Saving Seafood

Lobster Trap Transfer Program for Fishing Year 2020

July 31, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces the continuation of the Lobster Trap Transfer Program for Fishing Year 2020. The Lobster Trap Transfer Program allows permit holders the flexibility to buy and sell trap allocation for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2, 3, and the Outer Cape.

We are considering future changes to the federal lobster regulations as recommended by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. These changes include the use of a control date to limit the number of traps or lobster permits a federal permit holder can have in Areas 2 and 3.  Any new measures could impact your trap allocations as early as fishing year 2021. We are also discussing potential measures that would minimize threats to North Atlantic right whales. You should stay informed of potential changes, and know that you transfer traps at your own risk and subject to these new potential regulations.

We will accept trap transfer applications for the 2020 fishing year beginning on August 1, 2019, through September 30, 2019. Applications must be postmarked, provided to a delivery service, or received by our office by September 30, 2019. We will process all transfer requests after the trap transfer period has closed and will notify applicants of our decisions by December 31, 2019. Approved trap transfers will become effective on May 1, 2020.

A detailed guide about the transfer program, applications, and individual trap allocations is available under the “Trap Transfer Program” tab on our website.

Read the full release here

Maine’s lobster season has slow start as industry faces challenges

July 30, 2019 — The 2019 lobster season in the U.S. state of Maine has been off to a slow start, partially the result of the industry facing a number of challenges,

According to a story in the Associated Press, Maine lobstermen are reporting that their season so far hasn’t picked up as quickly as the past few years. Typically, the season is in full swing by July, but so far the catch has remained relatively stagnant.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Lobstermen’s rally targets lack of science behind right whale rules

July 29, 2019 — A rally designed to draw attention to impending federal regulations that would strike a big blow to the local lobster fishing industry drew hundreds of fishermen, their families and supporters from up and down the coast to the Stonington Commercial Fish Pier.

The rally, organized by Captain Julie Eaton, also drew Governor Janet Mills, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Jared Golden, a representative for former governor Paul LePage and State Senate President Troy Jackson, who spoke alongside lobstermen from Stonington, Winter Harbor and North Haven, Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings, Marie Hutchinson of the Island Fishermen’s Wives Association and local students. A representative from Senator Angus King’s office also attended, as did local state representatives.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Maine Voices: Mills’ stand on fishing rules praised by lobster industry

July 29, 2019 — As Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), I applaud Gov. Mills’ July 11 Message to Maine’s Lobster Industry acknowledging the federal government’s “disturbing lack of evidence connecting the Maine lobster industry to recent right whale deaths.”

Maine’s lobstermen understand that right whales are at risk and we are committed to being part of the solution. But as Gov. Mills rightly points out, the data show that Maine is just a small part of a complex problem.

Lobstermen recognize that the right whale population will not improve without everyone doing their part to aid in the species’ recovery. However, assigning 60% of the risk to our fishery, which has only one confirmed right whale entanglement dating back to 2002 and zero confirmed serious injuries or mortalities, will not save the species. Maine’s solution must reflect the actual risk Maine lobstermen pose to right whales. We should not be forced to implement changes to achieve an arbitrary goal if those measures won’t realistically help the right whale population recover.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA Fisheries Announces New Modifications to Gear Requirements and Commercial Management Measures for the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Spiny Lobster Fishery

July 29, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGES:

These requirements are for federal waters off Florida and address bully net gear requirements, commercial daily possession limits when using bully nets or diving for the harvest of spiny lobster, and the soak period for spiny lobster traps.

WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

Regulations for commercial trap soak period are effective July 26, 2019. For the 2019/2020 fishing season, commercial spiny lobster traps may be baited and placed in Federal waters beginning Saturday, July 27, 2019.
Regulations for the rest of the rule will be effective August 30, 2019.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES:

  • Spiny lobster commercial harvesters using bully net gear:
    • must have a bully net permit from Florida,
    • must mark buoys with the harvester’s Florida bully net permit number using reflective paint or other reflective material,
    • are prohibited from having trap pullers onboard,
    • are prohibited from the simultaneous possession of a bully net and any underwater breathing apparatus (not including dive masks or snorkels) onboard a vessel used to harvest or transport spiny lobster for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial spiny lobster daily vessel harvest and possession limits:
    • 250 per day/vessel for spiny lobsters harvested by bully net in or from all federal waters off Florida,
    • 250 per day/vessel for spiny lobsters harvested by diving in or from federal waters only off Broward, Dade, Monroe, Collier, and Lee Counties, Florida.
  • Existing language in spiny lobster federal regulations that incorporates Florida regulations by reference has been updated, which includes a new commercial trap soak start time.
    • Commercial spiny lobster traps may be baited and placed in the water beginning on the Saturday immediately following the recreational mini season.

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: FR 2019-16265, will publish on July 31, 2019.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

Massachusetts backers push again to expand lobster processing

July 25, 2019 — Massachusetts could reform its long-standing limits on selling and processing lobster parts, in an effort to capture trade in frozen product now processed in Canada.

The state budget for fiscal year 2020 includes a provision that would set out a framework for new regulations governing the sale, transport and processing of unfrozen, shell-on lobster parts.

Pushed by state Sen. Bruce Tarr, the Republican minority leader in the state Senate, the effort to expand processing has bipartisan support seeking to overcome resistance to similar measures that passed the in the Senate of the legislature in the last three years, but failed to make it into law after opposition in the lower House.

Backers say too many Massachusetts lobsters end up shipped to Canadian processors, when the Bay State could be modernizing and expanding its own processing sector as Maine has been doing. Lobster can be sold live, cooked or canned in Massachusetts, but state law requires lobstermen and seafood vendors to sell or ship their lobsters out of state for processing.

“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation yet, without this change in law, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to local consumers,” said Tarr in a statement after the measure was accepted by legislators in a final budget conference report. “By modernizing these lobster laws we bolster the fishing industry, give consumers more choices, and sustainably support coastal fishing communities.”

A study by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries recommended changing the processing law, citing growing consumer interest in value-added lobster products in the form of shell-on tails and claws.  Massachusetts lobster could compete in the global market when processed in state, while now as much as 80 percent of those lobsters get shipped out for processing elsewhere, the agency reported.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Scientist calls for more research into seismic surveys as they leave lobsters flat on their backs

July 26, 2019 — Research by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart and Curtin University in Western Australia found lobsters exposed to the air guns used in seismic surveys had damaged statocysts, an organ similar to the human inner ear.

One of the researchers, Ryan Day, said this left the lobsters with an impaired ability to right themselves when flipped over.

“They really rely on this ability to right themselves and to control when they are escaping from a predator,” he said.

The lobsters received the equivalent of a full survey passing within 300–500 metres.

“In all experiments we didn’t detect any sign of recovery, even one year after,” Dr Day said.

The results have prompted a renewed call by Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson for the practice to be investigated.

Read the full story at ABC

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobster bill survives budget deal Legislation to allow in-state sale, processing of unfrozen, shell-on, lobster parts

July 24, 2019 — It’s now up to Gov. Charlie Baker to decide whether Massachusetts will allow more in-state lobster processing to make the Bay State lobster industry more competitive with its contemporaries in Maine and Canada.

The legislation to allow the in-state sale, transport and processing of unfrozen, shell-on lobster parts — a persistent, years-long campaign by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr — has survived the Massachusetts Legislature’s conference committee and is contained in the $43.1 billion budget awaiting Baker’s approval or veto.

The governor has 10 days to review and act on the budget prepared by the conference committee, which is comprised of representatives of the Senate and House. Any items vetoed by Baker are subject to legislative override, which would have to be initiated in the House and carry by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.

“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation, yet without this change in law, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine, only to be brought back to local consumers,” Tarr said in a statement. “By modernizing these lobster laws, we bolster the fishing industry, give consumers more choices and substantially support coastal fishing communities.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Claws out: Rally shows public support for Maine’s lobster industry

July 24, 2019 — Stonington is a tiny hamlet far off the beaten path in Downeast Maine. As the crow flies, it’s about 80 miles from Portland. On the road, it’s double that. Suffice it to say, it’s hard to end up there by accident.

So it was by design that the state’s Gov. Janet Mills, Sen. Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden were part of a large crowd of elected officials to appear at a rally in the state’s lobster capital over the weekend.

On Sunday, July 21, a local gathering was slated to bring attention to pending federal requirements for the state’s lobster fleet to cut its lines in the water by 50 percent as part of a broad federal proposal to protect endangered right whales. Maine’s fleet has long led the charge to adapt its gear in efforts to reduce interactions with whales. But this proposed rule, industry leaders say, would only harm the fleet without serving to protect the whales.

“NOAA knows that not one right whale has been proven to have been entangled in Maine rope in many years, and the new proposed regulations would only cause extreme danger to our lobstermen,” said lobsterman Julia Eaton, who helped organize the gathering.

On May 28, Sen. Angus King, Collins, Pingree and Golden submitted a letter to acting NOAA Director Neil Jacobs. On July 10, the delegation submitted a similar letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to intervene in the conflict and acknowledge that Maine’s fishing gear does not appear to pose a risk to the whales’ shrinking population.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine political leaders promise to press Trump for state’s lobster haulers opposed to new rules

July 23, 2019 — Mainers who haul lobsters for a living do not kill right whales.

That was the message from a rally at Stonington’s commercial fishing pier on Sunday attended by more than 500 people, including Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree.

At issue are pending federal regulations aimed at protecting the endangered right whale, which can be killed by getting tangled in lobster trap-lines, but would force state lobstermen to cut the number of lines they can put into the water by 60 percent.

Rally speakers said that the rule would devastate the state’s lobster industry, which contributes an estimated $1 billion to Maine’s economy, while doing nothing to protect the whales, which, as a recent scientific study shows, seldom stray into the lobstering waters of the Gulf of Maine.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, no right whales have died from entanglement in Maine fishing lines in many years, as increasingly rising ocean temperatures have driven the whales and the food they eat into Canadian territory.

Mills and the congressional delegation, plus speakers representing former Gov. Paul LePage and U.S. Sen. Angus King, told rally attendees that they would support the state’s approximately 4,500 lobstermen and continue to press President Donald Trump to oppose the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed new regulation.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News