Saving Seafood

Maine lobster industry fights lawsuit that aims to shut down fishery

March 18, 2022 — While Maine’s lobster industry has been fighting an offensive legal battle against impending rules to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, it also is playing defense in a case brought by environmentalists that seeks to shut down the lobster fishery entirely.

Lobster industry groups are intervening in a case brought in Washington, D.C.’s U.S. District Court by the Center for Biological Diversity and other plaintiffs that argues the new federal restrictions aren’t adequate, and that the fishery’s continued operation poses an existential threat to the whales.

The plaintiffs in that case, Center for Biological Diversity v. (U.S. Commerce Secretary) Gina Raimondo, are asking the court to vacate a National Marine Fisheries Service “biological opinion” that serves as the basis for the new restrictions and conservation plan, saying they don’t go far enough to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Lawyers for the lobster industry recently filed a legal brief arguing that the environmental groups are misreading the two laws and attempting to force the state’s lobster fishery under federal jurisdiction.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: $17 million for lobster industry included in bill

March 17, 2022 — A sum of $17,065,000 to support Maine’s lobster industry was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced March 11. Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee. Pingree is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.

The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate before heading to the President’s desk.

“NOAA’s own data show that the Maine fishery has never been linked to a right whale death, and the record clearly demonstrates that ship strikes and Canadian fishing activities are major contributors to right whale mortalities,” said Sens. Collins and King and Reps. Pingree and Golden in a joint statement. “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it. That’s why it is extremely frustrating that they have been targeted by the deeply flawed and unfair Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

“It’s almost embarrassing”: Lobster price shock hits restaurants

March 14, 2022 — Lobster prices have soared so much that restaurants are either giving their customers sticker shock, or taking it off the menu entirely.

Why it matters: The lobster price shock isn’t just a supply problem or just a demand problem. It reflects both — and is a microcosm of the U.S. economy.

By the numbers: Maine lobstermen were able to sell their catch straight off the boat for $6.71 a pound in 2021, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. That was up 59% over the pandemic-depressed 2020 level — and up 39% over 2019.

Read the full story at Axios

MAINE: Federal windfall won’t put a stop to state lobster industry relief bills

March 14, 2022 — Although Maine’s lobster industry is set to receive $17 million in federal funding as part of the 2022 omnibus spending package, it is unlikely to affect two bills going through the Legislature that seek more than $30 million in state funds for the industry.

The spending bill will bring more than $200 million in funding for projects across the state. For the lobster industry, it includes $14 million to help lobstermen comply with new federal regulations intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, set to take effect May 1, along with $760,000 for the Department of Marine Resources to conduct outreach and education among lobstermen, and $2.3 million for right whale research, monitoring and conservation.

“This funding comes at a critical time, as Maine’s lobster industry faces challenges from both an uncertain future and the looming May 1 implementation date,” said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Lobstermen have adopted many conservation measures to protect whales in recent years, such as replacing floating lines used to link traps along the ocean bottom with sinking lines, increasing the number of traps per buoy line, and adding weak inserts to buoy lines so they break if whales become entangled. The new regulations require gear modifications such as adding more weak links to vertical lines, increasing the number of traps per line and adding new markings at intervals along the lines.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Sen. Collins, Rep. Golden Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Lobster Industry Afford New Gear

March 9, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Jared Golden:

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support lobstermen by creating a grant program to help them comply with federal right whale regulations requiring a change in fishing gear. The Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability (SAFE SEAS) Act of 2022 will help lobstermen and women with the financial burden of this transition by authorizing grant assistance for fiscal years 2022 through 2024 to help cover the costs of compliance. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) have signed on as cosponsors of the bill.

According to an estimate by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) rule will cost Maine lobstermen and women at least $45 million due to the expense of trawling up, acquiring and adding weak points, purchasing specialized rope, lengthening groundlines, marking gear, and hiring additional crew to complete this work.  Notably, there are no known cases of Maine’s lobster industry being responsible for killing a right whale, and there has not been a single right whale entanglement attributed to Maine lobster fisheries in nearly two decades.

 “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it,” said Senator Collins.  “As NOAA moves ahead with this rule despite the Maine delegation’s urging against it, our legislation would help alleviate the financial burden our lobstermen and women face. We must ensure that this heritage industry has the assistance it needs to continue to support coastal families and communities for generations to come.”

Read the full release at the office of Congressman Jared Golden

 

Lawmakers propose grant to help lobster industry navigate whale protections

March 9, 2022 — Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at establishing a grant program to assist the lobster industry as it upgrades its gear to reduce risk of entanglement with critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.  

The “Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability Act of 2022” was introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to support the transition, which is expected to cost “tens of millions of dollars each year.” The lawmakers secured $10 million in draft appropriations for fiscal year 2022.  

“This bipartisan bill helps ensure that lobstermen aren’t put out of business and can afford equipment to reduce mortalities of endangered right whales,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I’ll keep working in Congress to support our fishing industry as we enhance protections for endangered species.” 

Read the full story at The Hill

Feds institute ’emergency’ lobster closure to protect right whales

March 3, 2022 — The federal government will close an additional 200 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts to lobster and Jonah crab fishing in April to protect endangered right whales.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is closing the area on an “emergency” basis, without taking public comment — a move that frustrates lobstermen already contending with extensive fishing restrictions.

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said she recognized that the “wedge” of federal water is particularly dangerous for right whales.

“If there’s an entanglement of serious injury or mortality attributed to the American lobster fishery, it’s not going to be good for anyone, anywhere,” she said.

But Casoni said she was worried by NOAA closing the waters through an emergency order.

Read the full story at WBUR

MAINE: DMR sets public hearing on whale rule changes

March 3, 2022 — Now that new federal regulations are in place to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement with fishing lines, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has drafted revisions to state lobster and crab fishing laws to implement the changes.

For Chapter 75, Protected Resources Compliance with Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, the proposed changes align with gear marking, fishing ropes, weak links in fishing rope, the minimum number of traps per trawl and the seasonal closure of Lobster Management Area 1. For Chapter 25, Lobster and Crab Fishing, proposed changes to Zone B increase the trawl limit from a maximum of three traps per line to five traps from 3 to 12 nautical miles from shore.

A remote public hearing is scheduled for March 15 at 5 p.m. for Chapter 75 and 5:30 p.m. for Chapter 25.

“These changes are routine in nature to implement such a large federal mandate,” Maine Lobstering Union member and Deer Isle lobsterman Virginia Olsen said. “However, we, the MLU, do not feel the goal of a 98 percent reduction is a way the Maine lobster industry can survive moving forward. We feel more real-time science needs to be done and the restrictions put in place to date need to be reviewed for effectiveness before additional restrictions are implemented.”

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Federal right whale legislation floated

March 2, 2022 — Introduced to the U.S. Senate last week was the Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022, led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and joined by fellow Democrats. The proposed bill seeks to help right whale conservation efforts “by supporting and providing financial resources for conservation programs and projects.”

The legislation adds to the swirl of regulatory and legal action aimed at protecting the right whales — but at a cost to Maine lobstermen and the $1 billion that the industry is estimated to add to the state’s economy each year.

The Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022 aims to support through grants and other financial assistance conservation programs that curtail the effect of human activity on right whales. Right whales are injured and killed from ship strikes as well as being entangled in fishing lines.

The North Atlantic right whale is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. The number of right whales has steadily declined since 2010 and the estimated population dropped 30 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to federal monitoring programs. It now stands at below 340, the lowest in two decades, and the reported number of breeding females is small.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Maine seafood industry expects indirect hit from Russian invasion

February 28, 2022 — Though the Maine lobster and seafood industries for the most part do not trade directly with Russia, they are anticipating indirect impacts from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia had already banned seafood imports from the United States and European Union in 2014 in retaliation for previous sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion and annexation of Crimea, and that ban remains in effect. Still, the invasion is bound to exacerbate ongoing supply chain issues, inflation and high energy prices, which could hurt the seafood industry indirectly in Maine.

Richard Hall, caviar director at Browne Trading Company in Portland, said he has not imported or exported any products from Russia in over 10 years because of the political situation and on-and-off embargoes.

“I get solicited by caviar farms in the (former) Soviet Union almost weekly,” Hall said. “It’s not like we don’t want to work with Russian farms. We’re always interested in finding what’s great for our customers. And it’s sort of sad – I’ve had to tell them recently, keep me on your list of people, but we’re not going to be doing anything with you right now.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald