Saving Seafood

Bay State joins Maine fight to prevent European ban on North American lobster

May 2, 2016 — Massachusetts is joining Maine to fight a possible ban on North American lobster by the European Union.

All 11 members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation sent a letter Friday to the Obama administration urging it to work with its European counterparts to continue the trans- Atlantic trade of lobsters. The delegation has joined Maine lawmakers to fight concerns raised by Sweden that the American crustacean poses an invasive threat to its own native lobster species.

The Massachusetts delegation voiced its concerns in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Kathryn Sullivan about the impact of a ban by the EU, which accounts for one-fifth of all American lobster exports.

“A permanent ban on the importation of American lobster to the EU could … have devastating consequences for the Massachusetts lobster industry and the New England maritime economy,” the delegation wrote.

The delegation said in the letter that Sweden’s petition to add American lobsters to the European Commission’s list of invasive species is not consistent with its own standards and does not appear to be the correct method to resolve Sweden’s concerns.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Regulators Consider How To Save Southern New England Lobster

May 2, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Interstate fishing regulators will consider authorizing new tools to address southern New England’s declining lobster population.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board will consider the status of the fishery on Monday. The board will discuss a potential motion to create new management measures that address the lobsters’ decline.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CBS Boston

Lobster Poachers Caught and Vessel Forfeited in Biscayne National Park

April 25, 2016 — Biscayne National Park and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers conducted a safety and marine fisheries inspection on the commercial fishing vessel “El Donny.” The inspection ultimately resulted in filed charges, a plea agreement and sentencing.

During the inspection officers observed a lobster shell inside a crab trap, although the boat owner indicated that no lobsters were on the vessel. While inspecting the engine room, an officer noticed a white plastic bag hidden behind some engine equipment. This bag, along with four others that were discovered, included a total of 87 wrung lobster tails, 66 of which were undersized.

Read the full story at the South Dade News Leader

NEW JERSEY: Trap survey underway on two reefs

April 22, 2016 — Three recreational and commercially important species are the subject of a trap survey that is being conducted on the artificial reefs now through November.

The state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and researchers from Rutgers University have deployed a series of fish traps on two reefs to focus on characterizing the seasonal and spatial changes in reef community composition and relative abundance of structure-associated species.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

MASSACHUSETTS: Chinese delegation to talk lobster, fish

April 22, 2016 — Gloucester will add more international visitors to its guest register when it welcomes a delegation of Chinese government officials and seafood executives, as well as Chinese-American business leaders, on Monday to talk about economic development opportunities.

The visit has been in the works since February, when Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken extended an invitation during a meeting with Chinese-American business leaders, many of them restaurateurs, and officials from Boston’s Chinatown Main Street association at an occasion celebrating the Chinese New Year.

The Chinese government delegation will feature some heavy hitters, including four officials from the the New York-based consulate general’s office of the People’s Republic of China. The visitors also will include three executives from The American Chinese Culinary Federation, a restaurant trade group that represents thousands of restaurants and seafood sellers nationwide, as well as officials of Chinatown Main Street and other businesses leaders from Boston’s Chinese-American community.

The mayor will host a meeting at City Hall with the visitors, who then will embark on a tour of the city’s waterfront and seafood infrastructure.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Portland Press Herald: Case for EU ban on live Maine lobsters doesn’t hold water

April 21, 2016 — Thirty-two lobsters. Taken off the same shore in one day, and it’s a grand start toward a summer feast.

But picked out over a long stretch of coast in an eight-year period? That hardly warrants an absent-minded mention at the dinner table, much less an international trade incident.

But that’s just where Sweden is taking its find, as the country seeks to ban all imports of live American lobster into the European Union’s 28 member nations.

The ban would be a $10 million annual hit to the pockets of Maine lobstermen – and roughly $150 million for the U.S. industry as a whole – all over a number of bugs that would have a boat captain cursing if it were one day’s haul.

Sweden’s proposal, backed by dubious science and questionable motives, is now in front of the EU, which should reject the ban, and tell Sweden to find a solution much more on scale with the problem.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Lobster veterinarian says gentler treatment of catch translates to bigger paycheck

April 19, 2016 — Jean Lavallée said he once watched a Canadian lobsterman overstuff a crate with lobsters, put the wooden lid on top and then smash it down with his foot.

The resulting crunch of limbs and shells “sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies,” he told a group of Maine lobstermen in Bath on Monday. Not only did the carelessness cause needless death and injury, Lavallée said, it also undoubtedly cost the lobsterman some money.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Lavallée, a veterinarian from Prince Edward Island who has specialized in lobsters for more than 20 years, is traveling along the Maine coast this week to lead a series of workshops on proper care and handling of the lucrative crustaceans. The workshops are sponsored by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance with funding from the Island Institute.

Lavallée said as many as 10 percent of the lobsters harvested in the U.S. die on their way to market. Given Maine’s $616.5 million harvest in 2015, that’s up to $61.7 million in lost revenue for the state’s top fishery.

“We kill more lobsters (prematurely) than most other countries are fishing for their entire year,” he said of the U.S. lobster industry. “That’s a lot of lobsters.”

Lavallée argues that more careful handling of lobsters, based on a better understanding of their anatomy and biology, will reduce losses and save the industry millions of dollars.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

State Department enters trade dispute over Maine lobsters

April 18, 2016 — The U.S. State Department is adding its muscle to help resolve an impending trade dispute between exporters of live Maine lobsters and the European Union.

Responding to a letter from Maine’s congressional delegation, officials in the Obama administration have committed the State Department to address the trade threat. In March, Sweden announced it was attempting to ban live North American lobsters from the 28-country EU, citing concerns that some of them have been found in European waters and are an “invasive species” that threatens Europe’s native lobster species.

“The State Department is on our side,” Sen. Angus King said Friday evening, “and I think they’re going to be aggressive.”

King said the response from the State Department was strong and suggested a concerted effort with other U.S. agencies to offset the risk of a ban. According to a letter from the State Department, the EU would have to consider the economic impact of a ban, along with the science, before blocking imports of U.S. lobsters.

King said the government “needs to press on all levels” to try to keep the EU from banning imports of live North American lobster, also known as Maine lobster.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Portland Press Herald: Maine would benefit from seafood traceability

April 12, 2016 — The Gulf of Maine brand can also be used to introduce consumers to underused species, such as dogfish, that are numerous in the region, and will likely become more so as sea temperatures continue to rise.

There are traceability programs for lobster, too, such as Trace My Lobster, a Whole Foods initiative launched in Maine that uses coded tags to allow consumers to find out when and where a lobster was caught, and even who caught it.

It’s important for the industry to be able to tell the story behind the lobster – that’s part of the reason people seek out the Maine product. It is also crucial that what is being sold as fresh, Maine lobster lives up to its billing.

But not everyone is playing by the rules.

See the full editorial at the Portland Press Herald

Learn more about sustainability and traceability efforts in the US seafood industry here.

Are Maine lobsters invading Europe? Even among Swedes, not everyone’s buying it

April 11, 2016 — There’s a bounty on the head of any Maine lobster found in Scandinavian waters.

Homarus americanus is a parasite-carrying, disease-spreading invasive alien threatening to breed infertile hybrids and destroy the local species.

That’s the view of researchers and politicians in Sweden, where Maine’s biggest export product is a feared intruder. Swedish officials describe a race against time to stop the invasion as they try to convince the 28-member European Union to halt all imports of the North American lobster, a move that could cost Maine lobstermen almost $11 million a year.

But some European chefs, whose patrons value the meaty North American crustacean over its tiny European cousin, say such a ban is premature and would have dire consequences for their establishments.

Sweden has been sounding the alarm since 2008, when a trawler first netted three North American lobsters with rubber bands on their claws off its west coast. Since then, 32 North American lobsters have been caught in Swedish waters, a sign they had been released into the ocean or escaped despite national prohibitions to hold American lobsters in net cages. Most of them have been caught in the Gullmar Fjord, causing increasing alarm among researchers at the Department for Aquatic Resources in the Swedish city of Lysekil.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald