Saving Seafood

Gulf of Maine waters warmed to highest fall temperatures on record

January 13, 2022 — The Gulf of Maine – which has been warming faster than 96 percent of the world’s ocean areas – experienced its warmest fall surface water temperatures on record last year in what scientists tracking it call a “distinct regime shift” for the ecosystem.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland announced its findings Wednesday in its seasonal warming report, which showed average sea surface temperatures in the gulf hit 59.9 degrees, or more than 4 degrees above the long-term average.

Last fall’s figures exceeded even those in the infamous “Northwest Atlantic Ocean heat wave” of 2012, which triggered a two-year explosion in green crabs that devoured clams and eelgrass meadows and led to the starvation of puffin chicks. That warming cycle also triggered the early shedding of Maine lobsters, which fueled armed confrontations between Canadian lobstermen and truckers trying to carry the soft-shell boon to New Brunswick processing plants at the height of Canada’s own lobstering season.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at the Portland Press Herald

 

American Lobster Draft Addendum XXIX/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum IV for Public Comment: Public Hearing Presentation Now Available

January 11, 2022 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board has approved for public comment Draft Addendum XXIX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for American Lobster and Draft Addendum IV to the Jonah Crab FMP. The Draft Addenda were initiated in August 2020 to consider implementing electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted vessels in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, with the objective of collecting high resolution spatial and temporal effort data.

The collection of enhanced spatial and temporal data via electronic tracking devices in the offshore fishery would support managers in addressing a number of challenges facing the fishery. Electronic tracking data would greatly improve the stock assessment’s ability to estimate exploitation and abundance for American lobster, as the trackers would allow size composition data to be linked to harvest at a finer spatial resolution than what is currently possible. Additionally, the data could improve the models used to assess the location of vertical lines in the fishery and their associated risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, which could impact federal risk reduction requirements for the fishery. Characterizing the footprint of the U.S. lobster fishery will also be critical to ocean planning efforts to minimize spatial conflicts with other ocean uses such as aquaculture, marine protected areas, and offshore energy development, as well as provide fishery managers tools to help maintain industry fishing grounds. Last, the efficiency of law enforcement efforts could be significantly improved with data to help enforcement officials locate widely dispersed gear in the offshore fishery. 

 

The Commission and its member states from Maine to Virginia will be conducting a series of hearings to gather public input on the Draft Addenda. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most hearings will be conducted via webinar; some hearings will be state-specific and others regionally-focused. Public hearing information, webinar links, and call-in information are below. Please note that in order to comment during the hearings you will need to use your computer or download the GoToWebinar app for your phone. Those joining by phone only will be limited to listening to the presentation and will not be able to provide input. Additional details on participating in the webinar can be found later in this release; this information is particularly important for those that have not used the GoToWebinar platform before.

Date State or Regional Hearing Contact(s)
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

6:30 – 8 PM

 Connecticut and New York Colleen Bouffard (CT), 860.876.6881

Maureen Davidson (NY), 631.444.0483
Thursday, January 13, 2022 

 6:30 – 8 PM

 New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Joseph Cimino (NJ), 609.748.2020

John Clark (DE), 302.739.9914

Michael Luisi (MD), 443.758.6547

Patrick Geer (VA), 757.247.2236
Tuesday, January 18, 2022

6 – 8 PM

 Maine Department of Marine Resources

 

 Megan Ware (ME), 207.446.0932

 
Wednesday, January 19, 2022

6 – 8 PM

 Maine Department of Marine Resources

 

 Megan Ware (ME), 207.446.0932

 
Wednesday, January 19, 2022

6:30 – 8 PM

 New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game

Note: This hearing will be held in a hybrid format. To virtually attend this hearing, please use this webinar registration link. To listen in only, dial1.415.655.0052 and enter 879-685-496.

You can also attend in person at the address below:

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road

Portsmouth, NH 03801

 

 Cheri Patterson (NH), 603.868.1095

 
Thursday, January 20, 2022

6:30 – 8 PM

 Massachusetts and Rhode Island  Nichola Meserve (MA), 617.626.1531

Jason McNamee (RI), 401.222.4700
The Draft Addenda include two options for proposed management programs. The first is status quo or no changes to the current program, and the second is to implement electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted American lobster and Jonah crab vessels with commercial trap gear area permits for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 1 through 5 and Outer Cape Cod. Under this option, the specified permit holders would be required to install an approved electronic vessel tracking device to their vessel prior to beginning a fishing trip to collect and transmit spatial data. The devices would collect vessel locations every minute, which would allow for the distinction between transiting and fishing activity, as well as the estimation of traps per trawl. The Draft Addenda also describe administrative processes at the Commission, state, and federal levels for successful implementation of the management program to ensure the data collected meet the needs of state and federal partners.

Webinar Instructions

To register for a public hearing webinar please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software (click here)or via the App store under GoToWebinar. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission at info@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and we will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing. Those joining by phone only, will be limited to listening to the presentation but will not be able to provide input during the hearing. In those cases, you can send your comments to staff via email, U.S. mail, or fax at any time during the public comment period. To attend the webinar in listen only mode, dial 1-877-309-2071 and enter access code 350-416-497.

The Draft Addenda are available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/LobsterDraftAdd_XXIX_JonahCrabDraftAdd_IV_PublicComment_Dec2021.pdf or via the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. Members of the commercial fishing industry and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide input either by participating in public hearings, webinars, or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 31, 2022 and should be sent to Caitlin Starks, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXIX). For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks at cstarks@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740.

Maine joins lawsuit on right whale regulations

January 4, 2022 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has joined as an intervenor in the Maine Lobstermen’s Association lawsuit challenging NMFS restrictions on lobster gear to protect North Atlantic right whales.

A Dec. 30 announcement from Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ office said “NMFS acted arbitrarily by failing to rely on the best available scientific information and by failing to account for the positive impact of conservation measures already adopted by the Maine lobster fishery.”

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association lawsuit in Washington, D.C, federal court challenges the NMFS biological opinion on right whales issued in May 2021, the agency’s response to federal court rulings that whale protections so far have failed to meet requirements of endangered species and marine mammal laws.

NMFS has put on new regulations for using lobster traps and their vertical floating lines to buoys that the agency and whale experts see as a serious threat to the survival of the right whale population, estimated at around 360 animals.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Counting Maine lobsters? There’s an app for that

December 28, 2021 — A new digital app that maps lobster fishing activity is expected to help the industry manage interactions with two other users of the ocean — the endangered North Atlantic right whale and the burgeoning offshore wind industry.

Developed by Louisiana technology company Bluefin Data under a contract with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the app, called VESL, is the result of a required increase in the percentage of lobster harvesters who must submit reports.

The app is being provided for free to commercial fishermen and is meant to simplify required harvest reporting for both state and federally licensed fishermen, according to a news release. The required reporting includes location of fishing activity and pounds landed.

“We decided to develop a new app to make it easier for lobstermen to comply with the new reporting requirement,” the department’s commissioner, Patrick Keliher, said in the release.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association files motion to join fight against federal lobster fishing regulations

December 27, 2021 — Maine lobstermen have a new ally in the fight against federal fishing regulations.

The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association filed a motion to join the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s lawsuit, challenging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 10-year right whale protection plan. The plan requires lobstermen to make significant changes to prevent whales from getting tangled in their gear.

The group filed the motion in Washington D.C. District Court, looking to join the lawsuit as a third party.

Massachusetts lobstermen said they want to get involved because they believe federal actions like this could directly impact their livelihoods.

The court still needs to approve the motion.

Some, including Maine’s lobster unions, have claimed the closure by NOAA falls during the peak fishing season.

According to data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, lobstermen statewide hauled most consistently from July to October last year. They brought in a whopping 20 million pounds in October at peak, before numbers steadily fell back down through January.

Read the full story and watch the video at News Center Maine

 

Island Institute tackles the big picture of working waterfront access in Maine

December 15, 2021 — A grizzled lobsterman hauls traps onto the wharf as the sun sets slow and pink over the harbor. Fishing boats head home to unload catch as captains and sternmen young and old call back and forth in a Downeast Maine accent. Fresh-caught local seafood is featured at restaurants and markets.  

Maine’s “blue economy” is worth over $1 billion annually, according to a 2018 Colby College report. It’s also a big draw for tourists and new seasonal and year-round residents. But their increasing presence may imperil a big part of what brought them to Maine: the working waterfront. 

“There’s a critical connection between the ocean and Maine’s economy,” Island Institute Senior Community Development Officer Sam Belknap said, following the institute’s August 2021 publication, “The Critical Nature of Maine’s Working Waterfronts and Access to the Shore.” 

The report’s main takeaway? “Without institutional support, high-level policy and programmatic coordination and sufficient funding to protect access, the future of Maine’s working waterfront is dire.” 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Viewpoint: Help Maine lobstermen fight unfair federal rules

December 15, 2021 — No one ever said that life was fair. But the 10-year plan put forth in August by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales is so obviously unfair and, to make matters worse, based on bad science, that the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) has sued the federal government because of it. If this flawed plan remains in place the Maine lobster fishery could be erased within a decade, decimating the precious coastal communities where we live and work. 

The plan’s goal is to reduce risk to the whales from lobster gear by 60 percent right now, then by another 60 percent in 2025, and a final 87 percent in 2030, resulting in a 98 percent reduction in the already minimal risk that lobstermen pose to the whales. That does not leave much, if any, room for a viable lobster fishery in this state. 

The MLA contends that NMFS got it wrong. The best available science does not support the agency’s plan and instead, the government needs to come up with a plan that will protect the whales without sinking the lobster industry. 

We care about protecting the whales. Since 1997, Maine lobstermen have taken many actions to protect right whales from entanglement. We’ve put in place measures such as removing thousands of miles of rope from the water, keeping rope off the surface where a whale might feed, putting weak links in our rope so that a whale can break free, and marking our lines so we know if Maine lobster gear is responsible for an entanglement. These measures have worked. The right whale population had doubled in two decades. 

More importantly, no right whale has been known to become entangled in Maine lobster gear since 2004. No right whale has ever died from Maine lobster gear. 

Read the full op-ed at the Mount Desert Islander

One of Connecticut’s last lobstermen sticks with it, despite his near empty hauls

December 14, 2021 — For the better part of a half century, the waters of Long Island Sound allowed Michael Grimshaw a good living. Now, he’s holding fast to a dwindling hope that the ocean’s bottom still has something — anything — to give.

Grimshaw is believed to be the last full-time commercial lobsterman in Connecticut — still plying a fishery that was once thick with boats and rich with opportunity.

His youngest son preparing bait and his elderly, former mother-in-law readying claw bands, Grimshaw, 65, prodded his aging boat into the choppy harbor late one summer morning, well after most fishermen have put to sea.

Suited up in his wet gear, he was soon hauling up traps from the dark waters, one after another. Out of 10 traps, he snared some spider crabs and a few pogies. None contained a lobster.

“It’s embarrassing — terrible, really,” said Grimshaw, who continues to raise hundreds of traps a week, even though he claims to have retired. “I used to be the big dog; now, I’m the puppy.”

During his glory days in the late 1990s, when he competed with hundreds of other commercial lobstermen in the area for a multimillion-dollar annual catch, his traps used to bring up as much as a few thousand pounds a day of the coveted crustaceans. A good day now amounts to maybe 50 pounds.

The main culprit? Climate change.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Despite calls for ‘ropeless’ fishing gear, Maine lobstermen have doubts

December 14, 2021 — The elimination of fishing lines that run from lobster traps on the Gulf of Maine’s seafloor to marker buoys on the water’s surface is increasingly being sought as a way to help save the estimated 336 endangered North Atlantic right whales left in the world. But Maine lobstermen are skeptical.

Lobster industry officials say that the technology currently isn’t commercially viable and questioned if it’s really necessary in Maine, where whale sightings are rare.

“I think some people are probably contemplating it and some people can’t ever imagine it ever working,” Patrice McCarron, the head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said.

McCarron emphasized that each fisherman is their own individual business and when it comes to testing out the gear, they have to make decisions based on what’s best for them.

Ropeless gear gets rid of the persistent vertical fishing line that can entangle whales and other species. Alternatives include gear that releases a buoy to the surface and others that fill a bag with air, floating the traps up to a waiting boat.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. James Bruce Recognized as Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

December 10, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

As the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Southeast Regional Fisheries Training Center, Lieutenant James Bruce reflects the dedication of the U.S. Coast to the protection and enforcement of the region’s Living Marine Resources. For his service and work to improve training operations, Lt. Bruce received the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award at this week’s meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in Beaufort, North Carolina. (Pictured are Lt. James Bruce, Council Chair Mel Bell (right) and Spud Woodward, Chair of the Council’s Law Enforcement Committee.)

Lt. Bruce oversees the training, curriculum, and certification for the more than 150 Coast Guard Law Enforcement Officers that annually enter the Fisheries Training Program in Charleston, South Carolina. The Southeast Regional Fisheries Training Center (SRFTC) is one of five such training centers regionally located around the country. “We are fortunate to have an excellent U.S. Coast Guard Fisheries Training Center in Charleston,” said Chairman Bell. “With his strong academic background in fisheries, including a master’s degree from Scripps, Lt. Bruce has been actively involved in the fisheries management process and a dedicated advocate for improving fisheries enforcement.”

Since assuming command of the Training Center in 2019, Lt Bruce has pioneered initiatives directly impacting fisheries enforcement. These include a coordinated effort to expand the footprint of the Training Center by providing operational support for fisheries boardings and surge operations in federal waters, resulting in a 13% increase in fisheries boardings in the South Atlantic between 2019 and 2020. Working with NOAA Fisheries Highly Migratory Species (HMS) office, Lt. Bruce led the effort to create a “Status of Fisheries” website, tracking regulations in real-time to provide information to enforcement officers. Lt Bruce also led staff at SRFTC in producing the first-of-its-kind “QR” coded reference guides for on-scene enforcement officers dealing with possible violations of HMS Lacey Act and Florida recreational lobster regulations.

The Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award was established by the Council in 2010 to recognize distinctive service, professionalism, and dedication to enforcing fisheries regulations in the South Atlantic region. Nominees for the annual award may be submitted from each of the southeastern state law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, and NOAA Fisheries.

According to his peers, Lt. Bruce is known for his unyielding curiosity and purposeful drive, utilizing his academic background in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation to speak formally through education programs, engage with local fish houses, and bring a real-world viewpoint to the officers he trains.

“I have to say I am humbled by the selection, especially knowing the caliber and esteem of the state and federal fisheries enforcement officers that I get the privilege to work with,” said Lt. Bruce. “The real prize is getting to work alongside NOAA OLE and the many state agencies in our South Atlantic region. It’s really great that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council makes such an effort to recognize law enforcement and our collective effort to enforce fisheries regulations and the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act to prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, and increase the long-term economic and social benefits in our region.”