Saving Seafood

Feds Taking Final Comments About Plan to Save Right Whales

March 1, 2021 — The federal government is taking the last of the comments about a proposal to try to save an endangered species of whale.

The North Atlantic right whale numbers only about 360. The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking comments about its proposal to reduce risk to right whales until March 1.

The government’s proposal to help the whales includes changes to the U.S. lobster fishing industry, which is one of the most lucrative marine industries in the Northeast. The whales are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.

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

Extinction worries loom for both lobster industry and right whales

February 25, 2021 — Lobster fishermen are worried that federal regulations, proposed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglement in fishing gear, could put the industry out of business.

Conservationists worry the whale won’t survive much longer, given increased concerns about gear entanglement and ship strikes.

The National Marine Fisheries Service — an agency that’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is responsible for overseeing fishing in federal waters — is in the midst of holding hearings on proposed modifications to the federal government’s “Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”

Proposed changes aim to reduce entanglement in trap and pot fisheries for right whales, as well as humpback and finback whales, in order to reduce death and serious injury in accordance with two federal fishery laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Maine Gov. Janet Mills Warns Draft Right Whale Biological Opinion Will be Devastating For Lobstermen

February 24, 2021 — Maine’s Governor Janet Mills is speaking out on the North Atlantic right whale draft Biological Opinion. The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with NOAA late last week regarding the draft Biological Opinion for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. Governor Mills’ “grave” concerns were outlined in a cover letter included with the DMR’s comments.

One of the issues regarding the draft Biological Opinion is that it calls for a 98% risk reduction over 10 years in U.S. fixed gear fisheries, including lobster. And as Mills wrote, “In the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery.” Fishermen would not only be limited in putting out traps, but they would also have to invest in new gear. The results would be economically devastating to the state’s coastal economy.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine lobstermen worried about new federal regulations

February 24, 2021 — New federal regulations aimed at saving endangered whales could have serious consequences for Maine’s lobster industry.

“The issue isn’t in Maine waters,” Maine lobsterman John Drouin said.

For 42 years, Drouin has trapped lobsters in Downeast Maine.

He and every other Maine lobsterman are now bracing for proposed new rules intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

They call for a 60 percent reduction in the risk lobster lines pose to right whales, by increasing the number of traps per line, and adding weak points to the vertical lines between buoys and traps, where right whales can get entangled.

Read the full story at WGME

MAINE: Lobstermen, environmentalists agree right whale plan is flawed, for different reasons

February 24, 2021 — Environmentalists campaigning to save the endangered right whale and lobstermen working to protect their industry agree that a federal proposal to protect the species is flawed but for different reasons, with the fishermen saying it goes too far and environmentalists saying it doesn’t go far enough.

In a virtual public hearing Tuesday night, representatives from both groups asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to take a second look at its proposed changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.

The proposal aims to reduce the risk to the North Atlantic right whales by at least 60 percent and includes plans to modify gear configurations to reduce the number of vertical lines by requiring more traps between buoy lines, introducing weak insertions or weak rope into buoy lines so that a rope will break if a whale becomes entangled, modify existing seasonal restricted areas to allow ropeless fishing and add additional seasonal restricted areas that are closed to buoy lines but allow ropeless fishing.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

‘Ropeless’ Lobster Fishing Could Save The Whales. Could It Kill The Industry?

February 22, 2021 — By using this technology, Martin eliminates the need to use vertical ropes which can be deadly for North Atlantic right whales diving for food. Rope entanglement is a leading cause of death for the mammals that can weigh as much as 70 tons. In fact, more than 85% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once, the majority multiple times, according to a report from the New England Aquarium.

Today, with an estimated 370 North Atlantic right whales remaining, the species is classified by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered, one step from extinction.

To save the whales from the brink, state authorities have instituted seasonal fishing closures in waters off New England. More protections from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, which some fishermen consider burdensome, are still pending.

Conservationists hope that fishermen like Rob Martin can prove ropeless fishing can save both the whales and the lobster industry.

Many lobstermen, though, say they prefer the closures to the technological leap they would have to make to adopt ropeless fishing.

Read the full story at NPR

BRENNAN STRONG: Maine lobstermen and fisheries regulators need more time to assess new whale rules

February 19, 2021 — I am a 22-year-old commercial lobsterman. I got my lobster license at 11 years old and I have poured my heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into building my business ever since. I am writing out of deep concern for the future of the lobster fishery because of the newly proposed right whale regulations.

For over 100 years, this industry has been the role model for a sustainable and honorable fishery. We throw back more lobsters than we keep every day, as well as remove litter consistently from the bays where we work. This industry has given thousands of people opportunities to work, dream, and contribute to coastal communities. Lobstering is a way of life and is vital for Maine and its people.

However, the Center for Biological Diversity v. Ross court ruling from Judge James Boasberg requiring the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to have new right whale regulations and a new biological opinion by May 31, 2021 is dangerously premature. The problem is that May 31 is too soon to properly evaluate the scientific and real-life factors at play. The entanglement statistics contain many assumptions and more time is needed to make sure everything is fact-based.

The significant threats to right whales have been and continue to be vessel strikes and entanglement with Canadian fishing gear, not Maine lobster gear. Those threats are not discussed thoroughly in the draft biological opinion, which states:

“NMFS is conducting a review of our vessel strike reduction measures … as it pertains to right whale management. … This review is expected to be released soon.”

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Lobstermen fear new rules as Biden revokes Trump executive orders on regulation

February 18, 2021 — New executive orders are flying off President Joe Biden’s desk.

Many of those orders seek to reinstate regulations lifted by former President Donald Trump or enact new ones.

Mainers who make a living on the water are particularly concerned about new regulations, and Maine’s Congressional delegation is concerned, as well.

They’ve sent multiple letters to federal agencies, attempting to inform the rulemaking process on fishery management plans.

Thousands of lobstermen say they fear that new regulations could leave them trapped.

“It could put a few of the smaller guys right out of business because they can’t compete with it,” lobsterman George Anderson said.

Conservation groups say it’s endangered whales that are feeling the pinch as they get tangled in rope.

Read the full story at WGME

MAINE: Local legislators float several fisheries bills

February 18, 2021 — The 130th Maine Legislature has released a list of bills proposed in the House and Senate, and local representatives are focused on the commercial fishing industry, alongside other constituent concerns.

The lobster fishery, in particular, is grappling with the prospect of offshore wind energy development and conservation measures, both of which could affect lobstermen and their livelihood.

While more than 1,600 bills have been introduced since the Legislature opened session on Dec. 2, 2020, many are just working titles as the proposed legislation is prepared for committee review.

Fisherman and state Rep. William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) is sponsoring “An Act to Prohibit Offshore Wind Energy Development” (LD 101). Last November, Governor Janet Mills proposed a floating offshore research array of wind energy turbines in the Gulf of Maine, and on Jan. 25 confirmed the project. No decision has been made on a site. After an outcry from the fishing industry, she also has proposed a 10-year moratorium on new wind energy development in Maine-managed waters.

Mills has said that by “focusing on floating offshore technology deep in the Gulf of Maine where the wind is strongest, we will protect Maine’s maritime heritage and coastal economy while being out front in this new competitive industry.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Inshore lobstering ban to begin in March

February 17, 2021 — The seasonal closure of virtually all Massachusetts waters to commercial lobstering will not begin before March 5 and could be delayed another two weeks into March.

Daniel McKiernan, executive director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said the recently enacted state rules to help protect North Atlantic right whales remain under review by federal regulators.

“If not March 5, then it will be two weeks later,” McKiernan said in a text message.

The Feb. 1 to May 15 closure, imposed in all state waters except those south and west of Cape Cod, is the centerpiece of a rules package approved Jan. 28 by the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, based on recommendations from DMF.

“We think this is surgical and appropriate,” McKiernan told the commission. “We believe this is the most responsible way to manage the fishery.”

The closure is set for the period in the late winter and early spring when the North Atlantic right whales travel north through the waters off the Massachusetts coast on their feeding migration into the Gulf of Maine and on into Canadian waters.

The closure, which is two weeks longer than DMF’s initial recommendation, is designed to reduce the number of vertical buoy lines in the water to help avert injuries and deaths from right whale entanglements in lobster and other commercial trap gear.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times