Saving Seafood

Trump’s proposed cuts to NOAA alarm Maine’s marine community

March 7, 2017 — A Trump administration proposal to slash funding for the federal government’s principal marine agency and eliminate the national Sea Grant program is prompting alarm in Maine’s marine sector because it depends on services provided by both.

President Trump wants to slash the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – the agency responsible for fisheries management, weather forecasting, nautical surveys and assisting marine industries – by 17 percent, The Washington Post reported Friday. And he wants to eliminate NOAA’s Sea Grant program, the marine equivalent of the federal agricultural extension and research service, in the fiscal 2018 budget, which begins Oct. 1.

“There was a lot of concern when the news broke, and a flurry of messages went out to our congressional delegation from fishermen and aquaculturists who understand how they benefit from Sea Grant,” said Paul Anderson, director of Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine in Orono, one of 33 Sea Grant universities in the country. “I don’t now if on October 1st we will all of a sudden not exist.”

The news has sent reverberations across Maine’s marine community, which has long benefited from the partnership between UMaine and the federal government. Sea Grant researchers created the Fishermen’s Forum – the industry’s premier event – in 1976, and also helped found the Portland Fish Exchange and the university’s Lobster Institute, which researches issues of concern to the industry.

Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, said the cuts to NOAA would be terrible for fishermen. “The industry relies pretty heavily on their forecast reports on the wind and the wave heights and make decisions day to day if they are going to go out, so those satellites are really important,” she said. “And nobody loves (the National Marine Fisheries Service), but keeping them fully funded and their research going is essential to manage our fisheries.”

She noted that recent cuts to the agency’s right-whale monitoring program had hurt fishermen because if scientists didn’t have time to find the whales, they had to assume they weren’t there, increasing the regulatory burden on lobstermen, whose gear the whales sometimes get entangled in.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Marine Patrol Officer Brandon Bezio Receives 2017 MLA Officer of the Year Award

March 6, 2017 — The following has been released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources: 

Marine Patrol Officer Brandon Bezio, who serves in the St. George-Warren Patrol, receives the 2017 Maine Lobstermen’s Association Maine Patrol Officer of the Year Award. The award, presented Saturday, March 4, 2017, at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport, is an annual recognition of Marine Patrol Officers who provide outstanding service in support of the Maine lobster industry. Pictured with MPO Bezio is Marine Patrol Colonel Jon Cornish (left), MLA Board President David Cousens (2nd from right), and MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron (right). (Photo courtesy of Mark Haskell Photography)

Maine Fishermen Set Lobster Record for Seventh Straight Year

March 6, 2017 — For the seventh year in a row, Maine lobstermen have set a record for the value of their lobster catch.

Maine lobsters were worth a little more than $533 million at the docks in 2016, exceeding the previous year’s record by more than $30 million, Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said Friday.

Interest in American lobsters has skyrocketed in Asia, especially China, in recent years, aiding the value of the crustaceans, which remain popular with Americans on summer vacation and Europeans at Christmas.

At the same time, U.S. lobster fishermen have been catching more lobsters. Maine also set a record for volume in 2016, with state fishermen catching nearly 131 million pounds of lobster last year. That surpassed the previous record of nearly 128 million in 2013.

Conservative management of the lobster fishery has allowed the fishery to thrive in recent years, regulators said. Scientists have said warming oceans might also play a role, as the center of the lobster population appears to be moving north as waters warm. The catch off of Rhode Island and Connecticut has plummeted as Maine’s has soared.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Trump staff reviewing Obama’s designation of Maine, Utah national monument sites

March 6, 2017 — Republican leaders in Maine and Utah are asking President Trump to step into uncharted territory and rescind national monument designations made by his predecessor.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 doesn’t give the president power to undo a designation, and no president has ever taken such a step. But Trump isn’t like other presidents.

Former President Obama used his power under the act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off-limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development.

Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain. In Utah, the former president created Bears Ears National Monument on 1.3 million acres of land that’s sacred to Native Americans and is home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.

Trump’s staff is now reviewing those decisions by the Obama administration to determine economic impacts, whether the law was followed and whether there was appropriate consultation with local officials, the White House told The Associated Press.

Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage is opposed to the designation, and says federal ownership could stymie industrial development. Republican leaders in Utah contend the monument designation adds another layer of unnecessary federal control in a state where there’s already heavy federal ownership.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

Maine wants help from lobstermen affected by coral rules

March 6, 2017 — Maine marine authorities are looking for input from lobstermen about how they might be impacted by federal regulations designed to protect corals off New England.

The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council is considering protecting corals in the Gulf of Maine. Two of the proposed protection areas are Outer Schoodic Ridge and the area southwest of Mount Desert Rock.

The state Department of Marine Resources says one of the proposed management options is a complete ban on fishing. The department has proposed exempting the lobster and crab fisheries in the two areas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Southern Business Journal 

Maine’s 2016 Commercial Marine Resources Top $700 Million for the First Time

March 3, 2017 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources topped $700 million in overall value in 2016, according to preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The total reflects yet another all-time high and an increase of nearly $100 million in value over 2015.

“Mainers should take great pride in the success of our commercial fishing industry,” said Governor Paul R. LePage. “The hard working men and women who fish for a living along our coast have established Maine as a leader in the responsible management and harvest of seafood.”

For the second straight year, the largest single increase in value was in Maine’s lobster fishery. The fishery saw the overall landed value jump by more than $30 million while the average per pound value remained over $4 for the second year in a row, at $4.07.

The overall value of Maine’s lobster fishery was again by far the highest at $533,094,366. When factoring in bonuses paid to harvesters as reported by 14 of Maine’s 19 lobster co-ops, the overall landed value of Maine’s lobster fishery reached $547,249,010.

2016 marked the first year ever that Maine lobster harvesters landed over 130 million pounds, with a total of 130,844,773 pounds. It was also the fifth year in a row in which Maine lobster harvesters landed over 120 million pounds.

“The historic landings reflect the hard work of our harvesters to build and sustain this fishery,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “The exceptional value is the result of growing demand by consumers who appreciate both the quality of Maine lobster and the long-standing commitment to sustainable harvesting practices that characterize this fishery.”

At $19,019,337 Atlantic herring, the primary bait source for Maine’s lobster industry, saw an increase in value over 2015 of more than $5 million. The dollar amount ranked it as Maine’s second most valuable fishery, despite a nearly 11 percent decline in landings. “Overall herring landings declined in 2016 as a result of a lack of fish off-shore, resulting in demand that far surpassed supply,” said Commissioner Keliher. 

Maine’s softshell clam industry dropped from second place in 2015 to third in 2016 with an overall value of $15,656,386. The decline in overall value reflected a 13.4 percent decline in per pound value as well as a 20 percent decline in pounds landed.

“One significant factor that contributed to the decline in softshell clam landings was a closure of harvest areas between the Canadian border and Mount Desert Island associated with Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) late in the season,” said Kohl Kanwit, Director of the DMR Bureau of Public Health. While the closure was minimized as much as possible through rigorous testing, many areas were closed for 2 to 4 weeks to ensure public health and safety.   

Maine’s elver fishery was again by-far the most lucrative of Maine’s commercial fisheries on a per pound basis at $1,430.51 a pound. Maine harvesters netted 9,400 of the 9,688 available pounds of quota for an overall value of $13,446,828, an increase of more than $2 million from the previous year. The overall value ranked the elver fishery as Maine’s fourth highest.

“While we can take this moment to celebrate the great value of Maine’s marine resources, we cannot lose site of the signs of change,” said Commissioner Keliher. “The agency and the industry must work to not only safeguard our iconic lobster fishery but also to work together on solutions that ensure the health and resiliency of all Maine fisheries.”

More landings data can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercial-fishing/.

These are the 4 most pressing marine management issues in the Gulf of Maine

March 3, 2017 — For people prone to the lure of the ocean and who enjoy communing with other marine-minded people, there aren’t many gatherings anywhere as engaging as the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport.

The forum, held each year at the Samoset Resort, offers a wide variety of topical sessions for the hundreds of people who attend — fishermen and their families, mostly, but also state and federal regulators, politicians, advocates, industry representatives and a few journalists. The 3-day event officially got underway yesterday but, as is the case every year, the meatier sessions and events are scheduled to take place on Friday (today) and Saturday (tomorrow).

This year, there are four topics that stand out in terms of the impact they are having (or soon could have) on Mainers who make their living from the sea, or in what they reveal about the health and vitality of the Gulf of Maine. They are:

1) The state’s efforts to enforce lobster fishing laws. Maine’s $495 million lobster fishery has long had an undercurrent of territorial disputes, the intensity of which ebbs and flows over the span of years. This past year has seen a particularly steep escalation of a ‘trap war’ in the waters between the Blue Hill peninsula and Mount Desert Island, prompting Operation Game Thief to offer $15,000 to anyone who offers Marine Patrol information that helps with the investigation. Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Department of Marine Resources, will address the state’s efforts to step up enforcement when he speaks at 9 a.m. Friday at the Maine Lobstermen’s Association annual meeting.

2) The rebounding scallop fishery in the Gulf of Maine. The recovery over the past decade of the scallop fishery in the gulf’s state and federal waters runs counter to well-known stories about fisheries surging and then slowing to a trickle. Annual catches in state waters have roughly tripled since the mid-2000s, while in the past five years prices offered to fishermen have risen above $10 per pound and continue to climb. Increased competition that has sprung up in the federal Northern Gulf of Maine scallop management area, however, has prompted many Maine fishermen to raise concerns about ensuring the resource is fished sustainably, and to lobby for tighter catch restrictions on larger boats from out of state. Regulators and fishermen will hold a session on the topic at 1 p.m. Friday.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Shuckin’ and thrivin’: Scallop futures in the Gulf of Maine

March 2, 2017 — The niche northern Gulf of Maine scallop fleet brought its territory back from the brink and now hopes to keep it that way.

New England’s small-boat scallopers are not just diving and dragging for their catch. They’re driving to change the way it’s managed.

“My biggest worry is that we just have a fishery to work on,” says Kristan Porter, 46, a scallop fisherman and advisory panel member from Cutler, Maine.

In Maine, the state scallop season opens in the early winter, on or around Dec. 1, and typically stays open through March. Just outside the three-mile line is the federal northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery, which is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council and extends about halfway down the coast of Massachusetts. The territory is vast, but the productive areas are small compared to the prolific array of scallop grounds to the south.

“If we manage our fishery correctly here [in Maine state lines], then those scallops will work their way outside the 3-mile line,” says Porter, who drags for scallops on the 40-foot Brandon Jay.

The sector was established when the New England Fishery Management Council adopted Amendment 11 to the Atlantic sea scallop fishery management plan, effective June 1, 2008, initially creating two federal permits — IFQs and limited access days at sea.

“We had a bunch of people from Maine who didn’t qualify at all. So they created this northern Gulf of Maine permit,” says Mary Beth Tooley, at an at-large member of the council and the chairwoman of the scallop advisory panel.

In New England, the IFQ and days at sea (limited access) fleets historically fished Georges Bank and down to the Mid-Atlantic on scallop grounds that had been rebounding since 2004, with more areas being opened thanks to video mapping that showed they were burgeoning with biomass and healthy enough for a directed fishery. Since then, the New Bedford fleet’s lucrative landings have kept their home port at the top of the list of the nation’s ports by value.

At the time of the Amendment 11 adoption, the northern Gulf of Maine territory was not worth much. But those few fishermen with history in the area believed they might be able to bring it back with good stewardship. They asked for and were granted a low hard TAC of 70,000 pounds (compared with a fleetwide limit of about 40 million pounds) with a limit of 200 pounds a day and a 10-1/2-foot dredge.

“The people who have traditionally fished there, they want it to stay carefully managed,” says Janice Plante, public affairs officer for the New England council.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MAINE: DMR Seeks Input from Eastern Maine Lobster Harvesters Potentially Impacted by Federal Regulations

March 2, 2017 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources is seeking information from lobster harvesters in eastern Maine who might be impacted by regulations under consideration by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) which are designed to protect corals in the Gulf of Maine.

Two of the proposed Gulf of Maine coral protection areas are Outer Schoodic Ridge and southwest of Mount Desert Rock. One of the proposed management options is a total ban on fishing. The Department has proposed to exempt the lobster and crab fisheries in these two coral protection areas.

DMR has already provided information to the NEFMC compiled from dealer and harvester landings reports and industry input that gave an estimate of the economic impact of closing these areas as well as the number of potentially impacted boats and harbors.

In January the NEFMC voted that it was too early in the development of the Draft Amendment to consider an exemption and expressed an interest in more data and analyses of the fisheries in these two areas.

DMR is now seeking to gather more in-depth data that can be used to inform the federal regulations. “Maine’s lobster industry provided valuable data when the federal whale rules were developed, which resulted in much better informed regulations,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“The areas under consideration are very important to Maine’s lobster industry and we are again working closely with industry to ensure that these regulations take into account the full impact of these proposed regulations.”

Harvesters who fish in either or both of these areas, are being asked complete a survey, available on the DMR website here. “The survey results will provide the department and NEFMC with data that can demonstrate the impact that these measures would have on the lobster fishery and the Downeast Maine economy,” said Commissioner Keliher.  

There will be an informational session for industry at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum at the Samoset Resort on Saturday morning, March 4, 2017 at 9 am in the Rockport Room.  Industry is invited to learn more about the proposed closures, the timeline for decision-making, and how to participate in the process.

MAINE: Fishermen air concerns about floating wind turbine test site off Monhegan

March 2, 2017 — Locals and fishermen wondering how floating wind turbines will affect fishing grounds and the feel of their town had a chance to air questions and grievances to people behind the project this week.

“We need the resource to fish on, but we also need to be able to get to the resource,” said Richard Nelson, a 30-plus-year lobsterman based out of Friendship. “It’s a balancing act. Renewables are positive unto themselves, but as fisherman we have to be able to get to the fish.”

Fishermen worry about how close they’ll be able to get to the turbines without entering restricted space, and also want to avoid getting traps stuck on underwater wires and moorings. Those boundaries likely will be set by the U.S. Coast Guard much later in the planning process.

The University of Maine’s vision for an offshore energy farm made up of floating turbines is grinding toward fruition, scheduled to start running electricity to the grid by 2019.

The U.S. Department of Energy, University of Maine Advanced Structures Composites Center and its partners hosted a pair of informational sessions on Tuesday at the St. George Town Hall, drawing a few dozen locals. The group is scheduled to host a similar session Wednesday, March 1, on Monhegan Island, where some residents have expressed trepidation or outright opposition to the selected location of the pair of turbines.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News