Saving Seafood

Maine lobstermen to harvest $50 million windfall

September 18, 2020 — A wave of government money is heading toward local fishermen hurt by trade wars and COVID-19, and officials say it will arrive sometime in November.

The Trump administration announced on September 9 that Maine lobstermen will receive $50 million because they’ve been hurt by the 25 percent tariffs China slapped on lobster in July 2018. The program pays 50 cents for every pound of lobster landed in 2019, up to $250,000 per person.

“I’m happy the boats got their relief, but the timing is suspect,” said Travis Fifield, Stonington lobster dealer, in an interview. Only fishermen, and no one else in the supply chain, will get part of that $50 million, Fifield said.

The announcement follows the European Union’s decision in late August to drop its tariff on U.S. lobsters for five years. Local seafood dealers have said that will help the lobster industry.

Another $20 million in federal money will be distributed to a broad swath of Maine’s fishing industry, including lobstermen, processors, aquaculturists and dealers. Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Patrick Kelliher said in a memo he hopes the checks are mailed in November. That money, which comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was authorized by Congress under the CARES Act in the spring. To get the money, people have to show they’ve suffered a 35 percent drop in income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Eric Trump tells Maine lobstermen: ‘We will never, ever let you down’

September 18, 2020 — When Seth Dube was growing up in Camp Ellis, Saco’s gritty seaside community boasted a robust ground fishing fleet, but the draggers are mostly gone now, replaced by lobster boats like his. The sixth-generation fisherman blames government overregulation for that industry’s demise, and used to worry lobstering could be next.

That was before President Trump became a friend of the Maine fisherman, Dube said – reopening marine monuments to fishing, delaying environmental rules that would have forced some lobstermen to install greener diesel engines, inking a trade deal allowing tariff-free lobster trade with Europe and giving lobstermen trade relief for lost China sales.

“The Trump administration has become a driving force to protect the fishery,” Dube said at a “Make America Great Again” rally at Camp Ellis on Thursday. “The ground fishermen were regulated out of business along with the Maine shrimp fishery, forcing families to find other jobs and other means to make a living. We can’t let the same thing happen to lobster.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Senator Collins Urges Administration to Work to Find Agreement with Canada on Fishing Gray Zone

September 17, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

U.S. Senator Susan Collins sent a letter to President Trump urging the Administration to work with Maine and Canadian fisheries to find a solution to conservation issues that unfairly harm Maine’s seafood industry.

Lobstermen and fishermen who work in the Gray Zone—an area located approximately ten miles off the coast of Maine between the U.S. and Canada—are growing increasingly frustrated that their Canadian counterparts who fish in the same areas are not required to follow the same regulations, and thus are undermining American protections and threatening the sustainability of the stock.  This disparity undermines American protections, threatens the sustainability of the stocks, and causes dangerous interactions at sea.

“Maine lobstermen and fishermen have been waiting far too long for a resolution to the Gray Zone dispute, and the toll it is taking on their businesses, their safety, and the resources on which their livelihoods depend continues to mount,” wrote Senator Collins.  “I look forward to working with your Administration to address the inequities presented by the Gray Zone in order to protect our seafood harvesters and invaluable natural resources.”

Generations of Maine lobstermen have marked the tails of egg-bearing females they catch with a v-notch and returned them to the water, allowing them to lay eggs, grow larger, and reproduce in future years.  Maine lobstermen also abide by a maximum size limit, tossing back oversized lobsters in order to keep the stock strong.  Because Canada does not impose such conservation measures on its fisheries, a v-notched or oversized lobster tossed back by a Maine lobsterman can be caught by a Canadian lobsterman merely yards away and brought to market.

Read the full release here

Lobstermen may get up to $50 million in pandemic relief funds

September 16, 2020 — Whatever the relationship between China and the United States — particularly the lobster industry — may be, Maine lobstermen are certainly living in interesting times. 

Last week, a scant two months before the upcoming presidential election, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would soon release some $530 million appropriated by Congress last March under the CARES Act to assist the U.S. seafood industry and fishermen damaged by retaliatory tariffs. Those tariffs have been imposed primarily by China and the European Union on imports of U.S. live and processed seafood. 

Payments from the Seafood Trade Relief Program vary by species and are based on each fisherman’s 2019 landings multiplied by an amount established by the USDA. For lobstermen, the multiplier is 50 cents per pound. Total payments to Maine lobstermen based on 2019 landings figures could reach $50 million. 

Herring fishermen get 4 cents per pound. Salmon farmers get 16 cents per pound. The total payment is limited to $250,000 to any one fisherman or entity. Some fishermen and most aquaculturists operate as small business corporations or limited liability companies, for all species combined, and payments are subject to federal and state income tax. 

That limit means nothing to the shellfish farmers who grow primarily oysters, mussels, hardshell clams and scallops in Maine. They get nothing, presumably because exports of those species, if any, were not damaged by tariffs. 

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine to Hold a Lottery for Entry Into Scallop Harvest

September 16, 2020 — Maine fishing regulators are using a pair of lotteries to allow people into the state’s lucrative scallop fishing industry.

Maine scallop fishermen harvest the scallops from nearshore waters by hand and by boat. The season takes place every winter.

The scallops have been worth more than $10 per pound at the docks every year for the past eight years. That makes scallops one of the most valuable fisheries in the state.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Maine scallop fishers will be allowed same quota this season

September 11, 2020 — Maine’s scallop fishers who plan to participate in the coming fishing year will be allowed the same harvesting levels as last season.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said scallopers who work most of the coast will be limited to 15 gallons per day. Fishers in the Cobscook Bay area will be limited to 10 gallons per day. Those are the same limitations as the 2019-20 scallop season.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine scientists get boost for lobster reproduction study

September 10, 2020 — Marine officials in Maine are going to try to find a more efficient way to examine the size at which female lobsters reach maturity.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said the work will be funded by a grant of about $100,000 from the 2020 National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative. The department said the work is important because regulators use the information to predict the growth of female lobsters and estimate egg production.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

MAINE: $2 million awarded for lobster research

September 10, 2020 — Maine’s Congressional delegation announced last week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative will again receive $2 million in funding to support Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank American lobster research priorities. This is the second consecutive year that the program has received federal money for the research to address critical gaps in knowledge about how American lobster is being impacted by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine.

“Maine’s fishermen and women have been careful stewards of our natural resources for generations,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said last week in a statement. “This critical federal funding will build on their efforts to support the health of Maine’s lobster fishery and help ensure its continued success.”

Four of the nine research projects being funded will be conducted by Maine researchers and institutions:

1) Fishing in hot water: Defining sentinel indicators of resilience in the American lobster fishery – University of Maine Orono.

The intent of this research is to develop “sentinel indicators” of resilience for the lobster industry that can be used to detect early signs of vulnerability among harvesters. In pursuit of this research, the authors will use peer-reviewed methods to develop and evaluate sentinel indicators and work closely with the lobster industry, managers, and the Lobster Regional Extension Program to solicit input and distribute results. Although the status of the lobster stock is closely monitored in the Gulf of Maine, no indicators currently exist to detect vulnerability among participants in the industry. Understanding vulnerability is vital to informing future management decisions and coastal community resilience.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

MAINE: Island Institute to Lead Marine Economy Project

September 9, 2020 — The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) and FocusMaine recently awarded the Rockland-based Island Institute a three-year, $300,000 contract to serve as program director for SEAMaine, Maine’s Marine Economy Roadmap/Workforce Development Project, a $2 million project to help the state develop an industry-led roadmap and action plan for growth and greater resiliency in Maine’s marine economy.

Funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the project was awarded to FocusMaine and MTI, who oversee a steering committee being led by Bill Mook of Mook Sea Farm and Curt Brown of Ready Seafood. Additional steering committee members include the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Maine Lobster Dealers Association, and other private- and public-sector partners.

The Island Institute will take the leadership role in managing the many processes and partners involved in developing the roadmap, said Brian Whitney, president of MTI, in a news release.

Recognized as one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems, the Gulf of Maine covers more than 5,000 miles of coastline, including islands. Maine’s marine living resources have long been a mainstay of the state’s economy, particularly in rural areas. While lobster remains Maine’s predominant and best-known export, Maine’s marine living resources economy continues to diversify and now includes fishing, lobstering, aquaculture, life sciences, and value-added processing. Critical supply chain elements like shipping and logistics also support this economy.

Read the full story at The Free Press

UMaine’s ‘hot water’ study will examine lobster industry’s vulnerable areas

September 9, 2020 — Maine’s lobster fishery faces serious challenges related to climate change.

But a new research project at the University of Maine will develop indicators of resilience for the lobster industry that can be used to detect where the industry is most vulnerable to climate change.

The research will be led by UMaine in collaboration with the lobster industry, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries and Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

UMaine was awarded $125,808 for the project, called “Fishing in hot water: Defining sentinel indicators of resilience in the American lobster fishery,” by the Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative.

The initiative is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Read the full story at MaineBiz