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States Schedule Hearings on American Lobster Draft Addendum XXV

February 14, 2017 — The following has been released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The states of Massachusetts through Delaware have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XXV to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The details of the scheduled hearings follow.

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

March 23, 2017; 6 PM

MA Maritime Academy Admiral’s Hall

101 Academy Drive

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife

March 22, 2017; 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Contact: Scott Olszewski at 401.423.1934

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

March 21, 2017; 7PM

DEEP Marine Headquarters Boating Education Center

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, Connecticut

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

March 27, 2017; 7PM

DEEP Kellogg Environmental Center

500 Hawthorne Avenue

Derby, Connecticut

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

March 20, 2017; 6 PM

NYSDEC Division of Marine Resources

205 N. Belle Mead Road

East Setauket, New York

Contact: Kim McKown at 631.444.0454

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

March 15, 2017; 6PM

Belmar Municipal Court

601 Main Street

Belmar, New Jersey

Contact: Tom Baum at 609.748.2020

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control & Maryland Department of Natural Resources

March 16, 2017; 3 PM

Ocean Pines Library Branch

11107 Cathell Road

Ocean Pines, Maryland

Contact: Craig Weedon at 410.643.4601

The Draft Addendum seeks to address the depleted condition of the Southern New England (SNE) stock while preserving a functional portion of the SNE lobster fishery. The document presents a suite of management measures to increase egg production and lower fishing mortality through a combination of management tools including gauge size changes, season closures, and trap reductions.

The Draft Addendum responds to the results of the 2015 American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment which found the SNE stock is severely depleted and experiencing recruitment failure. Declines in population abundance were most pronounced in the inshore portion of the stock where environmental conditions have remained unfavorable to lobster since the late 1990s. These stock declines are largely in response to adverse environmental conditions, including increasing water temperatures over the last 15 years, combined with continued fishing mortality.

Draft Addendum XXV focuses on increasing egg production so that, if environmental conditions become favorable, the SNE stock can benefit from a strong recruitment year. The Draft Addendum includes seven issues. The first proposes four targets to increase egg production, ranging from 20% to 60%, with an additional option for status quo. The second issue seeks input on proposed management tools to increase egg production and whether these tools should be used independently or in conjunction with one another. The third issue addresses the effects of proposed measures on the recreational fishery. The fourth issue explores the implementation of season closures and potential impacts to the Jonah crab fishery. The fifth issue examines whether management measures should be uniform across Lobster Conservation Management Areas (LCMA) in SNE. The sixth issue asks how management measures should be applied to the offshore waters of LCMA 3, which spans both the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank and SNE stock units. The seventh issue asks whether de minimis states should be exempt from management action taken in the addendum.

Fishermen and interested stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/AmLobsterDraftAddendumXXV_PublicComment.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on April 7, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at mware@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XXV).

The Board will review submitted public comment and consider action on the Addendum at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in May 2017. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

A PDF of the press release can be accessed at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/58a35e88pr09AmLobsterSNEdraftAddendum_Hearings.pdf.

MAINE: Legislature eyes lobster, crab laws

February 6, 2017 — Two Hancock County lawmakers have drafted several bills that would affect the lobster and crab fisheries should they reach the floor of the Maine Legislature.

State Rep. Brian Hubbell (D-Bar Harbor) has drafted a concept bill (LD 149) that proposes several ways to make changes to limited-entry lobster and crab zones.

“It is a laundry list of possible solutions to the grievances I’ve heard from fishermen in Zone B,” Hubbell said.

Tensions between commercial lobster license holders in lobster management zones B and C have been running high since last summer and flared in a dramatic fashion last fall with the report of a trap-cutting war that resulted in gear losses estimated at $350,000 or more by the Marine Patrol.

Those tensions stem from the fact that Zone C had been an open zone and lobstermen from there can fish up to 49-perecent of their traps in Zone B.

Some Zone B fishermen believe it’s unfair that Zone C lobstermen are using their second zone tags and crowding waters where entry is limited.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American.

Lobster fishermen question new fishing restrictions

February 1, 2017 — New fishing restrictions aimed at restoring the declining lobster population of the Southern New England fishery could begin to be applied in May.

However, fishermen remain skeptical about the success of a plan designed to revive the crustacean population. They argue that it might not make sense to restrict fishing when it is actually the environment that is harming the lobster population.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is considering a variety of options to rejuvenate the region’s lobster stock, which scientists have said is falling victim to rising ocean temperatures, Associated Press informed.

The measures that would come into force to comply with the recommendations of the Commission members include changing the legal harvesting size limit for lobsters, reducing the number of traps in the water and enforcing seasonal closures.

Read the full story at Fish Information & Services

Maine legislature eyes lobster, crab laws

January 31, 2017 — Augusta, MAINE — Area lawmakers have drafted several bills that would affect lobster and crab fisheries should they reach the floor of the Maine Legislature.

State Rep. Brian Hubbell (D-Bar Harbor) has drafted a concept bill that proposes several ways to make changes to limited-entry lobster and crab zones

“It is a laundry list of possible solutions to the grievances I’ve heard from fisherman in Zone B,” said Hubbell.

Tensions between commercial lobster license holders in Lobster Management Zones B and C have been running high since last summer and flared in a dramatic fashion last fall with the report of a trap-cutting war that resulted in an estimated $350,000 loss of gear.

Those tensions stem from the fact that Zone C had been an open zone and lobstermen there can fish up to 49 percent of their traps in Zone B.

Some Zone B fishermen believe it’s unfair that Zone C lobstermen are using their second zone tags and crowding waters where entry is limited.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

New restrictions on lobster fishing could be picked by May

January 31, 2017 — PORTLAND, MAINE — Interstate fishing regulators could select new restrictions for the declining southern New England lobster fishery by May.

Lobster fishing is experiencing a boom, and prices have also been high. But the species has dwindled in the waters off southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, where it was once plentiful.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering a host of options to try to rejuvenate the lobster stock. An arm of the commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to send the options out for public comment.

Lobster blood could be antiviral medicine

January 30, 2017 — We here at FishOn love lobsters for so many reasons. They taste great. They generate employment here in the commonwealth’s most lucrative lobster port and they provide the only real use for that gigantic pot in our cupboard.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Value of Maine lobster exports to China on pace to triple for 2016

January 30, 2017 — Live lobster exports to China are on pace to triple in value in 2016, despite the incursion of some new lobster suppliers to the growing Asian market.

Final figures for 2016 won’t be known until February, but through November, the value of live lobster shipments from Maine to China climbed to $27.5 million, nearly tripling from the $10.2 million reported in November 2015. That’s roughly half the total export of live lobsters from Maine to date, excluding Canada, where many Maine lobsters are processed and then imported back into Maine for distribution.

And those figures don’t include the traditional year-end surge leading up the Chinese New Year on Jan. 28, when Chinese celebrants have been serving up lobster from Maine, Massachusetts and Canada in ever-increasing numbers.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

SOUTHEASTERN FISHERIES ASSOCIATION: Eat More Sustainable Seafood for Health and Taste Benefits

January 20, 2017 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA):

SFA President Peter Jarvis Says: “Eat More Sustainable Seafood for Health and Taste Benefits”

WASHINGTON — Soon after he’s sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump will dine on Maine lobster, Gulf shrimp, and Seven Hills Angus beef, to name a few dishes.

These foods are all on the menu for the inaugural luncheon, a long-standing tradition in which the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies hosts a meal for the president and vice president at the Capitol following the inaugural address.

The committee organized its first luncheon in 1953, when lawmakers welcomed President Dwight Eisenhower for creamed chicken, baked ham and potato puffs in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber.

Dishes, consumed between toasts, gift presentations and speeches, often encompass foods from the home states of the new leaders, though Trump’s menu owes heavily to California, not his home state of New York or Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s state of Indiana.

President Barack Obama’s 2013 luncheon boasted a menu of steamed lobster, grilled bison and apple pie.

Trump’s, which will be held in the Statuary Hall, will feature three courses.

The first, Maine lobster and Gulf shrimp with saffron sauce and peanut crumble, will be accompanied by a J. Lohr 2013 Arroyo Vista Chardonnay.

The Gulf shrimp may be a tribute to Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located and which the President-elect has called his “second home.”

Read the original story at CNN

Warming Signs: Climate Change Means A Sea Change for Fishermen and Scientists

January 23, 2017 — Lobsters used to lurk in the waters of Long Island. But these days, New York fisherman have trouble finding any—while their peers 500 miles away in Maine are seeing bumper crops. Instead, the lobstermen of Long Island now catch more crabs and other shellfish—which, in turn, leaves crabbers further down the East Coast worried about the future of their own livelihoods.

Last week I wrote about how climate change is prompting a fish migration that will directly affect what’s served—or not served—for dinner. But these rapid marine changes won’t just affect our appetites; they also represent a sea change for the fisherman and communities that depend on the sea for jobs and income.

Fishing Regulations Struggle to Catch Up

Of course, catching new fish in your usual fishing haunt is trickier than just changing your bait. Regulations guide what you may catch and how much of it, usually state by state—and they aren’t changing as fast as the environment is. John A. Manderson, a research biologist at the NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), noted that sea creatures are moving north 10 times faster than their land-based animals.

“Our ideas of property rights and laws are purely land-based,” Manderson told The New York Times. “But the ocean is all about flux and turbulence and movement.”

To get around these increasingly obsolete laws, some fishermen are catching fish further north and then traveling to areas where it is legal to bring large quantities to shore. Such slippery adherence to regulations sparked mackerel wars in the North Sea back in 2010, and the dispute wasn’t settled for four years.

Furthermore, such an expensive round-about the law is not an option for everyone, especially those with smaller fishing operations.

Read the full story at Paste Magazine

To buoy its budget, Maine marine resources department seeks higher fees for fishing licenses

January 16, 2017 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources wants to raise the price of commercial fishing licenses for the first time in seven years, using the $600,000 the hikes would generate to pay for spending increases while honoring Gov. Paul LePage’s request to keep the department’s budget flat.

If approved by the Legislature, the proposed fee increases would range from as little as $1 for a Maine resident to harvest green crabs to as much as $114 for a lobsterman with two sternmen. Under the new fee schedule, which would take effect January 2018, the cost of securing a Class III lobster license would top $1,000 for the first time, hitting $1,002.

The fee hike would enable the Department of Marine Resources to hire an additional lobster biologist, outfit its science staff with field technology and pay for Marine Patrol officer raises and ballistics vests, among other things, without increasing the department’s $21.3 million bottom line, department spokesman Jeff Nichols said.

For example, the fee increases would pay for remote data entry technology. Currently, department science staffers spend 28 percent of their time entering data gathered in the field, Nichols said. With the new technology, staff scientists would spend more of their time conducting the research and data analysis needed to sustain the state’s valuable marine resources in a changing ocean environment, he said.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald