Saving Seafood

Northern Shrimp Data Workshop Scheduled for April 5-7, 2017 in Portland, ME

February 22, 2017 — The following has been released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Northern Shrimp Data Workshop will be conducted April 5-7, 2017 at the Westin Portland Harborview in Portland, Maine. The Data Workshop is the first in a series of workshops to develop the next shrimp benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the health of the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population and inform management of this species. The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room. 

For data sets to be considered at the workshop, data must be sent in with accompanying methods description to Max Appelman (mappelman@asmfc.org) by March 17, 2017. All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Northern Shrimp Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment.  

The benchmark stock assessment will be peer reviewed in April 2018. For more information on submission and presentation of materials at the Data Workshop, or attending the Data Workshop, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.               

The Status of Maine Fisheries

February 22, 2017 — Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner will discuss the health of Maine’s fisheries – from scallops to herring, shrimp to lobster – and measures to protect them.

Guest: Patrick Keliher is a Gardiner native. He has spent much of his life in the woods and on the waters of Maine. His career has involved work as a registered Maine hunting guide and charter boat captain. He also served as Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine, the Executive Director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, and Acting Commissioner of the department before being appointed by Governor LePage to serve as Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner in 2012.

Listen to the interview and read the full story at Maine Public

Linda Bean once hoped to be to lobster what Perdue is to chicken. What happened?

February 21, 2017 — Linda Lorraine Bean, the other L.L. Bean, has spent the last decade promoting her lobster empire, one that merged the cachet of her family name with the popularity of the state’s top crustacean.

But last month, she took to the national spotlight for a different reason: to defend bankrolling a political action committee supporting Donald Trump, a move that sparked a boycott of L.L. Bean, where she sits on the board. Trump later tweeted his support for L.L. Bean, even giving Linda Bean’s business a shout-out.

Yet when the L.L. Bean heiress appeared on Fox News to defend both companies and the jobs they generate, what went unsaid was that Bean has largely stepped away from the lobster business. In the last two years, she has shifted her interests, selling off her Rockland lobster distributorship to her employees, unloading a controversial lobster processing facility, and shuttering some of her lobster roll eateries.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

MAINE: Marine worm, elver hearing is postponed

February 15, 2017 — The Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee is set to hold a public hearing on a controversial bill that could significantly alter two Maine fisheries.

The hearing was originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 13, but due to the snowstorm it has been postponed. An exact date and time should be posted later this week.

Rep. Robert Alley (D-Beals) is offering a bill (LD 115) that would ban dragging for mussels in any Washington County river and close Maine intertidal flats to worm harvesting from Dec. 1 through March 31. Last week, the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association sent a mailing to all marine worm license holders soliciting their opinions on the proposal.

Judging from responses posted on the association’s Facebook page and elsewhere online, there is little support for a closed season and a divided opinion on the dragging ban.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Maine regulators close scallop fishing areas

February 9, 2017 — Maine fishing regulators have closed several scallop fishing areas to protect shellfish from over harvest, reports Maine Public.

This comes at a time of high prices for the fishery, with scallops selling at $20 to $25 per pound. In Maine, ex-vessel prices hit record highs in mid-January.

The state Department of Marine Resources says the closures will take place in Casco Bay, Upper Damariscotta River, North Haven and mid-Penobscot Bay as well as the Lower Blue Hill Bay and Jericho Bay area, Chandler Bay and Head Harbor area.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

MAINE: DMR closes Lower Blue Hill Bay, Jericho Bay to scallop draggers

February 9, 2017 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources enacted an emergency rule in response to high numbers of sub-legal scallops and a higher-than-expected scallop harvest, closing Lower Blue Hill Bay, Jericho Bay, North Haven, Inner Cranberry Isles Area and Upper Damariscotta River to scalloping except by diving effective February 5, according to a DMR emergency ruling.

Mid Penobscot Bay is now limited to draggers on Mondays and Tuesdays, only.

“Unrestricted harvest during the remainder of the 2016-2017 fishing season in these specific areas may damage sub-legal scallops that could be caught during subsequent fishing seasons, as well as reducing broodstock essential to a recovery,” the press release states.

Read the full story at the Island Ad-Vantages

Maine Regulators Close Scallop Fishing Areas to Prevent Over-Harvesting

February 8, 2017 — Maine fishing regulators are implementing targeted closures in several scallop fishing areas to try to protect the valuable shellfish from over-harvest.

The state Department of Marine Resources says the closures will take place in Casco Bay, Upper Damariscotta River, North Haven and mid-Penobscot Bay as well as the Lower Blue Hill Bay and Jericho Bay area and the Chandler Bay and Head Harbor area.

Read the full story at Maine Public Radio

MAINE: DMR seeks nomination

February 7, 2017 — The Department of Marine Resources is seeking recommendations from fisheries associations and individuals for Gov. Paul LePage’s nomination of a person to fill an at-large seat on the New England Fishery Management Council currently held by a Maine resident.

Recommendations should be submitted to this department by Feb. 20 to provide nominees with adequate time to complete the required paperwork. Call 624-6553, fax 624-6024 or email your recommendations to Amy Sinclair at amy.sinclair@maine.gov.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

MAINE: Committee to hear marine worm, elver bills

February 8, 2017 — The Legislature is in full swing and next Monday, the Marine Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on a controversial bill that could significantly alter two Maine fisheries.

Rep. Robert Alley (D-Beals) is offering a bill (LD 115) that would ban dragging for mussels in any Washington County river and close Maine intertidal flats to worm harvesting from Dec. 1 through March 31. Last week, the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association sent a mailing to all marine worm license holders soliciting their opinions on the proposal.

Judging from responses posted on the association’s Facebook page and elsewhere online, there is little support for a closed season and a divided opinion on the dragging ban.

A few harvesters commented on Facebook that a four-month closure could cost Maine diggers the opportunity to ship worms to the busy European bait market during the winter. When digging resumed in the spring, they said, there would be little incentive for European buyers to come back into the Maine worm market. That could leave harvesters and dealers with an oversupply of worms for the domestic market, and that could reduce prices.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Lobsterman cleared of unlicensed fishing

February 8, 2017 — Every once in a while, a case comes along that serves as a reminder that Maine courts, like the state’s many law enforcement agencies, are a part of what is loosely called the justice system and that most of the people who work in the courts and law enforcement agencies want to see justice done.

Last week, Trenton lobsterman Jacob White found himself before Superior Court Justice Robert E. Murray facing a civil violation of the state’s marine resources laws for fishing without a lobster license last October. Also before the court was the state’s seizure of 156 pounds of lobster White landed at the Seal Cove wharf on the day Marine Patrol Officer Jeff Turcotte issued the summons for unlicensed lobstering.

White decided to fight the case, and, perhaps a surprise, he won.

“I take pride in being a good fisherman and an honest fisherman,” White told the judge.

Murray evidently agreed, dismissing the unlicensed fishing charge and ordering the state to pay White for his seized lobsters. Neither Turcotte nor his supervisor, Sgt. Troy Dow, seemed dissatisfied with the result.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander