Saving Seafood

Initial tests of dead seals found in Maine and New Hampshire reveal avian flu and distemper

August 24, 2018 — Researchers found avian flu and distemper viruses in the preliminary tests performed on the first batch of samples from seals that have been washing up dead on beaches in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in unusually high numbers since July.

The Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office for NOAA said in a statement Thursday that the sampled seals, tested by Tufts University and the University of California, Davis laboratories, tested positive for either avian influenza or phocine distemper virus — four animals tested positive for both of the viruses.

“We have many more samples to process and analyze, so it is still too soon to determine if either or both of these viruses are the primary cause of the mortality event,” NOAA said.

Jennifer Goebel, a public affairs officer with NOAA, told Boston.com in an email that the initial results represent a “small number of the overall documented stranded seals” and continued testing is needed because co-infections are often found in the marine mammals.

Read the full story at Boston.com

MAINE: Odds may be bad for winter shrimp fishery

August 22, 2018 — Scientists gathered at a downtown hotel last week for a three-day “peer review” of the latest Northern Shrimp Benchmark Stock Assessment from by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The assessment evaluates the condition of the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp resource and provides regulators with the information they need to manage the fishery.

The sessions were mostly open to the public but, as of Tuesday morning, the ASMFC had yet to publish a summary of the proceedings.

Whatever happened, the odds are against the fisheries managers allowing any shrimp fishing this coming winter.

Last year’s stock report showed that stock abundance and biomass between 2012 and 2017 were the lowest on record during the 34 years records have been kept. The 2017 numbers were the lowest ever observed.

Recruitment — the number of animals entering the fishery — has been poor since 2011 and includes the four smallest year classes on record.

There is little to suggest those numbers are likely to improve.

Recruitment of northern shrimp is related to both spawning biomass and ocean temperatures, with higher spawning biomass and colder temperatures producing stronger recruitment.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Scientists eye flu, pollution in spike in seal deaths

August 22, 2018 — As the number of dead or stranded live seals washing up along the coast from northern Massachusetts to southern Maine continues to increase dramatically, marine mammal experts are considering influenza or environmental pollution as potential explanations.

Although there is no definitive cause for the uptick in seal deaths — the count is more than 400 so far this year — the Seacoast Science Center, in Rye, New Hampshire, is continuing to test tissue from fresh seal carcasses to determine if there is a possibility of illness. Live seals have been found in poor condition with signs of lethargy, coughing, sneezing and having seizures, according to Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration based in Gloucester.

NOAA, a scientific agency which focuses on the conditions of the oceans, major waterways and the atmosphere, released an updated number of seal strandings and deaths Tuesday morning, primarily gray and harbor seals.

In northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire, marine mammal specialists found 15 live and 26 dead seals in July. As of Aug. 20, they had found 14 live and 31 dead seals in the same region. As of the same date, 57 dead seals have been accounted for in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, according to NOAA statistics. Four seals, three babies and one adult, were reportedly found dead on Plum Island in the last week.

NOAA scientists totaled 404 dead and live seals when examining all seals found on the shoreline in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Maine commercial fish pier gets $830K grant for upgrades

August 22, 2018 — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded the city of Rockland, Maine, an $830,000 grant to renovate its commercial fish pier.

The renovations will support the region’s lobster and herring fleets.

The project will include resurfacing the pier, stabilizing the storage areas, and upgrading the electrical system. According to the administration, the investment is expected to help retain 86 jobs.

“The grant for the Rockland Municipal Fish Pier will have a positive impact to Rockland’s local economy and fishing industry. Rockland should continue to find a balance between the tourism industry that has seen tremendous growth in the past two decades and the long history of fishing and maritime tradition,” said Casey O’Hara, the assistant treasurer for the Maine- and Alaska-based fishing company O’Hara Corp. The company has some offices located in Rockland. “The impact of the herring and lobster industries benefit not only Rockland but the entire state of Maine.”

The $830,000 grant will be matched by a $350,000 federal grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission as well as funding from the Maine Department of Transportation and city of Rockland, according to a release from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). The total cost of the project is projected to be $1.66 million.

“The EDA is an important source of investment for Maine, which is why I have been proud to work with appropriations colleagues from both sides of the aisle to protect its funding from being eliminated, as the Trump administration has proposed the last two years,” said Pingree. “The jobs this project preserves and creates shows why it’s so important to keep defending the EDA and other effective programs.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Experts still haven’t found cause of southern Maine seal ‘die off’

August 21, 2018 — Even as volunteers for Marine Mammals of Maine responded to more dead seals in southern Maine on Monday — more than 125 since Aug. 12 — officials from various agencies were clear that no cause for the “die off” has been determined.

“There have been no results yet to say what’s going on,” Lynda Doughty of the Harpswell-based nonprofit organization said Monday. “Other media speculation is that pollution is causing the die-off [but] no conclusive tests have been returned on southern Maine seals.”

Friends of Casco Bay, a marine stewardship organization founded in 1989 to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay, reported Monday that tests conducted last week “show good water quality with enough oxygen for marine life.”

On Thursday, NOAA Fisheries New England/Mid-Atlantic wrote on its Facebook page that while samples have been taken from the seals and are being tested, “we don’t have any results yet — and that may take a few weeks.”

Previous mass deaths of seals in Maine have been attributed to avian influenza, distemper and harmful algal blooms such as red tide, the organization said.

On Monday, Doughty said the number of mostly seals found dead or stranded in southern Maine was “out of the norm for what we normally see.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Call on Tribes to Apply for Species Recovery Grants

August 20, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — For the ninth year in a row, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is soliciting applications for funds that will conserve and protect species listed under the Endangered Species Act and are recognized as important resources for the tribes.

The assistance is granted as the agency recognizes the “unique importance of many protected species to tribes and values ongoing efforts by tribal nations to conserve and protect species” listed under the ESA as endangered or threatened, and includes candidate or proposed species, as well as post-delisting monitoring of recovered species.

Proposals that address the recovery of one of the following critically endangered species are also encouraged as part of the agency’s Species in the Spotlight initiative:

Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon and white abalone,
Cook Inlet DPS of beluga whales,
Hawaiian monk seal,
Pacific leatherback sea turtle, and
southern resident DPS of killer whales.

Funded activities may include development and implementation of management plans, scientific research, and public education and outreach.

Only federally recognized tribes and organizations of federally recognized tribes, that have delegated authority to represent a federally recognized tribe on matters relating to ESA listed, candidate, or proposed species, are eligible to apply.

Proposals on listed, candidate, or proposed species of Pacific salmon or steelhead may be supported through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, but not the Species Recovery Grants.

Tribes can submit more than one proposal a year and more than one species can be included in one proposal.

In the past the program has awarded $56,000 to the Knik Tribe in 2017 to fill data gaps needed for recovery of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales; $283,000 to the Makah Tribe last year for research and monitoring of Steller sea lions and assessment of their diet overlap with  Southern Resident killer whales, and $270,000 to the Penobscot Tribe for Atlantic salmon management and outreach project.

For an application and information about the grant program, visit this web page.

This story originally appeared at SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

New England shrimp population still looks bad amid shutdown

August 20, 2018 — A new analysis of New England’s shrimp population doesn’t bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery for the crustaceans.

The Maine-based shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013 because of concerns such as warming ocean temperatures and poor survival of young. Scientists working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are assessing the shrimp stock, and so far it looks like little has changed.

Results of the stock assessment “look fairly similar to what we’ve seen in previous years,” said Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States. That means reopening the fishery any time soon could be a tough sell when regulators meet to discuss and vote on the subject this fall.

“We’re still seeing low trends for northern shrimp,” said Ware. “Low abundance, low biomass.”

The small, pinkish shrimp were previously a popular winter seafood item in New England and around the country before regulators shuttered the fishery. Fishermen sought them with trawler boats and traps in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, sometimes catching more than 10 million pounds in a single year.

Scientists have said the shrimp face a long-term threat from the warming of the Gulf of Maine, which is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water in the world. Warm water is inhospitable for the animal’s recovery, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has said.

The closure of the fishery has left New England fishermen, who also contend with other declining species such as cod, with one less option. Terry Alexander, a longtime fisherman from Harpswell, Maine, said he’d like to see the fishery reopen, but he’s not optimistic.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine sea urchin harvesting rules to remain mostly unchanged

August 17, 2018 — The rules governing Maine’s sea urchin harvesting industry will stay mostly the same in the coming season.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council met Tuesday to set terms for the urchin fishing season, which runs September to March. The council decided to allow fishermen on the western coast to fish up to 15 days and fishermen in the eastern to fish up to 38.

Those are the same specifications as the previous season. The urchins are harvested so their roe can be used in food.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle

Maine lobster industry feels impact of China’s tariffs

August 16, 2018 — The ongoing trade war kicked off by U.S. President Donald Trump is beginning to hurt the lobster industry in Maine, U.S.A.

In response to a wide swath of tariffs on Chinese goods instituted by the U.S., China created a set of tariffs of its own that target U.S. seafood and have already hurt some members of the lobster industry who relied on shipping their product to China. Once a niche export market of just USD 4 million (EUR 3.5 million) in 2010, Maine exported USD 132 million (EUR 116.3 million) worth of the crustacean in 2017, according to the Maine International Trade Center.

Of that number, exports to China have been steadily increasing. Maine exported USD 42 million (EUR 37 million) worth of raw and frozen lobster to the country through June in 2017. This year, that number had more than doubled to USD 87 million (EUR 76.6 million) over the same period.

Those numbers have made China the second-largest export market, equal to the entire European Union. As the market grew, some exporters began to increasingly plan on shipping lobsters to China. The new tariffs, however, have made thrown those plans into disarray.

Stephanie Nadeau of The Lobster Co. in Arundel, Maine, has become the “poster child of Chinese tariffs,” she said.

Nadeau has been featured in a wide number of news reports, from the local Portland Press Herald to stories on CBS. Her company relied on Chinese exports, but now is struggling to find a way to make up the lost sales.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Demand for Maine oysters continues to skyrocket

August 16, 2018 — Maine’s cold-water oysters are a hot item on the regional shellfish market, and market research shows the industry will be able to continue expanding well into the future.

Demand for oysters is expected to continue its rise, outpacing the state’s supply through 2026, according to a report delivered to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Aquaculture Program by an outside consulting firm.

“There has been a lot of investment going into Maine’s oyster farms recently, both in existing operations and new leases,” said Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. “And these new leases are typically being tended by either members of working waterfront families or commercial fishermen themselves, either shifting out of another fishery or looking to diversify their income.”

Oyster farming has become a popular option for fishermen nearing retirement age who have the boat skills and knowledge to be successful but are looking to move away from the physical tolls of fishing.

For decades Maine’s oyster operations were focused on the Damariscotta River, but they’ve spread out in recent years. Oyster operations can now be found anywhere along the coast from the Canadian to New Hampshire borders. With a growing variance in farm locations comes a diversity in taste, a boon for increasing markets.

Maine is in the process of approving a minimum harvest size for American oysters — 2.5 inches with a 10 percent tolerance — in order to increase the average quality on the market.

Read the full story at National Fisherman