Saving Seafood

Lobstermen seek Boothbay’s help in right whale issue

May 18, 2022 — Maine Lobstermen Association is seeking allies against new federal regulations protecting right whales in the northern Atlantic Ocean. MLA is seeking a “war chest” in excess of $10 million to reverse National Marine Fisheries Service guidelines designed to protect the endangered right whale.

MLA is soliciting donations from coastal Maine communities whose economies rely on the lobstering industry. Boothbay lobstermen Mark Jones and Troy Plummer are MLA board members. On May 11, the two solicited Boothbay selectmen for a contribution. “This is a federal lawsuit based on how they calculated the risks associated with right whale. Their models overcalculated the risk posed by lobstering and are nonsense,” Jones said. “The federal government has all but ignored us, and don’t think we will fight back.”

According to an Aug. 2021 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s statement on their website, “The NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population, which is endangered and declining. The decline began in 2010, and accelerated most notably when 17 mortalities were documented in 2017, leading to the declaration of an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event. Since then, 34 right whales have died and 16 have been seriously injured, primarily due to entanglements and vessel strikes.

Jones and Plummer told selectmen environmental groups with deep dockets are pushing for more stringent right whale protections. They described three groups with large lobbying budgets pursuing even stricter fishing regulations. “We’re definitely outgunned in this battle. There are three environmental groups. One raises $15 million per year. Another $22 million, and a third with $80 million. So we need help in this fight,” Plummer said.

So far, MLA has received donations ranging from $100 to $10,000 for their legal defense fund. Among contributors are the town of York, with a $10,000 contribution, along with Friendship, Long Island, Casco Bay  and Vinalhaven. The lobstermen also reported Maine Chamber of Commerce Maine Office of Tourism and Ready Bros. Lobster Processing in Casco contributed to their fund.

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

Rules planned to save right whales loom over lobster fishers

February 22, 2021 — America’s lobster fishery is getting close to the date when it will have to contend with new rules designed to try to save a species of whale from extinction.

The North Atlantic right whale numbers only about 360, and scientists have said the animal’s small population of breeding females could spell doom for the species. The National Marine Fisheries Service is developing new rules to reduce the possibility of entanglement in fishing gear, which can kill the whales.

A court decision required the fisheries service to finalize the rules by May 31. The agency is on track to produce the final rules on time, said Jennifer Goebel, a spokesperson.

The whale protection rules will focus on lobster and crab fisheries in the Northeast by reducing the number of vertical lines in the water, the federal government has said. It will also modify seasonal restricted areas and make other changes, the government has said.

The coming restrictions have sparked a rancorous debate between environmentalists and lobster fishermen over the proper way to save the whale. Lobster fishing groups have said overly restrictive rules could put them out of business.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association said the industry has a “long history of conservation of lobster resource and large whale protections.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NJNN

Maine lobstermen say move to avert collapse of herring fishery will have dire consequences

September 26, 2018 — Regulators are taking drastic steps to avert a collapse of the herring fishery, adopting trawling bans and proposing rock-bottom quotas.

While environmental groups and those who fish species that rely on herring for food, like striped bass and tuna, cheered the action, the Maine lobster industry was left wondering how it will survive without its favorite bait. Patrice McCarron, the executive director of the Maine Lobstermen Association, predicted it will force some lobstermen off the water.

“It is going to be really devastating,” McCarron told the New England Fisheries Management Council on Tuesday. “People aren’t going to be able to fish. There’s just not going to be enough bait. If you do get bait, you’re going to be on rations. The price of bait is going to skyrocket. … A lot of people are going to go out of business.”

About 70 percent of all herring landed in the U.S. ends up as bait, mostly for the lobster industry. In the last five years, as lobster hauls increased, the demand for herring went up, too, just as herring landings began to fall, McCarron said. That has driven up the bait price. In 2013, Maine lobstermen were paying $30 a bushel. Now, a bushel costs $45 on the coast, or $60 on the islands.

McCarron expects the price of bait to double next year, which would be a disaster for Maine lobstermen, she said. Her organization has been meeting with Maine bait dealers to talk about their storage capability, which she said was limited, and herring alternatives such as pogeys and redfish, whose prices likely will rise as lobstermen are forced to abandon herring as bait.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald