Saving Seafood

Maine Department of Marine Resources Launches New Maine Seafood Brand Initiative

December 9, 2020 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), with support from Governor Janet Mills, is launching a branding and promotion initiative to celebrate Maine Seafood and to help consumers find and enjoy it in the comfort and safety of their home.

While rapidly changing seafood markets due to the coronavirus pandemic have posed challenges for seafood producers, retail seafood sales are up 35 percent compared to last year according to market research company Information Resources, Inc.

With $1,000,000 of the $20 million CARES Act relief funds allocated by NOAA for Maine’s commercial fishing and seafood industry, the Maine Seafood branding and promotion initiative will help this growing population of home-bound seafood enthusiasts discover the superior taste, quality and variety of seafood from Maine.

“Like producers across the globe, Maines seafood industry continues to face the challenge of rapidly changing markets,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “But this challenge also presents an opportunity. The Gulf of Maines cold, clean water is home to a wide variety of premium seafood products that are easy to prepare. The Maine Seafood branding and promotion initiative will help consumers learn about, find, and prepare Maine Seafood in their own kitchens.”

Maine’s seafood dealers and processors take great pride in delivering a variety of premium seafood products including inspired ready-to-cook offerings that take the worry out of meal preparation. Maine harvesters and aquaculturists are committed to responsible harvesting, cultivation, and handling practices, protecting both food quality and the marine environment.

“With more Maine people cooking from home, we have an opportunity to support Maines seafood industry by promoting the premium products we produce here at home,” said Governor Mills. “This initiative will support a vital sector of our states economy and connect consumers with high-quality seafood produced in the U.S. at a critical time.”

“When choosing Maine Seafood, consumers can trust that their seafood products, from shellfish to seaweed and halibut to haddock will be the highest quality, best tasting seafood on earth,” said Commissioner Keliher.

The initiative will emphasize the attributes that distinguish Maine Seafood, including the premium nature of the products, the pristine marine environment of the north Atlantic Ocean, and the industry’s passion for quality. A Maine Seafood website will feature a directory of Maine Seafood suppliers as well as inspired recipe ideas that make enjoying a Maine Seafood experience at home easy. Blog posts from influential food writers will drive consumer appreciation and demand for Maine Seafood. Social media accounts will allow foodies across the world to connect around their shared love of Maine Seafood. As the initiative moves forward, assets will be developed to support the industrys own marketing efforts. For a directory of Maine Seafood suppliers and easy, inspiring holiday and delicious holiday recipe inspiration visit www.SeafoodfromMaine.com.

Maine Department of Marine Resources launches seafood branding effort

December 9, 2020 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has launched a new marketing effort intended to promote the state’s seafood products through a branding effort to boost sales for the industry.

The new launch establishes a seafood brand for the Northeast U.S. state, using USD 1 million (EUR 825,527) of the state’s allocated USD 20 million (EUR 16.5 million) in CARES Act relief funding. The initiative will emphasize the qualities distinguishing Maine seafood, and will use multiple media channels to reach food-oriented audiences, according to the Maine DMR.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

International consortium created to study the white shark

December 7, 2020 — Shark research groups and government agencies in the United States and Canada announced Tuesday the establishment of an organization that will unite over a dozen agencies to collaboratively study the white shark.

The New England White Shark Research Consortium joins organizations and universities in Massachusetts—such as the New England Aquarium and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth—with researchers in Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Arizona and Canada.

The group has two primary goals: advance researchers’ current understanding of the white shark, and enhance public education and safety within the region.

Gregory Skomal, the senior fisheries scientist for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (which is a consortium member), said the fatal shark attack of a 63-year-old woman off the coast of Maine this summer prompted the creation of the consortium.

“It really pointed to a need for us to coordinate research here in New England,” Skomal said, noting many people were surprised by the location of the attack even though researchers knew white sharks are historically found in Maine waters.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Lobster stock levels remain high in Gulf of Maine, but future issues cause concern

December 4, 2020 — When it comes to availability of their catch, the “now” looks solid for local commercial lobster fishermen, based on findings reported in the 2020 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment. The assessment reported the stock at “record high abundance levels” in the Gulf of Maine. The good news continued: “Stock projections conducted as part of the assessment suggested a low probability of abundance declining below the abundance target over the next 10 years.” The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery now accounts for 90 percent of U.S. lobster landings, and, overall, landings increased fivefold in Maine from 1982 to when they peaked in 2016.

The outlook for southern New England remained poor, with a depleted fishery and no signs of resurgence. The research was conducted by several organizations, including the Department of Marine Resources, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the University of Maine’s Sea Grant program and Lobster Institute. The assessment, released in October, was based on surveys conducted from 2016 through 2018.

However, once the research turns to the number of juvenile lobster settling on the sea floor, the future looks more uncertain.

“There’s this really puzzling disconnect between the surging numbers of lobsters we’ve been seeing over the past decade and the decline in larval settlement that we’ve seen,” said Richard Wahle, director of The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

People from Maine to Alaska raise thousands for families of fishermen lost at sea

December 4, 2020 — More than $100,000 has been raised to support the families of four Maine fishermen who were lost at sea last week.

The Coast Guard suspended its search off the coast of Provincetown, Mass. last Tuesday night.

Jeff Matthews, Ethan Ward, Mikey Porper, and Bobby Blethen were all on board, according to officials.

A GoFundMe page set up by the family that owned the vessel has raised upwards of $110,000.

“We have set up this page to support the families of the F/V EmmyRose and to ease their financial burden,” Rosalee Varian, whose father owns the boat, wrote on the page. “These four families lost a husband, a father, a son, a grandson, a brother, and a nephew right before the holidays. These families need all the love and support that our community can give.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

New regional shark research consortium established

December 2, 2020 — The fatal great white shark attack on swimmer Julie Dimperio Holowach in July in Harpswell, Maine, caught many in the shark research community by surprise.

While it was known that some great whites do travel north into Canadian waters in the summer, there was little in the way of sightings, and just a smattering of attacks on seals.

Holowach was the only confirmed fatality from a shark attack in Maine history, according to Patrick Keliher, state Division of Marine Resources director. Cape Cod, with hundreds of great whites patrolling beaches and daily sightings in the summer months, has had two major attacks on swimmers and a fatal attack on a bodyboarder.

“The incident really did rattle the state of Maine, and justifiably,” said Gregory Skomal, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shark expert. “A lot of us doing work on white sharks reached out to assist.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

EU agrees to eliminate tariffs on US lobster

December 1, 2020 — The European Union parliament has officially passed a mini trade deal with the U.S. that will see all tariffs on U.S. lobsters dropped for the next five years.

In a vote with 638 affirmative, 45 against, and 11 abstentions, the parliament confirmed that all U.S. lobster imports to the E.U. will no longer be subject to an 8 percent tariff, retroactive to 1 August. The tariffs will be removed for the next five years, and the E.U. will work to make the removal permanent.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Supporting Maine fishermen in tragedy and triumph

November 30, 2020 — “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”

Those words are from the Bible’s Psalm 107. Some of them are also engraved on the Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Massachusetts, honoring lives lost at sea.

Tragically, it seems that four more Maine fishermen have been lost. The Coast Guard suspended its search on Nov. 24 for the missing crew of the Emmy Rose, a Portland-based commercial fishing vessel that was en route to Gloucester when it sank in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 23.

All four of those crewmembers are from Maine: skipper Robert Blethen, Jeffrey Matthews, Michael Porper and Ethan Ward.

“The decision to suspend a search is never an easy one,” said Capt. Wesley Hester, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard’s First District. “We extend our condolences to the friends and loved ones of these fishermen during this trying time.

A candlelit vigil was held in Portland Wednesday night. Thousands of dollars have already been raised to support their families. Public officials have spoken out.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

GoFundMe raises over $83K for fishermen presumed lost at sea

November 30, 2020 — Four fishermen lost at sea last week when their fishing vessel, the Emmy Rose, sank off the Massachusetts coast, were “honorable men” who loved their families and the sea, according to a GoFundMe page organized for their grieving families.

“These four men were the best out there. They will be deeply missed, but they will never be forgotten,” the organizer of the page wrote.

The Coast Guard on Tuesday night suspended the search for the four men whose boat sank in eight-foot waves off Provincetown. Crews searched more than 2,000 square miles for 38 hours.

The page, created Wednesday, had raised nearly $83,000 of its $100,000 goal as of Saturday morning. The money funds will go to the families of the Emmy Rose crew who held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night that included about 100 people.

Read the full story at the New York Post

MAINE: Portland fishing community mourns the crew of the Emmy Rose

November 27, 2020 — Members of Portland’s fishing community gathered on the city’s waterfront Wednesday night to remember and honor the four Maine men who were lost at sea when the Emmy Rose sank off Cape Cod early Monday.

Candlelight vigils were held on the Maine State Pier and on the Portland Fish Pier, with roughly 100 people between both sites talking about the men, their lives and their devotion to fishing.

At the Maine State Pier, family and friends placed candles around a makeshift memorial that said, “Family is the anchor that holds us through life’s storms.” At the Portland Fish Pier, candles were placed in front of the fishermen’s memorial that says, “In memory of those lost at sea.”

The 82-foot Emmy Rose, which was based in Portland, sank early Monday roughly 22 miles northeast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where 30-knot winds were whipping up 6- to 8-foot waves.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for the boat Tuesday evening.

Read the full story at Central Maine