Saving Seafood

ASMFC American Lobster Board Initiates Addendum to Increase Resiliency of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Stock

August 3, 2017 — ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board initiated Draft Addendum XXVII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Draft Addendum seeks to increase the resiliency of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) stock by considering the standardization of management measures across Lobster Conservation Management Areas (LCMAs). This is a proactive management action and is in response to signs of reduced settlement. Initiating an addendum charges the Plan Development Team (PDT) with developing management alternatives for consideration in the Draft Addendum.

The American lobster fishery is one of the largest and most valuable fisheries along the Atlantic coast. In 2016, over 158 million pounds were landed coastwide totaling $666 million in ex-vessel value. The vast majority of harvest occurs within the GOM/GBK stock area, with over 130 million pounds landed in Maine alone. Since 2012, settlement surveys for the GOM/GBK stock have indicated a consistent decreasing trend in young-of-year lobster. This decrease could foreshadow a decline in recruitment and landings. Given the high value of the fishery and the economic importance of the fishery to coastal communities throughout New England, the Board initiated Draft Addendum XXVII as a proactive response to build resiliency in the stock.

The Draft Addendum will consider, to the extent possible, the development of consistent management measures for the GOM/GBK stock, including gauge size and v-notch definitions. Currently, disparate regulations allow lobsters protected in one LCMA to be harvested in another LCMA. A uniform set of regulations would add an additional biological buffer to the stock through the protection of spawning stock biomass across LCMAs. In addition, this action may address enforcement concerns, particularly regarding the sale and transfer of lobsters across state lines which are subject to different minimum gauge sizes. The PDT will provide an update on the development of Draft Addendum XXVII at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October.

Regarding the Southern New England stock, the Board decided to not move forward with Addendum XXV for management use at the current time. After considering the proposals put forth by the Lobster Conservation Management Teams (LCMTs) and Technical Committee input, the Board was divided in its support of the Draft Addendum. Some members felt the proposed measures did not go far enough to protect the stock, while others were concerned the majority of LCMT proposals would not achieve the required 5% increase in egg production. Others believed significant reductions have already occurred in the fishery and no further action was needed. Ultimately, the Board decided to establish a Workgroup to discuss ways to manage SNE lobster.

Outlook For Southern New England Lobsters Is Dire

August 2, 2017 — Lobster populations in Southern New England are in dramatic decline and recovery is not likely to happen anytime soon.

That’s according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — an interstate compact, which manages fisheries in the region.

A 2015 assessment by that group showed record lows.

On Tuesday, the commission considered a number of management options to boost lobster egg production, but agreed nearly uniformly that rebuilding populations of Southern New England Lobster was unlikely.

“We’re seeing warmer waters and lobsters are very sensitive to temperature,” said Megan Ware, the group’s fishery management plan coordinator. “So it could be that we’re hitting that thermal threshold for them, and they’re moving to colder waters.”

Read the full story at WNPR

No new rules for declining southern New England lobstering

August 2, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — An interstate panel that manages fisheries voted on Tuesday against a plan to try to preserve the declining southern New England lobster population with new fishing restrictions.

The New England lobster fishery is based largely in Maine, where the catch has soared to new heights in recent years. But the population has collapsed off Connecticut, Rhode Island, southern Massachusetts and New York’s Long Island as waters have warmed in those areas.

An arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission considered a host of new restrictions about lobster fishing in southern New England on Tuesday and chose to shoot the plan down.

Restrictions could have included changes to legal harvesting size, reductions in the number of traps fishermen can use and closures to areas where lobsters are harvested. But members of the commission’s lobster board said they feared the proposed restrictions wouldn’t do enough to stem the loss of lobsters.

Board members agreed to try to figure out a new strategy to try to help the crustaceans, which have risen in value in recent years as Asian markets have opened up.

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

New rules to help southern New England lobsters up for vote

July 31, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A plan to try to slow the decline of southern New England’s lobster population with new fishing restrictions is up for a potential final vote this week.

The population of lobsters off Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts has plummeted in recent years. The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering a host of new restrictions about lobster fishing at a meeting on Tuesday.

Proposed management tools have included changes to legal harvesting size, reductions to the number of traps and seasonal closures to fishing areas.

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

New England lobstermen save trapped seal pup

July 18, 2017 — The internet is celebrating two Maine lobstermen who rescued a seal pup trapped in a fishing net.

WCSH-TV reports Jeremy Willey and Jeffrey Door were lobstering near Matinicus Rock Monday when they saw a baby seal floating in rope. Door pulled the trapped pup aboard to see what they could do.

Willey carefully cut the rope around the sea critter in order to free it as it wriggled. He returned the bewildered-looking seal pup to the water and watched the furry captive float near the boat for few moments.

Video of the lobstermen saving the seal pup has been viewed on Facebook more than 800,000 times.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1

MAINE: Fishermen support alternative coral protection plan

May 26, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — A plan to protect deep sea coral from damage caused by fishing drew strong support from Maine’s lobstermen Thursday but mostly because planned fishing restrictions won’t affect them.

The New England Fishery Management Council has spent much of the past two years developing an “Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment” aimed at reducing the potential impacts of fishing on corals found in extremely deep water along the Northeast coast. As part of the process, the council proposed several alternatives that would prohibit all fishing in the affected areas. One plan would bar fishing in water depths ranging between 300 and 600 meters (about 985 to 1,970 feet). Another would ban fishing in 20 separate submarine canyons off the southern boundary of Georges Bank.

Some of those canyons lie within the boundaries of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument established by President Barack Obama last September.

While most of the areas that could be protected lie far offshore, two areas are situated within the Gulf of Maine. One is near Mount Desert Rock. The other is on Outer Schoodic Ridge.

Mount Desert Rock lies about 20 miles south of Mount Desert Island in Lobster Management Zone B. The council considered two alternative protection zones, primarily southwest of the rock, one of about 18 square miles and the other about 8 square miles, with water depths of 100 to 200 meters (330 to 660 feet).

The Outer Schoodic Ridge area lies about 25 miles southeast of MDI in Lobster Management Zone A. The protected area would be about 31 square miles in size.

Both areas are important lobster fishing grounds.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

ASMFC American Lobster Board Approves 5% Increase in Egg Production for the Southern New England Lobster Stock

May 11, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved moving forward with the goal of increasing egg production for the Southern New England (SNE) stock of American lobster by 5%. This increase in egg production can be achieved through a suite of management tools including gauge size changes, trap reductions, and seasonal closures. The recreational fishery is only subject to changes in the gauge size should any be proposed. In making its decision, the Board took into consideration the extensive public comment, which overwhelmingly supported status quo, and the fact that stock declines are largely a result of climatic changes, including increasing water temperatures over the last 15 years.

The next step in the process will be for the Lobster Conservation Management Teams (LCMTs) in Areas 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to develop area-specific proposals on how to achieve the 5% increase in egg production.  As established through Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster, LCMTs are composed of lobster industry members who are charged with recommending area-specific measures for Board consideration and approval. The LCMT proposals will be submitted for Technical Committee review in June and Board consideration in August. Once area-specific measures have been approved, the Board will consider final approval of Addendum XXV.

In its deliberation on the SNE lobster stock, the Board discussed the need to consider changes to the current management goals and reference points, noting changes in the marine environment may limit the ability to rebuild the stock to levels seen in the 1990s. The Board will continue to discuss these issues, particularly as the Commission’s Climate Change Work Group develops recommendations regarding the management of stocks impacted by changing climate conditions.

Warmer waters bring new rules for lobster fishermen

May 11, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — New restrictions are coming to southern New England’s lobster fishery in an attempt to save the area’s population of the crustaceans, which has dwindled as waters have warmed.

An arm of the interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted on Tuesday to pursue new management measures to try to slow the decline of lobsters in the area. Management tools will include changes to legal harvesting size, reductions to the number of traps and seasonal closures to fishing areas.

The board’s move was “a recognition that climate change and warming water temperatures play an increasingly role in lobster stocks, especially in southern New England,” said Tina Berger, a spokeswoman for the commission.

The board’s goal, approved on Tuesday, is to increase egg production in the area by five percent. Decreasing the amount of fishing pressure will give the lobsters a better chance to reproduce, scientists working for the commission have said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Sentinel & Enterprise

Fishery management council OKs lobstering in deep coral

April 20, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — The New England Fishery Management Council has given preliminary approval to a plan to protect corals in the Gulf of Maine and on the Continental Slope south of Georges Bank from the ravages of commercial fishing but exempted the Maine lobster fishery from a proposed ban on the use of fishing gear that would affect the sea floor.

On Tuesday, April 18, by a reported vote of 14-1, the council adopted a preferred alternative plan under its proposed Omnibus Coral Protection Amendment for the inshore Gulf of Maine that would prohibit both trawls and dredges, but not lobster traps and pots, within both the Schoodic Ridge and Mount Desert Rock areas.

According to a statement released Wednesday afternoon, council members recognized the potentially devastating economic impact of preventing the lobster fishery from working within those inshore areas and acknowledged that shifts in effort to other locations could be problematic.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Regulators to allow lobster fishing in Gulf of Maine coral canyons

April 19, 2017 — New England regulators have voted to allow lobster fishing in proposed deep-sea coral protection zones, including two heavily fished areas in Down East Maine.

The New England Fisheries Management Council voted 14-1 to ban most fishing in the canyons and plateaus where slow-growing, cold-water coral gardens flourish in the dark waters of the Gulf of Maine.

But pleas from Maine lobster fishermen who say a trap ban in fertile fishing grounds off Mount Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge would cost them millions helped sway an initially resistant council to grant a lobstering exemption.

Fishermen also said closing these areas would have led to more traps, and fishing lines, being dropped in nearby waters traveled by endangered right whales, which can suffer injuries or die if they become entangled in lobster fishing lines.

Opponents, including environmentalists and some who fish for other species that would not get an exemption in the coral zones, have argued it is not fair to give lobstermen “a pass” because their traps damage coral, too, even if not as bad as trawl nets.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald