August 2, 2021 — Seafood is being pulled from restaurant menus across the United States as it becomes too difficult – or expensive – to source.
Nearly every premium item – from lobsters and scallops to king crab and snow crab – is hard to come by these days. And prices on most items have risen at least 50 percent in the past quarter, according to Kristian Wade, executive chef at the MGM Resorts-owned Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
August 2, 2021 — A Norwegian investor wants to bring a new kind of fish farm to a stunning, island-studded bay at the base of Acadia’s famous Cadillac Mountain. The project is uniting broad opposition in and around tourist-dependent Mt. Desert Island.
The “American Aquafarms” project is the latest in a series of industrial-scale fish farms proposed for Maine, highlighting how the nation’s demand for seafood is putting pressure on local marine economies.
Frenchman Bay reaches from the eastern side of Mt. Desert Island to the Schoodic peninsula. Through the 20th century, sardine canneries dotted the bay. But the last of them, in Gouldsboro, shut down more than a decade ago.
“Sardines, and the herring fishery was the biggest fishery for 50 or 60 years and then that declined. But now the only thing left is small fisheries – scallops and all of that. Lobster’s the only viable industry,” says Dana Rice, Gouldbsoro’s selectman.
Here at Gouldbsoro’s town office, Rice is also the harbormaster and a lobster dealer. He says even the lobster processing company that took over the old harbor sardine plant has had a hard time making it, and waterfront jobs have dwindled. So when a Norwegian investor started sounding out local officials about converting it into a fish hatchery and processing facility for an at-sea salmon farm, Rice was interested.
“I would like to see some good paying jobs for the younger generation… this intrigued me. Hey, they’re talking somewhere between $150 million and $350 million investment, you can’t turn your back on that. You can not,” Rice says.
American Aquafarms optioned the property two years ago, and since has been laying groundwork for what its backers say will be a state-of-the-art “closed-pen” system: an array of enclosed, floating capsules, full of fish, that ostensibly would avoid most of the negative impacts of traditional open-pen salmon farms, such as escapes, disease and pollution.
July 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
What/When:
Harvest of spiny lobster (commercial and recreational) in federal waters off Puerto Rico will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on August 22, 2021, and will re-open at 12:01 a.m., local time, on October 1, 2021.
Why This Closure Is Happening:
During The Closure:
During the closure, spiny lobster in or from federal waters off Puerto Rico may not be harvested, possessed, purchased, or sold, and the recreational bag and possession limit for spiny lobster in or from federal waters off Puerto Rico is zero.
July 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials.
American Lobster Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview and Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries
Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft FMP Review; Technical Committee Memo on Review of Juvenile Abundance Index for the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River; Staff Memo on Potential Options and Timelines to Address Commercial Quota Allocation; Advisory Panel Nominations; and Public Comment
Tautog Management Board – Industry feedback on Tautog Commercial Harvest Tagging Program
Sciaenids Management Board – Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum FMP Reviews; and Florida FWC Commercial Atlantic Croaker Implementation Plan
Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Concurrent with Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass; and Policy Board Directive to Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board
Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment
Business Session – Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment Summary, and Draft Amendment for Public Comment
Webinar Information
Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at 1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go tohttps://attendee.
Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).
Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).
Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.
July 26, 2021 — The next time you snooze your alarm clock at a very modest 8 am, think of Mike Sargent. Before you pour your first cup of coffee in the morning or maybe even get out of bed, this fourth-generation lobsterman has already traveled at least a dozen miles off the shore of Steuben, Maine and hauled in a few hundred pounds of lobster.
As one of the lobstermen powering the state’s $1 billion lobstering industry, Sargent works sunup to sundown to bring this seafood delicacy to people across the country. The fisherman has 800 traps—the maximum a commercial fisherman can own in the state of Maine—covering the ocean floor where he collects lobster about five or six days a week in the summer months.
Like most Maine fishermen, Sargent says he was “kind of born into it.” He got a student lobstering license at the age of 10 and started fishing with his dad, and ever since, Sargent has spent summers on the water while others were feasting on lobster dressed up on rolls and boiled at backyard parties. He does manage to sneak in a few lobster feasts here and there. “We’’ll have big family clambakes and I probably eat it three or four times throughout the summer,” Sargent says, but adds that some of his fellow fisherman refuse to eat lobster because they’re surrounded by it day in and day out.
The days are long and the work is taxing, but after a year rocked by COVID-19 and uncertainty about the demand for lobster and the ability to go fishing, lobstermen like Sargent are grateful for a busy summer. “[Last year] was gnarly,” Sargent says. “A lot of people don’t realize, for all of us in these Northern communities, fishing is the lifeblood of this town. If I’m successful, the entire town is successful.”
July 22, 2021 — Lobster boat prices have reached record prices this summer, driving some restaurants to shy away from carrying the product to avoid sticker shock for customers.
Boat prices have climbed well north of USD 6.00 (EUR 5.08) per pound when the price is typically around USD 4.00 (EUR 3.39) per pound, the Lewiston Sun-Journal reported. Some restaurants interviewed by the newspaper confessed to removing lobster from menus to avoid charging an exorbitant amount of money for the product.
July 22, 2021 — If you were to say that your local food joint hadn’t increased the price of their lobster rolls, you’d be the exception. Restaurants in the region are feeling the impact of increased lobster prices. In the past few months, many local restaurants have been increasing the prices of their lobster products. Some have taken fresh lobster off the menu altogether.
The New York Times reported that some lobster shacks across Maine are selling lobster rolls for as high as $34.
July 19, 2021 — Open-net pen Atlantic salmon aquaculture is big business on Canada’s east coast. Given the industry’s size, much has been studied and written about its effects on wild salmon. But how might fish farms be affecting other species in their vicinity—such as lobster? Lobster is one of the most economically valuable wild species, and the bulk of the world’s catch is made along the eastern seaboard of North America. Inka Milewski, who studies the interactions between aquaculture and the wider ecosystem at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, recently parsed the scientific literature to determine the ways in which salmon aquaculture is affecting wild lobsters.
Milewski and her colleagues identified a multitude of factors that could affect lobsters, their habitat, and the lobster fishery. Net pens change oceanographic conditions, for example by reducing current speeds, increasing turbulence, and breaking up waves. The farms also generate waste, such as excess food, fish feces, and urine, as well as the chemicals used to control pests and diseases. Lights, noises, and odors associated with the farms can disrupt lobster behavior.
Milewski says she was most surprised by how sensitive lobsters are to the particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic waste that result from fish feces and uneaten food. These chemicals can disrupt critical lobster behaviors like feeding, spawning, and mating. Her review identified studies that show that these waste products can change the quality of lobsters’ diets and promote harmful algal blooms near farms.
“There is a tremendous amount of waste generated by fish farms,” Milewski says. “I don’t think people have a sense of the scale.” A fairly typical farm of about 600,000 fish will generate around 40 tonnes of waste every month during its 22-month production cycle. “It’s understandable how that waste can change lobsters’ behavior, distribution, and abundance,” she adds.
But the review also identified serious gaps in our understanding of the interactions between aquaculture operations and lobsters. While some aspects, such as the use of chemical pesticides, have been well studied, information on others, including waste discharges, disease, and noise, are limited or entirely lacking.
July 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The New England Fishery Management Council has received reports of gear conflicts between lobster fishermen and scallopers occurring south of Long Island, NY in Lobster Area 4 (see figure below).
Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1857(1)(K), it is unlawful to remove, damage, or tamper with fishing gear owned by another person within the EEZ. Violations of the Act, including unlawful gear interaction, may result in civil penalties.
The lobster gear in this area is set east-to-west in 30-pot trawls and marked by highflyers. Gear is set starting in mid-July and fished through December. Gear is typically tended every seven nights. When fishing in this area, please be aware of the presence of fixed gear and tune your radar to be able to detect highflyers.
Questions?
Fishermen: Contact Travis Ford, Regional Office, 978-281-9233 or Caleb Gilbert, Office of Law Enforcement, 978-281-9338
Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103
July 12, 2021 — A lot of people want to know where right whales are and where they are going. As the state’s lobster fishery faces dramatic changes to preserve the species, regulators, fishermen and conservationists all want to know the paths the critically endangered species take up and down the east coast.
“We’re constantly being asked ‘Where did you get detections?’” said Genevieve Davis, a research biologist working in passive acoustic research at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass.
To help visualize the paths of right whales, as well as several other species of whale, Davis and other researchers created a mapping tool based on data from underwater listening devices that have picked up the sounds of whales going all the way back to 2004.
The map includes data from several different listening devices, known as hydrophones, operated from platforms such as bottom-mounted moorings, surface buoys, Slocum gliders and towed hydrophone arrays. It also brought together data from several different studies and researchers and compiled them into a single, navigable tool.