Saving Seafood

NOAA acknowledges shortage of gear to protect whales

April 22, 2022 — The federal government is acknowledging that supply chain issues will prevent all lobstermen from having gear needed to protect North Atlantic right whales before a May 1 deadline.

The rules will still go into effect on that date, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” until supply problems are resolved.

“I want to assure fishermen who are making good faith efforts to comply with these new measures but are not able to procure compliant gear that we understand the difficulty of their situation,” wrote Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries’ Gloucester-based Greater Atlantic regional administrator, in a letter.

“We are working closely with our state and federal enforcement partners to implement a graduated enforcement effort that will focus on compliance assistance rather than civil penalties until we have determined that localized supply chain issues have been sufficiently resolved,” he continued.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA delays enforcement of new lobster gear rules aimed at protecting right whales

April 21, 2022 — Enforcement of the new lobster gear regulations aimed at protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale will be delayed because supply chain issues have made it too difficult for lobstermen to comply.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday that it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” from when the rules take effect on May 1 until the supply issues have been resolved.

The regulations require lobstermen to splice NOAA-approved weak rope or weak plastic links into the lines they use to connect buoys to traps on the ocean floor. But the approved gear has been in short supply as manufacturers struggle to produce enough to outfit the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishing fleets. The regulations are intended to prevent whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear, which can result in injuries and death. There are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales, according to NOAA.

“MLA is relieved that NOAA has finally listened to lobstermen, the state, and our congressional delegation, that despite lobstermen’s best efforts, lobstermen are unable to meet the deadline,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “Some have complied and had products recalled, others have complied and had devices fail, and many more have not been able to secure the materials they need.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA agrees to ‘graduated enforcement’ of new lobster gear rules

April 20, 2022 — Federal officials are giving Maine lobster fisheries more time to purchase new, environmentally friendly fishing gear, after hearing from Gov. Janet Mills and Maine’s congressional delegation.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday it would still require lobstermen and women to upgrade their gear, but would “implement a graduated enforcement effort” for those who can show they are genuinely trying to meet the May 1 deadline.

The new requirements call for gear with weaker rope lines, which are less likely to entangle whales. Mills, together with U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, petitioned NOAA to recognize that supply chain delays are making it difficult for Maine’s lobster fishing fleets to meet the deadline.

Read the full story at Spectrum News

Maine lawmakers approve bill to limit number of pogie-fishing licenses

April 14, 2022 — Under a bill passed by the Maine Legislature on Wednesday, the state’s pogie fishery will be closed to all fishermen in 2023 except current license holders who meet certain criteria.

To be eligible, fishermen must have held a license to fish for pogies in at least two of three years from 2019-21, and have landed 25,000 pounds in at least one of those years. Those who have the required license history but have not yet met the landings requirement have until the end of 2022 to harvest 25,000 pounds.

Pogies, also known as menhaden, have returned to state waters in large numbers over the past few years. As herring landings have dwindled, many lobstermen have switched to pogies for bait. At the same time, lax licensing requirements have lured others to enter the pogie fishery.

But the fishery has a regional quota, set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is up for reassessment next month. State officials are concerned that the rules will be changed in ways that will limit the amount harvested from Maine coastal waters and estuaries. If the fishery remained open to additional licenses, that would mean less would be available for each fisherman, threatening the bait industry.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Dealers scramble to supply lobstermen ahead of gear change deadline

April 12, 2022 — May 1 is the deadline for commercial lobstermen in Maine to trawl up, use weaker rope or insert weak links and mark gear with the state color purple. But will they be ready? 

The new federal gear requirements enacted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are aimed at reducing right whale entanglements with vertical trap lines. Weaker rope or weak links will allow whales to break free of the rope, while the state-specific gear colors will help determine where a whale was entangled.  

“Everyone’s hoping for a good year, hoping for a good price,” said Virginia Olsen, a Maine Lobstering Union Local 207 member who fishes out of Stonington. “We’re just going to do what we do. We’re gonna go to work.” 

But first, enough rope and weak links must come into local fishing gear stores to supply the approximately 4,500 commercial lobstermen in Maine, each of whom can haul up to 800 traps. 

That equals a lot of rope or links – even with the requirement to attach more traps per vertical line than before, depending on the lobster zone and whether the grounds are in federal or state waters. While NOAA has specified approved gear types and brands, many local lobstermen are on waiting lists at gear shops.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

MAINE: Mussel farm lease draws opposition

April 7, 2022 — Who has priority over the waters of Frenchman Bay — the public, lobstermen or aquaculture concerns? While the 120-acre salmon farm proposed by Norwegian-backed American Aquafarms has roused opposition, a separate proposed 48-acre lease site to grow mussel spat in the bay’s eastern region — aptly named Eastern Bay — is raising similar objections.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) held a public hearing on the proposal on March 28 and 29 both online and at Bar Harbor Town Hall.

Opponents say that if approved, the Acadia Aqua Farms proposal will unreasonably affect navigation, produce unreasonable noise and unreasonably affect existing flora and fauna, including a long occupied and beloved eagle’s nest on Leland Point. Acadia Aqua Farms holds that, as proposed, the project meets DMR requirements for aquaculture leases and would not cause unreasonable effects.

The word “unreasonable” is important because DMR criteria for granting aquaculture leases, codified in state law, is that the lease will not unreasonably interfere with ingress and egress of riparian owners, navigation, fishing or other uses, significant wildlife and marine habitats or public use or enjoyment within 1,000 feet of a public or conserved beach, park or docking facility. A project also must not result in unreasonable impact from noise or light.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American 

Vessel tracking to start in 2023

April 7, 2022 — All lobster and Jonah crab fishermen in federal waters will soon need electronic tracking devices on their vessels while fishing there.

On March 31, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved addendums to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster and the Jonah Crab, to take effect in 2023.

First, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries must implement the new requirement through the federal rulemaking process.

The new requirement, in Addendum XXIX to the American Lobster Management Plan and Addendum IV to the Jonah Crab Management Plan, is aimed at collecting high-resolution, spatial and temporal data to help manage the fisheries, by tracking the location of vessels minute by minute for up to 90 percent of the vessel’s time in the water.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American 

Are the whales leaving? Gulf of Maine research raises questions about new lobstering rules

April 1, 2022 — As the Gulf of Maine’s waters warm, recent studies show the main food source of the endangered North Atlantic right whale is moving north, out of Maine waters. And the whales appear to be following them.

Such findings haven’t escaped the notice of the Maine lobster industry, which has been referencing them in its legal arguments as to why impending new federal restrictions on lobstering gear won’t help save the whales. Its members have pointed to recent studies that suggest the relocation of copepods – small aquatic crustaceans that make up the whales’ preferred diet – is not just a temporary phenomenon but a long-term trend.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service arguing that its 10-year conservation plan to protect right whales, primarily by requiring commercial fishing gear modifications such as using breakaway rope and deploying more traps per line, is not based on the best available science. The new gear restrictions are set to take effect May 1 despite ongoing legal challenges by the lobster industry and repeated protests by government officials.

“(The association is) asking the court to require the agency to develop a new plan based on sound science that would protect both the whale and the lobster industry,” said Patrice McCarron, the group’s executive director.

Read the full story at the Sun Journal

Maine’s leaders seek delay on whale protection rules

April 1, 2022 — A last-ditched request to delay new federal whale protection rules is being made by Gov. Janet Mills and members of the state’s congressional delegation, citing fears the state’s commercial lobstermen won’t be able to comply.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Riamondo, Mills and other officials urge federal fisheries regulators to extend the May 1 deadline to comply with the new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales by setting a seasonal closure and requiring modifications to gear. They are requesting a July 1 deadline.

Mills, who penned the letter with Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and other congressional lawmakers, said the state’s commercial fishing industry is working “in good faith” to comply with the new rules but are facing supply chain issues and other complications with less than six weeks to go until implementation of the new rules.

Read the full story at The Center Square

$30 million fund to help lobstermen meet new rules gets strong support in Maine House

March 25, 2022 — A proposal to create a $30 million fund to help lobstermen comply with new federal requirements designed to protect endangered right whales received overwhelming and bipartisan support in the Maine House on Thursday.

Funding for the bill, sponsored by Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, would come from the state’s unallocated surplus and would help fishermen meet new federal requirements for fishing rope.

Those rules could cost the industry between $50 million and $80 million in lost revenue, additional gear, lost time and added labor, according to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. One lawmaker estimated the new rules would cost the average fisherman tens of thousands of dollars.

Stover said the relief fund is needed to protect Maine’s iconic and valuable lobster fishing industry, which has had to constantly adapt to evolving federal regulations to prevent endangered right whales from being entangled in ropes.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald