Saving Seafood

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

The Gulf of Maine is warming up. To see potential effects, consider the lumpfish.

November 18, 2024 — The lumpfish is small. As its name suggests, it’s rather lumpy – not streamlined, like the fish that interest most recreational and commercial anglers. It isn’t eaten or harvested in New England. Until recently, lumpfish populations in the Gulf of Maine haven’t been studied much.

But to anyone who has interacted with one, the lumpfish is beloved, says University of New Hampshire researcher Elizabeth Fairchild.

“They love to come swim up to the top of a tank to check out anybody who walks by,” she said. “They’re very personable. They’re very curious and they’re hungry all the time, so they come right up to you thinking that you’re going to feed them.”

Fairchild has focused on studying lumpfish in part because they have a special quality. They’re a “cleaner fish,” eating parasites that cling to other fish. Salmon farmers in other parts of the world have used lumpfish to help manage sea lice, a small crustacean that attaches to fish and can cause health problems.

Instead of using harsh chemicals or thermal baths to get rid of the sea lice, farmers can let lumpfish eat the parasites instead.

Read the full article at nhpr

MAINE: Auction to help fisheries nonprofit

November 13 2024 — An online auction is underway to support the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries “as we pursue our goals to secure a sustainable future for fisheries and fishing communities in Eastern Maine and beyond,” said a statement on the center’s website.

To browse through “an extraordinary array of one-of-a-kind, inspiring items and experiences, thoughtfully curated to evoke local pride and connection to our vibrant community,” said an email, go to new.biddingowl.com/FishForever.

Read the full article at The Ellsworth American

MAINE: Why this Maine native is concerned about his state’s lobster fishery

November 13, 2024 —  Andrew Goode grew up lobstering with his father in Boothbay, Maine, a coastal town whose economy and culture have long been defined by the fishing industry.

Goode: “It’s essentially what built the town.”

Today, as a researcher at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, Goode studies how the warming climate is affecting lobster in his region.

Read the full at Yale Climate Connections

US East Coast states select firms to run offshore wind development compensation fund for fishers

November 12, 2024 — A coalition of U.S. East Coast states have selected two firms to manage the Offshore Wind Fisheries Compensation Fund, a mitigation program built to compensate commercial and recreation for-hire fishers for revenue lost due to offshore wind developments.

The fund is a collaboration between the governments of 11 East Coast states – Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina – to provide financial compensation for economic loss caused by offshore wind projects along the Atlantic Coast. The states launched a competition earlier this year to select an administrator to run the new fund.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Richmond firm to oversee fishermen compensation related to offshore wind farms

November 6, 2024 — Richmond claims resolution firm BrownGreer PLC and London’s The Carbon Trust have been tapped to design and roll out a regional fisheries mitigation program on the East Coast.

The program is aimed at providing financial compensation to the commercial and recreational for-hire fishing industries related to the impacts of new offshore wind farms.

BrownGreer and The Carbon Trust will work with 11 East Coast states and their respective fishing industry communities on the program. The groups have established a design oversight committee and a for-hire committee to provide advice and guidance from respective parties on the program.

The involved states include Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

Read the full article at Richmond Inno

MAINE: Commercial alewife fishing may return to this Maine town

November 4, 2024 — Bailey Bowden, chair of Penobscot’s alewife committee, just received news he’s been hoping to hear for a decade.

On Oct. 23, the quasi-governmental Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved the management plan for shad and river herring, including alewives, submitted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). That state plan includes a proposal to reopen Penobscot’s commercial fishery at Wight’s Pond.

“It’s been over 10 years,” Bowden said of the permitting process. It’s been decades more — since 1974, to be exact — since Penobscot’s last commercial harvest of alewives, Bowden said.

In recent years, volunteers on the town’s alewife committee painstakingly counted alewives each spring as they entered the fresh waters of the pond via Winslow Stream from the salt water of Northern Bay.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News