Saving Seafood

Whales are dying. Ropes from lobster traps are partly to blame. That’s put lobsters — and the people who catch them — in the crosshairs of conservation groups.

October 12, 2022 — On a Wednesday afternoon last month, Sam Sewall snagged a lobster from a trap in York Harbor in Maine, and measured its carapace like a shoe salesman sizing a squirmy toddler’s foot. About 100 miles to the south, New England Aquarium marine scientist Sharon Hsu peered through the bubble windows of a small plane flying off Cape Cod, searching for whales. And in an alley behind Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay, chef Michael Serpa received a delivery of 20 pounds of fresh lobster tail, knuckle, and claw meat.

Out on the water, Sewall and his father, Mark, pulled up six traps in 90 minutes. After sizing and surveying each lobster, they tossed most back — they were too small, or breeders — and returned to dock with just a dozen lobsters. Sewall grimaced. New federal regulations on lobster fishing were likely coming, Sewall knew, and he worried about what they would mean for his livelihood.

Up in the air 15 miles off Nantucket, Hsu spotted the telltale heart-shaped blow of an endangered North Atlantic right whale. It swam slowly, with several rope lines trailing behind it.

Hsu had seen this whale before, similarly entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was Snow Cone, and this was her fifth entanglement. Hsu knew Snow Cone would not likely survive.

“It was like a punch in the gut,” Hsu said, echoing a lobsterman she’s never met.

Meanwhile, Serpa took the lobster meat and began cleaning, chopping, and prepping it for that night’s dinner. There were lobster rolls and lobster spaghetti to prepare to fill the eager bellies of his guests. Demand has been so strong lately, he can practically name his price.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

MAINE: Maine lawmakers call for more hearings on whale rules

October 11, 2022 — Members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government to hold more hearings on whale protection rules to gauge the impact on the state’s commercial fishing industry.

In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine, said the federal agency’s decision to hold only one public hearing last week on the new regulations “unacceptable” and called for more engagement with the lobster industry.

The lawmakers wrote that the 90% risk reduction target fisheries regulators are pursuing over the next two years to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales would be a “death knell” for lobstermen.

Read the full article at Center Square

Right rules should be based on science to protect whales and lobstermen

October 10, 2022 — In recent weeks, Maine’s lobster industry has faced a series of unexpected challenges. Lobstermen, along with Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation, were outraged about a warning from an environmental group that urged consumers not to buy lobsters from Maine because of the risk the fishery poses to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

This red-listing was followed by news from federal regulators that they planned to place further restrictions on lobster harvesting much sooner than expected. They planned to do so with no meetings in Maine, which is home to the vast majority of the nation’s lobster fishermen. Mills and the state’s congressional delegation successfully lobbied for a meeting here, which was held Wednesday night in Portland. They are now asking for another meeting in Downeast Maine.

That anger was apparent at the session held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

NOAA Sea Grant announces $2.1M to support aquaculture research and extension in Maine

October 10, 2022 — NOAA Sea Grant has announced $2.1 million to fund four projects that advance aquaculture research and extension to support sustainable aquaculture in Maine. The projects are part of a larger $14 million NOAA Sea Grant investment to strengthen aquaculture across the United States.

Investigators from the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, UMaine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, and Maine Sea Grant will lead projects to develop feed for finfish, improve Atlantic sea scallop hatchery techniques, diversify lumpfish broodstock, and advance the work of the Maine Aquaculture Hub, respectively.

“Innovation and diversification in Maine’s aquaculture industry have created new jobs and economic opportunities in our state. We welcome this investment from NOAA, which will support the ongoing, cutting-edge research by UMaine scientists and students. These projects will help to increase the sustainability and economic viability of aquaculture in coastal communities here in Maine and across the country,” said U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King in a joint statement.

“Year after year, the Sea Grant program protects thousands of acres of coastal ecosystems, generates hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development, and creates thousands of jobs across the country,” said Rep. Chellie Pingree in a press release. “As a longtime supporter of the Sea Grant program and an advocate for it through my role on the House Appropriations Committee, I’m thrilled aquaculture projects in Maine are being invested in. This funding is yet another example of how Sea Grant is fostering innovation and entrepreneurship to support Maine’s working waterfront and coastal communities.”

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Local fishermen voice frustration in public meeting with NOAA

October 7, 2022 — Mainers had a chance to voice their opinion on how the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) should modify its plan to protect whales. Many from the coastal and fishing community traveled for this meeting.

Gov. Janet Mills, Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Angus King, Rep. Jared Golden, Rep. Chellie Pingree, and former Gov. Paul LePage spoke or had someone speak on their behalf.

Read the full article at WMTW

Federal officials confronted by Maine lobstermen, leaders over rules to protect whales

October 7, 2022 — Frustration and anger from Maine lobstermen and elected leaders is being directed at federal regulators.

It happened at the only in-person meeting with federal officials about proposed rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

More than 500 people packed into a USM auditorium as they hoped to tell NOAA exactly how they feel about these rules.

“This is about wiping us off the map,” said one person early into the public comment section of the meeting.

Read the full article at Fox 23

MAINE: ‘You have failed us’: Maine lobstermen face federal regulators over new rules

October 7, 2022 — There were some tense moments during a public hearing with Maine lobstermen and federal regulators Wednesday night at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

The meeting comes after Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and members of Maine’s congressional delegation requested the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) visit the state to discuss tougher rules on the lobster industry.

“Our goal is to implement the approaches under the law to comply with the law in ways that have the least effect on fishing communities,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said.

The new regulations include increasing zone closures and limits on traps and vertical lines.

They are all part of an increased effort to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from getting entangled in fishing gear.

Read the full article News Center Maine

MAINE: The Maine lobster issue demonstrates just how tricky sustainability is

October 7, 2022 — Maine lobsters may not be as sustainable as we think.

In September, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program downgraded the American lobster to its red list. The designation advises consumers to avoid eating them as “they’re caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.” The organization monitors the environmental impact of wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in US stores (pdf).

The organization says that the fishery poses a risk (pdf) to endangered North Atlantic right whales, with concerns that entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of serious injury and death to these marine mammals. The group recommends avoiding lobster caught by traps from the Gulf of Maine and other areas of New England and Canada.

American lobsters—also known as Maine lobsters—have a history of being sustainably harvested to help maintain a healthy lobster population. The bulk of lobsters are caught between June and December. Maine has established trap limits, size limits, and, to protect pregnant lobsters, if lobstermen or women find a lobster with eggs, they are expected to cut a V shape into one the tail before returning it to the ocean to let others know not to harvest it.

But lobster harvesting affects the right whale population, illustrating how sustainability is about more than just the depletion of a given species, but also about the entire ecosystem. “Sustainability has a bunch of different ways to look at it… The lobsters themselves are doing fairly well,” said Gib Brogan, the fisheries campaign manager at Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization. “The other side of sustainability is looking at the effect of the fishery on the oceans.”

Read the full article at Quartz

Congressman wants to halt aquarium money after lobster spat

October 7, 2022 — A congressman from Maine said Wednesday he will file a proposal to withhold federal money from a California aquarium and conservation group that has recommended seafood consumers avoid buying lobster.

The move from Democratic Rep. Jared Golden came a week after a spat with Republican former Rep. Bruce Poliquin about support for Maine’s lobster industry. Golden, Poliquin and independent candidate Tiffany Bond are running to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which is home to many lobster fishermen.

Poliquin called on Golden to return a donation of $667 from Julie Packard, the executive director of Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium runs Seafood Watch, a conservation group that makes sustainability recommendations for seafood consumers. The group put lobster from the U.S. and Canada on its “red list” of seafood to avoid last month due to the threat posed to rare whales by entanglement in fishing gear.

Golden said Wednesday that he is presenting a bill to withhold any future federal funding from the aquarium and its programs. The aquarium has received more than $190 million in federal money since 2001, he said.

“This organization’s red list designation of American lobster could have a serious impact on the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working lobstermen, and I believe Congress must do something about it,” Golden said.

Read the full article at the Washington Post

MAINE: Maine’s congressional delegation introduces bill to strip Monterey Bay Aquarium of federal funding

October 7, 2022 — Two U.S. representatives of the state of Maine – U.S. Senator Angus King and U.S. Representative Jared Golden – have introduced a bill that would pull federal funding from the Monterey Bay Aquarium in response to its decision to red list Maine lobster.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch released a new set of updates in September 2022 that criticized the North American lobster fishery by placing it in the “avoid” category – largely due to the potential danger its lines pose to the approximately 300 remaining North Atlantic right whales left on earth.

Read the full article SeafoodSource