Saving Seafood

Reminder: Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock Recreational Measures

September 11, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are opening a two-week season for Gulf of Maine cod from September 15-30, 2019.

Possession limits are per person per day and size limits are minimum total length.

Cod and haddock on board a vessel must be readily available for inspection. Fillets must have at least 2 square inches of contiguous skin that allows for identification of fish species, while possessed on board and at the time of landing.

During multiple-day trips, a vessel may possess the daily limit up to the number of calendar days fished. Any trip covering 2 calendar days must be at least 15 hours in duration. The possession limit for the second day may be possessed only after the second calendar day begins, and the same applies for each additional day. For example, a vessel on a 2-day trip could not be in possession of more than 15 Gulf of Maine haddock, per person, on the first day of the trip.

Read more in the bulletin on our website.

If you have a mobile device, you can use the FishRules app to check recreational fishing regulations.

Read the full release here

Gulf of Maine Research Institute launches virtual climate center

September 9, 2019 — The Portland marine science lab that first told the world the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost any other part of the ocean is launching a virtual climate center that will focus on finding solutions to the challenges related to ocean warming.

Under this virtual banner, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute hopes to leverage its science and educational expertise to help fishermen, policymakers, and coastal communities in Maine and around the world deal with the consequences of rising ocean temperatures.

“We’ve spent the last decade identifying warming trends and associated challenges,” said Don Perkins, a Maine native who has been at GMRI’s helm for almost 25 years. “We’ll spend the next decade identifying solutions to some of those challenges and helping coastal communities adapt to a warming future.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: LePage op-ed in Wall Street Journal criticizes proposed lobstering regulations

September 9, 2019 — An opinion piece by former Gov. Paul LePage published in the Wall Street Journal criticizes federal officials for proposing restrictions on the lobstering industry that fishermen say would put them out of business.

LePage writes that the restrictions required by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association would not actually reduce the number of right whale deaths in the Gulf of Maine because, he says, “No whale deaths due to entanglements or ship strikes have been recorded in Maine waters since 1998.”

However, in September 2016, the Portland Press Herald reported that NOAA officials concluded the death of a 43-foot right whale found floating off Boothbay Harbor was most likely caused by entanglement in fishing gear ropes.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Atlantic Herring Eastern Maine Spawning Closure in Effect Starting August 28, 2019 through October 8, 2019

August 27, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

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

There is currently no samples for the Eastern Maine spawning area to determine spawning condition. Therefore, the Eastern Maine spawning area will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on August 28, 2019 extending through 11:59 p.m. on October 8, 2019. The fishery is currently at zero landing days, and the states will notify fishermen of the spawning closure as soon as possible. Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Eastern Maine spawning area during this time 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 Eastern Maine spawning area.

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

Please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy at 703.842.0740 or krootes-murdy@asmfc.org for more information.

EPA to Provide Relief for Lobster Fishing and Pilot Boat Builders, Engine Manufacturers

August 27, 2019 — The following was released by United States Environmental Protection Agency:

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the national marine diesel engine program to provide relief to boat builders and manufacturers of lightweight and high-power marine diesel engines that are used in high-speed commercial vessels such as lobster fishing boats and pilot boats.

“This proposal will provide boat builders the flexibility they need to meet EPA standards while they continue to manufacture products that are critical to marine industries,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This action reflects our mindset that environmental progress is best achieved by working with states and the regulated community to advance sound and attainable regulatory solutions.”

“This proposed rule will give boat builders and Maine’s lobster fishermen regulatory certainty and encourage continued progress for cleaner diesel engines,” said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro. “This action is a win-win for builders and lobstermen, and allows Maine’s vibrant fishing economy to continue.”

“Due to the unique design of Maine lobster boats, at this time there are not Tier 4-compliant diesel engines available on the market that can safely fit in these types of vessels. This delay in the implementation of the Tier 4 emission standards for commercial lobster-style boats should provide engine manufacturers time to design and certify engines that will both comply with Tier 4 emission standards and work safely and efficiently in these boats. It also prevents lobstermen from being burdened by requirements that are impossible to meet with the currently available technology,” said U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden in a joint statement. “We are pleased to have worked together with the EPA to find a commonsense solution that supports Maine boat builders and lobstermen.”

Read the full release here

Regulators To Meet With Lobstermen Again On Right Whale Plan

August 26, 2019 — Maine fishery regulators are planning a second round of meetings with lobstermen in the state to prepare for potential new restrictions designed to protect endangered whales.

A federal government team has called for removal of many vertical trap lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales, which number about 400. The Maine Department of Marine Resources held a series of meetings with lobstermen about the new rules earlier this year. The last took place in late June.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public

MAINE: Second round of meetings scheduled on right whale issue

August 23, 2019 — Lobstermen will get another bite at the right whale problem over the next few weeks at a series of meetings scheduled by the Department of Marine Resources.

The meetings are being held to discuss rules proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service that could force Maine fishermen to cut the number of vertical buoy lines they use by 50 percent.

Earlier this week, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher announced that he would hold a second round of meetings with each of the state’s seven Lobster Zone Management Councils to consider area-by-area suggestions of how to deal with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed rule that would require a 50 percent reduction of vertical endlines on lobster traps in much of the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Mercury levels in seafood found to be affected by climate change and ecosystem shifts

August 15, 2019 — Mercury levels in seafood can shift as fish seek new sources of prey and as water temperatures warm due to climate change, according to a recent study.

The new study, published in Nature, illustrates that even as global human-driven mercury emissions are declining, warming oceans and shifting predator-prey relationships caused by human fishing practices could still be major drivers of mercury in seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

DAN MORRIS: Maine Voices: Lobstermen threatened with the extinction of their way of life

August 15, 2019 — The word “extinction” has been thrown around a lot lately by environmental groups that believe that Northern right whales are on the verge of just that. Though right whales number more than 8,000 in the Southern Hemisphere, only 400 to 500 are believed to be in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fishermen, whose only master is Mother Nature, and who have been admired over the years for their tenacity and independence, now have been cast as the villain in the whale story. Large, well-funded, out-of-state environmental groups would have you believe that these whales are going extinct and that Maine fishing gear entanglement is a major reason why.

These groups have proposed things like ropeless fishing and refuse to believe that ideas like this are not practical in Maine. Can you imagine how a fisherman could set his 20- to 30-trap trawl into water 300 to 400 feet deep, not knowing where any of his competitors’ trawls might have been set days before? As if hauling long trawls in deep water isn’t dangerous enough, hauling up one’s trawl with another one or two draped over it can be life-threatening.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine Lobstermen To Feds: Our Industry Isn’t What’s Killing Endangered Right Whale

August 14, 2019 — Angry Maine lobstermen are telling federal fisheries managers they want definitive proof that their gear is entangling endangered North Atlantic right whales. Until then, they say, the feds should back off from proposed rules that could force them to modify their gear and remove half their rope from the water.

More than 60 lobstermen turned out in Machias on Monday night for the first of four federal “scoping” meetings in Maine to discuss the proposed gear changes. Federal officials had hoped to hear specifics about how the new rules might change the way they harvest lobster, and what it might cost them.

But what they met was a chorus of criticism.

Read the full story at Maine Public