June 29, 2020 — We hope Peter Navarro has received his updated business cards. At a meeting in Maine this month with commercial fishermen, President Trump was told how his trade war has devastated the state’s lobster industry. Mr. Trump said he’d get his trade adviser working on it posthaste: “Peter Navarro is going to be the Lobster King now, OK?”
Lobster prices falling in New England, and they might fall further
June 29, 2020 — Lobster prices are falling in New England as the industry deals with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and they could drop even more later this summer, industry officials said.
The American lobster fishing industry, based mostly in Maine, has had to cope with a supply chain that has been disrupted by the pandemic. Wholesale prices were lower than previous years this spring, and consumers started to see lower prices at markets earlier in June.
Members of the industry said prices could likely fall more in July. America’s lobster catch typically picks up in the summer, when lobsters shed their shells and reach legal trapping size. This year, fishers will likely bring lobsters to the docks in a time when restaurants are slowed or shuttered and seafood processors aren’t taking nearly as many of the crustaceans, industry members said.
That could translate to lower prices to consumers, who are already paying less than $6 per pound for lobsters in some Maine markets. Prices around $8 or $9 per pound are typical of this month in Maine.
“The state needs to do something to curb supply, because there is no demand,” said David Cousens, a lobster fisher and former president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “Otherwise we’re going to have a disaster.”
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Sun Journal
Gov. Mills asks Trump administration to reject right whale protection proposal
June 29, 2020 — Gov. Janet Mills has asked the Trump administration to reject a petition from the Pew Charitable Trusts that proposes tight seasonal regulations for some lobster fishing areas to protect endangered right whales.
The proposal “not only fails to provide additional protections for right whales, but contrary to Pew’s assertions, it will cause significant economic impact to Maine’s iconic lobster industry,” Mills wrote in a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Pew, a national civic engagement and public affairs nonprofit, submitted a petition this month to ban traditional lobster fishing in areas where whales feed during their annual migration. The nonprofit wants alternating three-month periods when only ropeless fishing is allowed in areas including waters off Mount Desert Rock, Jordan Basin and Jeffrey’s Ledge, and year-round ropeless fishing off the coast of Nantucket.
The restrictions to protect the remaining 400 right whales would only minimally impact Maine’s $483 million lobster fishery because most fishing takes place closer to shore, Pew said.
Trump wants to use trade war bailout funds to buoy Maine’s lobster industry
June 26, 2020 — President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week directing the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide trade war bailout money to Maine lobstermen, a long-coveted win for the industry, which has been impacted by steep Chinese tariffs since 2018.
The EO instructs Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to assess trade war damages to the New England seafood industry and distribute aid accordingly, and to include the U.S. seafood producers in future payments.
“It’s good news, definitely, to see the president taking an interest in the lobster industry,” said Sheila Dassatt, executive director of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, an organization that advocates for the industry.
Trump directs aid to Maine lobster industry crushed by tariffs
June 26, 2020 — President Trump ordered the Department of Agriculture to offer a lifeline to the struggling Maine lobster industry that has been hit hard by his trade policies with China.
Trump’s trade war with China devastated farmers in the Midwest, but it also evaporated Maine’s chief export market as escalating tariffs led China to place a 35 percent markup on lobster.
The late Wednesday order from Trump all but directs the Agriculture Department to extend a $30 billion farm bailout program to Maine’s commercial fishers. The program previously sent cash to corn, soybean, pig and other farmers, primarily in the Midwest, who Trump has courted in his reelection effort.
The move follows years of lobbying by Maine’s congressional delegation, which cited “severe financial difficulties due to unfair retaliatory tariffs” in a joint statement expressing support for the government aid.
“Better late than never,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) tweeted.
“We made it clear last year in a letter comparing our lobster industry to the farmers in the Midwest seeing relief in this tariff fallout. The first line was ‘Why not lobsters?’” King added in a statement to The Hill, noting that lobsters were one of the first items hit with Chinese tariffs.
BEN MARTENS: Federal COVID response a missed opportunity to help Maine fishermen
June 26, 2020 — President Trump’s recent roundtable meeting with fishermen in Bangor was a unique opportunity to bring national attention to COVID-19’s catastrophic impact on fishing communities here in Maine and around the country. Most Americans are unaware of the devastation the crisis has inflicted on fishing economies, which support 40,000 jobs in Maine and 1.5 million jobs in the United States. The president’s visit put a spotlight on Maine’s fishermen for a brief moment during this time of crisis.
What resulted from this meeting was the opening of a national marine monument south of Cape Cod to additional commercial fishing, and the creation of a yet-to-be-defined fisheries task force. While significant, this action does not address the underlying economic challenge facing Maine fishermen because of the pandemic – the collapse of domestic and international demand for seafood.
Roughly three-quarters of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is eaten at restaurants. With restaurants closed or severely constrained, prices and demand have dropped dramatically – close to 70 percent for many New England species. As families struggled to find healthy, affordable food, fishermen were being told not to go fishing. Seafood is one of the healthiest food choices you can make for your mind, body and the environment. More access to heathy food should be our shared priority. Unfortunately, the pandemic has illuminated the cracks in our national food system, meaning that now is the time to invest in comprehensive solutions to protect local, sustainable seafood for our nation.
Maine’s governor objects to petition requesting vertical-line prohibition
June 26, 2020 — The U.S. state of Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, has written a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross objecting to a recent petition that aims to prohibit the use of vertical lines in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries in four areas off the New England coast.
The petition was submitted by The Pew Charitable Trusts earlier this month, with the intention of protecting the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. Right whales are one of the most endangered mammal species in the world, and entanglement with vertical lines have led to new regulation that the Maine Lobstermen’s Association has objected to.
President Trump tweets about Maine lobster, orders financial help for industry
June 25, 2020 — President Donald Trump is directing his administration to explore options to financially help the Maine lobster industry.
According to the Presidential Memo, the Secretary of Agriculture is to “consider including the United States lobster industry and other segments of the United States seafood industry in any future assistance provided to mitigate the effects of China’s retaliatory trade practices.”
The directive is similar to trade offsets to help Midwestern farmers hurt by trade policies, which have added up to approximately $25 billion.
President Trump said retaliatory Chinese tariffs have hit the Maine lobster industry particularly hard.
SEAFOOD PRICES REFLECT A COMPLEX SUPPLY CHAIN
June 25, 2020 — As restaurants and other foodservice operations began shutting down in March, the demand for seafood plummeted.
“The fishing industry is foodservice dependent, so once the demand decreased, the fishermen stopped going out in their boats,” says Barton Seaver, a Maine-based chef and lead educator for seafoodliteracy.com.
“About 75% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is sold by restaurants,” confirms Ben Martens, executive director of Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, a nonprofit that supports sustainability and community-based fishermen.
Now that restaurants are reopening, it’s taking a while for the fresh supply to get back up to speed, leading to higher prices. Smaller fisheries and dayboat fleets that typically supply higher-end restaurants were told by wholesalers not to go out fishing during the pandemic. At the Portland Fish Exchange in Maine, prices were down by 34% as late as May, says Martens. Although fishermen were struggling economically, they were getting killed by low prices at the docks.
Trump signs executive order to support US lobster industry
June 25, 2020 — U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a new order intended to help the country’s lobster industry, stemming from a 5 June press conference in Maine.
The new order will task the United States Trade Representative (USTR) with keeping close track of the progress made by China under the most recent, “Phase One” of a trade deal signed by President Trump. That deal was beneficial for the U.S. lobster sector, which experienced a massive downturn in exports to China in the wake of retaliatory tariffs that the country implemented in July, 2018.
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