Saving Seafood

Bill to Support Maine’s Lobster Industry Heads to President’s Desk

January 16, 2026 — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured significant funding and legislative language to support Maine’s lobster industry in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill that passed the Senate today. The bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives last week, now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“This funding will support Maine’s lobster industry by improving the incomplete and imprecise science and research upon which the federal government relies. The flawed data being used to inform regulations has created unnecessary, burdensome requirements for Maine lobstermen and women,” said Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee. “As Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to ensure this funding was included in the final funding bill.”

Funding and legislative language advanced by Senator Collins includes:

North Atlantic Right Whale: $30 million for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for Right Whale related research and monitoring.

  • Language is also included directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to work with Canada to develop risk reduction measures that are comparable in effectiveness to U.S. measures.

National Sea Grant Program: $80 million for the National Sea Grant Program. Last year, the Department of Commerce announced that Maine Sea Grant was being defunded. At the urging of Senator Collins, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick directed NOAA to renegotiate the terms and conditions of the work to be performed by Maine Sea Grant to ensure that it focuses on advancing Maine’s coastal economies, working waterfronts, and sustainable fisheries.

American Lobster Research: $2 million for Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank American lobster research through Maine Sea Grant.

  • $300,000 to support a cooperative research program to collect biological, fishery, and environmental data for American lobster and Jonah crab using modern technology on commercial fishing vessels.
  • Language is also included that directs this research to be carried out through a partnership of state agencies, academia, and industry with a focus on “stock resilience in the face of environmental changes” and “topics necessary to respond to newly implemented or future modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”

Gray Zone: Report language directing NOAA to work with Canadian and state fisheries officials to develop a cooperative fisheries management plan in the Gray Zone.

In addition, Senator Collins secured more than $73 million for Congressionally Directed Spending projects in Maine through the CJS Appropriations bill. Of these projects, $1 million is included to expand the American Lobster Settlement Index collector survey at the University of Maine.

Read the full article at Senator Susan Collins

On the Frontlines of Ocean Warming, Maine Plans for What Comes Next

January 16, 2026 — The Gulf of Maine, often referred to as a sea within a sea, extends along the eastern seaboard from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to New Brunswick, Canada. Teeming with a bounty of fish and lobsters, the watershed serves as a recipe for abundance. Nutrients from the warm Gulf Stream, the cool Labrador Current, and counterclockwise coastal currents gush into the bay, stratifying into varying temperate zones. But things have changed.

The Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate faster than nearly any other ocean surface on the planet, leading to shifts in the distribution of marine species and contributing to sea level rise. Think of it like a bathtub with hot and cold taps. As the Labrador Current weakens, accelerated warming has increasingly been impacting marine life and economic activities on Maine’s working waterfront.

According to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s (GMRI) latest report, the watershed experienced its twelfth-warmest year in 2024. Climbing temperatures, though incremental, are poised to have drastic impacts on fisheries and New England communities.

In Hot Water

Maine is combating the effects of global warming in real time and, in doing so, helping researchers better understand the global ocean.

The Gulf of Maine is home to beloved wildlife, from North Atlantic right whales and seabirds to iconic fish stocks and lobsters, all of which are threatened. Warming waters have already affected cold-water species, like herring, which are declining, and warm-water species, like butterfish.

Shifts in the food web have a ripple effect. Puffins are in limbo, forced to change what they feed to their chicks. And invasive species like green crabs have settled in, killing essential eelgrass beds that juvenile crustaceans rely on for protective habitat.

The impact rising tides have on coastal infrastructure are not less noteworthy. In 2020, Maine published its climate action plan, dedicating an entire section to better understand how a warming, rising Gulf will impact marine resources and communities. There’s great emotional value in both sectors, not to mention $528 million in yearly revenue from the state’s lobster industry and $9 billion in tourist revenue.

Read the full article at Earth.org

Lobstermen’s knowledge offers critical insight into the Gulf of Maine

January 14, 2026 — Maine’s lobster fishery brought in more than half a billion dollars in revenue last year, but the long-term health of the fishery remains under pressure as warming waters reshape the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, according to reporting from Northeastern Global News.

As ocean temperatures rise, invasive and southern species are moving into traditional lobster habitat, competing for resources and preying on native lobsters. Understanding how those changes play out on the water may depend heavily on the people who spend the time there: lobstermen themselves.

Jonathan Grabowski, a professor of marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University, led a study examining lobstermen’s ecological knowledge in Maine and Massachusetts. Through detailed surveys and in-depth interviews, Grabowski and his team documented how fishermen understand food-web relationships and species interactions across different habitats.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Largest-ever Northeast Aquaculture Conference reflection of industry’s growth

January 12, 2026 — Over 700 attendees gathered in Portland, Maine, for the largest-ever Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Exposition, which ran from 7 to 9 January, and event organizers said the growth of the gathering reflects the increasing importance of aquaculture in the region.

Founded in 1998, the Northeast Aquaculture Conference (NACE) was created by the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC) to bring together multiple facets of the industry, including researchers, producers, equipment vendors, and managers, to collaborate on relevant issues. The event runs alongside the Milford Aquaculture Seminar, an older event which came together under similar circumstances.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: How fisheries in Maine are restructuring amid warming waters

January 6, 2026 — Fisheries in Maine are a vital resource in our state. They provide thousands with jobs and millions with sustainable protein. But now warming waters are making it more difficult to manage the ins and outs of the industry.

The Gulf of Maine continues to be the fastest-warming body of water—2024 went down as the 12th warmest year on record. Changes like this are affecting marine life and causing local fisheries to conduct research and restructure in order to remain successful.

That is the focus of Jonathan Labaree, the Chief Community Officer at GMRI. Understanding how the industry is adapting reveals the complex challenge facing Maine’s fishing communities. “When we think about fisheries, we think about it in sort of four pieces,” Labaree explains. “The first piece is the resource itself. So the fish themselves and the people who harvest the fish, the place in which that’s happening, and then the kind of gear, the resources that they use to harvest those fish.”

Climate change is having different kinds of impacts on fisheries. The major one is that species are shifting their location. Fish are very responsive to temperature, so they have a tendency to move to find optimal temperature ranges for themselves.

These shifting species create a new dynamic around predator and prey relationships, fundamentally altering the ecosystem that fishermen depend on.

Read the full article at WMTW

MAINE: Hard-shell clam project aims to diversify aquaculture and shellfish harvesting in Maine

January 5, 2026 — An effort to diversify Maine’s aquaculture and shellfish industries is getting a boost from a hard shell clam farming project near Brunswick.

The project, led by the conservation science group Manomet, involved seeding some 400,000 quahogs in floating upweller systems that are commonly used in oyster farming, said senior fisheries director Marissa McMahan.

Read the full article at Maine Public

$400K worth of stolen Costco lobster meat being investigated in connection to other New England seafood thefts

December 31, 2025 — Imagine the buffet.

Forty-thousand oysters, lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat all were stolen in separate incidents within weeks of each other in New England.

The first seafood vanished on Nov. 22 in Falmouth, Maine, where authorities suspect someone stole 14 cages full of oysters from an aquaculture site in Casco Bay. Many of the oysters were full-grown and ready for sale, and together with the cages were worth $20,000, according to the Maine Marine Patrol.

“This is a devastating situation for a small businessman,” said Marine Patrol Sgt. Matthew Sinclair.

The other two thefts happened in Taunton, Massachusetts, about 160 miles (255 kilometers) away. First, a load of crab disappeared after leaving the Lineage Logistics warehouse on Dec. 2. Then, on Dec. 12, lobster meat destined for Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota was stolen by a fraudulent trucking company, according to the broker who arranged the pickup.

Read the full article at The New York Post

MAINE: After 53 years, Maine’s fishing voice falls silent

December 29, 2025 — This month marks publication of the last issue of Commercial Fisheries News, a regional newspaper based in Stonington, Maine, highly regarded throughout its 53-year run for its comprehensive and eloquent coverage of the fishing life in its home state and throughout the Northeast. It’s a sad passing, and it says as much about how we consume information as it does commercial fishing or the changing face of coastal Maine.

Although in many respects a so-called trade publication, CFN was at its heart a community newspaper, albeit for a community that came to stretch hundreds of miles, from Eastport, Maine, to the Mid-Atlantic. Originally called Maine Commercial Fisheries, the paper was renamed as its coverage — and influence — expanded.

“I always felt like we were part of the community we were covering,” says Brian Robbins, who over the past 40 years has written, sold ads, and most recently served as CFN’s editor.

Maine has proved to be fertile ground for fishing publications. As a boy, I scrounged old copies of Maine Coast Fisherman, first published in its own right in 1946. Billing itself “the mariner’s newspaper,” it was a celebration of coastal life Down East that, in addition to fisheries news, featured reports from lighthouse keepers, God’s Tugboat, and other columns.

In 1960, Maine Coast Fisherman acquired National Fisherman – not the other way around, I would note — and christened itself Maine Coast Fisherman combined with National Fisherman. Longtime NF editor David Getchell said giving breath to the seven-word title was “an awful struggle,” and eventually the paper settled on National Fisherman.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MAINE: Investigation continues into massive fire in Portland’s Old Port

December 29, 2025 — The investigation continues into a fire that tore through the historic Old Port waterfront in Portland, Maine, on Friday, damaging aging buildings and several boats.

Flames and smoke spread easily through structures along the Custom House Wharf, a 19th- and 20th-century hub for Portland’s fishing industry that now includes seafood restaurants, authorities said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries but did not require hospitalization.

Read the full story at NBC Boston

MAINE: Northern shrimp fishery closed for at least 3 more years, following unsuccessful pilot

December 15, 2025 — The New England shrimp fishery will remain closed for at least another three years.

Federal regulators said Thursday they found no improvement in northern shrimp stock status and new lows in abundance. The fishery has been closed for about a decade.

But last winter, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts launched an industry-funded sampling pilot to learn more about the fishery in a warming of Gulf of Maine.

Seven of the nine participating fishermen were from Maine.

Fishermen were allowed to harvest up to 58,400 pounds of northern shrimp during the pilot. But they caught just 70 individual shrimp, totaling less than three pounds, according to regulators with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Read the full article at Maine Public