March 18, 2020 — In a March 17 statement, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher addressed the state’s lobster industry, as the impact of the coronavirus is beginning to be felt.
Keliher opened by shutting down rumors about a potential closure of the lobster fishery.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
March 4, 2020 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced that it has officially awarded nine elver licenses that were available to eligible residents of the state, out of more than 3,600 applicants to the license.
The massive number of applicants is likely thanks to high price that elvers – the juvenile form of eels – has commanded in recent years. Last year, the season starting on 22 March kicked off with values of over USD 2,500 (EUR 2,237) per pound, with the season-long average sitting at USD 2,000 (EUR 1,790) per pound.
March 3, 2020 — Nordic Aquafarms (NAF) has completed the last hearing for state-level permitting required for the company to complete its planned USD 500 million (EUR 447.9 million) salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Belfast, Maine.
The hearings, which occurred on 2 March, were for a state-level permit for the removal and disposal of subtidal excavation material and the company’s plans to ensure local fisheries aren’t impacted. The removal of material is part of the company’s plan to locate inlet and outlet pipes for the facility in the nearby Penobscot Bay.
March 3, 2020 — More talk about Nordic Aqaufarms’ permit application regarding the DEP Monday night in Belfast.
The company wants to build a land-based salmon farm in the town capable of producing millions of pounds of fish per year.
Some officials with the Department of Marine Resources listened to comments and concerns about the proposed facility’s potential impacts on not only fishing activities but also the fishing industry.
All public comments will be passed along to Maine DEP.
Some are worried about possible environmental concerns and sediments too.
“To disturb the bottom sediments in this area for the Nordic Aquafarms project, would cause a few contaminations problems,” explained Lobsterman David Black.
“We’ve been talking about a lot of different parts of the project for a long time, but we think we are getting really close. We’ve told our case and we feel that all the information is out there for a decision.,” Edward Cotter, Nordic Aquafarms, Senior Vice Pres. Projects said.
Cotter added if they get all the approval they need to build the proposed facility, they’d like to start construction in the summer or fall.
February 27, 2020 — There’s a lot going on in the few square miles of ocean around Mount Desert Rock, the offshore island about 20 miles south of the entrance to Frenchman Bay.
College of the Atlantic operates a research station there. The rocky ocean bottom near the island is a prime spot for lobsters and has become more and more popular in recent years.
There is shipping traffic in the area, tankers going to and from Searsport, Portland and Portsmouth, according to harbor pilot Skip Strong of the Penobscot Bay Pilots.
And there are cruise ships. This year, 197 ship visits to Bar Harbor are scheduled, the bulk of them in September and October.
On their way into Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor, the ships pass near Mount Desert Rock. Until recently, the recommended channel for large ships entering Frenchman Bay started about five miles north of Mount Desert Rock.
But enough fishermen were losing money and equipment when buoy lines were cut by a passing ship (or an underwater stabilizer sticking out from the side of a ship, or an underwater tow wire between a tug and barge), that they got to talking.
The conversation had some added urgency beginning in 2018, when the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) changed the rules for gear configurations in the area. Many fishermen used to use strings, or trawls, of 15 traps with a surface buoy at either end, in the area. Now, with more fishermen working in the same area, a 5-trap maximum is in effect. That means if a buoy line is cut, the whole trawl is lost.