Saving Seafood

Maine lobstermen’s union votes to buy Hancock County lobster business

February 27, 2017 — The Maine Lobstering Union voted Saturday to buy a wholesale lobster business near Mount Desert Island to help its fishermen net a bigger share of the profit in the booming, $1.5 billion-a-year industry.

At a closed-door meeting in Rockport, members voted 63-1 to buy the wholesale side of the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound, which includes a tank that can hold up to 180,000 pounds of lobster, for $4 million, said Local 207 President Rocky Alley.

“We can’t wait to start buying and selling our own lobsters,” Alley said. “Right now, fishermen sell at the dock, and we get what we get, with no control. But there is lots of money made off lobsters after they leave the dock, and some ought to stay with us fishermen.”

The vote enables the Maine union to borrow money from a Kansas City bank and to borrow $1.1 million from fellow locals in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers as far south as Maryland to purchase the Lamoine-based wholesale business.

The Trenton Bridge manager, Warren Pettegrow, will stay on as the chief executive officer of wholesale operations, as will the employees. The operation will continue to ship live lobsters nationally and abroad, including to the European Union and Asia.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

The Status of Maine Fisheries

February 22, 2017 — Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner will discuss the health of Maine’s fisheries – from scallops to herring, shrimp to lobster – and measures to protect them.

Guest: Patrick Keliher is a Gardiner native. He has spent much of his life in the woods and on the waters of Maine. His career has involved work as a registered Maine hunting guide and charter boat captain. He also served as Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine, the Executive Director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, and Acting Commissioner of the department before being appointed by Governor LePage to serve as Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner in 2012.

Listen to the interview and read the full story at Maine Public

Plan Aimed at Preventing Lobster Bait Shortage Up For Debate

February 21, 2017 — Fishing regulators say public hearings will take place on a plan to make the Atlantic herring fishery run more smoothly.

Herring are a key fish on the East Coast because they are important bait for lucrative species, especially lobster. Last year’s lobster season was hindered for several weeks by a herring shortage.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on a plan to more evenly distribute the herring quota during the fishing year. Public hearings are planned in several states that are home to herring fisheries.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CapeCod.com

Linda Bean once hoped to be to lobster what Perdue is to chicken. What happened?

February 21, 2017 — Linda Lorraine Bean, the other L.L. Bean, has spent the last decade promoting her lobster empire, one that merged the cachet of her family name with the popularity of the state’s top crustacean.

But last month, she took to the national spotlight for a different reason: to defend bankrolling a political action committee supporting Donald Trump, a move that sparked a boycott of L.L. Bean, where she sits on the board. Trump later tweeted his support for L.L. Bean, even giving Linda Bean’s business a shout-out.

Yet when the L.L. Bean heiress appeared on Fox News to defend both companies and the jobs they generate, what went unsaid was that Bean has largely stepped away from the lobster business. In the last two years, she has shifted her interests, selling off her Rockland lobster distributorship to her employees, unloading a controversial lobster processing facility, and shuttering some of her lobster roll eateries.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Hearings on plan to save southern New England lobsters

February 16, 2017 — Interstate fishing managers have scheduled hearings on a plan to try to save southern New England lobsters.

Lobster fishing in places like Rhode Island and Connecticut dates back centuries, but the stock has dwindled as water temperature has warmed. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on a plan to slow decline.

The commission’s plan includes strategies such as changing the legal harvesting size limit for lobsters, reducing the number of traps allowed in the water and enforcing new seasonal closures.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

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.