Saving Seafood

Experts still haven’t found cause of southern Maine seal ‘die off’

August 21, 2018 — Even as volunteers for Marine Mammals of Maine responded to more dead seals in southern Maine on Monday — more than 125 since Aug. 12 — officials from various agencies were clear that no cause for the “die off” has been determined.

“There have been no results yet to say what’s going on,” Lynda Doughty of the Harpswell-based nonprofit organization said Monday. “Other media speculation is that pollution is causing the die-off [but] no conclusive tests have been returned on southern Maine seals.”

Friends of Casco Bay, a marine stewardship organization founded in 1989 to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay, reported Monday that tests conducted last week “show good water quality with enough oxygen for marine life.”

On Thursday, NOAA Fisheries New England/Mid-Atlantic wrote on its Facebook page that while samples have been taken from the seals and are being tested, “we don’t have any results yet — and that may take a few weeks.”

Previous mass deaths of seals in Maine have been attributed to avian influenza, distemper and harmful algal blooms such as red tide, the organization said.

On Monday, Doughty said the number of mostly seals found dead or stranded in southern Maine was “out of the norm for what we normally see.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Call on Tribes to Apply for Species Recovery Grants

August 20, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — For the ninth year in a row, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is soliciting applications for funds that will conserve and protect species listed under the Endangered Species Act and are recognized as important resources for the tribes.

The assistance is granted as the agency recognizes the “unique importance of many protected species to tribes and values ongoing efforts by tribal nations to conserve and protect species” listed under the ESA as endangered or threatened, and includes candidate or proposed species, as well as post-delisting monitoring of recovered species.

Proposals that address the recovery of one of the following critically endangered species are also encouraged as part of the agency’s Species in the Spotlight initiative:

Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon and white abalone,
Cook Inlet DPS of beluga whales,
Hawaiian monk seal,
Pacific leatherback sea turtle, and
southern resident DPS of killer whales.

Funded activities may include development and implementation of management plans, scientific research, and public education and outreach.

Only federally recognized tribes and organizations of federally recognized tribes, that have delegated authority to represent a federally recognized tribe on matters relating to ESA listed, candidate, or proposed species, are eligible to apply.

Proposals on listed, candidate, or proposed species of Pacific salmon or steelhead may be supported through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, but not the Species Recovery Grants.

Tribes can submit more than one proposal a year and more than one species can be included in one proposal.

In the past the program has awarded $56,000 to the Knik Tribe in 2017 to fill data gaps needed for recovery of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales; $283,000 to the Makah Tribe last year for research and monitoring of Steller sea lions and assessment of their diet overlap with  Southern Resident killer whales, and $270,000 to the Penobscot Tribe for Atlantic salmon management and outreach project.

For an application and information about the grant program, visit this web page.

This story originally appeared at SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

New England shrimp population still looks bad amid shutdown

August 20, 2018 — A new analysis of New England’s shrimp population doesn’t bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery for the crustaceans.

The Maine-based shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013 because of concerns such as warming ocean temperatures and poor survival of young. Scientists working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are assessing the shrimp stock, and so far it looks like little has changed.

Results of the stock assessment “look fairly similar to what we’ve seen in previous years,” said Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States. That means reopening the fishery any time soon could be a tough sell when regulators meet to discuss and vote on the subject this fall.

“We’re still seeing low trends for northern shrimp,” said Ware. “Low abundance, low biomass.”

The small, pinkish shrimp were previously a popular winter seafood item in New England and around the country before regulators shuttered the fishery. Fishermen sought them with trawler boats and traps in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, sometimes catching more than 10 million pounds in a single year.

Scientists have said the shrimp face a long-term threat from the warming of the Gulf of Maine, which is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water in the world. Warm water is inhospitable for the animal’s recovery, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has said.

The closure of the fishery has left New England fishermen, who also contend with other declining species such as cod, with one less option. Terry Alexander, a longtime fisherman from Harpswell, Maine, said he’d like to see the fishery reopen, but he’s not optimistic.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine sea urchin harvesting rules to remain mostly unchanged

August 17, 2018 — The rules governing Maine’s sea urchin harvesting industry will stay mostly the same in the coming season.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council met Tuesday to set terms for the urchin fishing season, which runs September to March. The council decided to allow fishermen on the western coast to fish up to 15 days and fishermen in the eastern to fish up to 38.

Those are the same specifications as the previous season. The urchins are harvested so their roe can be used in food.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle

Maine lobster industry feels impact of China’s tariffs

August 16, 2018 — The ongoing trade war kicked off by U.S. President Donald Trump is beginning to hurt the lobster industry in Maine, U.S.A.

In response to a wide swath of tariffs on Chinese goods instituted by the U.S., China created a set of tariffs of its own that target U.S. seafood and have already hurt some members of the lobster industry who relied on shipping their product to China. Once a niche export market of just USD 4 million (EUR 3.5 million) in 2010, Maine exported USD 132 million (EUR 116.3 million) worth of the crustacean in 2017, according to the Maine International Trade Center.

Of that number, exports to China have been steadily increasing. Maine exported USD 42 million (EUR 37 million) worth of raw and frozen lobster to the country through June in 2017. This year, that number had more than doubled to USD 87 million (EUR 76.6 million) over the same period.

Those numbers have made China the second-largest export market, equal to the entire European Union. As the market grew, some exporters began to increasingly plan on shipping lobsters to China. The new tariffs, however, have made thrown those plans into disarray.

Stephanie Nadeau of The Lobster Co. in Arundel, Maine, has become the “poster child of Chinese tariffs,” she said.

Nadeau has been featured in a wide number of news reports, from the local Portland Press Herald to stories on CBS. Her company relied on Chinese exports, but now is struggling to find a way to make up the lost sales.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Demand for Maine oysters continues to skyrocket

August 16, 2018 — Maine’s cold-water oysters are a hot item on the regional shellfish market, and market research shows the industry will be able to continue expanding well into the future.

Demand for oysters is expected to continue its rise, outpacing the state’s supply through 2026, according to a report delivered to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Aquaculture Program by an outside consulting firm.

“There has been a lot of investment going into Maine’s oyster farms recently, both in existing operations and new leases,” said Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. “And these new leases are typically being tended by either members of working waterfront families or commercial fishermen themselves, either shifting out of another fishery or looking to diversify their income.”

Oyster farming has become a popular option for fishermen nearing retirement age who have the boat skills and knowledge to be successful but are looking to move away from the physical tolls of fishing.

For decades Maine’s oyster operations were focused on the Damariscotta River, but they’ve spread out in recent years. Oyster operations can now be found anywhere along the coast from the Canadian to New Hampshire borders. With a growing variance in farm locations comes a diversity in taste, a boon for increasing markets.

Maine is in the process of approving a minimum harvest size for American oysters — 2.5 inches with a 10 percent tolerance — in order to increase the average quality on the market.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Turning Maine’s Invasive Crab Problem Into a Potential Tasty Profit

August 16, 2018 — When it comes to the invasive green crab, some scientists in Maine have a suggestion: If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em.

“Our goal is to strengthen and diversify fisheries opportunities in the Gulf of Maine, and we think green crabs could be one of those opportunities,” said Dr. Marissa McMahan, Senior Fisheries Specialist at Manomet.

McMahan has been working with students from the University of Southern Maine to study green crabs, and determine how viable a commercial fishery might be. So far, she’s optimistic.

“It’s an incredibly lucrative fishery,” she said, adding that some fishermen have sold to local restaurants for $3 for each small crab or about $20 per pound.

Read the full story at NBC 10

MAINE: Large pogy catch good news for lobstermen who feared bait shortage

August 14, 2018 — Maine has landed a record number of pogies this summer, forcing regulators to shut the bait fishery down just as lobster season peaks.

All of the landings have yet to be counted, but officials say it is likely that an unusually large pogy fleet will have caught almost 7 million pounds of the fish, which is more than double last year’s landings. This comes as especially good news for Maine lobstermen, who use pogies to bait their traps when the herring supply runs low, as it is expected to this year.

“Every pogy used was herring not used,” said Kristan Porter, a Cutler lobsterman and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, which has been working with its members to prepare them for the herring shortage. “There also are some in coolers stored and ready. … The increase in landings is a good thing.”

State officials say Maine had run through its 2.4 million pound annual quota of pogy, also known as menhaden, by July 22, even though the quota was 13 times what it had been in 2017. Pogies were still running strong, however, with purse seiners harvesting them farther north than they had in decades, so Maine got regulatory approval to catch extra.

Over the last three weeks, the Maine pogy fleet has claimed almost all of the 4.5 million pound quota set aside for a handful of states to share when the oily forage species shows up in local waters in unusually high numbers. The high rate of catch prompted Maine to close the so-called episodic fishery on Saturday, with regulators expecting all of the shared quota to be used up.

Part of the high catch rate comes from the size of the fleet. In past years, only a handful of fishing vessels have entered Maine’s regular pogy fishery. This year, however, the fishery attracted 50 fishing vessels during the regular season and 64 in the special episodic event fishery, officials say – no doubt drawn to Maine by word of the large number of schools reported up the coast.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

The History of Atlantic Sea Scallops

August 13, 2018 — When it comes to shellfish, oysters get all the glory. It’s understandable, since they’ve played a significant role in the history of cuisine. But scallops? Those beautiful bivalves are a bit of a culinary mystery.

Despite their current popularity, you might be surprised to learn that scallops were often more prized for their aesthetically-pleasing shells than the rich, sweet flavor of their meat. But these days, it seems like almost every fine dining establishment with seafood on the menu has its own take on them, from ceviche to pan-seared to provencal. What’s more, East Coast scallop fisheries are positively booming.

But it hasn’t always been this way.

Underappreciated Treasures of the Deep

As you may know, the earliest settlers in what we now know as New England had access to a bounty of seafood. From fish to eel to a wide variety of shellfish, they had their pick of oceanic delights. By the time the Pilgrims arrived on the shores of Cape Cod in the 1600s, Europeans had been fishing for cod on nearby George’s Bank (a.k.a. St. George’s Bank) for well over a century.

Wild Atlantic scallops, which grew prodigiously in those cold northern waters, were also inevitably harvested for food. However, they weren’t considered highly desirable. Food historian Sandy Oliver, author of “Saltwater Foodways” and “Maine Home Cooking,” explains, “Scallops and mussels…ranked far below oysters, clams, and lobsters. Since scallops have a funny sweet taste, it didn’t line up with what people liked back then.”

But tastes change, and an appreciation for scallops in the U.S. gradually increased throughout the 19th century. One of the earliest known written recipes for cooking scallops, which called for lightly sauteeing or stewing them, was published in 1846 in “Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book.” Over the following decades, recipes for fried, boiled, steamed, stuffed, and pickled scallops began to appear more often in cookbooks. By the 1920s-30s, they had become a regular part of the American diet, especially in coastal communities.

By the mid-20th century, dishes like Coquille St. Jacques, which features scallops served in the shell with butter, cream, cheese, shallots, and herbs, appeared on the menus of French restaurants in cities nationwide. Meanwhile, fried scallops could often be found (and still can) at seaside clam shacks and other casual dining spots.

Read the full story at Chowhound

Glass ceiling: Regulators reject Maine elver quota increase

August 10, 2018 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission rejected an effort this week to expand Maine’s lucrative elver, or glass eel, by increasing the annual quota by 20 percent.

Maine harvesters are allowed to harvest 9,688 pounds of elvers annually under current regulations. The state hoped to increase the harvest to 11,749 pounds.

Ultimately, the commission voted 13-5 against a quota increase, with opponents of the effort citing the “depleted” state of the stock as reason for rejecting the proposal.

Prices for elvers have been steadily increasing with market demand from Asia, where the juvenile eels are raised to adult size in controlled farms. Prices have averaged $2,400 per pound in recent seasons. The 2017 season, which ran from March 22 to May 24, earned more than $21 million for Maine harvesters.

The lucrative fishery known for high catches and rising prices is becoming a bigger target for illegal harvests and trafficking.

In May, a U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine, handed down the final sentencing in the drawn out trials of 21 fishermen involved in an elver poaching ring along the East Coast.

William “Bill” Sheldon, 71, who has been called “grandfather of eel fishing” and “Maine’s elver kingpin,” was sentenced to six months in prison and three years of supervised release. The entire ring made an estimated $5 million selling elvers to Asia on the black market after netting their catch along the Atlantic seaboard in states where the fishery is banned. The ring funneled poached elvers through Maine and South Carolina, which have commercial eel fisheries.

Read the full story at National Fisherman