Saving Seafood

Small winter catch set for New England’s long-closed shrimp industry

December 17, 2024 — New England shrimp, long lost from the marketplace as waters have warmed, will come back to seafood counters in small amounts next year due to a research fishing program.

Also called Maine shrimp or northern shrimp, the small pink crustaceans were long beloved by seafood fans in winter. But for a decade now, the seafood industry has been under a fishing moratorium for the shrimp because of concerns about low population levels, which scientists attribute to climate change and warming oceans.

That moratorium is going to remain in place as the shrimp population has failed to improve, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Yet because the regulatory body said there is interest in collecting data about the shrimp, this coming winter there will be a fishing industry-funded winter sampling program for them.

The program will allow fishermen to catch up to 58,400 pounds (26,490 kilograms) of the shrimp this winter. It’s a far cry from the early 2010s when fishermen caught more than 10 million pounds (4.5 million kilograms) of the shrimp per year. But the program will provide important data to better understand the status of the shrimp population while also allowing a small amount of catch, the commission said.

“The sampling program is intended to run early in the new year from mid/late January through March 2025. Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are currently working together to finalize the logistics of the program including the start date,” said Chelsea Tuohy, a fishery management plan coordinator with the commission, on Tuesday.

Fishermen long sought the cold water-loving shrimp in the Gulf of Maine, a body of water off New England that has experienced significant warmth in recent years. The commission said in a statement that recent science has found “no improvement in stock status” for the shrimp. The commission has also described the Gulf of Maine as “an increasingly inhospitable environment” for the shrimp.

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MAINE: Moratorium on fishing Maine shrimp to continue through 2025

December 16, 2024 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section is maintaining the current moratorium on northern shrimp fishing through the 2025 fishing year. That makes 11 years of no commercial shrimp fishing in Maine.

That action followed the 2024 Stock Assessment Update, “which indicates the northern shrimp stock has been at low levels of biomass for over the past decade despite the fishery being under a moratorium since 2014,” said the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in a Dec. 13 news relesae.

The Update found no improvement in stock status and 2023 summer survey indices of abundance, biomass, and recruitment were the lowest in the 1984-2023 time-series.

There will be a pilot industry-funded winter sampling program for 2025 with a research set-aside quota of 26.5 metric tons (or approximately 58,400 pounds).

Read the full article at the Penobscot Bay Pilot

$2M Grant to Fishermen’s Alliance Means More Boats Gathering Ocean Data

December 5, 2024 — Strange things have been happening in recent years in the Gulf of Maine, the 36,000 square miles of relatively enclosed ocean stretching from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. Low-oxygen zones have become annual occurrences, a large brown algae bloom in summer 2023 grew from Maine to northern Massachusetts, and looming over it all is the accelerating warming of surface waters. The Gulf of Maine is warming three times faster than the global average, according to the Maine Climate Council, which is faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans.

Understanding these phenomena and their effects on fisheries is difficult, said Owen Nichols, Director of Marine Fisheries Research at the Center for Coastal Studies, because of the lack of data available on the ocean water below the surface — at the depths where most fish live.

There is one group of people, however, who regularly put equipment deep in the ocean: fishermen. And many of them are already working with scientists to gather data on the water.

But on Oct. 31, Gov. Healey’s administration announced a nearly $2 million grant to the Chatham-based Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance that will significantly expand fishing vessel-based measurements. The grant is from the quasi-public Mass. Technology Collaborative.

Since 2001, a Northeast Fisheries Science Center project has partnered with local fishermen to try to fix the lack of data about the depths. The project, called eMOLT (Environmental Monitoring on Lobster Traps and Large Trawlers), has so far installed sensors on about 100 fishermen’s gear to gather data on stratification of water temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, and other parameters.

Read the full story at The Provincetown Independent

MAINE: Want local scallops? Now’s the time to find ’em

December 3, 2024 — Scallops, briny and delicious and from local waters, are ready for dining at home and in restaurants as the commercial scallop season opens across all Maine fishing zones.

Commercial diving and dragging for scallops is divided into three zones, with fishing areas in Hancock County and parts of Washington County within Zone 2. Divers in Zone 2 began hand-catching scallops Nov. 17 but dragging is just underway, while both diving and dragging open in Zones 1 and 3 in early December.

As Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) balances the health of the state’s scallop resources against the needs of the commercial fishing industry, Upper Machias Bay, Moosabec Reach and Upper Cranberries in Zone 2 are closed for recovery and rebuilding, while scallop fishing grounds in Gouldsboro and Dyers Bay, along with Upper Blue Hill Bay, are established as new limited access areas.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Maine Lobstermen Lawsuit Over Boat Monitoring Tossed

November 26, 2024 — A federal judge is throwing out a lawsuit from Maine lobstermen over a rule that went into effect more than a year ago.

The rule requires lobstermen with federal fishing permits to put monitors on their boats, which tracks their location on the water.

Five lobstermen had argued that the monitors violate their constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection and due process.

Read the full article at WGAN

Scientists at the University of Maine developing new tools to adapt to warming Gulf of Maine

November 25, 2024 — Scientists say the Gulf of Maine is now warming faster than almost anywhere else in the world. What does that mean for the state’s billion-dollar fishing industry?

Researchers at the University of Maine are developing new tools to ensure the sustainability of Maine’s commercial fisheries.

For years, scientists have been tracking how less cold water enters the Gulf of Maine while the hotter Gulf Stream is shifting north and adding warmer water to the region. This is impacting populations of different species, including Atlantic cod.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

Judge dismisses case against the state of Maine challenging lobster boat tracking rules

November 22, 2024 — A federal judge has ruled against a group of five lobstermen that sued the state in attempt to stop electronic boat tracking requirements that went effect almost one year ago.

The rules require lobstermen with federal fishing permits to install monitors on their boats that track their location on the water.

The lobstermen argued that the tracking is a violation of their constitutional rights to privacy, equal protection and due process.

A federal judge in Bangor dismissed the case Thursday, in part, because of jurisdictional issues. Though the Maine Department of Marine Resources promulgated the rules, the policy to begin monitoring came from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The commission said it’s seeking more data from multiple states about fishing trends and potential interactions with critically endangered right whales and other species.

Judge John Woodcock said he was also swayed by DMR’s arguments that the monitoring is not overly intrusive of lobstermen privacy, as the industry is subject to tougher standards and conservation measures that are meant to protect the fishery.

Read the full article at Maine Public

MAINE: Town maps fishing areas in effort to reduce aquaculture conflicts

November 20, 2024 — Harpswell’s Aquaculture Working Group has created a new map of local commercial fishing areas, urging state officials to use it when evaluating applications for aquaculture leases to help avoid conflicts with fishermen.

However, a Maine Department of Marine Resources official told the group at a recent meeting that a locally generated map can’t be used as the sole basis for denying a lease application. Still, the official praised the effort and said the map would be helpful for planning and information purposes.

The Harpswell Select Board created the working group in May based on a recommendation from the town’s Marine Resources Committee.

Read the full article at the Harpswell Anchor 

MAINE: Ocean wind power supporters ponder future in Maine after Trump win

November 18, 2024 — On the campaign trail, president elect Donald Trump lashed out against ocean wind energy and declared he would stop the industry’s development.

But offshore wind power supporters in Maine said while they expect roadblocks ahead, a single presidential administration is unlikely to derail the state’s long-term plans.

Chris Wissemann, the CEO of Diamond Offshore Wind is clear-eyed about what a second Trump administration means for his industry.

“I think it’s inevitable that commercial scale offshore wind slows down,” Wissemann said.

But he doesn’t expect Maine’s plans to build the first floating offshore wind array in the U.S. will come to a dead stop.

Diamond Wind, a Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary, is the state’s commercial partner on a planned 10-turbine demonstration project in leased federal water in the Gulf of Maine. It’s the first stage of the state’s plans to become a regional epicenter for a new floating offshore wind industry.

Read the full article at Maine Public

Environmental NGO plans lawsuit against Cooke over alleged water pollution at Maine-based salmon farms

November 18, 2024 — The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has sent a letter to Cooke Inc. CEO Glenn Cooke announcing its intent to sue the company over alleged Clean Water Act violations at its salmon farms in the U.S. state of Maine.

“Cooke is in full compliance with the laws set forth by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Maine Department of Marine Resources and its operating permits,” the company said. “Cooke’s Maine Atlantic salmon farms are routinely inspected by state regulators and subject to regular monitoring reports. These laws are designed to protect Maine waters as well as Maine’s heritage fisheries.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource