Saving Seafood

Biden’s decision to restore marine monument off Cape Cod is praised and criticized in Maine

October 12, 2021 — President Biden’s decision to restore the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off Cape Cod got mixed reactions in Maine on Friday. 

But while the decision restores a prohibition on commercial fishing in the area, it is not expected to have much direct impact on the state’s industries because few, if any, Maine boats fish there.

Last year, President Trump opened the 5,000-square-mile area that had first been designated as a national monument by President Obama in 2016. Some Maine commercial fishing groups applauded the decision, even though the area wasn’t frequented by Maine-based fishermen and women. The monument had been seen as a symbolic affront to the industry.

Gov. Janet Mills criticized the Biden administration for taking such a major action without input from stakeholders, including the fishing industry.

“While I support environmental protection and conservation, this major action – which comes just mere weeks after advancing a right whale rule that that will seriously harm New England fishermen – is misguided and premature,” Mills said in a statement. “This decision was made without the appropriate engagement and consultation of stakeholders who deserve to have their voices heard. Fishermen are already reeling from heavy-handed Federal action and this further erodes faith that the Biden Administration will seek consensus from all stakeholders on important decisions impacting the marine environment.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Maine governor to take side of fishing biz in whale lawsuit

September 28, 2021 — Maine’s governor is intervening in a federal lawsuit that concerns the future of right whale protections and lobster fishing off New England.

The lawsuit was filed by conservation group Center for Biological Diversity against the federal government and it makes the case that federal management of the lobster fishing industry violates federal law because it can harm the rare whales. The whales are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in fishing gear.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

 

Gov. Mills Administration Granted Intervenor Status to Support Maine’s Lobster Industry in Lawsuit

September 28, 2021 — The following was released by the office of Maine Governor Janet Mills:

Governor Janet Mills announced today that a federal judge has granted her Administration’s motion to intervene in the pending litigation Center for Biological Diversity v. Ross in the U.S. District Court in the D.C. Circuit.

“Intervening in this case is a critically important step in the state’s efforts to support Maine’s vital lobster industry,” said Governor Mills. “A court decision in the plaintiff’s favor could close Maine’s lobster fishery altogether – a completely unacceptable outcome that would be devastating to our lobstermen and their families and devastating to our coastal communities and our economy. We will fight tooth and nail to prevent that from happening.”

The lawsuit contests the Federal government’s recently published regulation to protect North Atlantic Right Whales. It also amends and supplements a 2018 lawsuit which challenged the Federal government’s authority to regulate the lobster fishery by challenging the required Biological Opinion.

With the approval of the Office of Attorney General, the Mills Administration has contracted with the law firm Nossaman LLP to represent the State of Maine as an intervenor in this lawsuit. Nossaman attorneys have extensive experience litigating Endangered Species Act issues related to commercial fishing. The Governor is supporting the effort by funding the use of specialized outside counsel through the Governor’s Contingent Account.

“We worked closely with industry to develop approaches that would minimize the hardship to fishermen, and through that effort, informed the rulemaking process, but the battle for this industry is also being waged on multiple fronts,” said Commissioner of Marine Resources Patrick Keliher. “We are committed to making sure we have the legal expertise and resources necessary to capably represent the interests of Maine’s lobster industry in this pivotal court fight.”

Last week, Governor Mills sent a letter Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging swift action by NOAA Fisheries to reduce the unnecessary economic harm to Maine fishermen that the recently announced Federal whale protection rule will cause.

Governor Mills has repeatedly stood up for Maine’s vital lobster industry and its working men and women in the face of the Federal government’s right whale proposal. Last year, she wrote to the Commerce Department urging it to deny a petition by Pew Charitable Trusts that asks for three seasonal offshore closures in the Gulf of Maine and that would prohibit the use of vertical lines in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries in four areas of the New England coast.

She also filed comments with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the draft Biological Opinion for ten fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale, expressing “grave concern” and warning it will be economically devastating and will fundamentally change Maine’s lobster fishery.

Read the full release here

 

Maine Gov. Janet Mills Calls on Commerce Secretary to Delay Implementation of Gear Marking & Modification in Right Whale Rule

September 27, 2021 — The following was released by the Office of Maine Governor Janet Mills:

In a letter today to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Governor Janet Mills urged swift action by NOAA Fisheries to reduce the unnecessary economic harm to Maine fishermen that the recently announced Federal whale protection rule will cause.

“I don’t believe this rule, as written, should take effect at all, and, at the very least, I urge you to direct NOAA Fisheries to delay the rule’s implementation of gear marking and gear modifications (including both trawling up and insertion of weak points) to July 1, 2022,” wrote Governor Mills.

“It is entirely unfair that Maine lobstermen continue to be the primary target of burdensome regulations, despite the many effective mitigation measures they have taken and despite the data showing that ship strikes and Canadian fishing gear continue to pose significant risk to right whales,” she wrote.

On August 31, 2021, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) issued the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule. In response, Governor Mills joined U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden is opposing the rule.

In her letter today, Governor Mills highlighted gear marking requirements that are “alarmingly different than what was in the proposed rule.” Maine implemented a state-specific gear marking regulation in 2020 that provided flexibility to fishermen who move gear from offshore to inshore waters. After communicating with NOAA, Maine anticipated it would be reflected in the final rule. Instead, the final rule will require many fishermen to “purchase a second set of endlines,” wrote Governor Mills. She pointed out that the cost to fishermen for a second set of endlines is estimated to be over $9 million.

Revenue loss associated with the May 1, 2022 implementation deadline for required gear marking and modification will also unfairly burden Maine fishermen. “Fishermen who fish year-round usually do not begin to rotate their gear inshore until May. However, in order to meet the rule’s new requirements, fishermen anticipate a month or more of gear work to become compliant. Due to the NOAA deadline, gear will need to be brought back to port in March or April, when the price of lobster is very high,” wrote Governor Mills.

The expected loss from the implementation date, which was established without input from industry, is between $15 million and $25 million.

Governor Mills has repeatedly stood up for Maine’s vital lobster industry and its working men and women in the face of the Federal government’s right whale proposal. Last year, she wrote to the Commerce Department urging it to deny a petition by Pew Charitable Trusts that asks for three seasonal offshore closures in the Gulf of Maine and that would prohibit the use of vertical lines in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries in four areas of the New England coast.

She also filed comments with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the draft Biological Opinion for ten fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale, expressing “grave concern” and warning it will be economically devastating and will fundamentally change Maine’s lobster fishery.

Her Administration, through the Maine Department of Marine Resources, also plans to file for intervenor status in the pending litigation Center for Biological Diversity v. Ross in the U.S. District Court in the D.C. Circuit in an effort to avoid having the court vacate the biological opinion (BiOp). If the biological opinion is vacated by the court, the potential outcome is a closure of the entire fishery. The Governor is supporting the effort by funding the use of specialized outside counsel through the Governor’s Contingent Account.

A copy of the letter is attached (PDF).

 

MAINE: Mills Administration To Fight Right Whale Lawsuit That Could Lead To ‘Draconian’ Effects On Lobster Industry

September 15, 2021 — The Mills administration says it’s pursuing several actions to contest recently-released lobstering restrictions designed to protect endangered right whales. It’s also intervening in an ongoing lawsuit that officials say could be more devastating to the industry.

Marine Resources chief Patrick Keliher says that Gov. Janet Mills is hiring private attorneys to help fight a lawsuit in the U.S. D.C. Circuit Court brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups that are challenging the data used by the federal government to issue lobstering regulations to protect right whales.

Keliher says prevailing in that lawsuit won’t undo the new federal lobstering regulations that effectively close off traditional lobstering for 950 square miles of the Gulf of Maine from October through January.

Read the full story at Maine Public

 

Feds Consider Compensating Fishermen For Wind Energy Effects On Harvests

July 29, 2021 — The Mills administration is partnering with a commercial wind energy company, New England Aqua Ventus, to seek a lease of 16-square miles of federal waters south of for a wind farm of up to 12 wind turbines tens of miles south of Bremen, with a goal of researching novel “floating platform” technology and its effects on ecosystems and fisheries.

“It’s positive that the Biden Administration is examining these questions, and we look forward to learning more about their thinking,” said NEAV spokesman David Wilby. “While the process in Maine has already benefited from many participating voices – which is why the preferred site for the Research Array is as far from shore as it is – a standardized federal program for compensation holds promise.”

As the Biden administration and Gov. Janet Mills push the development of offshore wind energy projects, new efforts are emerging to look at compensation for commercial fishermen whose harvests might be hurt.

Last month the governors of nine Atlantic coast states, from Maine to Virginia, called on Biden to lead a regional approach to offshore wind development, including a plan for mitigating negative effects on fisheries.

Read the full story at Maine Public

MAINE: Fishermen slow offshore wind farm development

July 26, 2021 — Actions by Maine fishermen directly affected the process of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine with a bill signed into law on July 7 by Governor Janet Mills.

The measure was a response to plans that surfaced last year for a 16-square-mile, 12-turbine wind farm, called a “research array,” off the southern coast of Maine.

Proponents promised good jobs and cheap, green electricity. Fishermen weren’t so sure. They envisioned wind farms springing up throughout the Gulf of Maine, harming marine life and damaging coastal communities.

“We as fishermen work and take care of the water,” said Virginia Olsen, a Maine Lobstering Union director who lives in Stonington. “We feel these things will get dumped on the water and then someone will say, ‘Just leave them there, it’ll be a coral reef.’ But it will just be trash left for us.”

Fishermen scored a victory this legislative session with a measure that bans offshore wind turbines in state waters. Lawmakers also prevented the state from allowing wind farms in federal waters to link to the mainland.

But the new measure may only slow, not stop, the spread of wind farms. After three years, it permits wind farms in federal waters to link to the mainland if certain conditions are met.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Site in New England identified for nation’s 1st floating offshore wind research area

July 14, 2021 — Maine officials have identified a preferred site for an offshore wind farm that would be the nation’s first floating offshore wind research area.

The administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is working with the University of Maine and New England Aqua Ventus on the planned research array. Administration officials have said the project will contain up to 12 turbines.

The Mills administration released the specifications of its preferred site for the project on Monday. The site is a 16-square-mile area in the Gulf of Maine located about 30 miles off the Maine coast.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at MassLive

Maine compromise prohibits new offshore wind development in state waters

July 13, 2021 — Maine Gov. Janet Mills on July 7 signed into law a new measure that prohibits new offshore wind projects in state waters, in a compromise aimed at protecting Maine’s commercial lobster and recreational fisheries, while potentially allowing future wind power development in federal waters farther offshore.

Mills in June had signed a bill to plan for what would be the first U.S. research area for floating offshore wind in Gulf of Maine federal waters. But the state’s politically and culturally influential fishing industry has been deeply opposed to allowing any wind turbines off Maine, since Mills in November 2020 announced state government’s intention to seek a federal lease for 16 square miles for an array of up to a dozen floating turbines.

The ensuing debate led in June to a compromise in the Maine Legislature, where Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, a Winter Harbor lobsterman, introduced a measure that would ban wind development in state waters and prohibit issuing state permits for cables and other supporting infrastructure to connect projects in federal waters to Maine.

Lawmakers were also considering a bill setting up Mills’ proposal to impose a 10-year ban in state waters but allow the Aqua Ventus demonstration project near Monhegan to proceed with other research projects and issue permits for federal waters projects.

Final amendments reached a bipartisan compromise that sets up a new Offshore Wind Research Consortium that includes representation from Maine fishermen.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine narrows location for proposed offshore wind turbines

July 13, 2021 — After reviewing potential impact to fisheries, marine wildlife and navigation within 770 square miles of ocean off southern Maine, the Governor’s Energy Office is now focusing on a 16-square-mile area to site up to 12 floating wind-power turbines.

The preferred site for the research array is an L-shaped swath of the Gulf of Maine, about 25 miles south of Muscongus Bay, according to a report issued Monday.

The office is inviting comments on the site through July 30 to inform its final siting decision, which will be included in a federal lease application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior that’s responsible for managing development in some offshore waters.

The application will be the first step in a subsequent multiyear permitting process by the bureau, which includes further impact studies and opportunities for public input, according to a news release.

Read the full story at MaineBiz