Saving Seafood

Maine lobstermen, politicians rally in protest of fishing restrictions and boycott

September 12, 2022 — Maine lobstermen and their elected leaders are fighting back over two setbacks this week — one in court and one in the marketplace — that could threaten their livelihood.

At a rally in Portland on Friday, they protested a federal judge’s ruling allowing the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to impose limits on where and how lobstermen fish in order to protect endangered North Atlantic Right Whales.

Gov. Janet Mills said, “Regulations that are not based on sound science, not proven fact, and will often pose a risk of devastating Maine’s lobster industry! These guys are fed up. I’m fed up. We’re all fed up!”

The rally was also protesting Seafood Watch, a California-based sustainable seafood advocacy group now advising food distributors and restaurants to boycott Maine lobster.

Read the full article at WABI

Judge rules against lobstermen, says federal rules protecting right whales don’t overreach

September 9, 2022 — A US District Court judge in Washington, D.C., handed a victory Thursday to environmental groups and rejected a challenge to federal rules to protect North Atlantic right whales that was brought by New England lobstermen, who argued the requirements go too far and are based on flawed data, court records show.

The ruling prompted sharp reactions from both sides of the issue.

Maine Governor Janet Mills, criticized the judge’s decision as being “so out of touch with reality.”

“The National Marine Fisheries Service has consistently interpreted the data in the most conservative way possible, without accounting for the impact of ship strikes on whales and whale entanglements in Canadian snow crab gear, putting all of the burden for right whale protection squarely on the shoulders of Maine’s lobster fishery,” Mills said in a statement.

“The good news today is that the court upheld the agency’s science,” Davenport said in an interview. “Of course, from the conservation point of view, the science has never really been in dispute. The question has been what’s the agency doing about the science. And our position has been that it’s not going far enough fast enough to meet the conservation crisis that the right whale is in.”

Lobstermen had argued that a report issued last year by the National Marine Fisheries Service that set new goals for reducing deaths of North Atlantic right whales “overstates the risks lobstering poses to the whale and consequently overregulates the industry,” according to court documents.

“Because [federal officials] overstated their industry’s risk to right whales, they contend, the Rule imposes some needless and draconian risk-reduction measures — e.g., restrictions on the number of vertical fishing lines in certain areas, seasonal closures, and the requirement that fishing lines contain weak links that whales can break free from,” Judge James E. Boasberg wrote.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

Nordic Aquafarms wins one court victory, faces another legal battle in Maine

September 9, 2022 — Nordic Aquafarms, which is seeking to build a land-based Atlantic salmon farm in the U.S. state of Maine, won a court victory on 1 September that ended a challenge to the permitting of its proposed recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm.

Waldo County Superior Court Justice Robert Murray ruled in favor of Nordic Aquafarms, quashing a request by nonprofit and project opponent Upstream Watch, to require an official review of the authorizations given to the project.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Retailers pull lobster from menus after ‘red list’ warning

September 9, 2022 — Some retailers are taking lobster off the menu after an assessment from an influential conservation group that the harvest of the seafood poses too much of a risk to rare whales and should be avoided.

Whales can suffer injuries and fatalities when they become entangled in the gear that connects to lobster traps on the ocean floor. Seafood Watch, which rates the sustainability of different seafoods, said this week it has added the American and Canadian lobster fisheries to its “red list” of species to avoid.

The organization, based at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, said in a report that the fishing industry is a danger to North Atlantic right whales because “current management measures do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery of the species.”

housands of businesses use Seafood Watch’s recommendations to inform seafood buying decisions, and many have pledged to avoid any items that appear on the red list. A spokesperson for Blue Apron, the New York meal kit retailer, said the company stopped offering a seasonal lobster box prior to the report, and all of the seafood it is currently using follows Seafood Watch’s guidelines. HelloFresh, the Germany-based meal kit company that is the largest such company operating in the U.S., also pledged shortly after the announcement to stop selling lobster.

Read the full article at the Washington Post

Gulf of Maine Research Institute gets $1.3 million for climate, ‘blue economy’ initiatives

September 8, 2022 —

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute has received nearly $1.3 million in federal funding for two initiatives aimed at helping the state’s waterfront communities become more climate-resilient and to support innovation in the seafood industry and other ocean-related enterprises.

The Portland-based institute’s Climate Center will receive $650,000 to help develop local plans for addressing sea level rise and other effects of climate change. GMRI’s Blue Economy Initiative will receive $632,000 to boost the startup and growth of marine businesses.

The grants were included by Sen. Angus King in Congress’ recent 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Package.

“Our mission is to develop collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges,” institute President and CEO Don Perkins said, “and obviously, the existential challenge of our time as climate change. We’re also focused on the mechanics of how do we understand and steward the Gulf of Maine as a changing system, how do we produce sustainable seafood, and how do we support the resilience of our coastal communities?”

Read the full article at the Press Herald

MAINE: Maine politicians blast Seafood Watch rating that tells consumers to avoid eating lobster

September 8, 2022 — California-based Seafood Watch this week issued a recommendation to avoid Maine lobster, drawing the ire of Maine politicians.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch gave a red rating to the U.S. and Canadian lobster industries, saying they aren’t doing enough to protect the North Atlantic right whale.  The whale is endangered and U.S. federal regulators have imposed new fishing gear guidelines to try to help protect the species.

A red rating from Seafood Watch recommends that consumers “take a pass on these for now,” and the group said in a statement that “Canadian and U.S. management measures do not go far enough to mitigate entanglement risks and promote recovery” of the whales.

Seafood Watch is a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium that describes itself as “working directly with businesses and governments around the world — increasing both the market demand for, and a reliable supply of, sustainable seafood.”

Read the full article at Spectrum News 

MAINE: Lobstermen and lobster retailers respond to a report red listing Maine lobster

September 8, 2022 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has a Seafood Watch program that rates U.S. and Canadian fisheries on their sustainability. The list seeks to protect endangered species and prevent overfishing.

The watchdog group just red listed American lobster fisheries in Maine, advising consumers, retailers and restaurants to avoid purchasing lobster from Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.

The report claims that lobster gear poses a risk to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. It’s an assessment that lobstermen say is unfair and inaccurate. Entanglements are the leading cause of death for right whales but no deaths have been linked to Maine lobster gear and the gear hasn’t caused an entanglement in over a decade.

Read the full article at WTMW

Seafood group ‘red lists’ lobster over risk to right whales

September 7, 2022 — American lobster is now on a “red list” of seafood to be avoided because of the risks lobster fisheries pose to endangered North Atlantic right whales, according to Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advocacy group.

Members of the Maine lobster industry are “extremely disappointed” with the listing, saying it does not take into account the many changes that the industry has enacted to protect whales.

“Lobster is one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world due to the effective stewardship practices handed down through generations of lobstermen,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association. “These include strict protections for both the lobster resource and right whales.”

Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday that the label is “flat out wrong.”

“(The designation) sends the wrong message about Maine lobster, and it insults thousands of hardworking lobstermen who risk their lives to put food on the table while practicing responsible stewardship and taking action to protect whales,” she said. “Consumers and businesses must see through this list and recognize that lobstermen are partners in conservation and sustainability and that the delicious Maine lobster can and should continue to be enjoyed.”

Sen. Angus King called the listing “absurd,” pointing out that there hasn’t been a documented entanglement in Maine gear since 2004, and that no documented whale deaths have been attributed to Maine gear.

Read the full article at the Press Herald

Claws out! Maine lobster listed as seafood to ‘avoid,’ angering restaurateurs

September 7, 2022 — This is not the way to butter up the people of Maine.

The claws are out in the New England state after an environmental group put the region’s renowned lobsters on a list of seafood to “avoid” because their harvest is allegedly putting whales in danger.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s environment-focused seafood watch program’s decision to “red-list” the tasty crustacean left state officials steaming mad.

“This is an outrageous act with very real-world consequences, and no real scientific evidence,” US Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) fumed to The Post. “It’s infuriating.”

Industry reps and restaurateurs — including owners of beloved lobster roll joints in the Big Apple and the Hamptons — also said the list can go to shell.

Read the full article at the New York Post