Saving Seafood

MAINE: Lobstermen say NOAA’s proposed whale rule won’t work, and conservationists agree

March 1, 2021 — A Feb. 24 public hearing on a proposed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rule aimed at reducing the risk of North Atlantic right whale entanglements in fishing lines raised questions of relevant data used in drafting the rule and its outcome for lobstermen and right whales.

These conversations have been going on between conservationists, lobstermen, NOAA and the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) since 2019, when NOAA held its first public meetings on how lobstermen could adapt fishing methods to reduce the risks.

The Take Reduction Team, operating under NOAAA Fisheries, is tasked with upholding the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The North Atlantic right whale has been on the endangered species list since 1970, and the ESA determines a right whale mortality rate that will not further diminish their population. That rate now stands at 0.7 per year. Even one death is considered too much.

Although a new draft biological opinion just released proposes a 98 percent risk reduction to prevent right whale extinction, the TRT plan goal was based on an earlier opinion, recommending a 60 percent risk reduction. May 31 is the court-ordered deadline for finalizing the draft biological opinion and lobster fishing regulations to protect whales.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

MAINE: Whale rule proposals bring fear and anxiety

March 1, 2021 — A broad and sweeping federal proposal to save right whales from extinction could wipe out tens of thousands of jobs tied to the lobster fishery within a decade, according to state officials and fishermen’s advocates.

Not only that, the proposal won’t even save the whales, they say.

Under a judge’s order, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, on December 31, 2020, proposed new rules to protect right whales from fishing gear. Two weeks later, NOAA published a draft opinion, also ordered by the judge, on the impact of the rules. Known as a biological opinion, it outlines a 10-year plan to reduce 98 percent of the lobster fishery’s risk to whales.

Gov. Janet Mills called the biological opinion “devastating” in a February 18 letter to NOAA. “If this comes to pass, it is not only fishermen and their crew who will be impacted, [but] gear suppliers, trap builders, rope manufacturers—all these businesses face a deeply uncertain future,” Mills wrote.

Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Kelliher offered a blunter assessment during a virtual Lobster Advisory Council meeting on February 17.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Maine’s congressional delegation asks Biden to protect lobstermen from proposed rules to save right whales

February 26, 2021 — Maine’s congressional delegation has asked President Biden to protect the lobster industry as federal agencies weigh a series of proposed rules that they say “would be a death knell” for the state’s most valuable fishery.

The four delegation members called on Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to “protect the livelihood and safety of the fishing community.”

“Maine’s lobstermen are seeking your assurance that they can continue to provide for their families, that their communities will survive, and that their children will be able to continue Maine’s long-standing lobstering heritage. We urge you to recognize the impact these proposed conservation measures will have on our lobstermen, fishermen, and the entire seafood industry in the state of Maine,” Sen. Angus King, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Chellie Pingree and Rep. Jared Golden wrote in the letter, which was sent Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently released a series of proposed amendments to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan in an effort to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: Gov. Mills: Future of lobster industry is threatened

February 25, 2021 — A draft federal biological opinion on the impact of fisheries on endangered North Atlantic right whales would “necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery,” Governor Janet Mills wrote in a forceful Feb. 19 letter to NOAA Fisheries, citing “grave concern” and “inequities.”

The draft biological opinion includes a conservation framework that calls for a 98 percent reduction in risk to whales from U.S. federal fixed gear fisheries, including lobster fishing, over the next decade.

“The survival of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery, and in fact, our heritage, through the future of Maine’s independent lobstermen and women, depend on your willingness to act,” Mills wrote to Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries regional administrator. The letter was included with the state Department of Marine Resources’ comments on the draft opinion.

In his comment letter, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher wrote that his agency is “deeply concerned” that while several human causes of whale mortality are cited, “the draft Bi-Op places the overwhelming majority of the burden to reduce mortality/serious injury on U.S. fisheries, and specifically the U.S. trap/pot fishery.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Extinction worries loom for both lobster industry and right whales

February 25, 2021 — Lobster fishermen are worried that federal regulations, proposed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglement in fishing gear, could put the industry out of business.

Conservationists worry the whale won’t survive much longer, given increased concerns about gear entanglement and ship strikes.

The National Marine Fisheries Service — an agency that’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is responsible for overseeing fishing in federal waters — is in the midst of holding hearings on proposed modifications to the federal government’s “Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”

Proposed changes aim to reduce entanglement in trap and pot fisheries for right whales, as well as humpback and finback whales, in order to reduce death and serious injury in accordance with two federal fishery laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Maine Gov. Janet Mills Warns Draft Right Whale Biological Opinion Will be Devastating For Lobstermen

February 24, 2021 — Maine’s Governor Janet Mills is speaking out on the North Atlantic right whale draft Biological Opinion. The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with NOAA late last week regarding the draft Biological Opinion for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. Governor Mills’ “grave” concerns were outlined in a cover letter included with the DMR’s comments.

One of the issues regarding the draft Biological Opinion is that it calls for a 98% risk reduction over 10 years in U.S. fixed gear fisheries, including lobster. And as Mills wrote, “In the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery.” Fishermen would not only be limited in putting out traps, but they would also have to invest in new gear. The results would be economically devastating to the state’s coastal economy.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine lobstermen worried about new federal regulations

February 24, 2021 — New federal regulations aimed at saving endangered whales could have serious consequences for Maine’s lobster industry.

“The issue isn’t in Maine waters,” Maine lobsterman John Drouin said.

For 42 years, Drouin has trapped lobsters in Downeast Maine.

He and every other Maine lobsterman are now bracing for proposed new rules intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

They call for a 60 percent reduction in the risk lobster lines pose to right whales, by increasing the number of traps per line, and adding weak points to the vertical lines between buoys and traps, where right whales can get entangled.

Read the full story at WGME

MAINE: Lobstermen, environmentalists agree right whale plan is flawed, for different reasons

February 24, 2021 — Environmentalists campaigning to save the endangered right whale and lobstermen working to protect their industry agree that a federal proposal to protect the species is flawed but for different reasons, with the fishermen saying it goes too far and environmentalists saying it doesn’t go far enough.

In a virtual public hearing Tuesday night, representatives from both groups asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to take a second look at its proposed changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.

The proposal aims to reduce the risk to the North Atlantic right whales by at least 60 percent and includes plans to modify gear configurations to reduce the number of vertical lines by requiring more traps between buoy lines, introducing weak insertions or weak rope into buoy lines so that a rope will break if a whale becomes entangled, modify existing seasonal restricted areas to allow ropeless fishing and add additional seasonal restricted areas that are closed to buoy lines but allow ropeless fishing.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine’s governor outlines “grave” concerns regarding right whale lobster measures

February 23, 2021 — U.S. State of Maine Governor Janet Mills has written a letter to NOAA Fisheries outlining “grave concern” over the latest Biological Opinion that has been drafted for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region – including the state’s lucrative lobster industry.

Mills, in a letter to NOAA Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator Michael Pentony, said the framework could have drastic consequences for the state’s lobster industry, which was a USD 485 million (EUR 399 million) industry in 2019 and is by far Maine’s most valuable fishery. The framework is being established in order to increase protection for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: New England Aqua Ventus moving forward with turbine

February 23, 2021 — New England Aqua Ventus (NEAV), formerly known as Maine Aqua Ventus, will soon begin ramping up efforts to put a single 10-12 megawatt turbine about two miles south of Monhegan Island. The project seeks to lay over 20 miles of cable several feet under the ocean floor from East Boothbay shores to the site.

The floating semisubmersible hull is a University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center design patented as VolturnUS. The UMaine-based researchers and engineers constructed and ran a 1:8, one-to-eight, version of a six megawatt turbine off the coast of Castine.

The project scored $39.9 million in U.S. Department of Energy research and development funds beating out 70 other public and private projects; however, the project cost, about $100 million, and other snags along the way kept the project relatively dormant until Gov. Janet Mills signed a law in November 2019 directing Maine Public Utilities Commission to approve the project’s contract. This paved the way for Aqua Ventus to sign a 20-year power-purchase agreement at above-market rates with Central Maine Power.

When the project rebranded in August 2020 as NEAV, partnering UMaine with Mitsubishi subsidiary Diamond Offshore Wind and German utilities giant RWE Renewables, the two-turbine project morphed into a singular larger one. Since then, NEAV has waited for the COVID-19 pandemic to quiet down before attacking the project in earnest and connecting with the coastal and fishing communities.

Read the full story at The Boothbay Register