Saving Seafood

Steep lobster price fall represents a return to normalcy – for now

June 7, 2022 — Sky-high lobster prices over the past several months appear to have abated, both at the shore and in the market.

The price has dropped steeply enough that it’s garnered wider media attention, with reports saying the price of lobster has suffered its largest drop in years. The Fish, Food & Allied Workers Union in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada reported the average market price went from USD 10.50 (EUR 9.81) per pound in mid-April to USD 8.22 (EUR 7.68) in late May.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

‘Ropeless’ lobster gear could be put to test in area closed to protect right whales

June 2, 2022 — An application to test innovative fishing gear throughout New England could get some Maine lobstermen back into a nearly 1,000-mile swathe of offshore fishing grounds for the first time since the implementation of a seasonal closure last year.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking a permit to work with fishermen to trial “ropeless” fishing gear in several parts of New England, including the 967-square mile closure area off the midcoast.

The lucrative fishing grounds were closed off last year for the first time as part of a slew of new regulations designed to protect the endangered right whale. From October through January — the heart of the offshore fishing season — lobstermen can only fish in the area with a permit and if they use ropeless technology, which is costly and unfamiliar.

But if the federal marine research program’s application is approved, a few fishermen may get to try loaned ropeless fishing gear during the next closure.

“This whole effort is to provide fishermen a tool so they can access those closed areas,” said Henry Milliken, a research fisheries biologist with the center.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

MASSACHUSETTS: State weighs relief fund to buoy lobster industry

May 27, 2022 — Lawmakers want to create a new fund to help commercial lobstermen whose livelihoods are being impacted by state and federal regulations aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales.

An amendment added to the Senate version of the $49.7 billion state budget, approved Thursday, would set up a Lobstering Closure Mitigation Fund through the state’s unemployment system with at least $12 million in initial funding.

The amendment was co-sponsored by Sens. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Patrick O’Connor, R-Weymouth, who say the move will provide “much needed relief” for the lobster industry.

“It is absolutely critical that we provide relief to the people in this industry which is so important to the commonwealth,” Tarr said. “As the second largest provider of lobster in the nation these workers are needed for another day, another year, and another generation.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

Lobstermen Praise New Fisheries Legislation

May 20, 2022 — The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association praised the passing of legislation that will set up a commission to decide where federal grants for the fisheries will be directed.

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, recently signed into law by President Joe Biden, will call for the establishment of a committee to help determine awards of fisheries research and development grants.

The bipartisan legislation was cosponsored by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Lobstermen seek Boothbay’s help in right whale issue

May 18, 2022 — Maine Lobstermen Association is seeking allies against new federal regulations protecting right whales in the northern Atlantic Ocean. MLA is seeking a “war chest” in excess of $10 million to reverse National Marine Fisheries Service guidelines designed to protect the endangered right whale.

MLA is soliciting donations from coastal Maine communities whose economies rely on the lobstering industry. Boothbay lobstermen Mark Jones and Troy Plummer are MLA board members. On May 11, the two solicited Boothbay selectmen for a contribution. “This is a federal lawsuit based on how they calculated the risks associated with right whale. Their models overcalculated the risk posed by lobstering and are nonsense,” Jones said. “The federal government has all but ignored us, and don’t think we will fight back.”

According to an Aug. 2021 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s statement on their website, “The NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population, which is endangered and declining. The decline began in 2010, and accelerated most notably when 17 mortalities were documented in 2017, leading to the declaration of an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event. Since then, 34 right whales have died and 16 have been seriously injured, primarily due to entanglements and vessel strikes.

Jones and Plummer told selectmen environmental groups with deep dockets are pushing for more stringent right whale protections. They described three groups with large lobbying budgets pursuing even stricter fishing regulations. “We’re definitely outgunned in this battle. There are three environmental groups. One raises $15 million per year. Another $22 million, and a third with $80 million. So we need help in this fight,” Plummer said.

So far, MLA has received donations ranging from $100 to $10,000 for their legal defense fund. Among contributors are the town of York, with a $10,000 contribution, along with Friendship, Long Island, Casco Bay  and Vinalhaven. The lobstermen also reported Maine Chamber of Commerce Maine Office of Tourism and Ready Bros. Lobster Processing in Casco contributed to their fund.

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

UMaine research defines lobster line requirements for whale entanglement risk reduction

May 4, 2022 — Efforts to reduce the risk of entanglement in lobster trap lines for the endangered North Atlantic right whale may need to consider more factors than just line strength if they want to be safe, effective and economical, according to new research led by the University of Maine and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

North Atlantic right whales have the potential to get caught in the vertical line that runs from gear set on the bottom to the surface marker buoy in fixed-gear fisheries, like that of the American lobster fishery in Maine. Often whales can break free of the gear and are simply left with scars, but the risk of death increases as the lines are stronger and more densely distributed throughout the water.

To mitigate right whale injury and deaths, U.S. federal management agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have mandated weak points or weak ropes be inserted into vertical lines to limit strength and provide points at which right whales can break the ropes if they become entangled. New regulations on minimum trawl lengths — or the number of traps fished per vertical line — took effect on May 1, 2022, and caused increases in lobster fishery vertical line loads across all fishing grounds, considerably increasing with depth and distance from shore.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

New rules spell trouble for Maine lobstermen, with or without enforcement

May 5, 2022 — Though a new rule from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration affecting the gear lobster fisherman can use has gone into effect, it will not yet be enforced.

As of May 1, lobster fishermen fishing in federal waters are now required to use ropes with weak points approved by the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) that will break if a whale becomes entangled in them.

The rule requiring the gear was part of a final rule announced by NOAA on August 31, 2021 amending the agency’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, which attempts to reduce the number of injuries and deaths to North Atlantic right whales, listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at Maine Wire

 

New rules for lobster industry now in effect

May 4, 2022 — Beginning Sunday, new laws are in place requiring Maine’s lobster fishermen to use new fishing gear to protect the endangered right whale.

The new laws include thinner rope and an insert link in their fishing lines, but getting these new links has been a challenge.

A supply chain shortage is keeping fishermen from being able to use it.

Read the full story at WFVX Bangor

 

Troubled waters: A massive salmon farm off the coast of Maine is stalled

April 26, 2022 — The summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in the northeastern U.S. state of Maine offers sweeping, unobstructed views of Frenchman Bay. Surrounded by islands and rocky shorelines, the bay is known throughout Maine for recreation and resources. But new projects may lie over the horizon. American Aquafarms, backed by Norwegian investors, planned to build the largest salmon farm in North America here, just on the edge of Acadia National Park. And lobstermen, like Jerry Potter, say they feared that if the project went through, the pristine waters of Frenchman Bay would never be the same.

“It’s going to ruin the ecosystem of the bay and ruin all the resources … mussels, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, everything,” said Potter, 76, from the nearby town of Gouldsboro.

American Aquafarms first proposed the salmon farm in 2020, in hopes that they would produce 30 million metric tons of salmon each year. The farm would also curb the U.S. reliance on imported seafood, according to Tom Brennan, the director of project management at American Aquafarms. The US currently imports 70-85% of its seafood, about half of which is produced through aquaculture.

But the massive project is now indefinitely delayed. On April 19, 2022, state officials terminated American Aquafarm’s application, citing that American Aquafarms failed to provide documentation that the egg source proposed to stock the pens would meet state requirements. In Maine, genetically modified fish cannot be used to stock salmon pens, however American Aquafarms proposed to work with the company that created the first genetically modified Atlantic salmon.

Brennan is shocked by the decision, stating that the company also included eggs from the USDA as a backup plan in the proposal. That facility was established to provide eggs to salmon growers in Maine, he adds.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Massachusetts DMF Releases Ropeless Gear Feasibility Report

April 5, 2022 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has wrapped up the first phase of a two-year project to characterize the issues and challenges that may come to light with the integration of ropeless fishing gear into New England lobster fisheries.

Ropeless or On-demand gear will replace traditional vertical buoy lines with an eye toward protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales and will feature new gear retrieval and marking methods.

Read the full story at SeafoodNews.com