Saving Seafood

Northern Gulf of Maine scallop payday

April 7, 2026 — Scalloping is usually easy pickings when the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) management area opens on April 1, and boats come from all over the northeast coast to harvest their 200-pound-a-day limit of big, clean scallops. But fisherman Brady Lybarger of Cape May, N.J., reports that catches are dropping off fast.

On the third day of the season, Lybarger had to make 6 tows to get his four buckets. “None of them more than 12 minutes,” he says. “We were in by 3 o’clock. But the scallops aren’t as thick as they were last year. On April 4, we made 9 tows, up to 25 minutes, and I heard some guys made 15.”  But Lybarger notes the scallops are still good size and quality. “We’re getting U12s,” he says, referring to the scallops running less than 12 meats to the pound. “The price is down from last year, but it’s still $30 a pound. I’ll take that all day.”

Despite the drop in catch per unit of effort, Lybarger expects a short season. “Do the math,” he says. “One hundred eighty boats, 200 pounds a day, a roughly 400,000-pound quota. That’s 11 days. If we get anything over that, it’s a bonus.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Warming Waters in the Gulf of Maine May Affect the Future of Lobsters

April 6, 2026 — Curt Brown spent his childhood harvesting lobsters along the coast of Maine. As an adult, he went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Maine, observing the very waters where he spent years fishing for the crustaceans.

With a rapidly changing climate, many researchers worry that Maine’s lobsters will eventually move north to colder waters. Brown isn’t so sure, though, seeing all of the forces affecting the ecosystem as highly complex. His studies in marine biology and policy, along with his continued work as a lobsterman, have helped him understand that the lobster industry depends upon various factors, some beyond man’s control.

Last year, the state of Maine’s lobster fisheries harvested 78.8 million pounds of lobsters, and according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), commercial harvesters earned $619 million.

Synonymous with the New England state, lobsters have a documented history in Maine that dates back to 1605. Recent studies, though, show that climate change and a shift in currents are warming up the local waters. In a now well-quoted 2015 study led by Andrew Pershing, researchers found that the surface temperature of the Gulf of Maine is warming 99 percent faster than the rest of the ocean.

Read the full article at Inside Climate News

In New England, Catching Climate Data Along With Fish

April 1, 2026 — When Bob Hersey Jr., a Maine lobsterman, pulls up his traps, he gets more than tasty crustaceans. He’s collecting vital details about the changing ocean environment.

Mr. Hersey, who also dives for sea urchins, is among nearly 150 fishermen who have installed temperature sensors on their traps or trawl nets from Maine to North Carolina as part of a program run by a nonprofit organization with help from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The soda-can-size sensors are dragged along the seafloor, giving fishermen and scientists a three-dimensional map of the ocean rather than just conditions on the surface, which can be checked using satellites or thermometers on boats. The data is continuously collected and fed into regional weather and climate models.

“The fishing industry can collect data that nobody else can get to,” said George Maynard, a marine resource management specialist at the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of NOAA. “It’s a cheap way to collect a lot of oceanographic data to improve those models.”

The sensors record water temperature and oxygen levels and soon they will also record salinity, an important indicator of large-scale changes in ocean currents that influence weather patterns.

While the data is valuable to researchers, it’s also helping Mr. Hersey and others decide the best places to fish.

“I’m trying to figure out how to be more efficient,” said Mr. Hersey, 55, who has deployed four sensors on his 600 lobster traps and has been studying the temperature changes in relation to the size of his catches. “I’m trying to establish a pattern of where they are with a certain temperature.”

Read the full article at The New York Times

Maine lobsterman asks US Supreme Court to weigh in on GPS monitoring rule

April 1, 2026 —  A commercial lobsterman has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against 24/7 GPS monitoring of the Maine lobster fleet, arguing that the unmitigated surveillance is a violations of his rights.

In 2023, Maine regulators began requiring all commercial lobstermen to install GPS monitoring devices on their vessels, enabling 24/7 tracking as called for by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The devices send minute-by-minute location data to the state at all times, even when the vessels are docked.

Read the full article SeafoodSource

MAINE: 8 Investigates: Are Maine officials enforcing child labor laws in the fishing industry?

April 1, 2026 — A Maine state lawmaker says a recent child labor violation against him was politically motivated, as the case draws attention to how state law is applied in the fishing industry.

Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham was fined for failing to keep proper records after allowing a 14-year-old family friend to work on his lobster boat.

The case exposes a bit of a legal gray area. Kids aren’t allowed to do hazardous work, but lobstering, which is different from working with heavy machinery or toxic chemicals, isn’t specifically prohibited.

Many in Maine’s fishing industry say it is common practice for young people to work on boats as part of longstanding family traditions.

Read the full article at WMTW

MAINE: The Fragile Hope for Salmon Recovery in Maine

March 30, 2026 — On a bright March morning, Paul Christman hiked through deep snowdrifts on the bank of Avon Valley Brook in the western Maine mountains, leading a crew wearing waders and shouldering unwieldy backpacks.

One crew member carried a pack basket loaded with battered funnels crafted from stovepipes, duct tape and plumbing pipes. Another lugged a water pump. The last brought a cooler full of thousands of fertilized Atlantic salmon eggs.

The stream was mostly iced over, but Mr. Christman, a marine scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, found some open water on the brook, a tributary to the Sandy River.

“This is a really good spot,” Mr. Christman said. “The river is picking up velocity and shoving that water into the gravel, so we’re going to set up right here and do it.”

For 20 years, Mr. Christman has been working to restore salmon to this Sandy River watershed, where they were eradicated after dams built in the 1800s blocked their passage.

The strategy is producing thousands of juvenile salmon that migrate to the North Atlantic, but just a handful that return to Maine to spawn as adults.

Now, a $300 million project to remove or modify four dams downstream on the Kennebec River is infusing the work with new hope, possibly clearing the way for salmon to swim freely up to the Sandy River within a decade.

Hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon once flooded rivers in New England. For millenniums, the fish have been valued by Native Americans in the region as sustenance and cultural touchstones.

But marine survival rates for Atlantic salmon have plummeted over the last 35 years, for reasons that are complex and interwoven, including changing prey, shifting currents and warming waters.

More recently, they’ve been regarded by anglers as the “king of fish.” But by 2000, their numbers had fallen so low that federal regulators listed them for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Early recovery efforts focused on the last remaining populations of Atlantic salmon in the United States, all in Maine, in the Penobscot River, and the Mid-coast and Down East regions.

Read the full article at The New York Times

King, Murkowski Introduce Legislation to Strengthen American Fisheries

March 30, 2026 — The following was released by the Office of U.S. Senator Angus King:

U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have introduced legislation to strengthen the American seafood industry by treating it the same as the nation’s farmlands. The American Seafood Competitiveness Act would expand access to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan and grant programs for commercial fishermen, seafood processors, and mariculture-related businesses. The legislation would also expand Farm Credit eligibility to businesses providing services to fisherman and fish processors.

“Whether your crops have seeds or scales, America’s food producers are essential to our economy and food supply, so we should seek economic parity for the men and women who work in the seafood industry,” said Senator King. “The American Seafood Competitiveness Act would help level the playing field and ensure our lobstermen and shellfish growers have access to the resources they need to grow and compete. That way, we can ensure the ‘Way Life Should Be’ for generations to come.”

“In Alaska, agriculture isn’t just cattle and livestock in Delta Junction or carrot farms in Palmer—it also includes kelp farms in Douglas, oyster operations on Prince of Wales Island, and gillnetters in Bristol Bay harvesting our world-class salmon,” said Senator Murkowski. “These uniquely Alaska enterprises have been left out of some of America’s agricultural landscape, yet they play a vital role in our food security across the state. It’s past time our fishing and mariculture industries can access the same financing opportunities as farmers in the heartland.”

More specifically the American Seafood Competitiveness Act would:

  • Amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to include commercial fishing and fish processing as eligible agricultural activities under USDA programs.
  • Include wild-caught fish and shellfish as eligible agricultural products under USDA’s Local Agricultural Market Program and allow USDA to waive or reduce matching fund requirements, lowering barriers for small and rural operators.
  • Update USDA regulations to ensure seafood processors can access financing to acquire or upgrade processing facilities and address significant operating costs.
  • Expand eligibility for USDA farm ownership and operating loans to allow fishermen to purchase permits, acquire vessels, make capital improvements, and cover operating and maintenance costs.
  • Broaden Farm Credit eligibility to businesses that support fishermen and fish processors, providing access to lending from Farm Credit institutions similar to that available to farm-related businesses.
  • Create additional financing options for coastal businesses and rural communities that rely on the seafood economy, in the same manner as those supported by traditional agriculture.

The American Seafood Competitiveness Act would recognize the seafood industry’s role as “farmers of the sea” by ensuring they have the same opportunities as traditional farmers.

Senator King is a longtime supporter of Maine’s lobster and seafood industry and has worked to ensure Maine fishermen have the same access to federal support as traditional farmers. Last year, he led the Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act (FICA) which would allow businesses that provide direct assistance to fishing operations—like gear producers or cold storage—to access loans from the Farm Credit System (FCS) that are already offered to service providers for farmers, ranchers and loggers. The American Seafood Competitiveness Act includes the assistance programs from FICA in addition to the other proposed programs that extend economic aid to fish and seafood businesses.

MAINE: Maine lobster industry hit by harsh winter, falling catch and rising costs

March 26, 2026 — Maine’s lobster industry is facing mounting pressure after a harsh winter reduced fishing activity, slowed catches and added to rising costs across the sector.

A key driver was fewer days on the water. Maine lobster harvesters took more than 21,000 fewer fishing trips in 2025 than in 2024, the agency said. Total landings fell to just over 78 million pounds, the lowest level since 2008.

“It started in December, and in December you usually get to fish a lot of days, and we didn’t get to fish,” said lobsterman Greg Turner.

Turner, who has worked on a boat since childhood, said crews were only able to fish about half as many days as normal during peak winter months.

“If it’s zero out, and it’s blowing negative 25, you can’t go because it’s just – if something happened – you’d be done. You’d die out there, probably,” said Turner.

Read the full article at Fox Business 

MAINE: UMaine’s Local Catch Network: Bolstering seafood businesses and coastal communities nationwide

March 26, 2026 — Dayboat scallops from inshore waters — known for their succulent texture and optimal balance of buttery and briny flavors — are unlike any other, according to Downeast Dayboat founder Togue Brawn.

Most scallops can take many days — if not weeks — to reach shore after they are harvested, but dayboat scallops are brought back within 24 hours to be sold, packaged, shipped or frozen.

Brawn launched Downeast Dayboat in 2011 to share the product she loves with customers nationwide. While the business showed promise, Brawn said her technical savvy didn’t match her passion. She searched for business consultants who could help her plan for long-term stability and growth but worried they would be too expensive or prioritize profit over her commitment to supporting Maine seafood.

Then she applied to join the Local Catch Network, an organization anchored at the University of Maine that offers free business and technical assistance, scientific research and networking opportunities for seafood businesses nationwide. The goal is to grow community-based seafood systems by supporting businesses committed to the well-being of their coastal communities and marine ecosystems.

Read the full article at the University of Maine

Fish quality hub to help fishermen boost value, compete with imports

March 24, 2026 —  New England’s fishing heritage runs deep — but that legacy is under pressure. Regional seafood businesses are closing or struggling to keep pace with a flood of international imports, even as local fisheries remain healthy and abundant. To help level the playing field, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has launched the Fish Quality Resource Hub, a free online platform designed to give fishermen and seafood businesses practical, low-cost tools to improve product quality and increase their value in the marketplace.

The challenge is a familiar one to anyone working the docks. Modern refrigeration technology and efficient global logistics mean that fish caught halfway around the world can reach a Portland restaurant in days — erasing the geographic advantage that once gave New England fishermen a natural edge. Competing on price alone is rarely a winning strategy against large-scale international operations, which is why GMRI and its partners turned their focus to quality.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman