Saving Seafood

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Section Approves Addendum I

May 10, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section approved Addendum I to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring. The Addendum includes management measures intended to stabilize the rate of catch in the Area 1A fishery and distribute the seasonal quota throughout Trimester 2 (June through September), which has 72.8 % of the season’s allocation. The following measures were approved by the Section:

Days Out Program (effective for the 2017 fishing season)

The Section will separately address days out provisions for federal herring Category A vessels and small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal herring Category C or D permit.

  • In addition to landing restrictions associated with the days out program, Category A vessels are now prohibited from possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
  • Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a Category C or D permit will notify states of their intent to fish in Area 1A prior to June 1st.

Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts will make days out decisions by consensus. If a consensus cannot be reached, then the default landing day scenario will be zero landing days.

Weekly Landing Limit (effective for the 2017 fishing season)

The Addendum implements a weekly harvester landing limit for vessels with a Category A permit. The weekly limit will be adjusted throughout the fishing season based on effort. Forty-five days prior to the start of the fishing season, Category A vessels will notify states of their intent to fish in Area 1A, including a specification of gear type. This will provide states with an estimate of effort to calculate the weekly landing limit. For the 2017 fishing season, the notification date is set at May 23rd.

New Fishery Management Plan Tools

The following measures may be considered as potential management tools prior to the start of the fishing year:

  • Herring caught in Area 1A can only be landed by the respective harvester vessel (i.e. no carrier vessels)
  • Herring carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one harvester vessel per week and landing once per 24-hour period

State Landing Report

NOAA Fisheries has granted access to vessel monitoring system-submitted daily catch report data for select staff in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. This will provide real-time data for the states to implement a weekly landing limit. Therefore, the implementation of a state landing report is not necessary at this time. The Section will include the option to implement a state landing report as part of the interstate fishery management program if it becomes necessary at a future date. The Addendum will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org(on the Atlantic Herring webpage).

The Section also approved continuing the use of the GSI30-based forecast system to determine spawning closures in Area 1A. This method was developed by the Technical Committee, then tested and evaluated for effectiveness during the 2016 fishing season. The modified GSI‐based spawning monitoring system tracks reproductive maturity to align the timing of spawning area closures with the onset of spawning. The modeling efforts to forecast the spawning closures will be made available via a website.

For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Kelp Farming Promises Economic and Ecological Benefits

May 9, 2017 — We tend to think of spring as planting time, but kelp farmers in the Gulf of Maine are in the midst of their annual harvest right now. Growers and ocean researchers say kelp could be a huge win-win-win – improving the local environment, boosting other fisheries, and all while providing a saleable food source.

Ten  years ago, there were no kelp farms in the northeast. Now, there are more than a dozen. So, what gives?

“I think what’s been driving the increase is that the demand for domestically produced seaweed is rapidly growing in the U.S., principally due to American consumers’ increased awareness of the quality of waters where some of their [imported] seaweed may be coming from,” said Paul Dobbins, president of Maine-based kelp distributor Ocean Approved. “And the wild harvest, which has been going on for centuries here along the New England coast, can only provide so much.”

There’s also growing recognition among scientists that farmed seaweed can absorb excess nutrients and carbon dioxide, improving local water quality and boosting nearby fisheries, particularly shellfish. Nichole Price of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and Susie Arnold of Island Institute have been working with Dobbins to measure those benefits.

Read the full story at WCAI

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting on May 23

May 9, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Section members from the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet at 10:30 a.m. on May 23, 2017 to discuss ‘days out’ measures for the 2017 Trimester 2 Area 1A fishing season, which occurs from June 1 to September 30.  This meeting will take place at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 225 Main St. Durham, NH 03824. Parking spaces for meeting participants will be marked with orange cones.

Federally-permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery prior to the May 23rd Days Out Meeting. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a Federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2017.  States will send additional correspondence regarding the notification procedure. 

The 2017 Area 1A allowable catch limit is 31,115 metric tons after being adjusted for a carryover from 2015. The Section set the seasonal split as 72.8% allocated from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% allocated from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2017.

 2017 Atlantic Herring Fishing Season Sub-ACLs, NMFS Final Rule: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2016-31392

 Please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or aharp@asmfc.org for more information.

New rules aim to boost herring supply prized as lobster bait

May 9, 2017 — Interstate fishing authorities took steps Monday to try to keep New England lobster pots full of fresh bait during the peak season.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopted many of the same measures that Maine implemented last year to try to “stretch out” the limited quota of inshore Atlantic herring into late summer, when lobster boat captains in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are clamoring for what many fishermen say is the best, and formerly cheapest, kind of lobster bait.

The commission voted to allow regulators to set weekly herring quotas, to limit fishing to certain days of the week, and to give the three states that regulate the inshore herring fishery in the southern Gulf of Maine the ability to limit or ban the use of so-called “carrier vessels” that transfer herring landed by a licensed boat so it can keep fishing instead of heading back to port to unload its haul.

The measures will create a level playing field for herring fishermen from the three states, give states the flexibility they need to give small fishing boat fleets the opportunity to land herring even in a more restrictive market, and, most importantly, supply the states’ lobster fisheries with much needed bait, said Terry Stockwell of the Maine Department of Marine Fisheries, who proposed the measures.

The three states will meet on May 23 to discuss which herring restrictions they will enact in the inshore summer herring fishery.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Officials: Maine Elver Harvest at Almost 80 Percent of Annual Quota

May 8, 2017 — After a slow start, Maine fishermen are closing in on their annual harvest quota for baby glass eels more than a month before the season officially ends.

Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said the eels — known as elvers — are currently fetching around $1,300 a pound from dealers, who can’t ship the catch to Asian markets fast enough.

“We’re probably at almost 80 percent of the total quota, harvesters have landed over 7,500 pounds of the 9,616 of the overall quota and that leaves a couple of thousand pounds left to harvest,” he said.

Read the full story at Maine Public Radio

SEAN HORGAN: Fate of Raphael’s permits being debated

May 8, 2017 — As we have mentioned several times in the past, they don’t seem to brook a whole lot of foolishness up in Maine, particularly when it comes to cheating in the commercial fishing business.

So, it wasn’t really surprising when the Gloucester Daily Times received —  ran — a letter last week from Maggie Raymond, the highly respected executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine, with her take on what should happen to convicted scammer Carlos Rafael’s surrendered groundfishing permits.

“For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue,” Raymond wrote. “While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. Rafael’s violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirements, and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market.”

But Raymond wasn’t done there. She followed by offering a solution for the distribution of Rafael’s still-to-be-decided permit forfeitures. It’s one sure to make New Bedford Mayor Jon F. Mitchell choke on his Wheaties.

“Rafael’s history is so egregious that the National Marine Fisheries Service is obliged to cancel all his groundfish permits and fishing privileges,” she wrote. “Existing regulations describe a process for redistributing the fishing privileges from cancelled permits to all other permit holders in the fishery — and this is precisely the process that should be followed in this case.”

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

Get used to paying $20-plus for a lobster roll

May 8, 2017 — The market price for a lobster roll at Red’s Eats is $26.50, the highest it’s been in 79 years.

Yet tourists in line at the iconic lobster hut on the Sheepscot River this week didn’t blink. They came for a taste of Maine and were willing to pay for the experience. And they did, handsomely.

“The quantity and quality is well worth it,” said Jan Braida polishing off a roll with her husband Tony. The day before, these vacationing Ohioans spent $23.95 on a lobster roll in Kittery and say sampling Maine’s famed sandwich is the reason they are here.

The sky-high price of fresh lobster meat this spring sent a jolt through lobster roll purveyors such as Red’s and mobile eatery Bite into Maine in Greater Portland.

Deborah Gagnon, owner of Red’s Eats, is paying $45 a pound for fresh lobster meat. Other vendors have been quoted more than $50 for picked knuckles, tails and claws.

“When I was opening in April and heard the price, I was like ‘ohhhh, somebody hold me up,’” said Gagnon, whose signature overstuffed rolls deliver more than a typical lobster’s worth of meat. Despite the increase, she’s not prepared to skimp. “No matter how high the lobster price is, I have to have it. Visitors all over the world come here. If we don’t have it, it’s like ‘what the heck?,’” she said.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

New rules for lobstering in southern New England up for vote

May 8, 2017 — New restrictions on lobster fishing are up for a vote early next week as regulators try to slow the loss of the valuable crustaceans from southern New England waters.

Scientists have said populations of lobsters off of Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts have declined as waters have warmed. A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on new management measures Monday and Tuesday.

Fishing managers are considering tools like trap reductions, changes to the legal harvesting size of lobsters and seasonal closures to try to preserve the population. Some lobster fishermen have opposed the possibility of new measures, saying such a move would kill off what remains of a once-vibrant fishery.

“Any further reductions in traps would be hard to accommodate, given that there are so few fishermen left in (southern) Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

Most U.S. lobster is brought to shore in Maine, on New England’s north end, and Canada’s fishery also contributes a lot of lobster to American markets. Maine has had record high catches in recent years, and the price of lobsters to fishermen and consumers has been high, too. The U.S. lobster fishery was worth more than $620 million at the docks in 2015, a record, and Maine had a record year in 2016.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Concord Monitor

Southern New England Lobstering Changes up for Vote

May 5, 2017 — New restrictions on lobster fishing are up for a vote as regulators try to slow the loss of the valuable crustaceans from southern New England waters.

Scientists say populations of lobsters off of Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts have declined as waters have warmed. A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on new management measures Monday and Tuesday.

Fishing managers are considering tools like trap reductions, changes to the legal harvesting size of lobsters and seasonal closures to try to preserve the population.

Most U.S. lobster is brought to shore in Maine. That state has had record high catches in recent years. The price of lobsters has been high, too.

Read the full story at New England Cable Network

Harsher penalties for lobstermen who cheat get legislative support

May 4, 2017 — A legislative committee voted unanimously Wednesday to toughen penalties on lobstermen who fish too many traps or use “sunken trawls,” as part of an industry-supported effort to crack down on lawbreakers.

“I do think this is going to get people’s attention and will hopefully make people realize that it doesn’t pay to cheat,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Lawmakers are considering a suite of requests from the Maine Department of Marine Resources for more enforcement tools and tougher sanctions against violators in an industry worth more than $500 million last year.

A bill unanimously endorsed by the Marine Resources Committee, L.D. 575, would allow DMR’s commissioner to order longer license suspensions for lobstermen who violate the laws on the first offense and, in several cases, permanently revoke the licenses of repeat offenders.

For instance, violators caught fishing more than the legal limit of 800 traps or fishing “sunken trawls” without marker buoys would face a minimum three-year suspension – up from the current one year – and could lose their licenses for up to 10 years. Removing or “scrubbing” the eggs from female lobsters would result in a minimum four-year license suspension, and “molesting” other fishermen’s traps could result in a suspension from two to six years. The current maximum for molesting gear is three years.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald