Saving Seafood

MAINE: Two dozen Bar Harbor fishermen sign against proposed Frenchman Bay salmon farm

June 23, 2021 — Twenty-six Bar Harbor fishermen have signed onto a statement opposing a proposed salmon pen operation in Frenchman Bay.

The statement cited numerous concerns about the proposal by American Aquafarms, a business based in Norway that has submitted applications to the Department of Marine Resources to lease 120 acres in order to install 30 “closed net” pens for raising salmon. The company has said its goal is to scale up to grow 66 million pounds of salmon per year.

Hatchery and processing facilities would be located in Gouldsboro. Support vessels would travel between the pens and facilities.

Fishermen say they’re concerned about the potential “loss of prime fishing ground for lobster, scallops and shrimp,” increased fishing pressure on grounds adjacent to the proposed operation, loss of gear from service vessels and related support activity, navigational conflicts, water pollution related to discharge, feed and fuel spills, habitat impacts, and disturbance to the ocean bottom around the pens.

In addition, the statement said, the proposal could lower “the potential for a comeback to the historical fisheries of the bay, including the recent shrimping fishery that centered inside the bay on these two deep water holes.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Bar Harbor, Maine seeks intervenor status on American Aquafarms salmon farm

June 21, 2021 — The town council of Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.A. has filed to seek intervenor status in with the Maine State Department of Marine Resources regarding a salmon farm project proposed by American Aquafarms.

The project is planned to initially produce 30,000 metric tons of salmon a year out of its proposed site in Frenchmen’s Bay in Gouldsboro, Maine – across the water from Bar Harbor’s location on Mt. Desert Island. Bar Harbor’s intervenor status, if approved, would allow the town to provide testimony at a public hearing on the lease and potentially comment on draft decisions, reports the Mount Desert Islander.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Officials identify fisherman whose body was recovered off Waldoboro

June 10, 2021 — The state has identified the 34-year-old fisherman whose body was recovered Tuesday morning following an all-night search by federal, state and local crews in the waters off Waldoboro.

The Maine Marine Patrol reported Wednesday morning that James Guptill was the man whose body was recovered at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. His body was found about a half mile from where other local fishermen found an empty skiff, aground and unoccupied, on Monday evening near Havener Point.

Guptill held a commercial shellfish harvester license as well as a non-commercial lobster license.

His body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta for an autopsy.

Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols said the search was along the Medomak River where the boat was found.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: ‘Next-gen’ tech or industrial destruction? Salmon farm proposal advances, but groups protest

June 2, 2021 — The Department of Marine Resources has accepted applications for consideration of two lease sites in Frenchman Bay where a Norwegian company wants to grow Atlantic salmon.

But the applications from American Aquafarms were immediately met with opposition from several groups of local residents.

“We are opposed to growing 30,000 metric tons of salmon annually, covering over 100 acres of Frenchman Bay,” Kathleen Rybarz, president of Friends of Frenchman Bay, said in a news release.

“One cannot overstate the destructive impact of this large-scale proposal on a bay that already strives to balance multiple fisheries, heavy recreational use, cruise ship visitors and increasing ocean warming.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Attention Federal Lobster Permit Holders: ROV Inspections

June 2, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Throughout the year, the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement will be inspecting lobster gear in federal waters off New England and the mid-Atlantic using remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). The purpose of these inspections is to check lobster gear for compliance with federal requirements related to trap tags, gear markings, weak links, sinking ground lines, escape vents, ghost panels, and other conservation measures.

Please ensure you are familiar with the regulations governing lobster gear: Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan regulations and American Lobster Fishery Management Plan regulations. For a summary of lobster gear requirements, go to our American lobster webpage, and refer to the management and commercial fishing tabs. You should also explore the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan compliance guides and Maine Department of Marine Resources’ recent updates to gear marking requirements for Maine fishermen. These guides may assist you in understanding the current requirements, but are not a substitute for the regulations.

Federal lobster gear requirements ensure a sustainable lobster fishery and protect endangered whales from entanglements. When these requirements are ignored or willfully violated, it threatens important marine resources and puts law-abiding fishing businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is committed to protecting our shared marine resources and ensuring a level playing field. If you fail to comply with federal gear requirements, your gear may be seized and forfeited, your Federal fishing permits may be suspended or revoked, and monetary penalties may be imposed upon you. Please take this opportunity to ensure that your gear is in compliance.

For more information about our ROV operations read our web story.

Read the full release here

River herring, once eyed for endangered list, grow in counts

June 1, 2021 — A small fish that has been the subject of conservation efforts for years appears to be growing in number in the rivers of the East Coast.

River herring are critically important to coastal ecosystems because they serve as food for birds and larger fish. Regulators have described the fishes’ population as nearing historic lows because of dams, pollution, warming waters and other factors.

But years of effort to save them appear to be paying off. Preliminary counts of the fish from Maine to South Carolina in 2019 showed 2.7 million more fish than in 2015, according to documents provided by the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The 2019 counts found more than 6.5 million fish.

The river herrings include two species of schooling fish, alewives and blueback herring, that have been fished in East Coast rivers for millennia. Harvesters of the fish said conservative management of the fishery in recent years, coupled with conservation efforts such as dam removal, have helped the fish spawn and grow in number.

“You’ve got to get the parents in the bedroom so the kids can go to school,” said Jeff Pierce, a longtime alewife fisherman and the president of Alewife Harvesters of Maine.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

SEBASTIAN BELLE: Time to stand up for the working waterfront

April 30, 2021 — Let’s get the record straight. Fishermen and sea farmers have been coexisting along the coast of Maine for many years; we all make our living on the sea. The Maine Aquaculture Association was established in 1977. We depend on Maine’s clean ocean and healthy ecosystems to produce the world’s best seafood. We preserve Maine’s working waterfronts by building and supporting marine businesses.

Maine fishermen apply for permits or licenses to harvest a public resource. Sea farmers apply for leases and a series of licenses and permits to access public space and operate their farms raising mussels, oysters, kelp and salmon. No aquaculture leases issued in Maine grant the exclusive use of an area; they all allow for varying degrees of multiple use. Current law prohibits the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) from issuing a lease to a farmer if it does not comply with a series of criteria designed to protect the environment, prevent conflicts with other user groups, prevent interference with navigation and prevent obstruction of riparian landowners’ access to the water. In addition, all aquaculture leases issued in the state of Maine are a contract between the farmer and the state and include a series of conditions that, if violated, trigger the revocation of that lease. To be clear, it is illegal for DMR to issue a lease if it conflicts with an existing commercial fishery. In other words, existing fishing grounds are prioritized over proposed aquaculture sites. The lobbyists want the state Legislature to study this system, costing the state and businesses time and money. This is an attack by a few landowners on the many who work on the water. There have been some contentious ideas, and those who have been through this in the past know we have a system to verify that any development is of benefit to all.

This recent well-funded lobbyist effort by landowners to prevent us from making a living on the waterfront threatens all those who make a living on the sea. The real opposition to lease applications is coming from a few wealthy coastal landowners who do not want to see a working waterfront. These “not in my backyard” folks and their highly paid consultants and lawyers pressure legislators to radically change the rules and regulations that apply to aquaculture. Those rules and regulations are the product of 40 years of public discussion and legislative deliberation. Maine’s aquaculture leasing and environmental monitoring laws are the gold standard; delegations of fishermen, regulators and politicians often visit Maine from other states and countries to see how we manage the aquaculture sector.

Read the full opinion piece at Mount Desert Islander

Maine homes in on offshore wind site, but fishermen’s protests continue

April 28, 2021 — Using fishery data and interviews with fishermen, state fishery regulators are working to identify areas in federal waters off Maine’s southern coast that will have least potential conflict between the fisheries and a proposed offshore windmill site.

Fishermen attending a virtual meeting hosted Tuesday night by the Department of Marine Resources condemned a plan by offshore wind developer New England Aqua Ventus to lease up to 16 square miles in the Gulf of Maine to install up to 12 wind turbines.

In addition, fishermen and their supporters gathered this morning at the Augusta Civic Center for a “Protect the Gulf of Maine” rally to protest the pace of wind development.

In a related development, Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday introduced legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on new offshore wind projects in state waters, while reaffirming her administration’s priority of locating offshore wind projects in federal waters of the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

MAINE: Midcoast fishermen can resume activity in offshore wind project’s proposed cable route

April 21, 2021 — Lobstermen who were forced to move traps along a 23-mile long route off the coast of Monhegan can resume fishing activity in the area. Last week, vessels conducting a survey for an offshore wind project completed their work along the route.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources sent a notice to fishermen on Friday stating that gear, like lobster traps, that were relocated to accommodate the New England Aqua Ventus survey can be moved back to their original locations.

Fishermen were asked to voluntarily move their traps so a survey of the seabed floor along the wind project’s proposed cable route could be conducted. But given the contentious issue of wind development of the Gulf of Maine, some fishermen felt they shouldn’t have to move their traps for a project that they feel threatens their livelihood.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Baby elvers rocket back up in value in Maine

April 21, 2021 — Tiny baby eels are worth big bucks again in Maine.

The state is home to the U.S.’s only significant fishery for the baby eels, which are called elvers, and it’s taking place right now. Prices tanked last year due to disruption to the worldwide economy caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the fishery is experiencing a return to normalcy. The tiny, wriggling fish are worth $1,634 per pound to fishermen, the Maine Department of Marine Resources reported on Monday.

The elvers are worth so much because of the crucial role they play in Asian aquaculture. They’ve been worth between $1,300 and $2,400 per pound every year since 2015, except last year, when they were worth $525.

The elver business has benefited from improved health in international trading at large, said Mitchell Feigenbaum, an elver dealer.

“There’s confidence in the market in all commodities right now,” Feigenbaum said “There’s a crazy boom in real estate, a crazy boom in the stock market, a crazy boom in the eel market.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press