Saving Seafood

Maine scallop fishery to see cutbacks to ensure conservation

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — October 2, 2015 — A plan to place new restrictions on Maine’s scalloping industry is the right way to ensure that the fishery keeps rebuilding, some fishermen say.

Maine’s meaty scallops, which are harvested by drag boats and cold-water divers, are prized in restaurants and fish markets. Their value per pound surged to an all-time high last year, frequently topping $20 – several dollars more than other scallops.

The fishery is also on the mend, as fishermen caught nearly 4.9 million pounds of the scallops last year, up from less than 700,000 pounds five years earlier. Catches sometimes topped 10 million pounds in the 1990s.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Disbursement of Groundfish Disaster Funds (Bin 3)

October 1, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The final installment of groundfish fishery disaster aid, commonly known as Bin 3, has been released to four of the affected states (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) by NOAA Fisheries. Bin 3 represents the final third of $32.8 million available to assist the groundfish industry. This action allows the states to move forward with the development of individual spend plans for economic assistance to include direct aid to permit holders and crew.  

For more information on the spend plans, contact:

Maine: Meredith Mendelson (207) 624-6553 

New Hampshire: Cheri Patterson (603) 868-1095

Massachusetts: Melanie Griffin (617) 626-1528

Connecticut: David Simpson (860) 434-6043 

New York and Rhode Island continue to work with NOAA Fisheries to develop and complete grant applications to benefit affected fishers and their families.

More information is available on our website.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-6175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Credit: NOAA

 

MAINE: State seeks to reduce waiting times for lobster licenses

ELLSWORTH, Maine — September 28, 2015 — Fishermen are used to having to wait until they catch something, but there are many in Maine who don’t think it is right that they should have to wait a decade or more to catch lobster.

The state Department of Marine Resources agrees that the waiting list for lobster licenses in most fishing zones along the coast is too long and, if possible, something should be done to reduce the time it takes to get a license.

At a meeting last week in Ellsworth — one of several DMR has held over the past month along the coast — Commissioner Patrick Keliher told a group of nearly 60 people that he wants to make waits predictable, so that applicants will know roughly how long it will be before they get their license. But, he added, the department wants to avoid increasing the number of active lobster traps in the fishery, which he said already is being “fully exploited” by licensed fishermen.

“What do people on the waiting list want?” Keliher asked the group at Ellsworth High School, most of whom were fishermen with and waiting for lobster licenses. “They want predictability.”

Read the full story from the Bangor Daily News

Officials: Key fishing area for Atlantic cod in dire shape

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — September 29, 2015 — One of the two critical areas where New England fishermen search for cod may be in even worse shape than suspected.

Fishing managers already knew Georges Bank’s cod were thin. New data from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center says research boats caught less of the fish per trip this past spring than all but one spring season dating back to 1968.

Georges Bank is a broad swath of elevated sea floor off of Massachusetts. The Gulf of Maine cod fishery is the other key cod ground and regulators say it is also in dire shape.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at My Fox Boston

Fishermen worry as black sea bass stake New England claim

September 25, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – As waters warm off the coast of New England, black sea bass are moving north and, fishermen say, threatening the region’s most valuable aquatic species: the lobster.

The influx of sea bass – among a number of species that are appearing in greater numbers off of Maine and New Hampshire as ocean temperatures climb – has some fishermen and lobstermen saying the best solution is to ease restrictions on catching the newcomers.

The sea bass prey on lobsters, a much more economically important commercial species and a key piece of New England’s culture, and quotas that have drifted downward in recent years should be increased, fishermen said.

“What we need is a major increase in the allowable catch, both commercially and recreationally, because black sea bass are wiping out your lobsters,” said Marc Hoffman, a Long Island, New York, recreational bass fisherman.

Hoffman, who sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission advisory panel for sea bass, said the time to raise the quota is overdue. He said it is particularly important in southern New England waters, where fishing managers say the population of lobsters has fallen to the lowest levels on record.

Black sea bass are a sought-after sport fish, but they are also popular as food and are growing in commercial value – federal statistics show black sea bass were worth a record of more than $8.5 million in 2013.

Scientists with the commission say more research is needed to determine just how abundant black sea bass are in New England waters. But about a quarter of the black sea bass caught in 2013 came ashore in New England; the fish is more often caught in the mid-Atlantic states, especially New Jersey and Virginia.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at New Jersey Herald

 

Coast Guard rescues 2 Maine fishermen whose boat sank

September 25, 2015 — BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine — Two fishermen were rescued Friday after their boat sank 50 miles east of Portland.

The Coast Guard said it received an emergency beacon signal about 3:30 p.m. from the fishing vessel Jeanne C.

The Coast Guard said it was unable to raise the crew by radio, so it dispatched two cutters, a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Boothbay Harbor and a helicopter from Cape Cod. The crew from Boothbay Harbor spotted a life raft with two men on it and took them to the pier in Boothbay Harbor, where they were met by an ambulance.

Read the full story at Portland Press Herald

 

MAINE: Fishing managers to decide about cutting scallop days

September 28, 2015 — Maine fishery regulators are collecting the final public comments about a plan to cut back the number of scallop fishing days.

The proposal would cut back the number of scallop fishing days in the southern scalloping zone from 70 to 60 days. The state held a series of public hearings on the proposal and is accepting comments until Sunday.

The proposal says the upcoming scallop fishing season would begin in early December and end in mid-April.

Read the full story from the Associated Press here

 

Fish like a girl: This 23-year-old lobsterwoman from Maine is her own boss

September 24, 2015 — Only about four percent of the 5,000 lobster licences granted by the state of Maine are currently owned by women. Of the 205 women who make up that four percent, 73 of them are under the age of 35.

“It’s frustrating, but I don’t care,” Samuels said. “The more I do it, the more people get it. The guys at the harbor are really nice. It’s mostly older men, yacht people and people at the farmer’s market where I sell on Fridays who are surprised that I’m a woman running my own boat.”

Samuels’ father, Matt, has fished out of Rockport for nearly 40 years. Samuels was born at a hospital down the road, and before she ever went home, Matt brought her down to the wharf. By the time she was seven years old, she had her student lobster fishing license. By 13, she’d fished the 200 hours necessary to get her commercial licence. A year later, at 14, she got her first boat.

“I called it the Miss Understood,” she said. “I thought I was really clever.”

Samuels is still living with her father in Searsmont, a town about 17 miles inland from Rockport Harbor, while she saves money to buy land and build her own place.

“I always knew I wanted to fish,” she said. “Though I went through a phase at 15 or 16 where I was like, ‘This is so much work, I don’t understand why I do this.’ It was one of those things where everyone would come back to school after the summer and talk about going to water parks and stuff and I’d be like, ‘I baited bags.’”

Lobstering is hard, physical work, and requires at least two people. The sternman baits the traps and measures the lobsters as the captain drives the boat and pulls up the buoys. Sadie’s sister, Molly, is her sternman—woman, rather—during the summer when she’s not at college.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Maine Sen. Collins, Rep. Poliquin write to NOAA on Marine Monument

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — September 24, 2015 — Maine Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Bruce Poliquin have written a letter to NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck expressing concern over proposals to designate marine National Monuments in the Atlantic Ocean, and calling for a “thorough, open” public process before such a proposal is implemented.

The letter, dated September 14, notes that the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), which currently is responsible for managing many of the areas under discussion, “has been proactive in its stewardship” of the area, particularly the Cashes Ledge region of the Gulf of Maine. It notes that the “deliberative and democratic” process that consults “scientists, public officials, fishermen, regulators, and other stakeholders” has allowed Cashes Ledge to “flourish.”

A National Monument designation in these areas, the letter states, “could well undermine the NEFMC’s longstanding, cooperative, and effective management systems and its years of hard work to develop balanced management plans in the region.” To prevent this, the letter calls for additional public hearings hosted by NOAA before any monument plan is implemented.

Read the letter here

 

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Postpones Development of Draft Amendment 3

September 24, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Postpones Development of Draft Amendment 3

Portsmouth, NH – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section has postponed further development of Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp until next summer. The intent of the amendment was to address increased effort in the fishery through a variety of management options including limited entry.

“Given the collapsed status of the resource and the fact that the fishery is currently under a moratorium, the Section decided to postpone further action on the amendment until Maine can address over-capacity in its fishery,” stated Section Chair Michael Armstrong from Massachusetts. 

Maine has committed to develop a draft proposal to address over-capacity in the fishery. As it develops the proposal, Maine will seek the input of interested stakeholders, including fishery managers, state legislative representatives, and the fishing industry. The Section is scheduled to meet December 7th (location to be determined) to review the 2015 stock status update, receive Advisory Panel input, and set fishery specifications for the 2016 fishing season. Additionally, Maine will provide a preliminary update of its proposal at the December 7th meeting.

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