Saving Seafood

Shuckin’ and thrivin’: Scallop futures in the Gulf of Maine

March 2, 2017 — The niche northern Gulf of Maine scallop fleet brought its territory back from the brink and now hopes to keep it that way.

New England’s small-boat scallopers are not just diving and dragging for their catch. They’re driving to change the way it’s managed.

“My biggest worry is that we just have a fishery to work on,” says Kristan Porter, 46, a scallop fisherman and advisory panel member from Cutler, Maine.

In Maine, the state scallop season opens in the early winter, on or around Dec. 1, and typically stays open through March. Just outside the three-mile line is the federal northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery, which is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council and extends about halfway down the coast of Massachusetts. The territory is vast, but the productive areas are small compared to the prolific array of scallop grounds to the south.

“If we manage our fishery correctly here [in Maine state lines], then those scallops will work their way outside the 3-mile line,” says Porter, who drags for scallops on the 40-foot Brandon Jay.

The sector was established when the New England Fishery Management Council adopted Amendment 11 to the Atlantic sea scallop fishery management plan, effective June 1, 2008, initially creating two federal permits — IFQs and limited access days at sea.

“We had a bunch of people from Maine who didn’t qualify at all. So they created this northern Gulf of Maine permit,” says Mary Beth Tooley, at an at-large member of the council and the chairwoman of the scallop advisory panel.

In New England, the IFQ and days at sea (limited access) fleets historically fished Georges Bank and down to the Mid-Atlantic on scallop grounds that had been rebounding since 2004, with more areas being opened thanks to video mapping that showed they were burgeoning with biomass and healthy enough for a directed fishery. Since then, the New Bedford fleet’s lucrative landings have kept their home port at the top of the list of the nation’s ports by value.

At the time of the Amendment 11 adoption, the northern Gulf of Maine territory was not worth much. But those few fishermen with history in the area believed they might be able to bring it back with good stewardship. They asked for and were granted a low hard TAC of 70,000 pounds (compared with a fleetwide limit of about 40 million pounds) with a limit of 200 pounds a day and a 10-1/2-foot dredge.

“The people who have traditionally fished there, they want it to stay carefully managed,” says Janice Plante, public affairs officer for the New England council.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MAINE: DMR Seeks Input from Eastern Maine Lobster Harvesters Potentially Impacted by Federal Regulations

March 2, 2017 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources is seeking information from lobster harvesters in eastern Maine who might be impacted by regulations under consideration by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) which are designed to protect corals in the Gulf of Maine.

Two of the proposed Gulf of Maine coral protection areas are Outer Schoodic Ridge and southwest of Mount Desert Rock. One of the proposed management options is a total ban on fishing. The Department has proposed to exempt the lobster and crab fisheries in these two coral protection areas.

DMR has already provided information to the NEFMC compiled from dealer and harvester landings reports and industry input that gave an estimate of the economic impact of closing these areas as well as the number of potentially impacted boats and harbors.

In January the NEFMC voted that it was too early in the development of the Draft Amendment to consider an exemption and expressed an interest in more data and analyses of the fisheries in these two areas.

DMR is now seeking to gather more in-depth data that can be used to inform the federal regulations. “Maine’s lobster industry provided valuable data when the federal whale rules were developed, which resulted in much better informed regulations,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“The areas under consideration are very important to Maine’s lobster industry and we are again working closely with industry to ensure that these regulations take into account the full impact of these proposed regulations.”

Harvesters who fish in either or both of these areas, are being asked complete a survey, available on the DMR website here. “The survey results will provide the department and NEFMC with data that can demonstrate the impact that these measures would have on the lobster fishery and the Downeast Maine economy,” said Commissioner Keliher.  

There will be an informational session for industry at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum at the Samoset Resort on Saturday morning, March 4, 2017 at 9 am in the Rockport Room.  Industry is invited to learn more about the proposed closures, the timeline for decision-making, and how to participate in the process.

MAINE: Potential coral protection rules could have big impact on Downeast lobstermen

February 28, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council has put rules to protect deep sea corals on the fast track, rules that will have a major impact on lobstermen — primarily from zones A and B with some from Zone C — who set their gear around Mount Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge.

The council is considering management measures to reduce impacts to corals from commercial fishing activities in three areas in the Gulf of Maine. One of the proposals would impose a total ban on fishing in the protected areas which, according to an analysis the Department of Marine Resources submitted to the council several months ago, are located in waters that produce about one-third of Maine’s lobster landings in terms of value.

Now DMR is asking lobstermen who fish in the potentially closed areas for information that will help the department in its efforts to prevent the fishing bans.

Late last month, Sarah Cotnoir, DMR’s lobster resource coordinator, sent an email to fishermen asking them for data that would “demonstrate the potential impact that these measures would have on the lobster fishery and Downeast economy.” The email asked fishermen for data including: name; boat name and fishing port; number of crew; and the number of family members of the boat’s captain and crew.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Northern Shrimp Data Workshop Scheduled for April 5-7, 2017 in Portland, ME

February 22, 2017 — The following has been released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Northern Shrimp Data Workshop will be conducted April 5-7, 2017 at the Westin Portland Harborview in Portland, Maine. The Data Workshop is the first in a series of workshops to develop the next shrimp benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the health of the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population and inform management of this species. The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room. 

For data sets to be considered at the workshop, data must be sent in with accompanying methods description to Max Appelman (mappelman@asmfc.org) by March 17, 2017. All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Northern Shrimp Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment.  

The benchmark stock assessment will be peer reviewed in April 2018. For more information on submission and presentation of materials at the Data Workshop, or attending the Data Workshop, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.               

Scallops scuffle pitting small boats against big

February 21, 2017 — A disagreement over the right to fish for scallops off New England is pitting small boats against big ones in one of the most lucrative fisheries in the U.S.

The federal government maintains different rules for the small- and big-boat scallop fisheries, though they work some of the same areas. Small boat fishermen say the conflict has arisen in the northern Gulf of Maine, a critically important fishing area stretching roughly from Boston to the border of Maine and Canada.

At issue is the fact that the northern Gulf of Maine is fertile ground for scallops right now, and rules allow the bigger boats to harvest more of them. The smaller boats have a possession limit of 200 pounds, while the largest boats have no such limit, because they are regulated instead by a limited number of days at sea.

Smaller boat fishermen said the bigger boats have been gobbling up the scallops in one of the most important areas where they fish.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Press of Atlantic City

New video system may hold promise for cod surveys

February 1, 2017 — Researchers at UMass-Dartmouth continue to refine a new video survey system they believe holds promise for providing more accurate assessments of the beleaguered Gulf of Maine cod stock.

The developers of the system, which employs high-resolution video cameras in an open-ended commercial trawl net to count the number of fish and identify their species as they enter the net, put it through another rigorous test last week and came away pleased with the results.

“This was definitely the best trip yet,” said Travis Lowery, chief scientist and technician on the project along with UMass-Dartmouth professor Kevin Stokesbury and graduate student Nick Calabrese. “We’ve been moving more toward using Go-Pro cameras and the images were crystal clear. It all worked really, really well.”

For six days, the researchers performed 31 survey tows on Stellwagen Bank, about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester, and said they found Atlantic cod aggregating over much of the open fishing grounds.

The test also included a number of closed tows so researchers could collect biological samples to measure the length and weight of the captured fish. In the biggest closed-trawl haul, researchers collected 345 cod in a half-hour, with the largest measuring up to about 33 inches.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

New camera can help assess cod stocks in Gulf of Maine

January 26, 2017 — Researchers from UMass Dartmouth say they have successfully tested an underwater video-survey system that they hope will provide an accurate method to assess Atlantic cod stocks.

In collaboration with fishermen, the research team recently placed high-resolution cameras in an open-ended commercial trawl net on Stellwagen Bank in the Gulf of Maine, known as one of the world’s most active marine sanctuaries.

The cameras captured images of cod and other groundfish as they passed through the net. Periodically, researchers from UMD’s School for Marine Science & Technology closed the net for short periods to collect length, weight, and take other biological samples from some of the fish. The fish are unharmed and are returned to the sea.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

UMass Dartmouth Scientists Deploy New Video System to Survey Atlantic Cod Population on the Stellwagen Bank Fishing Grounds

January 26, 2017 — The following was released by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth:

Last week scientists from UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) and fishermen successfully deployed a new video survey system they believe can provide more accurate measurements of the Atlantic cod population, helping regulators manage the fishery.

The system, collaboratively developed by scientists and fishermen over the last four years, was tested on Stellwagen Bank, a fishing ground located in the Gulf of Maine about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester and six miles north of Provincetown. The system involves placing high resolution video cameras in an open-ended commercial trawl net to capture images of groundfish (focusing on Atlantic cod and yellowtail flounder) as they pass through unharmed. Periodically the net is closed to collect biological samples such as length and weight measurements. These cod are kept alive in wells and are returned to the sea alive and in good condition.

SMAST Professor Kevin Stokesbury and his research team – chief scientist and graduate student Travis Lowery and graduate student Nick Calabrese – designed the system so they could identify the species in every image. This allows researchers to approximate the abundance, density, size distribution, and the impacts of commercial fishing. “Our goal is to provide all stakeholders in this issue with trustworthy science that reduces uncertainty for the Gulf of Maine cod fishery,” Dr. Stokesbury said.

“The seven-day cruise was very successful,” Dr. Stokesbury said. “Atlantic cod were observed over much of the bank, and the largest closed tow collection was of 345 cod in a half hour, with individuals measuring up to 83 cm. The idea is to increase the amount of sea floor sampled per sea day without killing more fish.”

A key milestone of the cruise was reached last Friday morning when all project systems came together. Data were collected on the position and speed of the vessel, including how the net was performing (i.e. spread of the doors, spread of the wings, bottom temperature). “We captured video of the footrope as the net passed over the sea floor and of the fish entering the net, as well as extremely clear video of the fish as they pass through the net, and a very large school of cod,” said Stokesbury. “All systems worked for the remainder of the trip; collecting data on cod abundance, distribution, the sea floor over which they school, and the other fish they associate with, including large schools of sand lance a key prey.”

The most recent assessment for Gulf of Maine cod estimated that the spawning stock biomass is a small proportion of its historic size. In response to the low abundance, the total allowable catch has been drastically reduced, constraining the fishermen’s ability to harvest healthy stocks, such as haddock and pollock. “Increasing the amount of sea floor scientifically sampled and increasing the amount of the information collected during a day at sea should reduce the uncertainty in the stock estimate, and reduced uncertainty is ultimately in everyone’s best interest,” Dr. Stokesbury said.  “In the end I think it is a good proof of concept and should give a good estimate of the cod aggregated on Stellwagen Bank.”

The Baker-Polito Administration provided $96,720 in capital money through the state Division of Marine Fisheries to fund the research tows conducted on Stellwagen Bank. Dr. Stokesbury’s research has also received support in state funding the past two years, receiving more than $800,000 through legislation supported by State Senator Mark Montigny, State Representative Antonio F.D. Cabral and the entire SouthCoast legislative delegation.

Read the full release at UMass Dartmouth

MASSACHUSETTS: Fish councilor hopes for reappointment

January 25, 2017 — Elizabeth “Libby” Etrie had a pretty well-formed idea of what awaited her when she was appointed in 2014 to her first term on the New England Fishery Management Council.

Etrie had built a solid professional foundation while working with groundfishermen as the program director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Sector Service Network, and through her work with 13 of 17 New England groundfish sectors as the southern sector coordinator for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute sector extension program.

Still, her elevation onto the council as one of Massachusetts’ at-large members provided her with a glimpse of the fishing world beyond groundfish.

“I had spent a lot of time working on groundfish issues, so I was already comfortable there,” Etrie said. “But the council deals with so much more than groundfish and the challenge was getting up to speed on the other fisheries. It’s required more work, but it’s been really rewarding.”

Etrie, who lives in Gloucester, is in the final year of her first three-year term on the council. Gov. Charlie Baker must decide by March 15 if he will submit Etrie’s name to the council and the U.S. Commerce Department — which has final approval on fishery management council member appointments — for re-appointment to another three-year term.

For now, Baker’s office remains non-committal on its plans for filling the two Massachusetts at-large seats on the council whose terms expire this year. The terms of Etrie and John Pappalardo of Chatham both expire on Aug. 10.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Scientists, fishermen can set the stage for a new way to protect the Gulf of Maine

January 23, 2017 — There’s long been an undercurrent of mistrust between fishermen who make their livelihoods from the Gulf of Maine and the scientists whose surveys and calculations determine the amount of fish they can catch.

That, in part, is because it can seem as if fishermen and scientists are talking about two different Gulfs of Maine when they discuss the size of the cod population.

Scientists document a groundfish stock in perpetual decline with an outlook that doesn’t seem to have changed much in response to increasingly restrictive limits on the amount fishermen can catch. They note a species that has struggled to recover after more than a century of overfishing and now faces the added challenge of rebuilding in an area of the ocean that’s warming faster than 99 percent of the rest of the world’s oceans. Indeed, researchers from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine and elsewhere have found that warming waters reduce the number of new cod produced by spawning females and reduce the likelihood that young fish will survive to adulthood.

Fishermen, meanwhile, report something different.

“This is uncalled for,” Joseph Orlando, a cod fisherman who fishes off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, told NPR in 2014 after regulators cut the Gulf of Maine cod fishing season short that year. “There’s more codfish out there. There’s always been.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News