Saving Seafood

Hearing on new shrimp rules draws tiny crowd

June 15, 2017 — Fishermen barely outnumbered representatives of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission last Thursday at a public hearing in City Hall on proposed rule changes that would reshape shrimp fishing in the Gulf of Maine.

Three fishermen — John Williams and Ricky Trundy, both of Stonington, and James West of Sorrento — offered comments on a proposed amendment to the ASMFC fisheries management plan for northern shrimp. Department of Marine Resources External Affairs Director Terry Stockwell and Resource Management Coordinator Trisha Cheney dutifully recorded those comments on behalf of the ASMFC.

Stockwell serves as DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher’s representative on the multi-state fisheries management group. He plans to retire at the end of the month after 21 years at DMR and Cheney will assume his role.

Although a somewhat larger crowd was on hand for a hearing the previous evening in Augusta, the sparse audience reflected the state of the fishery from Downeast waters. It also is a reflection of the fact that there has been no commercial shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine since ASMFC shortened the season in 2013 and imposed a complete fishing moratorium before the 2014 season.

For more than a decade, ASMFC managed the fishery by establishing a total allowable catch (TAC) for the entire fishery based on assessments of the size and reproductive success of the shrimp resource that was adjusted annually. As the shrimp resource declined, so did the TAC — and the fishery.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

NOAA recommending $1.5 million for Maine

June 14, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last week that it was recommending six Maine fisheries research projects for a total of $1.5 million in Saltonstall-Kennedy program grants.

In line for funding, but still subject to final approval, are grants to the following.

The Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education, $278,000 for demonstrating aquaculture technologies designed to increase the supply, quality and diversification of domestic seafood and field experiments with cultured arctic surf clams. Last Friday, the organization celebrated the groundbreaking of a $5.8 million expansion of its facilities on Beals Island.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, $288,888 to study the issue of “choke species” in a changing climate. Choke species are fish with very small landings quotas. Fishermen who haul them in as bycatch may be forced to stop fishing for other species.

The Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, $141,092 to continue and expand the 2015 tagging effort studying lobster migration and growth on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.

The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, $298,932 to study the phytoremediation potential of farmed kelp in connection with shellfish aquaculture.

The University of Maine, $299,623 to evaluate the life history and stock structure of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The University of Maine, $275,308 to assess the potential for the sustainability of fishing-dependent coastal Maine communities in the face of environmental and socioeconomic change.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Drifters May Help Improve Regional Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts in Gulf of Maine

June 14, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

Every few weeks for the next few months, a pair of ocean drifters, one surface and one deeper, will be deployed from a ferry north of Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. Both will be tracked as part of a project to monitor the flow of water in and out of the bay and perhaps into the Gulf of Maine, providing insight into harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Maine. 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center oceanographer Jim Manning is deploying and tracking the drifters for a two-year joint project with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as part of its NOAA-funded Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms research program. Researchers have developed models to forecast the annual severity of the blooms and provide weekly forecasts of bloom location and magnitude. These models are becoming operational and will be refined using data collected from a variety of instruments, including Manning’s drifters.The first pair of drifters was deployed May 25, the second pair June 7.

To learn more, check out the full story on the NEFSC’s website. 

Questions? Contact Shelley Dawicki at 508-495-2378 or shelley.dawicki@noaa.gov.

NOAA grant would fund study of tuna, lobster, climate change

June 12, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is recommending more than $1.3 million in federal funding for fisheries research projects in Maine.

The money would fund five projects. The largest grant of nearly $300,000 would fund a University of Maine project to evaluate the life history of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

Another grant of nearly $290,000 would go to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to address the issue of “choke species” in the era of climate change. Choke species are fish with small quotas for commercial fishermen. Catching too many of them can force fishermen to shut down operations.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Alva Review-Courier

Gulf of Maine Sea Scallop Surveys Planned

June 9, 2017 — Sea scallops in the Gulf of Maine will be the focus of surveys this summer, initiated by NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council.

The council needs updated scallop biomass estimates from the area to support upcoming management decisions.

At their request, NOAA Fisheries will add portions of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to two existing surveys already planned on Georges Bank.

The additional work will be done through the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program under two current grants.

The Coonamessett Farm Foundation will survey portions of Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge with the Habcam optical imaging system, complemented by the deployment of a scallop survey dredge to collect biological samples.

The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology will conduct a high-resolution drop-camera survey of a portion of Stellwagen Bank.

These additional surveys will generate scallop biomass estimates that will be provided to the council to support the development of Gulf of Maine management measures later this year.

Research set-aside programs are unique to federal fisheries in the Greater Atlantic Region.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NOAA recommends Maine fisheries research projects for $1.5M in funding

June 8, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recommended over $1.5 million in Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program funding for six fisheries research projects in Maine.

The goal of the Saltonstall-Kennedy program is to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable.

The program has recommended the following projects for funding; final approval is pending:

  • Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education, $278,000: Demonstrating aquaculture technologies designed to increase the supply, quality and diversification of domestic seafood: Field experiments with cultured arctic surf clams.
  • Gulf of Maine Research Institute, $288,888: Addressing the issue of “Choke” species in a changing climate.
  • Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association Lobster, $141,092: Migration and growth: Continuation and expansion of 2015 tagging effort on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.
  • Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, $298,932: A ‘Halo’ for shellfish aquaculture: Discovering the phytoremediation potential of farmed kelp.
  • University of Maine, $299,623: Evaluating the life history and stock structure of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
  • University of Maine, $275,308: Assessing the potential for sustainability of fishing-dependent communities in coastal Maine in the face of environmental and socioeconomic change.

In a news release announcing the NOAA’s recommendations, U.S Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, characterized the projects as “key to the future of the Gulf of Maine and the thousands of Mainers who make their living from it.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Studies Hope to Shed Light on Area of Scallop Fishing Fight

June 7, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal fishing managers say studies are planned for an important New England scallop fishing area that’s been a source of conflict in the fishery in recent months.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it’s facilitating survey work in the northern Gulf of Maine this summer.

Small boats came into conflict with bigger boats in the northern Gulf of Maine this year over differences in the way the boats are managed.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News & World Report

Researcher says young lobsters on decline in Gulf of Maine

June 6, 2017 — While landings of lobster in the Gulf of Maine have hit recordbreaking highs, the number of young lobsters appears to be declining, and marine scientists are trying to figure out why.

That’s just one of the many topics being examined at the 11th International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology and Management that’s taking place in Maine this week.

This marks the first time the conference has been held in New England. Previous editions of the conference were held in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Japan, and Norway. The only other time it was hosted in the United States was in 2000, when it was held in Florida.

Richard A. Wahle of the University of Maine says the number of young lobsters is falling in the Gulf of Maine despite years of record-breaking harvests, according to the Associated Press.

Wahle’s American Lobster Settlement Index quantifies the population of baby lobsters at dozens of sites in New England and Canada every year. Most monitoring sites from New Brunswick to Cape Cod reported some of the lowest levels since the late 1990s or early 2000s, and scientists and fishermen are working to better understand this trend, according to the Associated Press.

The conference, which is being chaired by Wahle and Kari L. Lavalli of Boston University, kicked off Sunday with informal icebreaker activities, live music by a fiddle band, and plenty of New England clam chowder.

The confab, which runs until Friday in Portland, is expected to draw more than 200 lobster biologists, oceanographers, fishery managers, and lobstermen.

The schedule includes dozens of presentations and panel discussions, and sessions with titles like “The Hunger Games: how starvation affects attractiveness of lobsters used to bait traps in the Florida spiny lobster fishery,” and “From lobsters to dollars: an economic analysis of the distribution supply chain in Maine.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Sen. King tells researchers that data is the key to protecting lobster industry

June 6, 2017 — Calling proposed cuts in federal science funding “unacceptable,” U.S. Sen. Angus King told lobster researchers Monday that data is the key to protecting Maine’s most valuable fishery.

Maine’s independent senator asked the 250 biologists, oceanographers and fishery managers at a global conference on lobster biology in Portland this week to give him data on the impact of the changing sea environment on lobster, including temperature, salinity and acidification, and whether that is prompting a migration of Maine’s $533.1 million a year fishery to Canada.

“If lobsters are moving toward Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, that’s a serious practical issue that will get the attention of politicians,” he said. “It’s when you start seeing jobs go away that politicians start saying ‘Gee, we’d better do something about this.’ Are they moving, if they are why, and if they are, what’s the timing? Is it five years? Twenty years? A hundred years?”

But federal funding for scientific research is under fire. President Trump’s budget calls for a 17 percent cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the national fisheries programs and funded almost a fifth of Maine Department of Marine Resources’ annual budget. It would eliminate the Sea Grant program, which funds research by the University of Maine’s Rick Wahle, conference co-chairman, among others.

“The lobster industry in New England is valued at close to $500 million and yet we know very little about how ocean acidification may affect this species,” Libby Jewett, NOAA’s ocean acidification director, said last fall when awarding Wahle’s team a $200,000 grant for lobster research. “These projects should help move the needle forward in our understanding and, as a result, enable broader resilience in the region.”

King said it is unlikely that Trump’s budget, containing what he considers drastic cuts in scientific funding, will pass Congress.

“The last thing we should be doing on a federal level is cutting research funding,” King said. “That is one of the most important functions of the federal government, whether it is climate change or cancer. It’s how we solve problems. To cut research, and particularly to cut research when you get the feeling that the motivation is that we don’t want to know, is unacceptable. … Congress understands this.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

New England Fishermen Put Down Their Bait for Day of Safety Training

June 6, 2017 — Commercial fishermen in Northern New England face their fair share of challenges. Along with declining fish stocks and tight catch regulations, the occupation also remains one of the most dangerous in the country.

With that ever-present risk in mind, dozens of fishermen turned out in New Castle, New Hampshire recently for a day-long safety training exercise.

“Yeah, I’ve been on boats that sunk, had to get overboard, and had to get in my survival suit, gone in the water in the wintertime. And so, I’ve been through it,” says John Emmerton, a fourth generation fisherman with fingers thick like sausages. “It’s pretty ‘hairy carey’ when you have to deal with it in reality. Never happens when it’s nice like today.”

Emmerton is usually found in the Gulf of Maine aboard the Angela Michelle, but today he and some of his crewmates are on dry land in New Castle for a free safety event put on by the non-profit Fishing Partnership Support Services.

“The ocean is a dangerous place,” says Ed Dennehy, training director for Fishing Partnership. “There are weather issues, there are equipment issues if you don’t care care of your boat, then you have flooding issues, or a fire. And when you are out in the ocean, you are your only person around to save yourself. There is no ambulance, there is no fire engine. So you need to know how to address those kinds of issues.”

While fishing boats are subject to routine inspections to ensure there are items such as flares and life rafts aboard, there is no real oversight over whether crew know how to use them properly.

Read the full story at New Hampshire Public Radio