Saving Seafood

Maine lobster industry facing bait, potential regulation issues in 2019

March 1, 2019 — On the heels of the Maine Department of Marine Resource’s announcement that the lobster industry topped USD 600 million (EUR 527 million) in value in 2018, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association was discussing the multiple outside factors that could make 2019 a difficult year for fishermen.

At the MLA’s annual meeting in Rockport, Maine, on Friday, 1 March, two issues loomed large for fishermen: Potential regulations related to the endangered North Atlantic right whale, and the drastic cuts to herring quotas that will heavily impact the industry’s bait supply. Both issues have the potential to make life difficult for lobstermen as regulations that are coming could reduce the amount of traps or the types of gear they can use, and the reduction in bait supplies could leave fishermen struggling to fill traps with increasingly expensive bait.

“We now know that our 2019 quota is going to be 15,000 metric tons (MT),” Patrice McCarron, executive director of the MLA, said during the meeting. “It translates to almost 77 million pounds of herring that won’t come into the fishery.”

Substantial declines in recruitment and biomass in the latest surveys resulted in the New England Fisheries Management Council to slash the herring quotas from nearly 50,000 MT to just over 15,000 M, a 70 percent reduction in the supply of herring. That’s compounded by previous decreases, leaving the lobster industry with a much lower supply of bait.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

2019 Maine Fishermen’s Forum: Together We Achieve More

February 28, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is an annual gathering of commercial fishermen, gear suppliers, scientists, government representatives, and other stakeholders to talk about Maine’s commercial fishing industry, markets, technology, safety, and more. Scientists from our Science Center and staff from the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office participate in the Forum to collaborate and share information about Maine’s marine resources and how things like fishing regulations, climate change, and other related factors might impact the day-to-day and long-term operations of the fishing industry. By attending the Forum and participating in its seminars and panel discussions, we continue to build and strengthen our relationships with Maine’s commercial fishing industry and its regional stakeholders.

Here’s where to find our staff in action during the Forum, which is held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine. We’re speaking at the events listed here. We’re also at the Trade Show, where both the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and the Center’s Northeast Fisheries Observer Program have booths and are ready to talk.

Read the full release here

MAINE: New England fish forum kicks off with shellfish day

February 28, 2019 — New England’s largest fishing industry trade show is getting started with a focus on the region’s shellfish business.

Thursday is the first day of the 2019 Maine Fishermen’s Forum. The event runs through Saturday. Organizers say Thursday is the event’s “Shellfish Focus Day.”

The day will include seminars about outreach and education in the shellfish industry, as well as about shellfish science and management of shellfish species. The shellfish business is a major piece of the fishing industry in New England, where fishermen harvest scallops, softshell clams, quahogs are other valuable species from the Atlantic Ocean and coastal areas.

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

Maine gov won’t join group that supports offshore drilling

February 28, 2019 — Maine Gov. Janet Mills has reaffirmed her opposition to oil and gas drilling off the state’s coast by declining to participate in a governors’ group.

Mills, a Democrat, says Maine will not participate in the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition because of concerns about the toll drilling could take on the state’s environment and marine resources. Mills wrote in a letter to the group’s chair that its “work promoting the expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling is incompatible with Maine’s interests.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine Shuts Down Scalloping Areas As Season Winds Down

February 27, 2019 — Maine fishery regulators are closing a handful of areas to scallop fishing as the season begins to wind down for the year.

Maine is home to a fishery for some of the most sought-after scallops in the seafood world. The fishery begins in late fall and runs to early spring every year. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it closed down four fishing areas on Sunday to protect the scallop populations.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public

Over a bait barrel: Cuts in herring quota fueling rise in lobstermen’s costs

February 27, 2019 — When, on Feb. 15, NOAA Fisheries finalized a rule that cut the 2019 Atlantic herring quota by more than half from the previous year, the reverberations were felt instantly from Maine to the mid-Atlantic and in at least two separate but interlocked fisheries.

In Gloucester, Gerry O’Neill of Cape Seafoods studied the numbers and blanched, knowing they represented a talisman of misery for the company’s associated mid-water trawlers that harvest herring and Cape Seafoods’ bait business that helps supply lobstermen in the state’s most lucrative lobstering port.

“These cuts are infrastructure killers,” O’Neill said. “Certainly, not everybody’s going to come out unscathed. We’ll keep going, but I’m not entirely sure how yet.”

Across the Everett R. Jodrey State Fish Pier, where Johnny “Doc” Herrick ties up his F/V Dog & I, the longtime lobsterman absorbed the numbers and came to a simple conclusion: Bait was going to start getting scarce and prices — even for alternatives from herring, such as the redfish heads and hide skins Herrick often uses — were about to head north.

“We’re going to have to catch a (loads) of lobsters just to pay for the bait,” Herrick said. “Who knows how high the prices will go.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

New controls in Maine to prevent poaching of valuable eels

February 25, 2019 — Maine’s lucrative baby eel industry will likely face tighter controls this year designed to thwart poaching, as officials consider requiring state law enforcement officers to oversee the packing and shipping of the wriggling critters.

Baby eels, called elvers, are an important part of the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food. Maine fishermen harvest them from rivers and streams every spring, and they are typically worth more than $1,000 per pound. No other U.S. state has a significant elver fishery.

But poaching has dogged the industry. Last year’s season was shut down by state regulators two weeks early after investigators unearthed concerns about illegal sales.

This year, the Maine Department of Marine Resources is looking to add a requirement that elver exporters in the state must notify the Maine Marine Patrol 48 hours before preparing to pack and ship the eels. The officer will witness the weighing and packing of the elvers and then mark the package with a seal that must remain intact and untampered with until the eels reach their destination.

“That is a way to secure the shipment and ensure that the package is not tampered with and elvers illegally harvested will not end up in those shipments,” said Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the marine resources department.

Read the story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Fishermen’s Forum opens Feb. 28

February 22, 2019 — No matter what the weather may be doing, the evidence that spring is just around the corner is incontrovertible.

Last week, pitchers and catchers reported to Major League Baseball training camps throughout Florida and Arizona. Next week, hundreds of fishermen, fisheries regulators, scientists and merchants selling everything marine from massive lobster boats and the gear needed to build and equip them to buoy sticks and health insurance will gather at the Samoset Resort for the 44th edition of the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum.

The Forum opens on Thursday, Feb. 28, and runs through Sunday, with most of the activities crammed into the intervening Friday and Saturday. In addition to a huge maritime trade show and dozens of serious seminars, the Forum includes a variety of social activities and a silent auction and dinner that funds a significant scholarship program for children of fishing families pursuing postsecondary education.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Generations of Maine fishermen keep shuckin’ in the cold

February 22, 2019 — The salt water of Casco Bay is in Alex Todd’s blood.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said as he headed out off Chebeague Island with the sun just starting to peak above the horizon.

His boat, the Jacob & Joshua, named after his sons are out on these waters year-round.

Todd’s 17-year-old son Joshua was spending his February school vacation out on the boat fishing for scallops.

Joshua and sternman Levi Gloden pulled in shellfish in subzero temperatures as ice started to build up on the deck.

“It’s harder on them than it is on me,” Alex Todd said.

As the boat’s captain, Todd careful picks locations to drag the ocean floor for the prized shellfish, all from the comfort of the heated cabin where he sips his morning coffee.

“Every once in a while I’ll open the door and say, ‘Now do you think I should take a shirt off or? You know what I’m getting a little hot,’” Todd said. “I get a kick out of it but they don’t see the humor as much.”

That sense of humor is what keeps the crew going through the harsh winter months.

With every catch, Joshua and Levi alternate jobs, then sort and measure every shellfish by hand and throwing them in baskets.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Celebrate International Year of the Salmon with Us on February 28 in Bangor, Maine

February 22, 2019 — The following was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

In partnership with NOAA Fisheries’ Maine Field Station and the Maine Discovery Museum, the Maine Science Festival is hosting a pop-up event called Salmon in Maine as part of the International Year of the Salmon.

We hope you will join us at the Maine Discovery Museum on Main Street in Bangor for a special after-hours event featuring artist Karen Talbot’s Maine’s River Run Fish. Karen’s exhibit features 15 beautifully created paintings of 12 diadromous fish (those that spend part of their lives in both fresh and saltwater) along with three other important river run fish in Maine.

Details
When: Thursday, February 28, 7-9 p.m. The talks will begin at 7:45 p.m.

Where: Maine Discovery Museum, 74 Main Street, Bangor, Maine.

What: The Museum, in partnership with NOAA Fisheries, will open its Main Street Gallery for this special after-hours gallery event, featuring artist Karen Talbot’s Maine’s River Run Fish.

In addition to the art exhibit, the event will include brief presentations on the history of salmon in Maine by Catherine Schmitt from the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, words from retired biologist Ed Baum about salmon recovery efforts, and information from Karen Talbot about her work melding the scientific with the artistic to tell the story of Maine’s river run fish, and salmon in particular.

The event is free and open to the public, and you are encouraged to bring guests.

We hope to see you there!

Questions? Contact Sarah Bailey, Maine Field Station, 207-866-7262