Saving Seafood

MAINE: Fishermen speak out against proposed oyster farm in Maquoit Bay

November 21, 2018 — A local group of commercial fishermen asked the Maine Department of Marine Resources to throw out Mere Point Oyster Co.’s application for a 10-year, 40-acre lease in the middle of Maquoit Bay on the grounds that they are “rightfully entitled to use this space for fishing.”

“Why should we go away so a couple of people can use it exclusively?” Tom Santaguida asked the department at a public hearing Monday night.

The meeting marked the second night of the hearing over the company’s proposed expansion, which would increase its annual oyster harvest from about 60,000 this year to more than 1.5 million within three years. The department will evaluate the lease on factors like navigation, fishing and other uses, as well as noise and visual impact. The hearing will stretch into a third night, which has not yet been scheduled. The Concerned Citizens of Maquoit Bay, who began their testimony on Thursday, will resume at the next hearing.

The commercial fishermen, represented by Santaguida and John Powers, argued that the proposed 40-acre site is one that is fished often and at different times can be extremely lucrative.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald

 

Shrimp fishery moratorium extended through 2021

November 20, 2018 — The Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission extended a moratorium on commercial fishing of Gulf of Maine shrimp through 2021.

According to the commission’s news release, the three-year extension was set in response to low shrimp populations and the fact that, even with increasing juvenile populations, it would still take several years for the shrimp to be commercially harvestable.

A 2018 stock assessment update indicates the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population remains depleted. “Spawning stock biomass,” referring to the shrimp that are capable of reproducing, has steadily declined to what the commission said was “extremely low levels.” In 2018, it was estimated at 1.3 million pounds, compared with 2017’s 1.5 million pounds.

“Recruitment,” the number of shrimp surviving to reach spawning status, has also been low in recent years.

The commission said that high levels of natural mortality and low levels of recruitment are hindering recovery of the stock. Natural mortality is caused by predation and unfavorable trends in environmental conditions due to increasing ocean temperatures.

“With ocean temperatures predicted to continue to rise, this suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine,” the release says.

Fishing for shrimp has been banned for the past five years, and yet the stock has not improved, the release says.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Maine scallop fishery, a conservation success story, to start for the winter

November 20, 2018 — Maine scallop fishermen set a 20-year high with last year’s harvest – and now they’re gearing up for the start of what they hope is an even better season.

The state’s rebuilt fishery for scallops, which runs from November to April, is getting started for the winter in the coming days. Many in the state’s seafood industry consider Maine scallops a conservation success story, as the fishery collapsed in the mid-2000s and slowly rebuilt to the point where fishermen last year collected the highest total since 1997.

The state built scallops back from the brink with measures such as enforcing localized closures, rotating open harvesting areas and applying tighter quota limits. Regulators said the approach will continue this year, and fishermen and consumers will benefit.

“They’re landing plenty of them,” said Alex Todd, a scallop fisherman in southern Maine. “I’m sure it’s made a difference.”

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald

 

Regional Regulators Vote For 3-Year Closure Of Maine Shrimp Fishery

November 19, 2018 — A panel of regulators from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts voted Friday to put a three-year moratorium on the commercial fishery for Northern Shrimp, also known as Maine shrimp. Maine’s representatives at the meeting in Portland wanted some type of season preserved, but they were outnumbered.

The decision came after Katie Drew, a scientist with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, told the panel there was virtually no chance the shrimp would bounce back from depleted levels before 2022 and, in fact, might never recover. Above all, she says, the Gulf of Maine, has warmed to the limits of the shrimp’s reproductive capacity.

“The warmer the waters the less baby shrimp you have the next year,” says Drew. “And so we’ve had a lot of warm waters, and we’re just not getting a enough baby shrimp into the population. And in addition a lot of things like to eat northern shrimp.”

Predators such as red hake, spiny dogfish and squid, which are growing more abundant in some parts of the Gulf. The pressure they are putting on shrimp is a growing problem, even though one top predator, humans, haven’t been in the picture since 2014.

Historically, the commercial shrimp fishery, which traditionally started in December, has been dominated by boats from Maine. But it’s been closed for four consecutive years.

Panel member Mike Armstrong, assistant director in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, says the regulators should bow to reality and proposed the three-year closure.

Read the full story at Maine Public

 

Regulators close Maine’s shrimp fishery for next 3 years

November 19, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — Regulators voted Friday to close the Gulf of Maine winter shrimp season for another three years, raising fears that the fishery decimated by rising water temperatures may never bounce back.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has been taking a year-to-year approach to determining whether to allow a winter season, but the panel decided to shut it down for 2019, 2020 and 2021 after receiving a dismal report on the depleted fishery.

The last time the fishery was open was 2014 in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

“The stock has shown very little signs of recovery. It’s considered a depleted resource,” said Tina Berger, spokeswoman for the agency.

Fishermen, the bulk of them from Maine, used to catch millions of pounds of the shrimp every winter.

But the warming ocean and predation have decimated the shrimp fishery. The shrimp are especially sensitive to changes in water temperature, Berger said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

Moratorium on Northern Shrimp Commercial Fishing Maintained Through 2021

November 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

In response to the continued depleted condition of the northern shrimp resource, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section extended the moratorium on commercial fishing through 2021. This three-year moratorium was set in response to the low levels of biomass and recruitment and the fact that, should recruitment improve, it would take several years for those shrimp to be commercially harvestable.

The 2018 Stock Assessment Update indicates the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population remains depleted, with spawning stock biomass (SSB) at extremely low levels since 2013. SSB in 2018 was estimated at 1.3 million pounds, lower than SSB in 2017 (1.5 million pounds). Recruitment has also been low in recent years, with 2018 recruitment estimated at two billion shrimp. This is below the time series median of 2.6 billion shrimp. Fishing mortality has remained low in recent years due to the moratorium.

High levels of natural mortality and low levels of recruitment continue to hinder recovery of the stock. Predation contributes significantly to the natural mortality of northern shrimp and has been at high levels over the past decade. In addition, long-term trends in environmental conditions have not been favorable for the recruitment of northern shrimp. Ocean temperatures in the western Gulf of Maine have increased over the past decade, with warmer water temperature generally associated with lower recruitment indices and poorer survival during the first year of life. With ocean temperatures predicted to continue to rise, this suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine.

Given this change in the environment and the lack of change in stock status despite the fishery being under a moratorium for the past five years, the Section debated current management approaches and if they are appropriate in the face of changing ocean conditions.  Ultimately, the Section unanimously agreed to establish a working group to evaluate management strategies for northern shrimp given changes in species abundance, particularly as a result of changing ocean conditions.  In February 2018, the Commission approved guidance that species management boards and sections could use to address shifts in species abundance and distribution.  The Section will have the opportunity to use this guidance to determine if or what management changes should be made if the stock has no ability to recover.

While industry members advocated for re-opening the commercial fishery in order to evaluate the stock status and provide economic benefits to local fishermen, Technical Committee analysis showed there is little-to-no possibility of 2019 SSB being greater than it was in 2017, even in the absence of fishing. Given the low biomass of the stock, the Section did not establish a Research Set Aside; however, annual surveys including the summer shrimp survey and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center trawl survey will continue to collect important data on the stock.

The Section also approved Addendum I to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. The Addendum provides states the authority to allocate their state-specific quota between gear types in the event the fishery reopens.

Finally, the Section established a second working group to review the existing Gulf of Maine Summer Northern Shrimp Survey. This working group will evaluate ways to improve the reliability and efficiency of the survey, including shifting to greater commercial industry involvement in the collection of data. Transitioning the shrimp survey to a commercial platform would be one of the options considered by the working group.

For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org  or 703.842.0740.

Group calls on Maine’s federal reps to oppose offshore drilling along entire Atlantic coast

November 19, 2018 — A small group of environmental activists gathered in Bangor Saturday to call on Maine’s congressional delegates to express more opposition to offshore drilling.

Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree all previously voiced their stances opposing offshore drilling in New England, but the group called on them to prevent the practice along the entire Atlantic Coast.

“What we want is for them to increase their opposition and oppose offshore drilling in the entire Atlantic ocean, not just in New England,” said Sarah Starman, a field organizer with Oceana. “We believe that drilling anywhere will affect everyone because oil spills don’t respect state boundaries.”

Senator Collins and King sent a joint letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke back in January — expressing their stances against drilling in New England.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree also voiced her opposition directly to the Secretary during an Appropriations Committee meeting in June.

“Countless Maine jobs depend on the health of the ocean. The Maine lobster, aquaculture, and tourism industries are among the many critical industries dependent on Maine’s pristine waters, and even a minor spill could irreparably damage the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine,” Senator Collins said in a written statement. “That’s why I oppose any effort to open waters off the coast of Maine to offshore drilling, which could negatively affect the health of Maine’s fisheries and other coastal resources, threatening to harm not only the environment but the state’s economy as well.”

Senator King also said during a floor speech in February:

“In Maine…we depend upon the coast,” Senator King said. “Tourism and visitation to our beaches and coastal communities are a billion dollar industry, the largest single employer in our state. So that is an enormous economic engine that is currently working, and running, and powering at least a portion of the economy in our state. And of course, on my tie, I have lobsters. A $1.7 billion a year industry in Maine and it promises to be even stronger as processing is developed. We also have an offshore fishing industry, shrimp, shellfish. It is enormously important. It is part of who we are in the state of Maine.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

New England’s shuttered shrimp fishery faces key decisions

November 15, 2018 — Two days of meetings will determine if there’s going to be a shrimp fishing season in New England next year, and it doesn’t look promising.

The fishery, based mostly in Maine, has been shut down since 2013 over concerns about a depleted population of the shrimp. An advisory panel that reports to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meets Thursday in Portland to make a recommendation about having a season in 2019.

The commission’s shrimp section will then cast a vote on the subject Friday, also in Portland. Recent scientific materials released by the Atlantic States commission say the shrimp population remains in poor shape despite several years without fishing pressure. The warming of the Gulf of Maine is often cited as a problem.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Times

Lobster industry chief expects bait crunch

November 15, 2018 — An expected cutback of the Atlantic herring catch quota is causing concern among lobster fishing interests, which largely rely on herring as bait.

“We obviously have to be looking at different sources of bait,” Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, told the Bangor Daily News this week. He added that a quota cut could drive up bait costs.

Fishermen’s Voice reported that at the September meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said: “We predict it’s going to be devastating.”

Tuna fishing interests said the expected cutback will affect them, too. At that meeting, the council decided to adopt a rule that would slash the fishing quota for the Atlantic herring fishery for fishing years 2019 through 2021. It also decided to ban boats using midwater trawl gear from within 12 miles of the shore from the Canadian border to Connecticut. The actions are part of the Amendment 8 to the Atlantic herring fishery management plan.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

MASSACHUSETTS: Film series presenting ‘Life by Lobster’

November 15, 2018 — The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series hosted by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center continues on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. with “Life by Lobster,” a 55-minute documentary that takes you inside the lives of five young lobster fishermen determined to pursue this proud traditional vocation against steadily mounting obstacles.

Contrasting the stark beauty of the Downeast Maine seacoast with the stark reality of earning a living there, “Life by Lobster,” a documentary by independent filmmaker Iain McCray Martin, takes audiences inside the lives of five young lobster fishermen determined to pursue this proud traditional vocation against steadily mounting obstacles, a press release from the center states.

Co-produced by LA television director J. Miller Tobin (“Gossip Girl,” “Num3ers,” “CSI”) and Maine-based Opera House Arts, LBL was selected as part of the Maine International Film Festival’s Best of 2009 collection and is partially funded by the Perfect Storm Foundation, among others.

“I began work on this film when I was 19, in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years at Emory University. During that first year away from the small island off the coast of Maine where I had grown up, I realized, like never before, the uniqueness of my home and the people who define it,” said Martin.

“Facing a myriad of economic and regulatory hurdles, not to mention trying to overcome youthful inexperience in a tough, competitive industry, these young men could be, I feared, a dying breed. Their story needed to be told.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times