Saving Seafood

Massachusetts: Lobster processing bill OK’d by Senate

May 29, 2018 — For the second time in as many years, state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr has convinced the Senate to include in its $41.49 billion budget a plan to expand in-state processing of raw and frozen lobster parts.

The question now is whether — unlike 2017 — the measure will remain in the final budget.

The Tarr-sponsored measure, adopted by the Senate on Thursday night as an amendment to the fiscal 2019 budget bill, would direct the state Division of Marine Fisheries to implement new regulations that permit on-shore lobster processing “after an assessment of whether such activity would harm the lobster stock or the sustainability of the state’s commercial lobster industry.”

Tarr and the plan’s supporters, which include Democratic senators from other coastal communities, would eliminate what they described as “outdated restrictions on lobster processing and sales.”

Under the current law, the sale of live, cooked and canned lobster is legal in Massachusetts, as is the processing and sale of frozen, cooked lobster tails.

But the existing law prohibits lobstermen and seafood vendors from selling, processing or transporting other forms of lobster in-state for processing, forcing them to ship the lobster or lobster parts to processors in Maine and Canada.

Under the proposed amendment, wholesale dealers licensed by the state Department of Public Health would be able to process raw lobsters, import raw, shell-on lobster parts and tails and allow retail sales of previously frozen raw, in-shell tails.

“Massachusetts has the second largest lobster catch in the country,” Tarr said in a statement. “To keep from being left behind, we should expand our ability to process raw and frozen lobster parts. American lobsters are being harvested here and should be prepared for market here instead of Canada or Maine.”

The expansion of allowed processing practices, according to Tarr, would enhance local economies in Massachusetts coastal communities such as Gloucester, which is the state’s most lucrative lobster port, and provide local restaurants and food stores with “superior access to the best lobster parts for their customers.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Trawl limit plan divides lobstermen at hearing

May 29, 2018 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Department of Marine Resources proposal to change the way some lobstermen fish in a large swath of water around Mount Desert Rock drew vocal opposition at a meeting in Ellsworth May 22 despite a unanimous vote in the Zone B Lobster Management Council.

At issue is a proposal to limit the number of traps that can be linked together in a single “trawl” in an area of about 300 square miles. The roughly rectangular area in waters that are part of Lobster Management Zone B stretches about 10 miles seawards from a line drawn six miles off the coast that extends roughly between Schoodic Point in the east and the southern end of Marshall Island in the west.

Currently, many lobstermen fish 15-trap trawls in the area. DMR would limit the size of the trawls to five traps. Under current federal rules aimed at protecting large whales from entanglement with fishing gear, fishermen must fish at least five-trap trawls in the area except around Mount Desert Rock where “pairs,” two traps linked together, are allowed because of the rocky bottom.

The opposition to trawl limits illuminates some of the complex issues that affect the lobster fishery. Many of the concerns voiced about gear conflicts reflect the resentment on the part of many Zone B fishermen over the amount of gear set in zone waters by fishermen from other zones—particularly Zone C.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

 

MAINE: Conservationists Celebrate Success As Hundreds Of Thousands Of Alewives Return To Bangor-Area Stream

May 25, 2018 — On Saturday, families are welcome to celebrate this annual migration during Alewife Day at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley. The event runs from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., and visitors are sure to see plenty of alewives in the 17 rock-and-pool weirs that allow fish to pass around a dam and continue their upstream trips to Chemo, Holbrook and Davis ponds. Admission is $3 for adults and free for children younger than 12.

“It’s going to be a fairly low-key event,” said Sherry Davis, the museum’s executive director. “We’re going to have the gas-powered Lombard log-hauler running, and we’re going to be serving up some of these smoked alewives. We’ll have this really fun maze set up, which we’re using this week with the children’s programs, for kids to run that and pretend they’re an alewife.”

On Tuesday, volunteers netted several dozen alewives, cleaned them, and put them in a brine solution to soak. On Wednesday, the plan was to begin the smoking process so that Saturday visitors would be able to sample alewives prepared in a traditional fashion.

Andrew Goode, vice president of U.S. programs for the Atlantic Salmon Foundation, was on hand to handle the netting duties on Tuesday, hauling up 15 to 30 fish per cast of a weighted net.

Read the full story at Maine Public Radio

 

Illegal eels: Maine’s elver fishery faces more poaching charges

May 25, 2018 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources decided to shut down the state’s lucrative elver fishery two weeks early, claiming that illegal sales are jeopardizing the agency’s ability to manage the fishery properly.

The DMR announced late Tuesday afternoon that all harvesting operations must halt by 6 a.m. on Thursday, May 24.

Elver dealers and fishermen are required to use an electronic swipe card system that allows regulators to track the fishery in real time. But a Maine Marine Patrol investigation concluded that some dealers are paying less than the going rate — $2,400 per pound, on average — in cash and keeping the transactions off state records.

“The future of this lucrative fishery is now in question,” DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher said in a prepared statement. “We clearly have to consider additional measures to ensure that Maine can remain compliant with [catch limits], that we can continue to protect our state’s valuable marine resources, and that we can hold accountable anyone who chooses to squander the opportunity those resources represent.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Maine ends elver season early amid claims of illegal sales

May 24, 2018 — Maine’s lucrative elver fishery will shut down two weeks early — at 6 a.m. Thursday — due to what state regulators said Wednesday are illegal sales that jeopardize the Department of Marine Resources’ ability to manage the fishery.

A Maine Marine Patrol investigation allegedly revealed that some elver dealers in Maine were paying substantially less per pound in cash for elvers than those that were harvested and accounted for through the state’s new swipe card system, according to a release from the DMR.

In March, the price per pound for baby eels, also known as elvers, hit a record high of $2,700 to $2,800 per pound.

The shutdown comes through emergency rulemaking.

An investigation continues, and charges will be filed against dealers and harvesters who bought and sold elvers without using the state’s swipe card system.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Maine’s elver season shut down 2 weeks early as off-book sales disrupt quota

May 24, 2018 — State regulators are shutting down the lucrative elver fishery two weeks early, after Maine Marine Patrol investigators concluded that off-the-books sales of the valuable commodity have pushed the statewide catch beyond the legal limit.

Elver dealers and fishermen are supposed to use an electronic swipe-card system that allows accurate, real-time tracking by state regulators, but some dealers are paying less than the going rate – around $2,400 per pound – for cash sales of the baby eels, which are raised to adulthood at aquaculture facilities in Asia and sold to the seafood market as a delicacy.

“The future of this lucrative fishery is now in question,” Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said in a prepared statement. “We clearly have to consider additional measures to ensure that Maine can remain compliant with (catch limits), that we can continue to protect our state’s valuable marine resources, and that we can hold accountable anyone who chooses to squander the opportunity those resources represent.”

The decision is a blow to the reputation of the fishery, said Darrell Young, co-director of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association, who founded the group five years ago to push back against efforts to shut the fishery down completely. Since then, Young said he’s worked hard to drive out bad actors, and he had planned to advocate at meetings with federal regulators next month for a catch limit of more than 11,000 pounds, a reset to the 2014 level.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Maine elver catch surpasses USD 21 million

May 24, 2018 — The state of Maine, U.S.A., has surpassed USD 21 million (EUR 17.8 million) in total value for its elver fishery as the price-per-pound for the baby eels remains at an average of almost USD 2,400 (EUR 2,000).

The season, which kicked off on 22 March, still has time to increase that total before its closure on 7 June. However, 2018 is already proving to be a banner year for the fishery, as the season opened to record high prices that continued to stay elevated.

Those prices were attributed to a number of factors, including reports of low catch totals of japonica eels – the variety caught in Japan – and the complete ban on all exports of European Eels. The European Union recently began an evaluation of its EU Eel Regulation to determine the next step in conservation.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Climate change to have drastic effects on Gulf of Maine lobster and clam fisheries, studies say

May 23, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — Two new scientific studies are highlighting the current and future impacts that rising ocean temperatures will have on lobster, clams and other important commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.

Research on nearly 700 North American fish species predicts Atlantic cod habitat could shrink by as much as 90 percent by century’s end and that lobster populations could shift 200 miles farther north as a result of climate change. Meanwhile, a separate research project suggests Maine’s soft-shell clam industry could collapse unless steps are taken to protect the fishery from green crabs that are thriving in the state’s warming waters.

“Something is out of whack and we need to do something about it. We need to adapt,” said University of Maine professor Brian Beal, who has studied soft-shell clams for more than 30 years.

The studies are part of a growing body of scientific work seeking to understand – and look beyond – changes that fishermen across the country are witnessing on the water every day.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Hunt is on for tagged lobsters that double as raffle tickets

May 21, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — This scavenger hunt is a hunt for scavengers.

Interstate fishing managers are asking fishermen to check traps for lobsters carrying special green tags. The tags are part of a data collection program being conducted from May to November by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the University of Rhode Island.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages some East Coast fisheries, is promoting the program.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at AP News

 

Maine Wants to Return Salmon, Herring to Historic Habitat

May 21, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine state project aims to bring salmon and river herring back to a tributary of one of the state’s major rivers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is using its Species Recovery Grants to States Program to award more than $310,000 to the Maine Department of Marine Resources for the project. The state wants to restore salmon and herring back to Togus Stream.

The stream is a tributary of the Kennebec River. The state says the river was once home to the fish, but the construction of barriers has blocked them from their historical habitat for more than two centuries.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at US News