Saving Seafood

Maine Looking for New Ways to Save Whales From Fishing Gear

June 3, 2020 — Maine is in the final year of funding for a project that seeks to better protect endangered whales in the Gulf of Maine from entanglement in fishing gear.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources is using the project to collect data about vertical line fishing in the gulf, and develop a model to determine the fishing industry’s current use of the lines. The department is also hoping to use the model to predict the conservation benefits of new proposed regulations.

The state is slated to receive more than $200,000 in federal funds for the project this fiscal year, bringing the total federal money it has received to more than $700,000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.

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

Enviros Want Salmon Listed on Maine Endangered List

June 2, 2020 — A coalition of Maine conservation groups is calling on the state to add the Atlantic salmon to its list of endangered species.

Maine’s rivers were once full of the salmon, but their population was decimated by overfishing, damming and environmental factors. They return only to a few rivers, and are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The environmental groups, including Downeast Salmon Federation, the Maine chapter of the Native Fish Coalition, Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and several others, sent their request to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife on Monday. They said the salmon belong protected by the Maine Endangered Species Act because “the only viable Atlantic salmon population in the United States is the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment.”

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

Baby Eel Fishing Wrapping up in Maine With Much Lower Prices

June 2, 2020 — Maine‘s season for baby eel fishing is coming to a close with the lowest prices in a decade.

Baby eels are a lucrative resource in Maine, where fishermen harvest the elvers from rivers and streams and often sell them for more than $2,000 per pound. They’re highly prized by Asian aquaculture companies that use them to make food.

Fishermen are averaging $525 per pound this year. Last year’s price was almost $2,100 per pound. And the seasons almost over, as it’s scheduled to end on June 7 or on the day fishermen exhaust the annual quota. Less than one percent of the quota remained available on Monday.

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

Less Effort, More Lobster? New Research Suggests That Fewer Traps Can Still Yield Profitable Results

June 1, 2020 — New research suggests that the U.S. lobster industry could place fewer traps in the water and still gain just as much profit. And that finding could play a role in the debate over what should be required of Maine lobstermen to reduce entanglements with endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed Marine Policy Journal. Lead researcher Hannah Myers is a graduate student at the University of Alaska’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Studies. She took a close look at landings and other data from lobster-fishing territory that crosses the international Hague Line between Nova Scotia and Maine.

“We found that Canadian fishers in the Gulf of Maine caught about the same amount of lobster using seven and a half times less effort than Maine fishers on the U.S. side,” she says.

The researchers found that while the Canadians spent fewer days at sea and fished fewer traps, the traps they pulled had almost four times as many lobsters in them.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Lobstermen don’t need all the traps they use, research claims

May 29, 2020 — New research suggests that the U.S. lobster industry could place fewer traps in the water and still gain just as much profit. And that finding could play a role in the debate over what should be required of Maine lobstermen to reduce entanglements with endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed Marine Policy Journal. Lead researcher Hannah Myers, a graduate student at the University of Alaska’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, examined landings and other data from lobster-fishing territory that crosses the international Hague Line between Nova Scotia and Maine.

Myers’ research might help to end an impasse between animal-rights activists who are looking to reduce entanglements injurious, if not fatal, to the whales and have said that Maine fishing lines are at least a statistically-significant threat to the creatures. Maine lobstermen criticize activists and researchers as advancing poorly-researched and economically damaging arguments to their way of life. A plan recently advanced by Maine fishermen was criticized by researchers as not going far enough, while Maine’s federal and state government leaders have called on the federal government to back down on encroaching upon Maine lobstermen.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Center for Coastal Fisheries takes talk series online

May 28, 2020 — The Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries will not be able to operate its annual “lunch and learn” series at its facility in Stonington this summer as normal. With a move to virtual meetings, the center has the ability to reach more people.

It is a series folks came to look forward to in the summer. The Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries has been inviting around 40 people to its facility on the last Friday of the month in the summer, bag lunch in hand, to learn about different types of fisherman. This year it cannot happen in person, at least in the early summer, due to COVID-19 safety measures.

“Everything’s changed and we’re unable to open up quite yet to have in person experience, so everyone’s getting used to webinars,” said MCFC president Paul Anderson.

The Center’s summer talk series will go virtual in 2020, starting this Friday, May 29.

As “lunch and learn” starts on Zoom, it is a chance for more people to learn about the coastal fishing industry.

Read the full story at WFVX

Scallop Fishing off New England to Be Limited for Months

May 27, 2020 — Scallop fishing off New England will be subject to limitations for about the next 10 months, federal regulators have said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it has closed the northern Gulf of Maine fishing area, which means vessels fishing under federal regulations can’t fish for or possess scallops in the area until March 31.

The closure is necessary because of projects that the total allowable catch for the area has been spent, NOAA said.

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

MONIQUE COOMBS: Why We Should Insist on U.S.-Caught Seafood

May 27, 2020 — You know Dave Marciano from National Geographic’s Wicked Tuna. (And I’ve written about him before): To most of us in New England, he’s just a decent guy who goes tuna fishing and happens to be on TV.

TV is just a thing that happened for him, and he sees it as an opportunity to both help his business and do what he can to promote the importance of commercial fishing, American fishermen, and delicious seafood in the U.S.

Marciano is worried about the future of his business, regardless of the TV show. He depends on people visiting and traveling to Gloucester for his charter boat business. “I was a smoker for 40 years so that probably puts me in the high-risk category,” he says. And, despite being outside, being on a fishing vessel is pretty close quarters.

Many of us who work in the fishing industry are worried about a couple of months from now when the fishing season picks up, the weather warms, and visitors flock to the coast. Are the restaurants going to be able to open? Are people going to want to travel? Will people be spending money? Restaurants and tourism are outlets for products like Maine lobster and other seafood in the U.S. What is going to happen when all of the fishermen need to get back to work but there’s no place for the product to go and no mechanism to get it to where it needs to be?

Read the full opinion piece at Heated

Maine to collect ocean acidification data with new sensors

May 26, 2020 — Maine marine officials said three new sensors installed in a coastal community will help scientists get a better understanding of ocean acidifcation.

The growing acid levels in the ocean are a hazard for some kinds of sea life, including some of those sought by Maine fishermen. Scientists have linked acidification to factors that also drive climate change.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said it has installed the three sensors in Boothbay Harbor. The department said the sensors will help researchers get a better understanding of how ocean acidification and dissolved oxygen levels can change the health of the state’s marine life and ecosystems.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Senator Collins, Congresswoman Pingree Urge Swift Disbursement of Relief to Maine Fishing Industry

May 22, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

Senator Susan Collins and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today wrote to Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Patrick Keliher, advocating for swift allocation of the more than $20 million Maine received through the CARES Act for fishing industry relief. The lawmakers encouraged DMR to quickly develop a plan for how the funding would be allocated in the state. Full text of Collins and Pingree’s letter is available online here and below this release.

“With each day that passes, the damage imposed upon Maine’s hardworking harvesters and seafood supply chain businesses worsens. As your team works to develop a plan for how this funding will be allocated within the state, we stand ready to assist the Department and to ensure that NOAA’s approval of the state’s ultimate plan occurs as quickly as possible,” said Collins and Pingree in their letter. “As your federal partners we are fully prepared to provide any additional support as implementation moves forward. As Congress considers further COVID-19 relief legislation, we will continue to advocate for additional fishing industry relief given that the market disruptions are not likely to dissipate soon.”

The Maine delegation has urged direct and substantial relief for Maine’s aquaculture and fishing industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 70% of seafood produced in the United States is consumed in restaurants and export markets have been hurt by travel and trade restrictions; Maine’s seafood industry has been almost completely shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Senator Collins and Representative Pingree worked with bipartisan groups of their colleagues from coastal states to secure $300 million in the CARES Act specifically to assist fishermen and fishery-related businesses such as dealers, processors, and aquaculture operations affected by COVID-19. Both Collins and Pingree wrote to the U.S. Department of Commerce to call on them to quickly release this urgently needed financial assistance to Maine fishermen.

Dear Commissioner Keliher, 

We are pleased that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has finally announced the allocation of $300 million in fishing industry relief provided by Sec.12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, of which Maine will receive more than $20 million. Your Department plays an essential role in ensuring that our fishermen and lobstermen are able to support their families and communities – a role that has become even more critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With each day that passes, the damage imposed upon Maine’s hardworking harvesters and seafood supply chain businesses worsens. As your team works to develop a plan for how this funding will be allocated within the state, we stand ready to assist the Department and to ensure that NOAA’s approval of the state’s ultimate plan occurs promptly. 

We appreciate the attention and effort that your Department is dedicating to the efficient and effective distribution of this critical funding, including your solicitation of input from the industry via survey on how this money would be best spent. It is absolutely critical that this assistance be provided as quickly as possible to those individuals working on the water whose livelihoods have suffered through no fault of their own. As Congress considers further COVID-19 relief legislation, we will continue to advocate for additional fishing industry relief given that the market disruptions are likely to persist well into the summer.

Again, thank you for your work on behalf of Maine. The Maine seafood industry and those who work within it are defined by resilience, and we are confident that – with the support of the state and federal government – this sector will demonstrate its resilience once again.

This press release can be found online here.