Saving Seafood

Fishers, brewers, distillers: What aid do they need to survive Covid-19?

March 25, 2020 — As the spread of the novel coronavirus disrupts business as usual across the country, food producers of all kinds are turning to the government for the help they say they need to stay afloat through the pandemic. From fishermen to produce growers to brewers, companies and organizations are lining up for federal aid as policymakers argue about the coming stimulus for small businesses.

In the fish sector, the closure of scores of restaurants and the destabilization of exports to China has forced the seafood supply chain to adapt to primarily servicing retail stores where possible. Yet even if some fishermen are able to shift to retail, the existing disruptions could be ruinous to many independent producers.

Take the Maine fishermen who catch elver eel. Roughly 1,000 fishermen in the state catch the baby eels and mostly send them to China, to the tune of about $20 million in revenue each year. Yet now they must wait at least two additional weeks to begin harvesting due to officials’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus. State policymakers say the nature of the fishing operations “makes it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining six feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” according to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at Fern’s AG Insider

Delay of Maine’s elver season is the latest hit to state’s fishing industry from coronavirus

March 23, 2020 — The start of Maine’s annual, multi-million dollar commercial baby eel season, which had been scheduled to start Sunday, is being delayed for at least two weeks due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. It’s the latest example of the sizable economic hit Maine’s fishermen are taking as the global pandemic shuts down much of daily life.

The fishery might open on April 5, depending on the status of the outbreak, state officials said. In each of the past two years, Maine’s 10-week fishing season for baby eels — also known as “glass” eels or elvers — has generated totals of more than $20 million in statewide landings revenue for roughly 1,000 licensed elver fishermen.

“Portions of the elver fishery make it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining 6 feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Saturday. He added that, while he recognizes that the closure of the fishery may be “devastating” to people who rely on it, “the safety of our fishermen and their communities is our primary concern.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Keliher advises caution, communication

March 20, 2020 — Patrick Keliher, the state Commissioner of Marine Resources, said in a letter to the lobster industry Monday afternoon that he does not have “any immediate plans to close any commercial fishery in response to the coronavirus.” 

He advises fishermen and dealers to “actively communicate with each other about the realities of the market” and “refrain from landing product if there is no market for it.” But he does not have the authority, under the current circumstances, to order the lobster fishery to close. 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Island

Coronavirus concerns push back Maine elver season

March 20, 2020 — Maine is delaying the start of its $20 million elver fishery for at least two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The 11-week fishing season was set to begin on Sunday, but Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher decided to close the fishery for now to avoid the kind of crowded conditions on Maine’s rivers and in fishing shops that have become a hallmark of elver fishing season.

“The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact Maine’s fisheries in ways we could not have imagined,” Keliher said Friday. “It has become clear that the typical crowded conditions could not only allow transmission, but also speed the spread of the disease throughout the state as fishermen traveled along the coast to harvest and sell elvers.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine regulators to make decision on large salmon farm

March 10, 2020 — Maine regulators plan to make a decision about a large salmon farm after they take the last of the public comments about the proposal.

Norway-based Nordic Aquafarms wants to build the land-based farm, which would produce tens of millions of pounds of salmon per year. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has hosted public hearings about the proposal that have garnered some criticism of the project from residents.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine caught fewer lobsters in ’19, but haul still strong

March 9, 2020 — Maine’s lobster catch dipped in volume in 2019, but remained above historic levels as the industry dealt with numerous challenges and a slow start to the season.

Fishermen from the state caught 100.7 million pounds of lobster last year, the Maine Department of Marine Resources announced Friday at the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport. The catch was worth more than $485 million, the fourth highest in history.

The previous year’s catch was slightly more than 121 million pounds. The catch has been more than 100 million pounds every year since 2011 after having never topped that number previously, though the 2019 total was the lowest since 2010. The fishery is still soaring above where it was in the 2000s, when it typically trapped 50 to 80 million pounds of lobsters, said Kristan Porter, a lobsterman and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

“When we were getting to 90 to 100 million pounds, we were celebrating. Now if we’re in that range, people are going to think it’s bad,” Porter said. “But it’s still really high for the average of the fishery.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Though Maine’s lobster harvest was smallest in 9 years, value remained steady

March 9, 2020 — Despite a cold, late spring that took a toll on the state lobster catch in 2019, driving landings down 17 percent, record-high prices kept the catch’s overall value steady from the previous year.

Maine fishermen hauled 100.7 million pounds of lobster in 2019, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Marine Resources at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum. That was the smallest catch since 2010, but it was the ninth year in a row that Maine broke the 100-million-pound mark.

Despite the slow start, Maine fishermen eked out a good year. A 20 percent increase in the per-pound boat price of lobster meant the overall value of Maine’s haul remained pretty stable, coming in at $485.4 million, despite the double-digit decrease in 2019 total landings.

Kristan Porter’s end-of-the-year bottom line looked about the same as it did in 2018. The lobsterman from Cutler, who is president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, hauled less lobster, but he sold that smaller catch for a higher price, embodying the association’s motto, “Fish smarter, not harder.”

“We don’t fish for pounds, we fish for dollars,” Porter said. “Yeah, we got started late, and that was scary, but most guys finished strong. Overall, landings were down, but we’re still leaps and bounds ahead of our historical average. So I don’t think there is cause for alarm, at least not yet.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Northeast Market Report: 2019 Year in Review

March 6, 2020 — Lobsters and sea scallops continued to top Northeast fisheries in value during 2019 – with oysters more modest in volume but rapidly gaining as a growth sector.

On the downside, it looks like tough times for herring will continue into 2020, and there’s no return in sight for Maine’s northern shrimp fishery.

WINNERS

Lobster: Although catch dropped by more than 15 percent this season, the commercial lobster fishery still hauled in 100 million pounds, according to Maine’s Department of Marine Resources. While that marks a 20 million-pound drop from 2018, many still feel positive about the industry’s trajectory over the past decade — after all, the 2019 catch is still above historical averages. Early on, worries about bait availability, right whale protections, trade deals with China, and a potentially larger drop in catch had the industry on edge, for good reason — lobster is worth more than $450 million to Maine’s economy.

“After a very slow start, the harvest numbers increased in the late fall and winter, and from deeper water and farther offshore,” said Steve Train, a lobsterman from Long Island, Maine. “Whether this is a one- or two-year thing because of cold springs and late sheds, or the beginning of a trend where the resource is shifting because of a change in climate, is still to be determined. But one thing appears obvious: The resource is healthy.” Export of lobster to China dipped by 46 percent after a tariff was imposed in 2018, and the coronavirus outbreak further disrupted the trade in lobsters from the U.S. and Canada.

Oysters: The taste for oysters seems to have no end in sight, and 2019 was no exception. The East Coast Shellfish Growers Association Executive Director Bob Rheault said that along the Atlantic coast “farmed oyster production has doubled in the past five years. There has been some consolidation — bigger firms buying smaller ones, and lots of new entrants” with most farms aiming to increase production. Despite half a decade of increased East Coast production, prices have trended up slow and steadily. The association estimates the total East Coast oyster industry is valued at $90 million, although many states lack good data. Rheault says raw bars are hot.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine to Take Final Comments on Belfast Salmon Farm Proposal

March 4, 2020 — Maine officials are taking the final comments on a proposal to build a large, land-based salmon farm in Belfast.

Nordic Aquafarms of Norway wants to build the facility, which would produce tens of millions of pounds of salmon per year.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources hosted a public hearing about the proposal on Monday night, and the state is taking comments on it until March 12. The proposal has been contentious in the community because of the scope of the project, which would use tanks to grow the fish.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NBC Boston