Saving Seafood

Lobster industry hails UMaine study on economics of Maine fishery

January 30, 2025 — Researchers from the University of Maine have created a new, holistic measure to study the resilience of the Maine lobster industry, which is drawing praise from industry leaders for identifying the structural and market factors that impacted it in recent years.

That industry has seen dramatic fluctuations in value in recent years, spiking to a record USD 724 million (EUR 694 million) in 2021 before dropping to USD 388 million (EUR 372 million) in 2022. The UMaine team said it hopes to quantify some of the challenges causing those flucuations in new ways, which can help fisheries management – something members of the industry said is sorely needed.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: $2M in grants secures Maine’s fishing legacy

January 29, 2025 — Back in October, Maine’s fishing future received a significant boost when U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, alongside Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, announced over $2 million in grant funding for workforce development.

The funding, awarded through NOAA’s Young Fishermen’s Development Program (YFDP), is directed toward two local fishing organizations dedicated to training the next generation of Maine’s commercial fishermen and women.

The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) will receive $1,771,092 to develop an online knowledge hub packed with educational content for young fishermen and women. The resources will focus on career development, industry training, and wellness, helping new entrants to the industry navigate the work and the challenges of physical and mental health on the water.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ME and NH reject lobster gauge increase, MA stands firm

January 28, 2025 — The New England lobster industry is facing some potential challenges.

Maine and New Hampshire have announced their decision to withdraw the proposed gauge increase to the minimum legal size for lobsters being caught, following strong opposition from the fishing community. Massachusetts has announced that it still supports the gauge increase, even following recent announcements from Maine and New Hampshire.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) recently held a meeting in Augusta to discuss the proposal which aimed at raising the minimum size limits for lobsters by 1/16 of an inch. The proposed as intended to address a reported 35 percent decline in the lobster population within Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1), as highlighted by data from the Atlantics States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). The proposal has faced fierce opposition from the lobstering communities, who feared the economic repercussions of the increase.

New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has strongly advocated for opposing the increase. Two days ago, NEFSA COO Dustin Delano stated, “Imagine losing 10 percent or 15 percent of your landings. For a fisherman catching 40,000-50,000 pounds of lobster annually, that could be a loss of up to $40,000 or $50,000- more than half of their take home income. Expenses like bait, fuel, gear, and boat payments would not decrease, but their livelihoods would.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: Midcoast hits the jackpot with Maine shrimp temporarily back on the market

January 28, 2024 — Coming up in February, Midcoast Mainers will see their favorite Maine shrimp on the market again—for a very short time.

Only seven fishermen were chosen out of 40 applicants to participate in a Winter Sampling Research Program for Northern shrimp and will be allowed to catch 58,000 pounds of Maine shrimp for the first time in more than a decade. Shrimpers will collect samples by either trawling and trapping in one of three regions of the Maine coast: Western Maine (Kittery to Phippsburg), Midcoast Maine (Phippsburg to Owls Head), or Eastern Maine (east of Owls Head).

In contrast, when the fishery was forced to close due to a stock collapse in 2013, more than 10 million pounds were caught. At that time, the average price per pound was $1.81.

This is driving up a supply and demand frenzy for Northern Maine shrimp, which has not been seen before in Maine.

All but one fisherman chosen to catch Maine shrimp are located in the Midcoast.

Two Midcoast markets, Delano Seafood Market in Waldoboro and Port Clyde Fresh Catch, have announced they will be selling shrimp on a temporary basis—and people are lining up out the door.

Read the full article at Penobscot Bay Pilot

Maine official warns of large right whale presence, asks lobstermen to take precautions

January 28, 2025 — An official in the U.S. state of Maine has alerted lobstermen to take precautions to prevent entanglements with right whales after a large presence of the mammals have been seem off the state’s southern coast.

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioners Patrick Keliher said regulators have detected as many as 90 individual whales on the western edge of Jeffreys Ledge off the southern coast of the state.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Golden wants to ensure fishing areas are protected from offshore wind

January 27, 2025 — Amid efforts by President Donald Trump to halt future offshore wind efforts, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden is hoping to codify protections for lobster fishing in the Gulf of Maine.

“Maine’s fishermen deserve to know that waters critical to our historic, high-value industry are protected — not by promises, but by federal law,” Golden said. “President Trump’s recent Executive Order provides some measure of reprieve, but we need a more permanent solution.”

Even though the fishing area is currently excluded from approved offshore wind development areas, Golden wants to “take protections for Maine’s fisheries out of the discretion of the chief executive and codify it into law,” according to the news release from his office. Just days into his second term, Trump has taken steps to undo the offshore wind advances of the Biden administration.

Read the full article at Maine Morning Star

MAINE: Maine Democrat backs partial offshore wind ban

January 24, 2025 — Maine Democrat Jared Golden reintroduced a bill to ban offshore wind in a lobster fishing zone in his state, bucking other Democrats who are seeing red on President Donald Trump’s blanket ban on new wind power leases.

The bill, dubbed the “Northern Fisheries Heritage Protection Act of 2025” would block offshore wind development in Lobster Management Area 1, a fishing area that runs from the Canadian border to the north shore of Cape Cod. Golden introduced the bill with Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who has become one of the most vocal offshore wind opponents in Congress.

Golden said the development of offshore wind in the fishing area threatens the viability of lobster fishing — a bedrock industry for his state.

Read the full article at E&E News

MASSACHUSETTS: Unlike other New England states, Massachusetts supports controversial new lobster harvesting rules

January 23, 2025 — Massachusetts officials say they support a new lobster harvesting rule aimed at conserving young lobster populations, which have been in decline off New England’s coast amid climate change and other pressures.

The new rules, which have drawn opposition by the lobster industry, would further restrict the size of lobsters that can be legally harvested. Maine and New Hampshire officials recently rejected the measure, but Massachusetts officials voiced strong support, saying it would help preserve the future of New England’s signature crustacean.

The measure “would have clear benefits to the lobster stock long-term,” said Daniel McKiernan, director of Massachusetts’ Division of Marine Fisheries. “We are committed to working through this situation to reach a resolution that is supportive of both conservation and Massachusetts’ leading lobster industry.”

US Representative Jared Golden, a Democrat whose Maine district includes Bangor, opposed the rule from its first introduction. He said the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission should potentially have less power.

“Lobstermen must have a seat at the table in crafting the rules for their industry,” said Golden, adding: “Mainers harvest more than 90 percent of all lobster caught in this country, and I cannot for the life of me understand why people in the mid-Atlantic should get a say in how we manage our fishery in the Gulf of Maine.”

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

Golden, Van Drew introduce bill to guarantee critical Gulf of Maine fishing waters are protected from offshore wind development

January 23, 2025 — Congressmen Jared Golden (ME-02) and Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02) today introduced the bipartisan Northern Fisheries Heritage Protection Act of 2025. The bill would prohibit commercial offshore wind energy development in Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA1), which includes nearly 14,000 square miles of nearshore fishing waters from the U.S.-Canada maritime border to the north shore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

“Maine’s fishermen deserve to know that waters critical to our historic, high-value industry are protected — not by promises, but by federal law,” Golden said. “Protecting the bountiful natural resources of LMA1 from development will preserve our way of life, local economies and communities. President Trump’s recent Executive Order provides some measure of reprieve, but we need a more permanent solution.”

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting all leasing of federal waters for offshore wind development — a reversal of former President Joseph Biden’s pro-offshore wind regime. The Northern Heritage Fisheries Protection Act of 2025 would take protections for Maine’s fisheries out of the discretion of the chief executive and codify it into law.

“Offshore wind projects are a direct threat to our fisheries, marine ecosystems, and coastal communities,” said Van Drew, the lead Republican co-sponsor of the bill. “They are expensive, destructive and outright unwanted. I am proud to be a co-lead on this bill to permanently protect these vital waters and ensure they are never sacrificed to these reckless developments.”

Read the full article at WAGM

MAINE: Maine fishermen chosen for experimental shrimp season

January 23, 2025 — For the first time in over a decade, Maine fishermen will return to the water in pursuit of northern shrimp, marking a cautious revival of a long-cherished winter fishery.

The experimental shrimp season, scheduled to begin in February, is part of a research initiative by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in collaboration with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). This limited program aims to gather crucial data on the shrimp population and assess the species’ recovery after years of decline caused by warming waters in the Gulf of Maine.

Seven fishermen were selected from more than 40 applicants to participate in the program. Four will fish using trawls—Justin Libby of Port Clyde, Dana Hammond II and David Osier of South Bristol, and Robert Tetrault II of Portland—while three, Adam Gamage and Andrew House of South Bristol and William McLain of Pemaquid, will use traps. According to DMR, each fisherman has been assigned to one of three fishing zones: Kittery to Phippsburg, Phippsburg to Owls Head, or east of Owls Head.

Read the full article at National Fisherman