Saving Seafood

Maine fisheries and blueberries could be at stake due to climate change, report says

November 29, 2018 — Climate change has helped Maine’s lobster yield increase fourfold since the 1980s, as warming waters to the south have propelled lobsters north in search of colder waters. But if summer sea temperatures along Maine’s coast continue rising and cross a potentially perilous threshold, lobsters’ survival in a more temperate Gulf of Maine could be in doubt.

The Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, and the trend is expected to continue. The warming that has taken place so far, as well as the decline of cod, has proven favorable for Maine’s lobster yields in recent years, but if sea temperatures during the summer rise above 68 degrees Fahrenheit, lobster mortality will increase.

That’s one conclusion from a new report detailing the potential effects of climate change on Maine’s coast. The report, released earlier this month by the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, took a close look at how climate change could affect fishing and agriculture. It imagines five climate change scenarios, how they would unfold over the next two decades and the impacts from each one.

The report by Paul Mayewski, the institute’s director, and Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel predicts an overall trend of warmer, wetter weather with rising sea temperatures, shorter winters, longer summers and more frequent storms.

These predictions are in line with the National Climate Assessment that the Trump administration published the day after Thanksgiving and came a week after Mayewski and Birkel’s report. The national assessment predicts an increase in extreme weather events due to climate change, and major economic losses and heightened health risks as a result.

A global or national climate change assessment might not be applicable to all states or even regions within a state, however, which is why UMaine’s Climate Change Institute has focused on specific regions of Maine, Mayewski said. Mayewski and Birkel used past climate change data collected through Birkel’s Climate Reanalyzer tool to make predictions about coastal Maine’s climate future, and they plan to do the same for other regions in the state.

“Our goal through reports like this is to give people a better idea of how the climate has changed in the past few decades, and understanding what the plausible scenarios are for future climate and how this might impact, in this case, fisheries and blueberries,” Mayewski said.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Good Luck Finding Maine Shrimp This Winter

November 28, 2018 — Shrimp from Maine is certainly less well-known than its crustacean cousin, Maine lobster. One of the primary reasons is that over 80 percent of American lobsters caught in the U.S. are from the state; meanwhile, even in a good year, Maine accounted for just a sliver of U.S. shrimp production, which as a whole only accounts for a sliver of the shrimp consumed in America, most of which comes from Asia. But another reason you may not hear much about shrimp from New England is that, this year, literally none will make it to market at all.

According to the Associated Press, the situation for Northern shrimp, also known as Pandalus borealis, is so dire that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is even shutting down a research program that had previously allowed a limited amount of shrimp from the Gulf of Maine to make it to market.

Though the shutdown should assure that what little supplies of Northern shrimp were being sold will no longer be available, it’s not like the supply has suddenly collapsed. After years of restrictions, the commission shut down all but the “research set aside” program since the 2014 season. Now, even that program for New England shrimp fishing reportedly won’t be allowed until 2021 when the moratorium is set to end. Even then, extensions of the closure are possible as stocks will be reevaluated year by year.

As recently as 2011, ASMFC data shows that landings were near 15 million pounds, the highest they’ve been since 1997. And Northern shrimp stocks have collapsed and rebuilt before: In 1978, the fishery was closed due to a stock collapse, but grew steadily throughout the ‘80s. However, this time around, the ASMFC appears to worry that things are different due to climate change. No previous closure has ever lasted anywhere near this long, and the commission has noted that “long-term trends in environmental conditions have not been favorable for” Northern shrimp. As Portland, Maine’s Press Herald reported last year, waters in the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The gulf already has the warmest waters these cold water-thriving shrimp can survive in; the even warmer winter waters are making it difficult for the species to spawn.

Read the full story at Food & Wine

UMaine Coastal Maine Climate Futures report issued

November 28, 2018 — Climate change means Mainers can expect to see significant environmental changes in the next two decades and they should start to prepare by planning now, University of Maine researchers say.

Using weather data dating back more than a century — to 1895 — UMaine researchers are able to track climate change and predict what the state may see in the future.

The purpose of the report is to provide both an overview of Maine’s historical climate but to provide plausible climate scenarios for the next 20 years,” said Sean Birkel, a UMaine research assistant professor and Maine State Climatologist.

Birkel and Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute, created the Coastal Maine Climate Futures report to help prepare Mainers for what they call “significant environmental changes” on the horizon.

Since January 1895, the average coastal temperature in Maine and the sea surface temperature have both increased by 3 degrees, and rainfall has increased by around six inches.

That’s been great for some industries, like agriculture and lobster in the Gulf of Maine, which have increased four-fold since the 1980s, but not so great for others, including the cod fisheries because cod cannot tolerate the warmer temperatures.

“All of this is the human impacts,” Birkel said.

The melting of the polar ice cap, which is due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, and increases in the frequency of El Nino warm and dry weather conditions, are key factors in the warming trend for Maine.

“In these images, we see how the end of summer Arctic sea ice extent has changed — 1980 on the left and 2016 on the right,” Birkel said pointing to images of ice on the northern pole.

“So as Arctic sea ice declines… It’s affecting the weather because there is more open ocean water, there is more absorption of heat,” he said. “There is also more heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere.”

Read the full story at WVFX

Shrimp still shuttered: Northern shrimp moratorium extended 3 years

November 28, 2018 — New England’s fishing industry wasn’t expecting a bountiful shrimp harvest this winter, as the fishery has been shuttered since 2014. But the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission went above in beyond in its November meeting, shutting the shrimp fleet down not only for 2019, but for ’20 and ’21 as well.

A 2018 benchmark assessment published in October showed a bleak future for the fishery. The report indicated the northern shrimp population remains severely depleted. Spawning stock biomass remains at the same low levels that have kept the fishery shuttered since the 2013 season.

Commissioners from New Hampshire and Massachusetts supported the closure, while Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, reportedly wanted only a one-year closure.

The closure does not allow for any research quota in the next three years, a deal that has kept a small portion of Gulf of Maine shrimp in the marketplace each year.

“The stock is so low, biomass is so low and recruitment is so down — the 2018 recruitment was 2 billion. And while that sounds like a lot, that’s even below the median,” said Tina Berger, the commission’s director of communications. “Their rationale was, ‘Let’s close the resource for three years, and that way if we have a good year for recruitment, it would give that class time to grow into a fishable resource.’”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Shrimp harvested in New England won’t be available for sale this year

November 27, 2018 — Platters filled with shrimp are traditional during the holiday season. Just don’t expect your host to serve shrimp from New England waters.

Schermerhorn’s Fish Market owner Michael Fitzgerald has plenty of shrimp from the Gulf, but federal restrictions have prevented shrimping from off the coast of Maine. If some small supplies of Maine shrimp were available, he believes the price would be astronomical.

Michael Fitzgerald said, “We’ve got some good pricing on it, it’s just unfortunate we just can’t get Maine shrimp. There are people that want Maine shrimp but we can’t get it. We will have shrimp. Our shrimp will be decent, not Maine shrimp, but good shrimp.”

Read the full story at WWLP

No research fishery for shrimp this year, either

November 26, 2018 — This winter there will be no Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and other local northern shrimp lovers trooping down to the dock with buckets to try to buy the cold-water delicacies.

This winter will be no little different from the last four years when local shrimp disappeared from seafood retail shops as the shrimp fishery has been closed.

The shutdown of the New England shrimp industry has been extended to a limited, research-based fishery that helped provide a small amount of shrimp to the public in the past, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently decided.

That means Joe Jurek,a Gloucester-based groundfisherman, who held the rarified position as the only Massachusetts fisherman allowed to fish for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine, will likely sticking to his specialization in yellow-tail flounder on most fishing days

The regulators have extended the moratorium on northern shrimp fishing until 2021. In some previous years of the moratorium, shrimp trawlers and trappers had been able to bring some of the popular seafood item to market via a program called the “research set aside.”

Besides Jurek, owner and skipper of the 42-foot FV Mystique Lady, last year’s study also included eight trawlers from Maine and one from New Hampshire.

Each participating boat was allowed to shrimp once a week for eight weeks. Each vessel was allowed to catch and sell up to 1,200 pounds of northern shrimp per week at a price to be determined by the market. There was no other compensation.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Changing climate to put further pressure on New England, federal report predicts

November 26, 2018 — New England’s forests, fisheries and cultural traditions are already experiencing significant disruptions from a changing climate and will face additional transformation over the coming decades, according to a federal report released Friday.

Northeastern states are seeing some of the largest changes in the nation, yet conditions are shifting even faster in New England than the region as a whole, in some instances. Annual average temperatures in New England, for example, rose by roughly 3 degrees since the beginning of the last century compared to 1.8 degrees in the contiguous United States.

Those temperature changes – combined with shifts in precipitation levels and rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine – will continue to impact the health, economy and aging infrastructure of the region.

“For example, because much of the historical development of industry and commerce in New England occurred along rivers, canals, coasts, and other bodies of water, these areas often have a higher density of contaminated sites, waste management facilities, and petroleum storage facilities that are potentially vulnerable to flooding,” reads the report from 13 federal agencies.

“As a result, increases in flood frequency or severity could increase the spread of contaminants into soils and waterways, resulting in increased risks to the health of nearby ecosystems, animals, and people – a set of phenomena well documented following Superstorm Sandy,” the report says.

While the political debate over climate change continues, there is little doubt among fishermen or the scientists who work with them that the Gulf of Maine is changing. Maine fishermen now routinely see species once found only in southern or mid-Atlantic states while stocks of northern shrimp and cod have been depleted or moved north to cooler waters.

The report cited numerous examples of New England fishermen attempting to adapt to those changes and acknowledged that the arrival of new species will create new opportunities. But the authors also warned that markets, shoreside infrastructure as well as regulatory restriction on what fishermen can catch are often slower to respond.

Scientists also predict that species particularly important to New England face a bleaker future because of rising acidity levels as the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Shrimp fishery moratorium extended through 2021

November 20, 2018 — The Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission extended a moratorium on commercial fishing of Gulf of Maine shrimp through 2021.

According to the commission’s news release, the three-year extension was set in response to low shrimp populations and the fact that, even with increasing juvenile populations, it would still take several years for the shrimp to be commercially harvestable.

A 2018 stock assessment update indicates the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population remains depleted. “Spawning stock biomass,” referring to the shrimp that are capable of reproducing, has steadily declined to what the commission said was “extremely low levels.” In 2018, it was estimated at 1.3 million pounds, compared with 2017’s 1.5 million pounds.

“Recruitment,” the number of shrimp surviving to reach spawning status, has also been low in recent years.

The commission said that high levels of natural mortality and low levels of recruitment are hindering recovery of the stock. Natural mortality is caused by predation and unfavorable trends in environmental conditions due to increasing ocean temperatures.

“With ocean temperatures predicted to continue to rise, this suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine,” the release says.

Fishing for shrimp has been banned for the past five years, and yet the stock has not improved, the release says.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Analysis: Shrimp may have ‘no ability to recover’

November 20, 2018 — Fishery regulators last week continued the moratorium on shrimping in the beleaguered Gulf of Maine northern shrimp fishery that began after the 2013 season because of unrelenting warning signs of a stock in free fall.

No surprise there. Leading up to the decisive meeting, regulators from the shrimp section of the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission had been candid about the bleak prospects of reopening the fishery in 2019.

They conceded that results from the most recent assessment of the imperiled shrimp stock showed no material improvement in abundance, spawning stock biomass, recruitment or any other metric used to gauge the health of a marine stock.

They also spelled out the continuing deleterious impact on the shrimp stock by the continued warming of the Gulf of Maine waters, which researchers have said is warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s other ocean waters.

What was surprising, however, was the ASMFC regulators opted this time to close the fishery for three years, through 2021, rather than revisit it on a year-to-year basis as they’ve done since the initial closure prior to the 2014 season. The closure came over the objection of Maine Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

Regional Regulators Vote For 3-Year Closure Of Maine Shrimp Fishery

November 19, 2018 — A panel of regulators from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts voted Friday to put a three-year moratorium on the commercial fishery for Northern Shrimp, also known as Maine shrimp. Maine’s representatives at the meeting in Portland wanted some type of season preserved, but they were outnumbered.

The decision came after Katie Drew, a scientist with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, told the panel there was virtually no chance the shrimp would bounce back from depleted levels before 2022 and, in fact, might never recover. Above all, she says, the Gulf of Maine, has warmed to the limits of the shrimp’s reproductive capacity.

“The warmer the waters the less baby shrimp you have the next year,” says Drew. “And so we’ve had a lot of warm waters, and we’re just not getting a enough baby shrimp into the population. And in addition a lot of things like to eat northern shrimp.”

Predators such as red hake, spiny dogfish and squid, which are growing more abundant in some parts of the Gulf. The pressure they are putting on shrimp is a growing problem, even though one top predator, humans, haven’t been in the picture since 2014.

Historically, the commercial shrimp fishery, which traditionally started in December, has been dominated by boats from Maine. But it’s been closed for four consecutive years.

Panel member Mike Armstrong, assistant director in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, says the regulators should bow to reality and proposed the three-year closure.

Read the full story at Maine Public