Saving Seafood

Maine Department of Marine Resources launches seafood branding effort

December 9, 2020 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has launched a new marketing effort intended to promote the state’s seafood products through a branding effort to boost sales for the industry.

The new launch establishes a seafood brand for the Northeast U.S. state, using USD 1 million (EUR 825,527) of the state’s allocated USD 20 million (EUR 16.5 million) in CARES Act relief funding. The initiative will emphasize the qualities distinguishing Maine seafood, and will use multiple media channels to reach food-oriented audiences, according to the Maine DMR.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

With tough whale rules in place, California crabbers wait for humpbacks to move on

November 13, 2020 — California fishermen expected to be geared up this week for the Nov. 15 Dungeness crab season opener. But with another autumn aggregation of humpback whales feeding close to shore – and tough new state rules to avoid gear entanglements – the fleet is sitting tight for two weeks.

That means no fresh crab for Thanksgiving, a California coast tradition. It’s the first pre-emptive delay ordered by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife under the recently finalized Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). Those regulations could result in shutting down the fishery if entanglements occur.

Delaying the Dungeness crab season off California’s central coast until Dec. 1 will probably allow enough time for for humpback whales to migrate out of the area, state wildlife officials say. They will assess the whale movements and risk for entanglements in fishing gear again in the central and northern coast areas before the rescheduled opening, said Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham.

“The fleet has gone to great lengths to be more nimble in order to protect whales and turtles, and the results are promising,” Bonham said in announcing the decision Nov. 5. “This year for the first time in a long time it looks like we don’t have to worry about domoic acid, which is good news.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine’s scallop fishery poised to open

November 12, 2020 — Hancock County residents can look forward to feasting on freshly harvested sea scallops when the 2020-21 scallop fishing season kicks off in coming weeks. Maine’s scallop fishery landed 415,818 pounds of scallop meats worth $4.359 million in 2019, making it the state’s 10th most lucrative seafood.

On Nov. 5, the Maine Department of Marine Resources announced finalized dates for the 2020-21 scallop fishing season and its three fishery management zones. In Zone 2, which stretches from eastern Penobscot Bay to Quoddy Head in Lubec, licensed scallop divers can commence harvesting Monday, Nov. 23, with their season ending April 24. Scallop draggers’ season gets underway Tuesday, Dec. 1, and closes March 31.

In Zone 3, encompassing Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River — Maine’s richest scallop fishing grounds — divers can start fishing for the prized bivalves on Dec. 3, with their season closing March 27, while draggers can fish there starting Dec. 1 and ceasing March 24. In Zone 1, from western Penobscot Bay to the New Hampshire border, diving is allowed starting Nov. 17 and wraps up April 24 while dragging runs from Dec. 7 through March 18.

In zones 1 and 2, daily scallop meat possession will be limited to 15 gallons per boat. In Zone 3, ten gallons of shucked scallops will remain as the daily limit. The same limits apply to divers and draggers. For more details, the adopted 2020-2021 season regulations are posted at https://www.maine.gov/dmr/laws-regulations/newly-adopted-regulations.html.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine scallop fishermen have same harvest limits in ’20-’21

November 10, 2020 — Maine’s scallop fishermen will be able to harvest the same amount of scallops under the rules for the coming season.

Fishermen in Maine harvest scallops by diving or by boat every winter. This year, they will be allowed to possess up to 15 gallons per day along most of Maine’s coast and up to 10 gallons per day in the Cobscook Bay area, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said.

The fishing season runs from late November to April. Fishermen harvested more than 400,000 pounds of Maine scallops in 2019. That was the lowest number since 2012.

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

MAINE: Deadline Approaches for CARES Act Help for Fishermen

November 9, 2020 — The deadline is approaching for Maine fishermen to apply for help via the federal CARES Act.

The application period closes on Monday, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said. Assistance is available for fishermen in addition to aquaculturists and seafood dealers and processors.

The marine resources department said applications need to have been licensed to participate in their sector of the industry during 2019 to be eligible. The department said payments are expected to be made in December.

The coronavirus pandemic has hurt Maine’s seafood industry in part because of the hit taken by restaurants, which are critical customers for the industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

MAINE: Final week to apply for CARES Act Fisheries Relief funding

November 5, 2020 — If you work in Maine’s marine industry, this is the final week to apply for the CARES Act Fisheries Relief fund.

The Department of Marine Resources says it contacted eligible applicants last month by both mail and email, but wants to make sure anyone who can receive the aid is aware of the application process.

The federal funding relief is for licensed commercial fishermen, aquaculturists, seafood dealers and processors as well as for hire guides impacted by the pandemic this year.

Read the full story at WABI

Maine extends deadline for scallop license lottery

November 4, 2020 — Fisheries regulators in Maine are extending the period to apply for a scallop fishing license until the end of the week.

The state holds lotteries for licenses to harvest scallops by diving or by drag boats. The deadline to apply for a place in the lottery is Friday at 4:30 p.m.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said it extended the deadline by a week because of concern that the lotteries might not have been as widely publicized as intended.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

Maine extends deadline for scallop license lottery

November 3, 2020 — Fisheries regulators in Maine are extending the period to apply for a scallop fishing license until the end of the week.

The state holds lotteries for licenses to harvest scallops by diving or by drag boats. The deadline to apply for a place in the lottery is Friday at 4:30 p.m.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said it extended the deadline by a week because of concern that the lotteries might not have been as widely publicized as intended.

Read the full story from the Associated Press from the Caledonian Record

MAINE: Zone C lobster council OK’s trawl limit plan

October 27, 2020 — With the National Oceanic Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under a fast approaching, court-imposed deadline to develop new whale protection rules, the Zone C Lobster Management Council held a special meeting on the internet in late September to get an update on the situation from Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher and consider a zone-specific plan for gear modifications that will likely be required by NMFS.

On Aug. 19, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg gave NMFS nine months to craft new rules to protect endangered right whales from entanglement in lobster fishing gear. In April, Boasberg had ruled that NMFS violated the federal Endangered Species Act in 2014 when it adopted new rules governing the lobster fishery by failing to adequately consider the risk right whales might face if they become entangled in the vertical lines that connect lobster traps on the sea floor to marker buoys on the surface.

The judge vacated the NMFS “biological opinion” required by the ESA, which allowed continuation of the lobster fishery as it is currently practiced.

In August, the judge gave NMFS and the lobster industry until May 31, 2020, to come up with a new biological opinion and new lobster fishing regulations. He ordered NMFS to submit progress reports to the court every 60 days beginning Sept. 30.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Lobstermen: Documents Reveal ‘Catastrophic Impact’ Right Whale Protections Could Have On Industry

October 19, 2020 — Newly released documents by Maine’s Department of Resources are providing a glimpse of what federal action to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales could look like — including the closure of extensive areas of offshore ocean to lobstering.

In an August letter to the head of the agency that reviews proposed federal regulations, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher asked for a meeting to go over options for reducing the risk of right whales becoming dangerously entangled in lobster trap gear and rope.

That was after conversations with the federal Northeast Fisheries Science Center that brought to light a proposal that could put big swaths of ocean off-limits to lobstering — in federal waters known as Lobster Conservation Management Areas, or LCMAs.

LCMA 1, in particular, is heavily fished by Maine lobster boats.

“The concern was those areas in Area 3 could come across to Area 1 if, in fact, we don’t meet our risk reduction target,” Keliher says.

Read the full story at Maine Public