Saving Seafood

First half of Maine’s lobstering season ‘painfully slow’ for fishermen

Dock prices are also down amid reports of light catches, leaving the industry worried but hoping for a rebound in the next few months.

October 4, 2017 — A cold spring, high bait prices and a stormy summer are adding up to a slow lobstering season in Maine.

Every fisherman and every lobstering port along Maine’s 3,500-mile coastline is different. But as of Oct. 1, the midpoint in the industry’s peak season, most Maine lobstermen and the dealers who buy from them agree the catch is down. They disagree on whether the industry will be able to land enough lobster to recover and keep up with the last few years of record harvests.

Brooklin lobsterman David Tarr, who serves on the state Lobster Advisory Council, predicts his catch will be down about 20 percent this season unless he can pull off a “great finish.” The light catch, coupled with a boat price that was 10 percent off for most of the summer, adds up to a substantial loss, he said. But the 48-year-old fisherman isn’t exactly surprised.

“We have been over the average for many years, so I’m not really shocked by it,” Tarr said. “It makes it harder, for sure.”

SLOWDOWN AFTER SERIES OF RECORD YEARS

Maine has enjoyed a run of record-setting lobster harvests over the past few years. According to data from 2016, the most recent figures available, Maine fishermen landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster valued at $533.1 million, breaking records for annual catch and industry value. Lobster is the most valuable, and through last year at least, the fastest-growing of all the state’s commercial fisheries.

Lobstermen will remain busy through November, depending on which region they fish, so it’s too early to tell whether the perceived decline will be reflected in the official 2017 harvest numbers that the state releases in February.

Even so, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association called it a “painfully slow start” and said the slow pace of landings and the prices that were well below last year’s had left lobstermen feeling angry, disappointed and worried.

“Fortunately, we still have a lot of good fishing months left this year,” association director Patrice McCarron wrote in her September report.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine elver king to plead guilty to trafficking in poached eels

October 3, 2017 — The man regarded as the founder of Maine’s elver fishery will plead guilty to violating federal law by trafficking in more than half a million dollars worth of poached baby eels.

Bill Sheldon and federal prosecutors reached the agreement on Sunday. Sheldon has waived his right to appeal any sentence that includes a prison term of 30 months or less.

The plea agreement does not say whether Sheldon and prosecutors may have discussed a fine, but under federal law, Sheldon could face a maximum fine of $250,000.

Sheldon bought elvers, or baby eels, that he knew had been caught in New Jersey and Virginia, where the fishery is banned, prosecutors have said. Over the course of the 2011 through 2014 elver fishing seasons, Sheldon allegedly bought and sold 281 pounds of poached elvers, worth about $545,000, according to court documents.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

New England Council Unanimously Reelects Dr. John Quinn as Chair and Terry Stockwell as Vice Chair for Another Term

October 3, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council in late September expressed full confidence in its leadership team when it unanimously affirmed the reelection of Dr. John Quinn of Massachusetts and Terry Stockwell of Maine to serve as Council chair and vice chair, respectively, for another term.

This marks Dr. Quinn’s second consecutive year as chairman. Prior to that, he served three years as Council vice chair under Stockwell. The two switched leadership positions during 2016 but continued to work together as a team to direct the Council’s management and policy initiatives.

“I am honored to be reelected by my colleagues as chairman,” said Dr. Quinn. “We have a lot of very complex and important issues facing us in the year ahead, and I am looking forward to collaborating with my fellow Council members and various stakeholders to attempt to solve some of the problems confronting the industry.”

Dr. Quinn is Director of Public Interest Law Programs at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) School of Law. He also is a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and represented many fishing interests while practicing law in private practice for over two decades in New Bedford before joining UMass.

Stockwell is beginning his first term on the Council as a secretarial appointee. He previously served as the state of Maine’s designated fisheries official to the Council but retired from state service in June following a 21-year career at the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher now sits at the Council table in that capacity. Stockwell was appointed in August to fill the seat previously held by Mary Beth Tooley of Maine, who had served three consecutive terms on the Council, the maximum allowed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

In another show of confidence in leadership, the Council reelected the same slate of members to serve on its Executive Committee for the 2017-2018 Council year:

  • Doug Grout, chief of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Marine Division, was elected to serve his fifth consecutive term on the Executive Committee;
  • Peter Kendall of New Hampshire also was elected to serve a fifth consecutive term; and
  • Terry Alexander of Maine was elected to serve his second consecutive term.

Dr. Quinn and Stockwell also serve on the Executive Committee in their roles as Council chair and vice chair.

Read the release at the New England Fishery Management Council

Decision soon on whether to keep Maine shrimpers shut down

October 3, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Fishing regulators will decide in November whether it’s time to reopen Maine’s shuttered shrimp fishery.

An arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission plans to meet on Nov. 29 in Portland to determine specifications for the 2018 fishing year. The fishery was shut down in 2013 amid concerns about poor reproduction and declining population.

The shrimp have been largely unavailable to American consumers since the shutdown, though they are also harvested by Canadian fishermen.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the News & Observer

NE Council in Rebuke to NOAA Demands Enforcement Against Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op for Overfishing

September 28, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council voted 13-1 to ask NOAA to immediately enforce regulations governing fish quota allocations to sectors in New England.  The move reflected growing frustration with NOAA’s lack of enforcement for Carlos Rafael’s overfishing.

Separate from the criminal trial and the issues of vessel forfeiture, Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op is in direct violation of Co-op requirements to correctly report catch, and to not exceed their quota.

Sector IX has mis-reported and exceeded its quota by nearly 783,000 lbs during a four year period.

NOAA regulations require that when Sectors have overages, they either purchase the quota required, or have that amount deducted from their future allocations.  Any overages also expose the sector to civil penalties and permit sanctions.  So far Sector IX has been allowed to continue fishing with none of these penalties months after Rafael pled guilty to 26 separate counts of falsifying fishing records.

Until now, NOAA, through administrator John Bullard, has said that any actions would await the conclusion of the criminal prosecution of Rafael.   But many have objected that the blatant violations by Sector IX, which was set up primarily for Rafael’s vessels, have not resulted in anything except business as usual for the sector, despite Rafael’s guilty plea in April of this year.

The Council’s first thought was again to avoid the issue until NOAA has addressed the permit violations and vessel seizures.  But the council reversed course when asked directly to take a position on the lack of enforcement of sector regulations.

Maine DMR commissioner Patrick Keliher made a motion to request immediate enforcement action against Sector IX. 

“If we don’t enforce these regulations, how can the public trust us to manage a public resource? “ asked Matthew McKenzie, a member of the NEFMC who seconded the motion.

The motion passed 12-2. 

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section and Advisory Panel to Meet November 29th to Consider 2018 Fishery Specifications

September 28, 2017 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (Section) and Advisory Panel (AP) will meet on November 29, 2017 to consider specifications for the 2018 fishing season. The AP will meet in the morning (10 – 11:30 a.m.) to formulate recommendations for the Section’s consideration, and the Section will meet in the afternoon (1 – 3:30 p.m.) to set the specifications. Both meetings are scheduled to take place at the Westin Portland Harborview, Hotel 157 High Street, Portland, Maine; 207.517.8822.

In 2016, the Section approved a moratorium for the fourth consecutive fishing season (2014-2017) based on the status of the resource, which is considered at record low levels and experiencing low recruitment since 2012. The Northern Shrimp Technical Committee is currently updating the 2017 Northern Shrimp Stock Status Report, the findings of which will form the basis of the Section’s determinations for the 2018 season.  This Report will be included in the meeting materials, which will be available in early November.

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Constitutionality of seizing Carlos Rafael’s permits in question

September 27, 2017 — BOSTON –Judge William Young decided half of Carlos Rafael’s fate on Monday: The New Bedford fishing mogul was sentenced to 46-months in prison with three years supervised release and a $200,000 fine.

The other half, which Young continues to take under advisement, involves the 65-year-old’s 13 groundfish vessels and permits.

In court Monday, Young repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the forfeiture, citing the excessive fines clause in the Eighth Amendment.

Young said courts with higher authority have heard and decided that fines exceeding four-times the maximum guideline are unconstitutional.

Regardless of how many permits Young orders to be forfeited, he made it clear he has no authority to decide what’s done with them.

NOAA’s guidelines call for the permits to be redistributed throughout the Northeast, which is why for months organizations and politicians have publicly called for redistribution or a deal that would remove Rafael from the industry. Many arguments focused on all 13, without consideration of a partial forfeiture.

Argument against redistribution

Allyson Jordan actually contributed to a portion of Rafael’s groundfish permits.

She sold two boats and four groundfish permits. Jordan said Maine’s fishermen had no interest in the permits until Rafael entered the picture.

“He bought permits and boats to make his business survive,” Jordan said. “I don’t believe they should be given back to the state of Maine. The state of Maine did nothing to help my industry, not to mention my business.”

“Everyone is coming out of the woodworks now,” Jordan said. “To be honest, they could have bought the permits.”

Support of redistribution

The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, which also manages the Cape Cod Fishermen’s Trust, also contributed to Rafael’s enterprise, but argued for redistribution of the permits as well as better monitoring.

According to Seth Rolbein, the director of the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, Rafael acquired more nearly a million pounds of quota from the Trust.

From 2011 through 2015, the Trust leased 992,646 pounds of quota. The Trust has no records from 2010 and didn’t lease any to Sector IX after the U.S. Attorney released the indictment, tying Rafael to falsely labeling fish quotas.

“Our priority is to service our fishermen and our community,” Rolbein said. “If there are fish stock that our community is not using that we can not lease out at our subsidized rate to our own fishermen, we then will lease out to other sectors. The trust will lease fish to other sectors. But we will only do that once we’re satisfied that our own fishermen can’t use or don’t have use for that quota.”

What’s next?

The defense revealed Monday that Richard and Ray Canastra, of Whaling City Seafood Display Auction, have entered a Memorandum of Agreement to purchase Rafael’s entire fleet. Neither the U.S. Attorney nor NOAA have taken a final position on the sale.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Herring fishing to be shut down along New England in October

September 27, 2017 — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Fishing regulators are shutting down a chunk of the New England coast to herring fishing for most of the month of October.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says vessels in the Atlantic herring fishery cannot catch or possess the fish in the shuttered area from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28. The closed area stretches along a coastal area that runs from southern Maine to Cape Cod.

The fisheries commission says the decision is based on an analysis of samples of female herring in the area.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Greenwich Time

Atlantic Herring Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closure in Effect Starting October 1 through October 28, 2017

September 27, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic Herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure.

Fifteen samples of female herring were collected to evaluate spawning condition. Based on the analysis of the samples, the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area will be closed starting at 12:00 a.m. on October 1, 2017 extending through 11:59 p.m. on October 28, 2017. Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/ calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area.

The Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area includes all waters bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine coasts, and 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.   For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at 703.842.0740 or tkerns@asmfc.org.

A PDF version of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/MA_NH_SpawningClosureSept2017.pdf

Atlantic Herring Western Maine Spawning Closure in Effect Starting September 26, 2017 through October 24, 2017

September 22, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic Herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure.

Sampling in the Western Maine spawning area began on July 31, 2017; four samples of female herring were collected to evaluate spawning condition. Based on the analysis of the samples, the Western Maine spawning area will be closed starting at 12:00 a.m. on September 26, 2017 extending through 11:59 p.m. on October 24, 2017. Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Western Maine spawning area during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/ calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Western Maine spawning area.

Western Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:

43° 30’ N     Maine coast
43° 30’ N      68° 54.5’ W
43° 48’ N         68° 20’ W
North to Maine coast at 68° 20’ W

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at 703.842.0740 or tkerns@asmfc.org.