Saving Seafood

New drive to reduce lobster fishing gear to help rare whale

February 7, 2019 — Interstate fishing managers are starting the process of trying to reduce the amount of lobster fishing gear off the East Coast in an attempt to help save a declining species of rare whale.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced on Wednesday that it would consider options designed to reduce vertical lobster fishing lines in the water by as much as 40 percent. The lines pose a threat to the North Atlantic right whale, which is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

The commission said it would try to reduce the amount of gear with a combination of trap limits, seasonal closures, changes to gear configuration and other methods. The rules are under development and it will take months before they come up for public hearings.

The commission said in a statement that the drive to reduce lines in the water is “in response to concerns about the North Atlantic right whale population and the potential impacts of whale conservation measures on the conduct of the lobster fishery.” But some lobster fishermen said they need more details about the effort before they will get on board.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

Maine lobstermen ready for debate over license wait list

February 4, 2019 — There are few things in Maine as coveted as a lobster fishing license, and a proposal to bring dozens of people off the state’s license waiting list has fishermen in the state ready for a debate.

More than 200 people are waiting in the wings for a lobstering license, which has long been a ticket to the middle class for working coastal Mainers. But a proposal before a state legislative committee would bring new people into the fishery who have been waiting for 10 or more years.

That would instantly add more than 50 new fishermen to the industry during an era of high catches and strong prices, but also concern about warming oceans and new fishing restrictions designed to protect whales.

The proposal is up for a hearing on Tuesday before the Committee on Marine Resources. The bill’s presenter, Democratic Rep. Joyce McCreight of Harpswell, said the proposal is designed to help fishermen who have been the victim of a waiting list system that doesn’t often budge. But she acknowledged that there is opposition to the idea, and she’s expecting a lively hearing.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, and it’s dramatically disrupting fishing patterns

February 1, 2019 — The continental United States is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was a century ago. Seas at the coasts are nine inches higher. The damage is mounting from these fundamental changes, and Americans are living it. These are their stories.

Since 1963, Greg Mataronas’s family has been making a living catching lobster off of Little Compton, R.I. But as water temperatures have risen rapidly along the coast, there are fewer lobster to be found, prompting a shift to other species, like whelk.

The state’s lobster haul peaked at over 8 million pounds in 1999. It hasn’t exceeded 3 million since 2005. And in 2017, it barely reached 2 million. As a result, a way of life is rapidly changing and, for some, ending.

To hold on, Rhode Island fishermen have agreed to a 50 percent cut in how many lobster traps they can set. Like the lobsters, they are adapting to a changing sea, buying out the licenses of competitors or diversifying what they catch.

Mataronas now fishes for whelk and sea bass and other fish, as well as lobster. To provide for his family, he couldn’t just fish like his father had.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

There’s A Quiet War Over Lobsters Near The Canadian Border

January 29, 2019 — In southern New England, water temperatures have gotten uncomfortably warm and the lobster fishery has collapsed. A little to the north, in the Gulf of Maine, temperatures have hit a sweet spot for lobsters and landings have exploded.

That has been a boon for Maine lobstermen, but for some who live and fish near the Canadian border, it has also brought heightened tensions with their neighbors — and competitors — to the north. This tension is the focus of reporter David Abel’s new film, “Lobster War.”

The conflict is becoming obvious on tiny Machias Seal Island, situated in waters known by both countries as “the grey zone.”

“The Canadians, in the 1800s, decided to build this light house as a way of asserting their sovereignty,” Abel told Living Lab Radio. “That lighthouse is now the only manned lighthouse in all of Atlantic Canada.”

Abel has won awards covering fisheries and environmental issues for The Boston Globe. He previously co-directed and produced “Sacred Cod,” a film about the collapse of New England’s cod.

Read the full story at WGBH

 

Maine lobster harvest topped 100m lbs again

January 23, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources is still auditing its 2018 lobster catch and won’t issue a report until February, but department spokesperson Jeff Nichols has reportedly confirmed that the US state landed more than 100 million lbs for the eighth year in a row.

Speaking at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference, in San Diego, California, last week, Keith Moores, president of Gloucester, Massachusetts-based frozen seafood supplier J.W. Bryce, estimated that Maine’s 4,500 harvesters landed about 119m lbs of lobster in 2018, an 8m lb increase over 2017, the Portland (Maine) Press Herald reported.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

New bill would change Massachusetts lobster processing laws

January 18, 2019 — The first bill introduced in the Massachusetts Senate in 2019 aims to modernize the state’s lobster processing rules and expand in-state processing.

Massachusetts currently allows only for the production and sale of live and cooked lobsters and canned lobster meat, while raw and frozen lobsters are shipped to either Maine or Canada for processing before returning to the state.

“Our state has the second-largest lobster catch in the country. Yet without this bill, raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to be brought back to our local consumers,” said the bill’s sponsor, State Senate Majority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). “This bill modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores, more choices, all while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”

In 2017, Massachusetts lobstermen landed 16.57 million pounds of lobster for a total value of $81.54 million.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine lobster landings up slightly in 2018; Canadian catch remains even

January 17, 2019 — Maine’s lobster harvest was up slightly in 2018, but didn’t match the total of the record-setting 2016 season.

Fishermen in Maine landed a little over 110.8 million pounds (50,258 metric tons – MT) of lobster in 2017, after landing an all-time high of nearly 131 million pounds in 2016. Data shared at the 2019 Global Seafood Market Conference revealed that the 2018 catch total finished at around 119 million pounds.

“It was a very, very healthy harvest rate from Maine this year,” Keith Moores, president of seafood supplier F.W. Bryce, said in sharing the data during his presentation.

Moores reported unofficial figures show the Canadian harvest was stable in 2018 at around 90,000 metric tons. In 2017, Canada caught 92,682 metric tons of lobster, or approximately 200 million pounds and In 2016, the catch was nearly identical, at 92,601 metric tons.

“As far as harvesting, there’s a very stable supply of lobster,” Moores said of the 2018 projections.

After a delayed start due to bad weather, the Canada’s current season has been steady, according to Owen Kenney, the sales and business development manager of Downeast Specialty Products, which has lobster operations in both Canada and Maine.

Because of several factors – most notably the trade war between the U.S. and China – live exports from Canada increased significantly in 2018, and even more so in the current season. That created what Kenney called a “different dynamic” for the sector, in which the processing sector had little to no access to raw material compared to the previous January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

A calico lobster turned up at a Maryland fish market. The chances of finding one: 1 in 30 million

January 15, 2019 — He spared her life and named her Eve. Now instead of a lobster pot she’s going to live in an aquarium.

The owner of a fish market in suburban Washington was sifting through his daily seafood delivery from Maine in late December when he came across a curious find: a lobster with a speckled, orange-and-black shell. It turned out to be a rare calico lobster.

The odds of catching one are about one in 30 million.

The owner of the Ocean City Seafood market in Silver Spring, Maryland, who wants to be identified only as Nicholas, didn’t want to send the crustacean to a restaurant to become someone’s dinner. So he set her aside.

“He didn’t know why she was special,” said Rita Montoya, a spokeswoman for the market. “He just formed a bond with her.”

Read the full story at CNN

Maine proposal would encourage more shellfish research

January 14, 2019 — Maine might be the site of more shellfish research if a proposal before a state legislative committee is successful.

Democratic Rep. Robert Alley of Beals has issued the proposal, titled “An Act To Encourage Applied Shellfish Research.” The bill proposes a tweak to municipalities’ shellfish conservation ordinances, which currently regulate possession of shellfish and where they can be taken.

Alley’s proposal would allow research entities to contact research in conjunction with the Maine Department of Marine Resources to support shellfish conservation. It would also require annual reports about research findings.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Big Impact Likely if Massachusetts Can Vote to Legalize Lobster Processing

January 10, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The very first bill introduced in the Massachusetts Senate this year would modernize the states lobster processing rules and could result in a big expansion of lobster processing in New Bedford.

The bill, introduced by Gloucester based Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, and co-sponsored by other coastal legislators, would allow for the processing of raw frozen lobster parts in Massachusetts.

Under current law, possession of live, cooked, and canned or packaged lobster is allowed, but the possession of uncooked or frozen lobster parts is not.

The original premise was to prevent the illegal ripping of tails off undersized lobster by harvesters.

But the Mass. State Marine Fisheries has produced a report showing that in other states, such as Maine, the economic benefit of the change was huge, and there was no increase in illegal fishing of smaller lobsters or attempts to subvert lobster conservation.

Under existing laws, Massachusetts lobstermen and seafood vendors are required to sell or transport lobster out-of-state for processing and then bring them back for sale to consumers in the Bay State – often with a ‘Product of Canada’ label.

“Our state has the second-largest lobster catch in the country yet, without this bill, raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to our local consumers,” said Senator Tarr. “This bill modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores more choices all while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”

“This report highlights that there is zero reason to further delay legislation to eliminate archaic restrictions on lobster processing. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to once again pass this bill so that businesses may finally expand and create jobs, especially in New Bedford,” said Sen. Mark Montigny, lead co-sponsor of the legislation.

Up to 80 percent of lobsters landed in the state are sent to out of state processing facilities and industry leaders say the move will facilitate opportunities to create and grow jobs in the state.

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association greatly appreciates Sen. Tarr’s efforts over the last several years to modernize the lobster processing laws,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “This bill will allow our lobstermen to be competitive on a regional and international basis and we will work to ensure the bill’s passage.”

“East Coast Seafood Group, the world’s largest processor of lobster and headquartered in Topsfield, is pleased with the tremendous progress made by Sen. Tarr and the plan’s supporters,” said Bob Blais, vice president of East Coast Seafood Group.

“The lobsters harvested off the shores of Massachusetts and respective fishermen are the lifeblood of the state’s industry and we support the great efforts taken to ensure the sustainability of the lobster stock. It is with great pride our company will support the surrounding community by expanding our New Bedford operation with the investment in lobster processing equipment and partner in the shared development of what is likely to be hundreds of jobs in the state of Massachusetts.”

While lobster processors in Canada struggle with a shortage of workers that has at times curtailed output, New Bedford has no such problem.  Instead, the port has an excellent immigrant labor force and labor shortages are not an issue for processor expansion there.

Furthermore, the city has all the infrastructure of a major fish processing center including cold storage, transportation, and unused plant capacity.

Once this bill passes, and the infrastructure is in place, there is no reason not to expect a significant portion of lobsters sent to Canada from Maine would instead be diverted to New Bedford for further processing.

Sales of frozen lobster and lobster parts, such as scored claws, appear to be growing faster than sales of live lobster in the US market.  Developing a robust lobster processing industry in Massachusetts would accelerate this trend.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.