Gulf of Maine Archives - Page 72 of 99

NOAA Fisheries Proposes State Water Exemptions for Scallop Fisheries in Maine and Massachusetts

June 29, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking comment on a proposed rule that would revise the State Waters Exemption Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

Under this proposed rule, vessels holding both a Massachusetts state scallop permit and either a Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) or LAGC Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Federal scallop permit could continue to fish in state waters once the Federal Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the NGOM Management Area has been fully harvested.

This action would also modify the State Waters Exemption for Maine, which already has this exemption for vessels holding state scallop permits and LAGC NGOM permits, to include vessels that have both a state scallop permit and an LAGC IFQ permit.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register.

We will be accepting public comment on this proposed rule through July 14.

Please submit comments through our e-rulemaking portal or by sending your comments to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Please make the outside of the envelope “Comments on Maine and Massachusetts State Waters Exemption Program.”

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel at 978-281-9175 or jennifer.goebel@noaa.gov

This year, a welcome switch on bait supply for Maine lobstermen

June 29, 2017 — Maine lobstermen are hitting the water late this year because of cold weather, but without the cloud of a looming bait crisis hanging over them.

Bait freezers along the coast are full of herring and pogies, and even alewives, which means that bait is not only available, it is also much less expensive than last year when herring cost as much as 60 cents a pound, said Pat Keliher, commissioner of the state Department of Marine Resources. This year the lobstermen’s go-to bait costs about half as much.

That’s still not a great price, Keliher said. Herring fetched about 18 cents a pound at the start of the 2015 lobstering season.

“I won’t say we’re in great shape, but we are in a heck of a lot better shape than we were last year,” Keliher said.

He attributed the strong start to basic supply-and-demand economics. When the supply of bait fish is high and demand is low, lobstermen do well.

Fishermen caught herring in the deep waters off Georges Bank earlier this year than they did in 2016, Keliher said. Although they’ve landed a little more than last year – about 19.9 percent of their quota, compared with 19.1 percent at the same time last year, according to this week’s federal landing reports – this year’s catch came early enough in the season to keep prices low.

The inshore herring fishery in the Gulf of Maine opened this month. The state is applying the same restrictions it implemented last year to stretch out this local supply of fresh herring deep into the summer, when the lobster season starts to peak. These measures include weekly landing limits, a limit on how many days a week herring can be landed, and a prohibition on the use of carrier-only fishing vessels.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Marine scientists use drifters to explore regional currents

June 27, 2017 — We know Clint Eastwood was the High Plains Drifter. And we’ve heard Bob Dylan’s tale of the Drifter’s Escape. But now the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole is employing drifters not on the plains but on the waves around Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine.

“I’m excited about our latest drifter project,” proclaimed NMFS Oceanographer Jim Manning. “It’s one of many we’ve had and it seems like a real application for drifters. We’ve used them for a lot of fun educational purposes but our recent project in the Bay of Fundy has real purpose.”

They’ve been used with purpose in Cape Cod Bay as well. But, you might ask, what exactly is a drifter? It’s not a shiftless character begging at the kitchen door for scraps.

“It looks like an underwater kite, like a box kite,” Manning explained. “It’s a meter by a meter of cloth sails and they only thing that sticks out is a satellite transmitter. It provides us an estimate of the surface current.”

Its function is similar to that of a glass bottle with a note in it. You toss it in the ocean, it drifts somewhere, and you find out where it went.

With the old bottle you had to wait months or years until someone wrote back but a transmitter can tell you where it is today. It reveals where the surface currents are headed and can tell you where anything drifting along, like a cold-stunned sea turtle in Cape Cod Bay, or a swath of toxic algae in Maine, might wind up.

The current project Manning is excited about focuses on Alexandrium fundyense, the plankton that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning in anyone that eats a shellfish, usually a clam, that has filter fed on it. It’s the same algae that lives in the Nauset Marsh between Orleans and Eastham, and causes annual shutdowns of shellfishing harvests.

The plankton has a resting stage where it sits as cysts in the mud. When conditions are right and the water warms the cysts germinate, it swims up towards the surface and the currents carry it away. In Nauset Marsh it doesn’t go far and stays in the marsh but in the Bay of Fundy it’s carried down the coast.

“The main objective is to help numerical modelers try to simulate the ocean,” Manning said. “A couple of universities have big computer models. These models are used for a variety of things. We’ve deployed the drifters north of Grand Manan Island up in the Bay of Fundy to demonstrate how complicated the currents are. Every time we put one out it goes in a different direction.”

Read the full story at Wicked Local

Lobstermen question the need for camera surveillance aboard vessels in Nova Scotia

June 26, 2017 — Several Nova Scotia lobster fishermen voiced doubt over their support of the possible implementation of vessel video surveillance during a workshop held last week in Lockport, Nova Scotia.

Camera surveillance aboard fishing boats was the primary topic of discussion during the 22 June information session hosted by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and organized by the Ecology Action Center. The session was attended by more than a hundred southwest Nova Scotia fishermen, many of whom were concerned that the technology posed a threat to their privacy, CBC News reported.

Speakers including a fisherman from British Columbia and a program manager from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Discussion focused on the use of camera surveillance as a means to monitor catch and to cut down on bycatch, in particular regional endangered species such as Atlantic cod and cusk. However, many fishermen claimed practices are already in place that do enough to provide proper catch assurances.

Port La Tour fisherman Wilford Smith noted that the industry is already self-reporting its bycatch in logbooks, and throwing at-risk species back.

Regarding the prospect of camera surveillance on boats, Smith said: “What for? We’ve got nothing to hide…We’re not keeping nothing secret,” according to CBC News.

Spurred by insistence from main lobster-buying markets – including the United States, Europe and Asia – requiring evidence of the sustainability of imported seafood, the Nova Scotia lobster fishery obtained certification from the Marine Stewardship Council in 2015. As standards continue to evolve, though, the elements needed to prove the sustainability of catch is changing as well, and there aren’t a lot of options beyond camera surveillance that are cost-effective, according to Susanna Fuller, senior marine co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Center. While video surveillance isn’t being imposed upon Nova Scotia lobster fishermen, alternatives including at-sea observers will cost more, Fuller told CBC News.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine lobstermen win concession to fish in coral protection zone

June 22, 2017 — A deep-sea coral protection plan adopted Thursday won’t keep Maine fishermen out of their traditional Gulf of Maine fishing spots.

The New England Fisheries Management Council voted to ban all but lobstermen from fishing about 39 square miles of coral-rich area in two protection zones near Mt. Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge. About 50 Maine lobster boats from more than a dozen ports harvest more than $8 million worth of lobster from those areas, according to state estimates.

Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher called the coral protection plan a good compromise.

“The Gulf of Maine coral motion is one I helped perfect,” Keliher said. “It gives adequate protection to the corals in certain areas of the Gulf of Maine and it exempts lobster gear, which has a lot of landed value and really a very low impact to the corals. We think it’s a good balance. … I would rather take a bite of the apple here one bite at a time instead of trying to do it all.”

Keliher noted that most fishermen avoid corals “like the plague” because it destroys their gear and costs them money.

Lobstermen turned out in big numbers at some of the public hearings on these proposed coral zones, but their anxiety faded once the council decided to choose a proposal that would allow lobster fishing in these areas as the preferred option. The council could have reversed course, but such a turnaround is rare for a board that works so closely with the fishing industry.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NEFMC Postpones Coral Action for Continental Slope/Canyons

June 22, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today adopted coral protection zones for the Gulf of Maine as part of its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. However, it postponed action for the Continental Slope south of Georges Bank in order to further develop an additional alternative. The Council’s Plan Development Team (PDT) will work with the Habitat Advisory Panel to further refine this new alternative. The Council’s Habitat Committee then will review the results and develop a recommendation for the full Council to consider. The timing of final action is uncertain.

Gulf of Maine

For the Gulf of Maine, the Council approved the following measures:

Outer Schoodic Ridge – The Council adopted a discrete coral protection zone for this area where bottom-tending mobile gear (trawls and dredges) will be prohibited. Other types of fishing gear will be allowed, including lobster traps/pots.
Mt. Desert Rock – The Council adopted a discrete coral protection zone for this area as well where bottom-tending mobile gear will be prohibited but other gears, including lobster traps/pots, will be allowed.
Jordan Basin DHRA – The Council designated a Dedicated Habitat Research Area in Jordan Basin on/around the 114 fathom bump site, which encompasses roughly 40 square miles. This designation is meant to focus attention on the coral habitats at this site. The Council believes additional research on corals and fishing gear impacts should be directed here. No fishing restrictions are proposed at this time.
Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll – The Council did not adopt any coral protection zones for either of these offshore Gulf of Maine areas or support any new fishing restrictions there.

Framework Items, Research Activities

The Council included a list of items that could be modified in the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment through framework adjustments rather than through additional amendments. These include: (1) adding, revising, or removing coral protection zones; (2) changing fishing restrictions; and (3) adopting or changing special fishery programs.

The Council also agreed that anyone conducting research activities in coral zones would be required to obtain a letter of acknowledgement of these activities from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full release here

Protection of deep-sea Atlantic corals up for debate

June 22, 2017 — A federal panel is considering protections for deep-sea corals in the Atlantic Ocean that would impact commercial fishing interests off New England.

A committee of the New England Fishery Management Council is looking at proposals to preserve corals in two key fishing areas, the Gulf of Maine and south of Georges Bank.

The committee decided Thursday to hold off on voting on options to protect corals near Georges Bank. Coral protections in the Gulf of Maine will be considered Thursday afternoon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

NOAA Fisheries Announces Initiation of Atlantic Salmon Status Review

June 22, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is initiating a five-year review of the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic Salmon, as required by the Endangered Species Act. The Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon is listed as endangered by NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. NOAA Fisheries is taking the lead for this review.

In a five-year review, we evaluate the best scientific and commercial data available to review the current status of listed species. We use these reviews to ensure that listing classifications are accurate.

Through this announcement, we are requesting submission of information on the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon, including any information on the status, threats, and recovery of the species that has become available since the final listing determination in 2009.

Please submit your information by July 20, 2017, either through the e-Rulemaking portal or by mail to:

Dan Kircheis

NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region

Maine Field Station

17 Godfrey Drive

Orono, Maine 04473

Questions? Contact Dan Kircheis at 207-866-7320 or Dan.Kircheis@noaa.gov.

For fish, the good and bad of warming ocean waters

June 19, 2017 — According to a recent study published in “Progress in Oceanography,” some fish species will thrive in warmer waters — and others, not so much.

Using a detailed climate model and historical observation data, researchers at NOAA and The Nature Conservancy modeled the shifting thermal habitats of over 50 species along the Atlantic coast, from North Carolina to the Gulf of Maine.

“So it’s basically a picture of the water temperature and the depths that individual species are most commonly associated with,” says lead author Kristin Kleisner, now a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund’s Fisheries Solutions Center.

Ocean temperatures in the region are expected to increase 6.6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (3.7 to 5.0 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century, according to NOAA. For many species, like summer flounder, striped bass and Atlantic croaker, researchers found warming oceans could lead to increased habitat availability.

“Those are all species that are currently caught off the more southern portions of our coastline and they’re associated with warmer waters,” Kleisner says. “And these guys might do pretty well as climate changes and new areas of suitable thermal habitat open up for them.”

Kleisner is careful to point out that the study only considered water temperature and depth in its picture of thermal habitats. Other factors like ocean acidification could change the game for lobsters, for example, which otherwise stand to gain from warming waters. “That could be a pretty big wild card,” she says.

Meanwhile, for species like Atlantic cod, Acadian redfish and others found in northern coastal areas, the study’s picture “was not so rosy,” Kleisner says. That’s not to say these species won’t find suitable water temperatures in deeper waters, or further north, she adds — but their habitats may shift out of reach for some fishermen.

Read the full story at PRI.org

Climate change puts Cape fisheries in hot water

June 19, 2017 — As the president claims that climate change is a “Chinese hoax” and members of Congress deny that it even exists, those of us who live at the ocean’s edge can testify firsthand to its effects. They include bigger storms, accelerated sea-level rise and warmer waters. On the Cape, those are game changers to a way of life. They affect the community’s character, soul, and livelihood, especially in the commercial fishery.

The biggest long-term threat to fishing in the northwest Atlantic is not excessive regulations, national marine monuments, or over-fishing – it’s hot water. Cold water species like the iconic cod, and even lobsters and northern shrimp, have to put up with living conditions so uncomfortable that they may be leaving home and heading north.

A recent issue of the journal “Science” shows that over the last 10 years, temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have increased three times faster than almost all of the Earth’s oceans. The Gulf’s southern boundary edges along Cape Cod Bay. Beginning there, Gulf surface temperatures increased four degrees between 2005 and 2013 and scientists tell us they could go even higher. That spells disaster for the Gulf’s ecosystem.

The world’s oceans absorb most of the heat humans produce, but when we deposit too much heat into the atmosphere and adjacent waters below, sea life pays the price. With nature out of balance, fisheries shift, oceans acidify, and life-sustaining oxygen levels decrease.

Especially alarming is what we are seeing at the lower levels of the food chain. As water temperatures spike, copepods are disappearing. These tiny plankton-like crustaceans anchor the Gulf’s food chain and when they leave, the chain starts to unravel from the bottom up and fish productivity suffers.

Excessive carbon dioxide emissions, one of the major causes of rapid climate change, are sapping the strength of the giant ocean conveyor belt known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — otherwise known as the AMOC. It’s a vital component of the Earth’s climate system, with a northward flow of warm tropical salty water in the upper layers of the Gulf Stream, and a southward flow of colder water in the deeper layers.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times