Saving Seafood

Maine group backs out of right whale agreement

September 4, 2019 — On Friday, Aug. 30, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association officially withdrew its support from a federal proposal to reduce fishery impacts on the North Atlantic right whale biomass, citing NMFS data that shows the proposal would not be effective in reducing right whale mortality.

“NMFS own data show that that the lobster fishery is the least significant cause of right whale serious injury or mortality,” said Patrice McCarron, the association’s president, “while ship strikes, gillnets and the Canadian snow crab fishery pose much greater risks.”

According to MLA’s analysis, the Canadian snow crab fishery accounts for 31 percent of right whale serious injury and mortality; gillnet and netting gear represent 13 percent; unknown trap/pot gear represents 4 percent; and U.S. trap/pot gear represents 4 percent.

U.S. and Canadian vessel strikes account for the remaining 48 percent of right whale injury and mortality.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Here’s the central question at the heart of the right whale debate

August 27, 2019 — There’s a debate raging over how much Maine’s lobstermen should have to change how they fish for the sake of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The state’s congressional delegation and governor have sided with lobstermen, arguing that Maine’s iconic fishery isn’t responsible for the shrinking population of right whales. Meanwhile, propelled by a lawsuit from conservation groups, the federal government is working on regulations that would require lobstermen to use less fishing line and switch to weaker rope from which entangled whales can more easily break free.

The debate boils down to this: Should regulators give more weight to risk or evidence?

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

EPA to Provide Relief for Lobster Fishing and Pilot Boat Builders, Engine Manufacturers

August 27, 2019 — The following was released by United States Environmental Protection Agency:

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the national marine diesel engine program to provide relief to boat builders and manufacturers of lightweight and high-power marine diesel engines that are used in high-speed commercial vessels such as lobster fishing boats and pilot boats.

“This proposal will provide boat builders the flexibility they need to meet EPA standards while they continue to manufacture products that are critical to marine industries,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This action reflects our mindset that environmental progress is best achieved by working with states and the regulated community to advance sound and attainable regulatory solutions.”

“This proposed rule will give boat builders and Maine’s lobster fishermen regulatory certainty and encourage continued progress for cleaner diesel engines,” said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro. “This action is a win-win for builders and lobstermen, and allows Maine’s vibrant fishing economy to continue.”

“Due to the unique design of Maine lobster boats, at this time there are not Tier 4-compliant diesel engines available on the market that can safely fit in these types of vessels. This delay in the implementation of the Tier 4 emission standards for commercial lobster-style boats should provide engine manufacturers time to design and certify engines that will both comply with Tier 4 emission standards and work safely and efficiently in these boats. It also prevents lobstermen from being burdened by requirements that are impossible to meet with the currently available technology,” said U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden in a joint statement. “We are pleased to have worked together with the EPA to find a commonsense solution that supports Maine boat builders and lobstermen.”

Read the full release here

Regulators To Meet With Lobstermen Again On Right Whale Plan

August 26, 2019 — Maine fishery regulators are planning a second round of meetings with lobstermen in the state to prepare for potential new restrictions designed to protect endangered whales.

A federal government team has called for removal of many vertical trap lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales, which number about 400. The Maine Department of Marine Resources held a series of meetings with lobstermen about the new rules earlier this year. The last took place in late June.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public

Lobstermen seek help in protecting right whales

August 22, 2019 — Commercial lobstermen urged federal regulators Wednesday to take Canada to task for its failure to protect North Atlantic right whales and to remember that local lobstermen carry a heavier burden of regulation than others in U.S. waters.

“We as lobstermen do not want to see harm come to the right whale,” Plymouth lobsterman Tom O’Reilly said at a public forum at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, the eighth in a series of meetings held this month on revisions to the plan to reduce the risk to whales posed by fishing gear. “We have done so much as an industry to try to prevent this.”

The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association believes Canada can do more, as can other coastal areas in the Northeast. “We’re still at the table today,” said Beth Casoni, the association’s executive director, despite what the fishermen see as a heavier regulatory burden.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Lobstermen invited to weigh in on whale protection plan

August 19, 2019 — The eight-community traveling road show to gather public comment on new protections for the imperiled North Atlantic right whales hits Gloucester on Tuesday evening and is expected to draw a big crowd at NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in the Blackburn Industrial Park.

The Gloucester session, set to run from 6 to 9 p.m. at the GARFO headquarters at 55 Great Republic Drive, is the seventh of the eight scoping meetings and the first of two in Massachusetts. The other is scheduled for the next night in Bourne.

The sessions organized by NOAA Fisheries are in advance of a draft environmental impact statement for modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. They will provide a forum for stakeholders and others to comment on new protections proposed by the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team. Those include lobster gear modifications and a reduction of the number of vertical endlines to reduce whale casualties and mortalities.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MAINE: Environmentalists weigh in on right whale rules for lobster industry

August 16, 2019 — Environmentalists showed up in large numbers Thursday night to urge federal fishing regulators to defend the endangered right whale against what they claim is the looming extinction threat posed by the Maine lobster industry.

Some of the largest and most powerful animal and environmental groups – including Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. Humane Society and the Conservation Law Foundation – sent representatives to the National Marine Fisheries Service meeting in South Portland.

They urged the fisheries service to take immediate action to protect the species, which now numbers about 400, calling for actions such as offshore fishing closures and ropeless lobster fishing that even a team tasked with protecting the whale had dismissed as too drastic as recently as April.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: Lobstermen say whale rules threaten way of life

August 15, 2019 — Maine has more than 6,000 licensed lobstermen. If the 100 or so who gathered at Ellsworth High School Tuesday evening to discuss proposed whale protection rules are a representative sample, most of those lobstermen are angry.

The fishermen gathered for a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) scoping session on proposed measures to protected endangered right whales. The rules would require a 50 percent cut in the number of vertical buoy lines in the water.

“You’re dealing not just with our livelihoods but with the life blood of our communities,” Stonington lobsterman Julie Eaton told the National Marine Fisheries Service representatives. With earlier whale protection efforts, Eaton said, “We’ve done everything you’ve asked us to do, but this ask is way too big. People will die.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine Lobstermen To Feds: Our Industry Isn’t What’s Killing Endangered Right Whale

August 14, 2019 — Angry Maine lobstermen are telling federal fisheries managers they want definitive proof that their gear is entangling endangered North Atlantic right whales. Until then, they say, the feds should back off from proposed rules that could force them to modify their gear and remove half their rope from the water.

More than 60 lobstermen turned out in Machias on Monday night for the first of four federal “scoping” meetings in Maine to discuss the proposed gear changes. Federal officials had hoped to hear specifics about how the new rules might change the way they harvest lobster, and what it might cost them.

But what they met was a chorus of criticism.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Sen. Angus King says the Maine lobster fleet is not a threat to right whales

August 14, 2019 — Federal regulators working to protect right whales need better data or they will hit the wrong target – Maine’s lobster industry, U.S. Sen. Angus King said.

A surprise guest Tuesday night at a meeting at Ellsworth High School, King joined Maine lobstermen in criticizing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials for considering regulation changes that they say could make lobstering much more expensive and unsafe in order to save the endangered whales.

“There’s no question that I, and I suspect all of you, are concerned about the future of the species,” King said. “The question is, how do we save it? And how do you [hit] the right target? My problem is that when most of these rule changes affect the Gulf of Maine, where it doesn’t appear the whales are, it’s like bombing Brazil after Pearl Harbor.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News