Saving Seafood

JESSICA HATHAWAY: Bad bait: Right whale group gets it wrong

August 6, 2021 — Can a marine animal rights group do its best work from the side of the highway? One thing that’s sure is Mainers Guarding Right Whales’ new billboard campaign is garnering some attention this week. The downside is that the spotlight is coming with a big helping of side eye.

The campaign is aimed at tourists heading to Maine, ostensibly to inform them that “lobster dinners at seaside harbors come at a steep price to North Atlantic right whales,” according to the organization. The Maine-based group posted roadside signs in Massachusetts to launch the campaign, because billboards are not legal in Maine. It also recommends buying lobster from divers, which also is not legal in the state.

Once again, the target of a group proclaiming a goal of “guarding” the dwindling North Atlantic Right Whale population zeroes in on Maine lobstermen for no apparent reason.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

ASMFC Lobster Board Initiates Draft Addendum to Consider Electronic Tracking for Lobster, Jonah Crab

August 6, 2021 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)’s American Lobster Board initiated Draft Addendum XXIX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster.

This Draft Addendum considers the implementation of electronic tracking requirements for federally permitted vessels in the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery. The potential new tracking will aim to collect “high resolution spatial and temporal effort data.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Researchers test ropeless fishing

August 5, 2021 — To cut down the chances of whale entanglement with fishing gear, researchers and developers are testing technology that would eliminate the need for the vertical lines that run between lobster traps on the seafloor and buoys bobbing on the surface.

Lobstermen are facing tighter restrictions to help with the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whales and so-called “ropeless” fishing is seen as one of the potential ways to ease that burden.

Traditionally, lobstermen have a buoy on the surface to mark their string of traps on the ocean floor, and they are connected by a vertical line. Ropeless fishing would ditch the persistent vertical line that sits in the water.

“We’re in a place where we’re still testing and doing research to see how much this can be part of the solution,” said Zack Klyver, the science director at Blue Planet Strategies. With his company, Klyver is working with gillnet fishermen and is looking for Maine lobstermen who might be interested in testing out the technology. “We’re actively looking for lobster fishermen that want to be pioneers, that want to see if this can be part of the solution.”

There are currently two main types of ropeless fishing. One is a trap-like cage that has a rope stowed inside. A lobsterman can trigger the release of the buoy, bringing the rope to the surface. The second type includes a lift bag in the trap. It blows up like a balloon on demand, bringing the trap along with it.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

How ‘ghost’ fishing gear affects at-risk species and fisheries’ bottom line

August 5, 2021 — Southwest Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s most productive lobster fishing region, spanning more than 21,000 square kilometers and contributing a significant portion of the country’s lobster supply.

With a busy fishery, though, has come the growing challenge of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing  (ALDFG)—a collection of , ropes, hooks, cables and other fishing-related equipment that drift through the water column or litter the ocean floor. It is a global problem, but one that hasn’t been widely quantified.

Researchers at Dalhousie University wanted to find out how much gear might be in the Southwest Nova Scotia (SWNS) fishing zone and how it might be affecting the existing fishery. Their recently published  provides the first preliminary assessment of environmental and economic impacts of ALDFG on the commercial  industry in the area.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

ASMFC American Lobster Board Initiates Draft Addendum XXIX

August 4, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board initiated Draft Addendum XXIX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Draft Addendum considers implementing electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted vessels in the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery, with the goal of collecting high resolution spatial and temporal effort data.

“In my opinion, this is the single most important thing the American Lobster Board can do to ensure the viability of the American lobster fishery,” stated Board Chair Dan McKiernan from Massachusetts. “Through the proposed action, the Board seeks to significantly improve our understanding of stock status, identify areas where lobster fishing effort might present a risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, and provide important information to help reduce spatial conflicts with other ocean uses, such as wind energy development and aquaculture.”

A number of challenges facing the fishery (e.g., rising water temperatures, protected species interactions, reduced recruitment) present a critical need for the collection of enhanced spatial and temporal data via electronic tracking devices in the offshore fishery. The stock assessment models that estimate exploitation and abundance for American lobster could be greatly improved with these data, as they would provide size composition data at a finer resolution than what is currently available. Additionally, the models used to assess the location of vertical lines in the fishery and their associated risk to endangered right whales could be substantially improved with vessel tracking data, which could impact federal risk reduction requirements for the fishery. Better understanding the footprint of the U.S. lobster fishery will also be vital to ocean planning efforts to minimize spatial conflicts with other ocean uses such as aquaculture, marine protected areas, and offshore energy development, as well as provide fishery managers tools to help maintain industry fishing grounds. Furthermore, vessel tracking could improve the efficiency and efficacy of offshore law enforcement efforts.

Draft Addendum XXIX will propose specifications for tracking devices to ensure the collected data meet both management and assessment needs. These specifications include data reporting rates, preferred technologies, and minimum standards for tracking devices. Implementation timelines, as well as budgetary and staff resource needs will be further discussed as the Draft Addendum is developed. For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

A Ropeless Future for Lobster Fishing

August 4, 2021 — Motoring out of Bar Harbor recently, a small boat slowly navigated a field of colorful buoys before hitting the open water. It hooked around Bar Island, passed the Porcupines and slowed up on the leeward side of Ironbound, a mostly undeveloped private island. Had a person been standing on the rocky cliffs then, they would have seen the crew on the boat dump a lobster trap into the water and watch it sink, then motor off to a short distance away, from which the dozen people aboard watched the spot where the trap went down. Some time later, a bundle of floats would appear at the surface and the boat would circle back and snag it with a boat hook. By now the observer would have pulled out some binoculars to get a better view, and would see that the float was attached to the lid of the lobster trap, and that from the lid, a rope disappeared into the water, by which the rest of the trap was soon retrieved.

The object thrown overboard was not in fact a trap but a ropeless fishing system deployed in a demonstration for passengers on the boat, including a film crew, a reporter and three people who study or advocate for right whales.

Zack Klyver chartered the boat and arranged the demonstration. Through his consultancy, Blue Planet Strategy, he has been working as an intermediary between manufacturers, whale advocates and lobstermen, who find themselves on various sides of a regulatory survival equation as the federal government moves to protect endangered right whales.

In ropeless fishing, Klyver sees a potential win for everyone involved, but getting there may take time and a fair amount of persuasion.

Ropeless fishing is still in its infancy. Only a handful of companies make the gear, and as Maine law requires lobster traps to be marked with a buoy, it’s not even legal to use here yet.

Read the full story at The Free Press

While demand for seafood is high, inflated costs are proving too pricey for some restaurants

August 4, 2021 — Rising inflation costs have walloped restaurateurs, forcing many to raise prices or scale back on offerings. For some restaurants, that’s meant pulling plates of scallops, crab, lobster, and fish as business owners say pandemic-driven price hikes and shortages have left them little room to make a profit. Bloomberg reports that congested ports and labor shortages have caused big delays and higher seafood prices.

On average, U.S. fishermen are older than 40, and Covid-related disruptions caused many to leave the industry for fields like construction. Seafood prices have risen 11 percent since July 2020, while demand has skyrocketed. One Georgia restaurant owner said he paid an Atlanta seafood distributor $18 for a pound of blue crab before the pandemic; now it would cost him $44. Not an ideal catch.

Read the full story at The Counter

Nonprofit launches “Is your lobster whale-safe?” campaign

August 3, 2021 — Nonprofit organization Mainers Guarding Right Whales has launched a campaign featuring advertisements and a billboard that asks “Is your lobster whale-safe?”

The billboard is located along roadways in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and is targeted at travelers heading into the nearby state of Maine (billboards along roadways are banned in Maine). The billboard, according to the organization, is intended to inform travelers that “lobster dinners at seaside harbors come at a steep price to North Atlantic right whales.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Lobster Trap Transfer Period Open August 1 – September 30

August 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Lobster Trap Transfer Period Open August 1 – September 30

The Lobster Trap Transfer Program allows permit holders the annual flexibility to buy and sell trap allocations for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2, 3, and the Outer Cape. The application period for fishing year 2022 is now open.

Applications must be submitted between August 1 and September 30. Approved transfers will take effect May 1, 2022.  A detailed guide about the program, transfer applications, and individual trap allocations is available on our website.

Questions?

Regulatory Questions:  Contact the Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9315

Application and Process Questions:  Contact the Analysis and Program Support Division, 978-282-8483

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

TIM PLOUFF: Lobstering under attack

August 2, 2021 — A few weeks ago, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) met with several dozen concerned citizens in Ellsworth for updates on Maine’s offshore wind proposals. The man facing that audience was grim-faced, fatigued and struggling for the proper words to express his apparent anxiety.

A husband, a father of three and a longtime lobsterman out of Winter Harbor, Faulkingham, who also serves on the Joint Standing Committee for Marine Resources, has been a strong voice of reason in our Legislature for many efforts at bettering our state, but primarily for working to protect Maine’s lobstering industry.

As Faulkingham described it, three seemingly combined forces are aligned and have put the bull’s-eye on the men and women in Maine whose lives depend on lobstering — whales, warming and wind power.

The right whale protection consortium has heightened its efforts to alter nearly every aspect of Maine’s primary (and most significant) fishing industry by pushing the federal fisheries agencies to limit, reduce and even eliminate the fishing methods currently employed in the local waters and the Gulf of Maine despite several studies indicating negligible right whale incidents within these waters over the last few years. At best, the supposed science is leaning toward saving whales, with little regard for the men and women who are active conservationists every day while doing their jobs.

The warming water folks, often the same groups and agencies that are involved with the right whale restrictions, also want to promote bureaucratic rules that will severely impact all forms of fishing in Maine’s coastal waters.

Read the full opinion piece at the Mount Deseret Islander