Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: South Shore ground fishermen skeptical of plan to use digital cameras for monitoring mandate

June 9, 2016 — A program to get New England fishermen using video technology instead of human monitors to track their adherence to catch limits and document fish discarded from boats is getting mixed reviews in South Shore fishing ports.

Longtime commercial fishermen from Marshfield and Scituate said the project to equip some groundfishing boats with digital cameras comes with numerous pitfalls, including cost burdens and concerns about how video footage would be used.

Beginning this week, up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine and Cape Cod will use three to four cameras to document fish handling on their vessels. At the end of each fishing trip, boat captains will send hard drives to third-party reviewers, who will view the footage and determine how much fish was discarded.

The Nature Conservancy is overseeing the project and hailed it Tuesday as a “new era in fisheries monitoring” that would be less costly than the current federal mandate, which requires having human monitors aboard boats on a percentage of fishing trips – at a cost to the fishermen of more than $700 a day.

Last December, South Shore fishermen threw their support behind a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Cause of Action on behalf of Northeast Fishery Sector 13, which represents fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire down to North Carolina. The federal lawsuit challenges the legality of the federal mandate and came in the aftermath of news that government funding to cover the cost of monitors was running out.

Christopher McGuire, The Nature Conservancy’s marine program director, said his group has begun working with National Marine Fisheries Service personnel in hopes of winning approval for the video-monitoring program.

If video monitoring can deliver verifiable data at an affordable cost, McGuire expects federal approval to come within two years.

South Shore fisherman Ed Barrett questioned whether there would be any cost savings, saying the camera equipment would cost thousands of dollars.

“Then someone has to sit in a cubicle and watch the video,” said Barrett, who lives in Marshfield. “ In a multi-species complex like we have in New England, it’s impossible for the video to pick out which fish are being discarded.”

Read the full story at the Patriot Ledger

 

Regulators revisit chance of reopening Maine shrimp fishery

June 9, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Interstate fishing regulators are revisiting the possibility of reopening Maine’s shuttered shrimp fishery, which has been closed due to factors stemming from warming oceans.

Maine shrimp were once a popular seafood item in New England, but regulators shut the fishery down in 2013 when catch cratered.

Scientists say warming ocean temperatures are inhospitable for the shrimp, and make it difficult for their populations to recover.

Fishery managers with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are opening up the possibility of new regulations to manage the fishery. Fishery Management Plan Coordinator Max Appelman says new regulations would address issues such as overcapacity in the fishery.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NBC Bangor

Governor LePage Sends Letter of Support for Maine Lobster to European Union

June 9, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Governor Paul R. LePage today released a letter to Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director General for Environment of the European Commission, strongly encouraging the EU to deny the Swedish government’s attempt to have American Lobster listed as an invasive species.

Governor LePage reiterated a major point included in a response to a Swedish government risk assessment by a team of biologists from Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia. “The risk of establishment is minimal, and a prohibition on import is not the appropriate measure of response at this time,” wrote Governor LePage.

His letter also highlighted weaknesses in the Swedish government’s risk assessment submitted to the European Union earlier this year. “The risk assessment study provides inadequate scientific basis for the petition and as such it should be denied,” wrote Governor LePage.

The Governor acknowledged the European Union’s interest in addressing risks to its marine resource, and stressed Maine’s shared commitment. “Like the EU, we take the risk of any possible ecological threats to our fisheries very seriously and fully appreciate that the European Union is seeking to protect the health of its own marine resources.”

Governor LePage underscored the need for solutions that will allow the continuation of trade that benefits the US, Canada and the EU. “Consumers are seeking a premium live product from Maine and North America,” wrote Governor LePage. “The US and Canada have developed a fishery that can provide this to Europe in a timely manner. Appropriate traceability and accountability within the supply chain can maximize benefits and minimize risk to EU importers, consumers and the environment.”

Read the full letter as a PDF

Maine Elver Harvesters Net Third Highest Overall Value in the History of the Fishery

June 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

With Maine’s 2016 elver season concluding yesterday at noon, the 982 harvesters who fished this season netted $13,388,040, which is the third highest value in the history of the fishery according to preliminary landings data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Maine DMR data indicates that the total was nearly $2 million more than was earned last season by the 920 active harvesters. While the average value this season was $1,435 per pound compared with $2,171 last season, it was the fourth highest on record.

Preliminary landings data indicates that harvesters caught 9,330 pounds of the 9,688 total statewide quota compared with 5,259 pounds harvested last season. According to DMR data, 285 harvesters reached their individual quota in 2016 compared to 104 in 2015.

“Law changes put in place for this season, including the elimination of the weekly 48-hour closure and the extension of the season by a week, have resulted in much better opportunity for Maine’s elver harvesters,” said Marine DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“Our success using the swipe card and quota systems to manage this fishery gave us the confidence to eliminate those restrictions and provide Maine harvesters a better chance to land their full quota.

“The swipe card and quota systems, which were implemented in 2014, also continue to provide reliable tools to prevent illegal trafficking,” said Commissioner Keliher. “This season there were only 7 violations related to illegal elver possession, which is a dramatic decline from the 219 recorded in 2013 before the new management system was implemented.

“With this innovative approach to management, Maine has proven its ability to strike a balance between protecting the resource and providing opportunity for Maine fishermen.”

Maine’s lucrative baby eel fishing season ending for year

June 7, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s lucrative fishing season for baby eels is wrapping up for 2016.

The season for baby eels, also called elvers, officially ends on Tuesday. The season for fishermen who have hit their quota for the year has already ended.

The eels are sold to Asian aquaculture companies who raise them to maturity for use as food.

Fishermen in the state were allowed to catch a little less than 10,000 pounds of elvers this year. State officials said fishermen were within 400 pounds of the quota by the end of May.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

Maine Names New Fisheries Division Director

June 7, 2016 — AUGUSTA, Maine — Francis Brautigam, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife head fisheries biologist in the southern Maine/Sebago region, was named IFW’s Fisheries and Hatcheries Division Director today.

“As commissioner and an avid angler, I am very pleased to have Francis as our director. He brings a combination of experience, passion and innovation to the position that will serve him and the state well,” said IFW Commissioner Chandler Woodcock.

For the past 13 years, Brautigam was the lead biologist in the southern Maine/Sebago region where he oversaw the management of Sebago Lake and other waters in York and Cumberland counties. During that time, Brautigam has overseen a change to the Sebago salmon fishery to a primarily native salmon fishery driven by natural reproduction in the Crooked River, from a hatchery-based salmon fishery.

Innovative fisheries management programs are a hallmark of Brautigam’s career as he has been instrumental in either creating or enhancing year-round fishing opportunities in southern Maine, creating sea-run trout fisheries through the stocking and management of coastal streams and rivers, and implementation and expansion of the state’s rainbow trout program.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

MAINE: Proposal to restore alewife habitat worries Vassalboro residents

June 6, 2016 — VASSALBORO, Maine — Larisa Batchelder and her family can fish, kayak or swim in their backyard, thanks to Outlet Stream, a tributary of the Sebasticook River that runs behind their home on Main Street.

But Batchelder and others are worried that could change this summer, when a proposed alewife restoration effort would remove the nearby Masse Dam, which has held the water in a pond for years and stabilized the water level in her backyard and those of her neighbors.

She and her neighbors are worried the change – the result of a state order regulating water release from China Lake – will reduce water levels, lower their property value and affect wildlife.

“We’ve waited all winter for this,” said Batchelder, 37. “We finally get to use the stream, and now someone is going to take it away.”

Officials associated with the project agree that the loss of the dam probably will mean the loss of Mill Pond, which it has been holding in place for years, but say it also will restore the health of the ecosystem.

The Alewife Restoration Initiative, a partnership of six environmental and government agencies, is aimed at allowing alewives, small migratory fish commonly used as lobster bait, to return to China Lake to spawn. Those involved with the project say the benefits are vast and that while water levels may change, there is no need for residents to be overly concerned.

Removing three dams and modifying the other three that stand between the lake and the Sebasticook will cause the stream to revert to a more natural state while still keeping with state regulations for minimum water flow, officials with the project say.

And while Mill Pond probably will disappear, the plan is expected to boost the health of the stream and of China Lake – which is damaged by phosphorus levels that the little fish are expected to help alleviate – as well as help restore alewives to their natural habitat, which now is blocked by dams that were put in place to power mills along the stream.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine must address the threat of ocean acidification

June 6, 2016 — Mainers have strong cultural, historic and economic ties to the ocean. The health of the ocean is critical to our way of life. Ocean acidification is a growing problem that could damage the health of the ocean and have drastic consequences for Maine’s coastal economy.

Ocean acidification results when there is increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere goes up, a large proportion of it – up to 40 percent – gets dissolved in rainwater. From here it ends up in lakes, ponds, rivers and ultimately the ocean.

In addition to the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, nutrients in the runoff from the land, like fertilizer, also increase the amount of carbon dioxide entering the ocean. The increased carbon dioxide reacts with the water to form carbonic acid, making it more acidic.

The increased acidity of sea water impacts marine life. One of the most important effects is how the acid changes the way organisms use calcium. Calcium is critical to the entire food chain in the Gulf of Maine. The planktons, which make up the base of the food chain, decrease in number as the acidity of the ocean rises, and this in turn has an impact on finned fish.

For shellfish, the impact is even more dramatic. The acid interferes with the way shellfish such as clams, mussels, scallops and even the iconic Maine lobster build their shells. It also can corrode shells. If we don’t find and adopt solutions, ocean acidification could cause major problems for most, if not all, of Maine’s commercial fisheries.

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald

NEWSDAY: New York fishers deserve fresh assessment of black sea bass

June 3, 2016 — Regulating fisheries isn’t easy. Commercial fishers need to make a living, but species must be protected from overfishing or everyone loses. Quotas and seasons are needed, but regulators must be flexible enough to adjust to unforeseen circumstances.

Those principles are in play now with black sea bass. Cold weather delayed their migration from Maine, so New York’s commercial fishers, most of them Long Islanders, caught only part of their quota in the period ending May 31. June is off-limits, part of a plan fishers helped craft to give equal access to those who fish in different seasons. The state Department of Environmental Conservation wisely agreed to reopen the season this month if final May data show unused quotas. The DEC also was smart to take the unusual step of letting pairs of fishers catch their daily allotment from the same boat, reducing costs of fuel.

Read the full editorial at Newsday

Fishermen from Maine to Cape start monitoring landings by camera

June 3, 2016 — A program to get New England fishermen using video technology instead of human monitors to track their adherence to catch limits and document fish discarded from boats is getting mixed reviews in South Shore fishing ports.

Longtime commercial fishermen from Marshfield and Scituate said the project to equip some groundfishing boats with digital cameras comes with numerous pitfalls, including cost burdens and concerns about how video footage would be used.

Beginning this week, up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine and Cape Cod will use three to four cameras to document fish handling on their vessels. At the end of each fishing trip, boat captains send hard drives to third party reviewers who view the footage and count the amount of fish that was discarded.

The Nature Conservancy is overseeing the project and hailed it Tuesday as a ‘‘new era in fisheries monitoring” that would be less costly than the current federal mandate that requires a percentage of fishing trips to carry at-sea monitors on their vessels at a cost of more than $700 a day.

Last December South Shore fishermen threw their support behind a lawsuit filed by the non-profit Cause of Action on behalf of Northeast Fishery Sector 13, which represents fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire down to North Carolina. The federal lawsuit challenges the legality of the federal mandate and came in the aftermath of news that government funding to cover the cost of monitors was running out.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times