Saving Seafood

MAINE: Maine approves lobster innovation fund as study reveals high costs of ropeless gear

August 4, 2023 — The U.S. state of Maine recently passed an act to create a Lobster Innovation Fund to provide financing to commercial fishermen to test new lobster fishing technologies, just days before the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) released a report finding a full transition to ropeless lobster gear would cost the fishery in more ways than just higher equipment costs.

The new fund, created through a law signed by Maine Governor Janet Mills on 27 July, would pay lobstermen to test new gear to learn how the gear would impact their fishing. The testing would add to the growing body of scientific data obtained through studies of alternative in both Maine and Massachusetts.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Leeman: Maine must hit pause on offshore wind turbines

August 2, 2023 — You wouldn’t buy a house without an inspection, so why would we fill the Gulf of Maine with wind turbine superstructures without understanding how they interact with the marine environment?

Offshore wind energy features too many unknowns to proceed at this point with widescale ocean industrialization. That’s why my organization, the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has joined with partner organizations to call on state and federal authorities to reset our renewable energy policy.

The state of Maine is developing a floating offshore wind research array at a 15-square-mile site in the Gulf of Maine. NEFSA and its allies are asking state and federal authorities to delay any further development until experts have monitored and studied the research array. We should rescind the existing Gulf of Maine Call Area and conduct an environmental review for the Gulf of Maine before identifying any commercial wind energy areas.

I’ve been a fishing boat captain for over 20 years. I sailed out of New Bedford, Mass., and have scores of fishermen in my family lineage. From generation to generation, we have upheld a legacy of environmental stewardship and economic dynamism that has maintained the fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine while providing billions for New England’s economy. But every principle of stewardship and hard work we have upheld to preserve our maritime heritage is in jeopardy and could force our region into oblivion.

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

MAINE: Board votes to consider raising quota of valuable baby eels that Maine fisherman can catch

August 2, 2023 — Regulators voted Tuesday to consider raising the amount of a valuable baby eel that can be harvested from Maine’s waterways, though conservationists say the eel populations are declining and need better protection.

A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate regulatory panel that manages the baby eel fishing industry and other fisheries, voted unanimously to consider raising the total annual quota of slightly less than 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilograms) of the tiny eels that has been in place for nearly a decade.

The eels are typically worth more than $2,000 per pound because of their value to Asian aquaculture companies, which raise them to maturity and sell them for use in Japanese restaurants around the world.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

MAINE: Maine fishermen gather in opposition to the push for offshore wind development

July 31, 2023 — Dozens of Mainers met up on Bailey Island to support fisheries and to show opposition to offshore wind development as legislation signed into law this week moves the project forward.

LD 1895 “An Act Regarding the Procurement of Energy from Offshore Wind Resources,” signed by Gov. Janet Mills, works to lay out a plan to develop the offshore wind project responsibly, add strong standards for workers, both on and off the water, as well as avoid disruption of important fishing grounds.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

MAINE: Maine legislature passes bill to develop offshore wind energy industry in the Gulf of Maine

July 30, 2023 — On July 26, 2023, the Maine Legislature passed amended bill “An Act Regarding the Procurement of Energy from Offshore Wind Resources” (LD 1895), which aims to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine while maintaining good-paying jobs for Maine workers. The bill has been sent to Governor Janet Mills.

LD 1895 is sponsored by Senator Mark Lawrence, who stated, “Record-setting temperatures, dangerous and unpredictable storms and rising ocean levels and temperatures demonstrate the urgency of developing offshore wind and meeting our state’s goals for renewable energy. I’m grateful to my fellow legislators for supporting this bill. LD  1895 represents a detailed path to smart offshore wind development that will benefit our environment, Maine workers and coastal communities.”

Read the full article at WAGM

MAINE: Maine lawmakers endorse proposal that would jumpstart offshore wind projects

July 25, 2023 — Maine is poised to launch an offshore wind program that would meet clean energy goals and produce enough power for about 900,000 homes from floating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine.

The legislation, which was endorsed by lawmakers Tuesday, calls for requests for proposals to be issued for 3,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind turbines by 2040. That’s enough electricity to power about half of Maine’s electricity load.

“This bill means jobs. It means lower, more stable energy prices, while at the same time addressing climate change. We need to pass this bill now,” said Democratic Sen. Mark Lawrence, the bill’s sponsor.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

MAINE: Family and friends recall missing Down East lobsterman’s love of fishing

July 24, 2023 — Three days after he was reported missing and his empty boat was found with the motor still running, family and friends of a Steuben lobsterman are losing hope of seeing the young man safely brought back to shore.

Tylar Michaud, 18, was last seen Friday morning heading out for the day to haul and set traps near Petit Manan Point, according to the Maine Marine Patrol. He was reported missing about 5 p.m. Friday when he failed to return. On Sunday the U.S. Coast Guard ended its participation in the search.

Calls to the U.S. Coast Guard Northern New England Sector were not immediately returned on Sunday.

MAINE: Multi-million dollar bill to support lobster industry advances

July 17, 2023 — Senator Susan Collins has announced she has advanced more than $35 million in an appropriations bill for the next fiscal year to support Maine’s lobster industry.

The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and still needs the approval of Congress.

$30 million would go to the Atlantic Marine States Fisheries Commission for Right Whale related research and monitoring.

Read the full article at WABI

MAINE: Haddock quotas for fishermen have been drastically cut. What does that mean for haddock eaters?

July 10, 2023 — There is a haddock problem swimming around Gulf of Maine waters.

But don’t blame the problem on fishermen catching too many haddock, say Maine commercial fishing advocates like Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. In fact, they have been fishing in accordance with mandated quotas for decades, he said, regulatory measures that have returned the haddock stocks in the Gulf of Maine to sustainable levels.

The problem, rather, is grounded in inaccurate accounting of the boom-and-bust cycles of haddock biomass, that is, how many fish are swimming in the Gulf of Maine at any given time. In April, the New England Fishery Management Council, a regional body that uses industry and scientific data to recommend quotas that restrict how many metric tons of regulated species Maine fishermen can haul in each year, announced a cut in haddock quotas. It represents an 80-plus percent reduction in allowable catch; the new season began on May 1.

To understand this year’s drastic cut, you need to go back several years: The 2022 catch limits were based on a 2019 stock assessment, according to New England Fishery Management Council member Dr. Jamie Cournane speaking in a podcast hosted by Martens. In hindsight, the 2019 assessment was found to be bloated because, among several factors, the “recruits” (the juvenile fish swimming with the 2019 cohort) matured to be smaller than anticipated. Thus the 2023 limits, ultimately calculated in pounds, were set on an assessment conducted in 2021 that reflects the skinnier fish.

Fishermen have formally questioned the 2021 assessment because they say they are seeing many haddock in the Gulf of Maine. Not only is haddock a significant revenue source for them, but the fishermen fear that they’ll be restricted from catching other groundfish – particularly American plaice and grey sole – that also swim near the bottom of the sea. Say, for example, that fishermen fill their quota for haddock by August. They’d then have a hard time taking a trip to catch plaice or grey sole because haddock bycatch, likely, would also be in the nets.

Cournane and her colleagues have recommended an emergency increase in haddock catches for Maine fishermen to allow them to keep fishing for other groundfish species; the emergency increase would allow for wiggle room in the net for a few haddock as bycatch. The increase is small and on par with conservation efforts mandated by federal law, she said. According to Janice M. Plante, Council spokesperson, no conservation groups spoke out against the emergency measure in April.

Read the full article at The Press Herald

Maine lobstermen see their plight reflected in Alaska salmon trollers’ saga

July 5, 2023 — Fresh off legal victories, lobstermen in the U.S. state of Maine and salmon trollers across the country in Alaska are finding kinship in a shared narrative.

In a letter sent to the Alaska Trollers Association, Maine Lobstermen’s Association President Kristan Porter said both organizations had fought similar battles against environmentalists who want to end commercial fishing over concern about the threat it poses to whales.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource