Saving Seafood

‘Lobster-Whale Work Group’ Faces Complicated Balancing Act As It Works To Protect Right Whales

February 1, 2019 — Fisheries’ managers in the Atlantic states are considering a more proactive approach to regulating the lobster industry in order to reduce risks it may pose for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Under pressure from lawsuits and the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act, the federal government is closely reviewing the health of the right whale population, which is hovering around 410 animals. The result could be the imposition of new gear and other restrictions to reduce the risk of whale entanglement with the rope lobstermen use to position and haul their traps.

That process was slowed by the recent government shutdown and, in the meantime, a new “Lobster-Whale Work Group,” made up of state officials in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, has proposed a slate of possible actions with the dual goals of protecting the whales and the “viability and culture of the lobster fishery.”

“We’re doing everything we can to appease the people who think it may be us,” says Stephen Train, a lobsterman in Long Island, Maine.

Read the full story at Maine Public

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, and it’s dramatically disrupting fishing patterns

February 1, 2019 — The continental United States is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was a century ago. Seas at the coasts are nine inches higher. The damage is mounting from these fundamental changes, and Americans are living it. These are their stories.

Since 1963, Greg Mataronas’s family has been making a living catching lobster off of Little Compton, R.I. But as water temperatures have risen rapidly along the coast, there are fewer lobster to be found, prompting a shift to other species, like whelk.

The state’s lobster haul peaked at over 8 million pounds in 1999. It hasn’t exceeded 3 million since 2005. And in 2017, it barely reached 2 million. As a result, a way of life is rapidly changing and, for some, ending.

To hold on, Rhode Island fishermen have agreed to a 50 percent cut in how many lobster traps they can set. Like the lobsters, they are adapting to a changing sea, buying out the licenses of competitors or diversifying what they catch.

Mataronas now fishes for whelk and sea bass and other fish, as well as lobster. To provide for his family, he couldn’t just fish like his father had.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

There’s A Quiet War Over Lobsters Near The Canadian Border

January 29, 2019 — In southern New England, water temperatures have gotten uncomfortably warm and the lobster fishery has collapsed. A little to the north, in the Gulf of Maine, temperatures have hit a sweet spot for lobsters and landings have exploded.

That has been a boon for Maine lobstermen, but for some who live and fish near the Canadian border, it has also brought heightened tensions with their neighbors — and competitors — to the north. This tension is the focus of reporter David Abel’s new film, “Lobster War.”

The conflict is becoming obvious on tiny Machias Seal Island, situated in waters known by both countries as “the grey zone.”

“The Canadians, in the 1800s, decided to build this light house as a way of asserting their sovereignty,” Abel told Living Lab Radio. “That lighthouse is now the only manned lighthouse in all of Atlantic Canada.”

Abel has won awards covering fisheries and environmental issues for The Boston Globe. He previously co-directed and produced “Sacred Cod,” a film about the collapse of New England’s cod.

Read the full story at WGBH

 

Maine shutting down productive scallop ground for season

January 29, 2019 — Maine fishing regulators are shutting down some of the most fertile scallop fishing grounds in the state to help keep the shellfish’s population healthy.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it will implement a closure of Cobscook Bay, including the Whiting and Dennys Bay areas. Cobscook Bay is the most productive scallop fishing area in Maine.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

Shutdown pushes Maine fishing community to the brink of crisis

January 29, 2019 — Terry Alexander has fished for 40 of his 57 years, catching groundfish in the winter and squid during the summer months, off New York and Rhode Island.

Throughout the 35-day federal shutdown that ended — perhaps temporarily — on Friday, the Cundy’s Harbor man and his four employees continued to head out on the “Jocka” to haul in groundfish such as cod, haddock, flounders and pollock. Alexander said the shutdown may have long-term consequences for him and for other Mainers who make their living fishing for groundfish.

“If they have another shutdown, it could be catastrophic for New England groundfishing,” he said by phone from a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Alexander said a memo Monday from the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region regional administrator Michael Pentony about the backlog of work for federal regulators only added to that worry.

Pentony wrote that staff would focus on a significant backlog of time-critical work accumulated during the 35-day shutdown.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Right whale calves a hopeful sign for researchers

January 28, 2019 — The future of the North American right whale remains perilous, but researchers following their progress see hope in three calves spotted so far this winter off the Florida coast.

“It’s a spark of hope,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. “It’s not even quite to the point of guarded optimism.”

The massive marine mammals migrate in the winter from the waters off Maine and Canada to the waters off northern Florida and southeastern Georgia for a calving season. Considered critically endangered, their total population is estimated at 411 animals. After a deadly year in 2017, with 15 deaths, and no calves born during the 2017-2018 season, whale advocates and researchers had awaited this calving season with trepidation.

An aerial survey team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute photographed the latest mother-calf pair, whale No. 1204 and her calf, on Jan. 17 off Amelia Island.

No. 1204 has been particularly prolific, giving birth to at least nine calves in her lifetime. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers said she’s one of only three right whales known to have given birth to nine calves.

Read the full story at the Daily Commercial

2 Maine eel dealers face charges after illegal sales cut lucrative fishing season short

January 28, 2019 — Illegal sales of baby eels that caused last year’s abrupt closure of Maine’s elver fishery have resulted in criminal charges for two baby eel dealers and new rules from the state proposing closer oversight of the lucrative fishery.

The alleged criminal behavior, in which some dealers are accused of using prohibited cash transactions to conceal baby eel purchases from the state’s mandated electronic sales monitoring system, is the latest illicit scheme to be uncovered in Maine’s baby eel fishery.

Ever since the value of the eels, also known as elvers, jumped from an average price of $100 per pound a decade ago to more than $2,300 per pound last year, fishery regulators have had to contend with increased poaching and smuggling.

The Maine dealers accused of making illegal cash purchases of elvers last spring are Roger Bintliff and Freddie Mei, according to Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at Bangor Daily News

Maine lobster harvest topped 100m lbs again

January 23, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources is still auditing its 2018 lobster catch and won’t issue a report until February, but department spokesperson Jeff Nichols has reportedly confirmed that the US state landed more than 100 million lbs for the eighth year in a row.

Speaking at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference, in San Diego, California, last week, Keith Moores, president of Gloucester, Massachusetts-based frozen seafood supplier J.W. Bryce, estimated that Maine’s 4,500 harvesters landed about 119m lbs of lobster in 2018, an 8m lb increase over 2017, the Portland (Maine) Press Herald reported.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Maine seafood business stuck in limbo due to shutdown

January 23, 2019 — The ongoing partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which is entering its second month, has caused headaches for Leslie Harlow, the owner of Hancock, Maine-based Sullivan Harbor Farm Smokehouse.

Harlow, who is seeking to reopen the salmon smoking operation after it closed several years ago, is awaiting licensing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after a final inspection took place in December.

“Our final paperwork is sitting on the desk of an FDA inspector, who currently is not working due to the shutdown,” Harlow said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine Fisherman Says ‘Sea-To-Table’ Is Path To Sustainability — For Oceans And His Business

January 22, 2019 — It’s tough to be an independent commercial fisherman, and regulations designed to manage fish populations are part of the reason why.

The government has imposed a quota system: fishermen have to pay to catch certain kinds of fish, like cod. Cod is deemed to be in low supply. So, fishermen are only allowed to catch a limited amount of it. They can pay to lease someone else’s quotas, so they can catch more. But that’s expensive, and makes it harder to turn a profit.

One fisherman in Maine is trying to fish more sustainably — and make a living doing it.

“The average fish that you go and eat at an average seafood restaurant has been around for 10 days and traveled 7,000 miles. We beat that by about 99.9 percent,” says Tim Rider, who’s adopted a sea-to-table method that means consumers get fresh seafood just a few days — or even hours — after it was caught.

Instead of selling fish through wholesalers who control the price, Rider’s company New England Fishmongers sells fish directly to local restaurants and consumers.

Considering the strict regulations and fishing quotas that commercial fishermen face, Rider focuses on quality over quantity in order to compete with larger fishing companies. The fish are bled and gutted on the boat, which Rider says yields a higher quality product. This approach also proves to be less wasteful, he says.

Read the full story at WBUR