Saving Seafood

MAINE: Fishery group pans proposed salmon farm off Gouldsboro

January 21, 2021 — A Portland-based fishery group is expressing concerns about the proposed site and size of a salmon farm in waters off Gouldsboro.

Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation said the area proposed by American Aquafarms, in Frenchman’s Bay, is heavily fished by lobstermen.

American Aquafarms is an aquaculture startup backed by a Norwegian investor that has under contract the purchase of the 100,000-square-foot Maine Fair Trade Lobster processing facility in Gouldsboro. The company hopes to develop a salmon-farming operation there.

American Aquafarms was launched in Portland last year by Mikael Rones, CEO of Global AS, which is based in Trondheim, Norway. The proposal calls for building a salmon hatchery as well as farming and processing facilities on the site and operate closed deep-water pens for raising fish.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Feds Outline Proposed Gear Rules In Online Meeting With Lobstermen

January 21, 2021 — Federal regulators last night detailed proposed new rules for Maine lobstermen and other commercial fishermen whose gear and trap rope poses a risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Officials at the Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office are proposing to reduce the risk of damaging and deadly entanglements by more than 60 percent. Possible measures include a use of weakened ropes that whales can break through, seasonal area closures and changes in the minimum number of traps required per line.

Several industry stakeholders participating in the online meeting criticized estimates of costs to the industry, and that federal analysis doesn’t account for all the Maine-based boats that harvest in one potential closure area about 20 miles off the state’s coast.

Read the full story at Maine Public

A Growing Number Of New England Lobstermen Wear Life Jackets While At Sea

January 20, 2021 — More lobstermen in New England are wearing life jackets while they work.

It’s thanks to a research project from the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Over the past few years, researchers surveyed and recruited 181 lobstermen to test out different styles and used their feedback to redesign the jackets so that they worked for their needs.

“Lifejackets for Lobstermen” then took 11 final designs and drove them from port to port, helping lobstermen at each dock figure out which option was best for them, and then selling them at a discount.

“The conversation usually started with, ‘I don’t know if I could wear anything like this,’ ” said Jessica Echard, one of the project coordinators. But once they started trying on the new designs, “then they’d start trying on more. And then they’d call their friends over. And then they’d get their crew. And then they’d call their family to come down. So the conversation would go from somewhat skeptical to very interested.”

Read the full story at WBUR

NMFS begins online public sessions for right whale gear rules

January 13, 2021 – New gear regulations proposed for the Northeast lobster fishery will be presented in online public sessions beginning Tuesday evening, as the National Marine Fisheries Service pitches its newest effort to meet endangered species requirements for the northern right whale.

The new package of changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, is NMFS’ bid to satisfy a federal court ruling that the agency must do more by May 31, 2021 to protect the East Coast right whale population, now estimated to number fewer than 400 animals and less than 100 breeding females.

The new steps aim to reduce the number of vertical lines in the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries by requiring fishermen to fit more of their traps between buoy lines.

Fishermen will need to add new weak insertions or weak rope into buoy lines, so that whales have a better chance to break free in the event of an entanglement.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

‘We’ve lost 30 years’: Brexit shatters supply chains for French fish hub

January 12, 2021 — French fishmongers and seafood factories are suspending orders from Britain and battling to salvage just-in-time supply chains, after they were upended by post-Brexit red tape that impedes next-day delivery of salmon and lobster from Britain to Europe.

Importers in Boulogne-sur-Mer told Reuters that deliveries were sometimes being held up because the Latin names of fish species were incorrectly entered on papers.

Other reasons for delays included sanitary certificates missing the required stamps and French agents adopting a zero-tolerance approach to mistakes in the cumbersome process.

The result is a chaotic breakdown in supply chains from the outer reaches of the British Isles to the northern French port of Boulogne, which used to see Scottish langoustine and scallops in French shops just over a day after they were harvested.

Deliveries were taking at least one or two days longer than previously, if they got through at all.

Read the full story at Reuters

MAINE: With $500K award, Local Catch Network will grow ‘boat-to-fork’ market

January 5, 2021 — The Local Catch Network, based in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine, was founded in 2011 as a nonprofit network of seafood harvesters, researchers and community organizations across North America.

Today, the network has more than 200 members, including 12 in Maine. It promotes “boat-to-fork” systems of local and regional seafood distribution, such as community supported fisheries.

Last month, the Local Catch Network received a $499,463 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Promotion Program to accelerate the local distribution model and fund “Scale Your Local Catch,” the first nationwide training and technical assistance program to catalyze direct-to-consumer seafood operations.

In all, the organization has raised $624,331 for the program, including a 25% match from the University of Maine System. Expecting to recruit its first cohort this summer, the program will help fishing communities gain marketing, social media, pricing and permitting skills through workshops, networking, mentorships and digital tools to link consumers with producers in their local areas.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

NOAA proposes measures to reduce dangers to right whales

December 31, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing a reduction in lobster trap lines and state-specific markings for fishing gear as part of a plan to reduce the number of entanglements involving endangered right whales in New England waters.

NOAA released its proposal Wednesday after telling the state of Maine this year that its proposal didn’t go far enough to protect the whales. The goal is to reduce the risk to whales by 60%.

North Atlantic right whales number only about 360 and are in the midst of a worrisome decline in population.

“Saving this species will take decisive action from all stakeholders — state and federal government, fishermen, conservationists, and scientists,” the New England Aquarium right whale team said in a statement.

Read the full story at WRAL

Massachusetts officials plan lobster-fishing bans to protect right whales

December 22, 2020 — Officials in the U.S. state of Massachusetts are proposing a complete ban on lobster fishing in all state waters during periods when the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale is in the region.

The new regulations would prevent lobstermen from setting traps between February and May – and potentially longer if the whales remain offshore, according to The Boston Globe. The regulations would also require lobstermen to use more easily breakable rope, limit the state’s lobster catch, and curtail the use of gillnets in state waters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: In a major effort to protect endangered whales, state officials plan to ban lobster fishing for several months a year

December 18, 2020 — In a major step to protect North Atlantic right whales, state officials are poised to ban lobster fishing in all Massachusetts waters during periods when the critically endangered species typically feeds in the region.

The proposed restrictions, which could be devastating for hundreds of fixed-gear fishermen from Buzzards Bay to Ipswich Bay, would prevent commercial lobstermen from setting their traps between February and May, and potentially longer if whales remain offshore. They would also require the state’s 800 lobstermen to use special rope that breaks more easily under pressure from whales, limit the state’s recreational lobster catch, and curtail the use of vertical mesh lines known as gillnets.

State officials said the rules, which were proposed a few weeks after scientists estimated that there are only about 356 right whales remaining, are likely to take effect as soon as February, after a public comment period.

“The draft regulations are designed to reduce the risk of endangered whales becoming entangled in fixed fishing gear,” said Dan McKiernan, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries who noted during recent online hearings that 32 right whales have died and another 14 have sustained life-threatening injuries since 2017.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

If you recently bought Maine seafood online, 2020 might be the reason why

December 16, 2020 — Though 2020 will be remembered for many things, it also may be remembered as the year when online, direct-to-consumer sales of Maine seafood took off.

In a year that saw continued wrangling over foreign trade agreements — which hampered overseas sales of Maine lobster, the state’s dominant seafood product — and a severe drop in restaurant sales due to precautions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, many seafood harvesters and producers have sought to connect directly with consumers to stay afloat.

A new marketing initiative launched this month by the state — created with $1 million in COVID-19 federal relief funds — is the latest effort geared toward making it easier for consumers to buy Maine seafood directly from distributors and retailers. A website borne of that initiative, SeafoodfromMaine.com, follows suit with other sites such as Localcatch.org and Lukeslobster.com that aim to connect consumers and sellers directly online, or to guide consumers to retailers that sell locally sourced seafood.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News