Saving Seafood

Looming bait shortage poses another threat to Maine lobster industry

July 17, 2018 — Feeling pressure from trade tariffs and pending rules to protect right whales, Maine’s lobster industry is facing yet another threat: a severe bait shortage.

Regulators want to cap this year’s herring landings at last year’s levels, or 50,000 metric tons, and slash next year’s quota of the most popular lobster bait from 110,000 to 30,000 metric tons. They want to do this to offset record low numbers of newborn herring that are entering the fishery to replace those that are caught, eaten by other predators or die from natural causes.

The 2019 quota could fall even lower if regulators adopt a separate proposal to leave more herring in the sea to feed the fish, birds and marine mammals that eat them, including Gulf of Maine species such as cunner, cod, seals, whales, puffins and terns. The New England Fishery Management Council could decide the issue as early as September.

“We need to think about the realities of the 2019 lobstering season with eyes wide open,” Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said in the group’s July newsletter. “There will be an acute bait shortage and bait prices will be very high. … We must start now to think about how we fish and when we fish. We must think about how we can be more efficient.”

That will mean different things for different lobstermen, McCarron said – some will decide to use less bait in each trap, use a finer mesh bait bag or forgo the practice of dumping old bait and simply add to it with each haul. Some might switch baits, swapping out herring for pogies or redfish, even though a herring shortage will likely cause price spikes and shortages there, too.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MADELEINE FENDERSON & JASON GOLDSTEIN: Taking action to curb climate change could throw lifeline to Maine lobsters

July 16, 2018 — As most Maine residents are well aware by now, climate change does not bode well for our fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. For decades, the American lobster has been the hero of our commercial fishing industry – its fame, sustainability, market value and sweet taste have made it the success it is today. In 2017, the American lobster accounted for 76.2 percent of the total value of our state revenue from fisheries, which boasted a hefty $433.7 million. But what exactly is going to happen to the Maine lobster as our coastal waters increase in temperature, and what will this mean for our state?

Contrary to popular belief, our local crustaceans will not pack up and move north to Canada. Additionally, they will not die all at once when the sea hits a certain temperature. Like humans, lobsters have a specific range of temperatures they can survive in, and once the temperature reaches a threshold, these animals face some challenges. If humans consistently lived in environments too hot for us, our bodies would have stress reactions, and some of our bodily functions, like our immune or reproductive systems, may not work as efficiently. The same may apply to lobsters.

This question – could climate change affect the productivity by which lobsters reproduce? – is being answered in part at the Wells National Estuary Research Reserve, one of 29 nationally funded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-supported reserves dedicated to coastal research, education and stewardship.

Researchers at the Wells Reserve laboratory are working to determine to what extent shell disease (a topical bacterial infection that erodes shell, also known as shell rot) influences how many eggs female lobsters can successfully carry and maintain. Last summer, I had the privilege of working as a research intern, through the NOAA Five Colleges Program, to work specifically on this ground-breaking project with Jason Goldstein, the research director at the reserve.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

It’s Summertime – And New England’s Seafood Shacks Are Now Open

July 16, 2018 — We may be biased, but there is no better destination for summer road trips than the New England coast. The scenery is gorgeous and the seafood is at its prime, so locals and tourists alike pack in cars in search of the quintessential summer shack experience! Take note that reservations and fancy pants aren’t required for this journey, just a little bit of patience (for the inevitable traffic) and a passion for getting your hands on some of the best seafood around.

Below is by no means a comprehensive list, just a little something to get your mouth watering, and your seafood road trips started! So pack up the car – those lobster rolls are waiting for you.

Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier, located in Kittery, will enliven your senses. From the moment you step out of your car and smell the salty air, to when you finally set in to devouring your seafood platter, you feel as if you caught your food yourself and are eating it on a boat floating down the eponymous creek.

The picnic tables -on a deck located directly on Chauncey Creek- offer a variety of seating, from completely covered to full sunshine. And it’s a BYOB establishment, so you’ll often see people tables with coolers full of food and drinks they’ve brought to enjoy in addition to their heaping plates of steamers and lobster.

Read the full story at WGBH

Fishing groups divided over proposed update to fisheries management law

July 13, 2018 — Fishing groups are divided over what a proposed update to the nation’s marine fishery management law would mean for Maine.

Some groups worried the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives would hurt efforts to rebuild Maine’s cod, haddock and scallop fisheries, while others say giving regional councils flexibility to decide what kinds of science they will use to guide their decisions could help rebounding fisheries and fishermen.

Lobster dealers will be happy with at least one part of this reauthorization bill – an amendment submitted by Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District, and Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, that would help pave the way for lower federal inspection fees, and wait times, on lobster sales to Europe, which despite China’s growing demand still accounted for 31 percent of U.S. lobster shipments abroad in 2017.

This would give lobster dealers a break at a difficult time for the industry, which is facing new trade barriers in Europe. European nations can buy lobster for less from Canada because of a new trade deal and a weak Canadian dollar. Chinese buyers are also turning to Canadian lobster to avoid steep new Chinese import tariffs on U.S. lobster levied as part of the U.S.-China trade war.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Bill to require Maine institutions to buy local foods becomes law

July 12, 2018 — BATH, Maine — One of the few bills spared Gov. Paul LePage’s veto pen in the recent legislative session will require state institutions to purchase 20 percent of their food and food products from local producers by 2025.

The program applies to all state institutions except local schools.

“A strong local food economy has long supported Maine’s coastal and rural communities,” said Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, the author of L.D. 1584. “By supporting our local fisheries and farms now, we are making long-term investments in the future of these vital industries. I am so pleased to see this bill become law so local farms and fisheries can continue to power our state for generations to come.”

It became law on July 4, after the governor failed to sign it or veto it.

Vitelli said she was inspired to submit the bill by farmers at her local farmers’ market, who told her they needed more people buying their products. Robin Chase of Chase Farm and Bakery is the market manager for the Bath Farmers’ Market, where many local food producers gather to sell their produce. Although unlikely to benefit from the new program since she runs a bakery, Chase was optimistic that it would help other local producers.

“I think it could use more customers,” Chase said. “There’s certainly enough farms in every town in the state of Maine that could provide (state institutions) with local foods. Definitely it would be something to do.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Trump Boils Maine Lobstermen

July 9, 2018 — Donald Trump has upended global trade relationships, promising that temporary disruption will end in better terms for American businesses. Tell that to the Maine lobster industry that his policies are putting at a major disadvantage in Europe and China.

These should be halcyon days in lobstertown. Maine harvests more lobster than any other U.S. state or Canadian province. Last year it landed nearly 111 million pounds—its fourth-largest annual haul—which it sold for $450 million. The lobster industry accounts for 2% of Maine’s economy.

And China represents a hungry new market. The post-molt lobsters Maine harvests from July through November have softer shells than Canadian lobsters, so they’re lower quality. But they also sell for several dollars less a pound. In the price-sensitive Chinese market, that has given the U.S. industry a competitive advantage over its Canadian counterparts. In 2017 the U.S. exported more than $137 million in lobsters to China, up from $52 million in 2015.

Yet Mr. Trump’s unilateral tariffs are about to erode the price advantage of American lobsters. After the U.S. announced on June 15 plans to impose a 25% tariff on $50 billion in Chinese goods, Beijing retaliated with a new 25% tariff on American seafood, farm products and autos, effective July 6. That’s on top of the 10% to 15% tariffs China already imposes on U.S. and Canadian lobster.

Read the full opinion piece at the Wall Street Journal 

Lobsters caught in global tariff tit-for-tat

July 9, 2018 — Veteran lobsterman Billy Mahoney is already feeling the pinch – and not from the claws of his catch.

Mahoney sells his lobsters to a dealer in Massachusetts who, in turn, sells most of the product to an increasingly lobster-hungry China. The proposed tariffs between the U.S. and the world’s second-largest economy have already lowered the price Mahoney gets for his lobsters by 50 cents a pound.

If the tariffs imposed imposed Friday by the Trump administration hit as hard as expected, Mahoney predicts, “All hell is going to break loose as far as the price.” What’s more, China will turn to Canada for New England’s ocean delicacy, he says.

A Harvard graduate who sets out from Nahant, Mahoney has been trapping Homarus americanus for more than 40 years. At 70, he says he is close to retirement, but he has a brother in the business as well as four cousins who are bound to suffer if the tariffs linger.

Maine and Massachusetts together landed almost $700 million worth of lobster last year, 94 percent of the nation’s total. At the same time, exports from Maine to China increased more than 30 percent, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But South Shore lobstermen, already hit hard by extended seasonal closures of their fishing grounds, might largely escape the latest blow to their industry.

Read the full story at The Patriot Ledger

Border Patrol Stops Canadian Fishermen in Disputed Waters Off Maine

July 9, 2018 — As tensions rise between the United States and Canada, there’s a new clash in the cool waters off the northeast tip of Maine, which are rich with lobster, scallops and cod.

For more than a decade, American and Canadian fishermen largely have had a friendly but competitive relationship in an oval-shaped region of the Bay of Fundy known as the gray zone. But this summer that camaraderie has been threatened, Canadian fishermen claim, as officers with the United States Border Patrol have started to wade into the area, pull up aside their vessels and ask about their citizenship.

“We don’t want this to be a great international incident, but it’s kind of curious,” said Laurence Cook, the chairman of the lobster committee at the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association in New Brunswick. “They say it’s routine patrolling, but it is the first routine patrolling in 25 years.”

At least 10 Canadian fishing boats have been stopped by American immigration authorities within the past two weeks, Mr. Cook said, the latest escalation in a more than 300-year disagreement in the disputed waters off Machias Seal Island. Both countries claim the island, which is about 10 miles off Maine and home to two full-time residents (both Canadian), puffins, rocks and not much else, and say they have the right to patrol its boundaries.

Read the full story at the New York Times

U.S. law enforcement’s boat stops along maritime border rankle Canadian fishermen

July 6, 2018 — U.S. Border Patrol agents have ramped up their activities along Maine’s maritime border with Canada in an operation that has rankled Canadian fishermen, surprised Americans and alarmed civil liberties groups already concerned about the agency’s activities.

The agents are stopping vessels in a rich lobster fishing area known as the Gray Zone that is claimed by both the United States and Canada.

Twenty-one Canadian vessels and an unknown number of American boats have been questioned by Border Patrol since October 2017 with no immigration arrests, said Stephanie Malin, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman.

Maine fishermen report being stopped and asked for identification, and some boats have reportedly been boarded by Border Patrol agents. Canadian fishermen, meanwhile, say the stops are occurring in international waters and Border Patrol agents shouldn’t be boarding their vessels.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Center for Coastal Fisheries to lead groundbreaking research effort

July 5, 2018 — A new collaborative research effort involving the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, NOAA Fisheries and the Department of Marine Resources could lead to significant changes in the way fisheries are managed in the Gulf of Maine.

In the works for more than two years, the research consortium will be known as the Eastern Maine Coastal Current Collaborative, or EM3C, Paul Anderson, new executive director of the Stonington-based Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries said last week.

The collaborative is the product of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement among the three parties signed last November, Anderson said.

Known in the bureaucratic world as a “CRADA,” the agreement is “a federal tool for engaging non-governmental entities” in joint scientific projects and it took a long time to come into being.

“Robin worked a couple of years to get it,” Anderson said, referring to center co-founder and retired executive director Robin Alden.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American