uniquely prepared to grow a strong offshore wind industry, create good-paying trades and technology jobs around the state, and reduce Maine’s crippling dependence on harmful fossil fuels” but not at the expense of the state’s storied fishing industry.

“We will focus these efforts in federal waters farther off our coast, as we responsibly pursue a small research array that can help us establish the best way for Maine to embrace the vast economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind,” she said.

Lawrence said the proposal “strikes the right balance to protect Maine’s fisheries and coastal waters, while continuing to advance the great energy and economic potential for offshore wind energy in federal waters of the Gulf of Maine.”

Read the full story at The Center Square

Update on the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Fishing Season

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

The 2021 Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) scallop fishery opened on April 1, 2021, under default specifications set by Framework 32. We are reviewing the final 2021 specifications (i.e., Framework 33) and, if approved, will implement them as soon as possible. The limited access general category (LAGC) portion of the NGOM total allowable catch (TAC) that would be implemented through Framework 33 (119,222 lb) is lower than the Framework 32 default TAC (167,500 lb).

The NGOM remains open to fishing. However, we project that the Framework 33 fishing year 2021 TAC (119,222 lb) has been reached. Framework 33 has not been approved, so we are monitoring the NGOM fishery based on the Framework 32 default TAC (167,500 lb).

If Framework 33 is implemented and the LAGC NGOM fleet exceeds its portion of the TAC, any overage would result in a pound-for-pound deduction against the NGOM TAC in a future year. Further, an overage could have a detrimental impact on the scallop resource on Jeffreys Ledge and in Ipswich Bay.

For landings and trip information visit our quota monitoring page.

Read the full release here

Maine lobstermen rally to stop offshore wind power

April 29, 2021 — The Maine Legislature is about to see a battle over offshore wind power in the Gulf of Maine, two high-profile combatants: Governor Janet Mills facing off against Maine’s lobster industry.

An estimated 400 lobstermen or more left the docks for a rally Wednesday outside the Augusta Civic Center, where the Legislature was meeting, to voice their anger about the proposed development of offshore wind power.

Like South Bristol fisherman Adam Gamage, they say that development is a threat.

“Here we are, we have a very sustainable fishery,” Gamage said, “It’s too bad it’s come to this where they are trying to put an industrialized piece of machinery out in the middle of the ocean (and) they don’t really know what is going to do.”

There is currently a plan by New England Aqua Ventus to build one very large, floating platform with a massive wind turbine mounted on top. It would be located a little more than two miles off Monhegan Island in a site approved by the Maine Legislature more than 10 years ago for that purpose.

The project is designed as a full-size test of a floating platform design from the University of Maine, but also to test how large wind turbines perform in the moving and often harsh environment of the open sea.

Read the full story at News Center Maine