Saving Seafood

MAINE: Portland Fish Exchange gets more financial aid; deadline nears for management proposals

August 17, 2022 — Transitioning into a much more prosperous period in July and beyond, fish exchange officials have expressed optimism about increased landings and buyers after what was a particularly slow period in May and June.

An upward trend is a good sign, especially on top of the potential for an outside entity to come in and help run the business, although for now, the exchange is still seeking assistance to handle lingering financial struggles.

The exchange requested a $240,000 bailout earlier this year and received $80,000 from the pier authority in June.

Authority members OK’d another $80,000 on Aug. 8 to help pay down the exchange’s line of credit, currently more than $160,000, used to keep the business afloat during the winter.

“Since there’s been revenue, we want to beat that (credit line) down as much as we can as fast as we can,” exchange President Rob Odlin, an ex-officio member of the pier authority, said at the meeting.

Read the full article at the Portland Phoenix

MAINE: Hot weather fuels algal blooms in Casco Bay that may be killing soft-shell clams

August 16, 2022 — Three dense and very large algal blooms fueled by extreme heat in recent weeks may have contributed to the deaths of a significant number of soft-shell clams in eastern Casco Bay.

The blooms, which cause a reddish brown or mustard-yellow discoloration of ocean waters, are concentrated in Maquoit Bay off Brunswick and Freeport; in Middle Bay off Brunswick and Harpswell; and in Basin Cove in Harpswell.

The Friends of Casco Bay sounded the alarm about the bloom on Monday, describing it as very concerning. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has also taken notice of the algal bloom, but said it is nontoxic.

“The blooms are not harmful to people who consume shellfish or swim in the waters, but due to the high cell concentration, anoxic conditions could occur, which may result in limited marine organism mortalities,” the DMR said in a statement.

Read the full article at the Press Herald

NOAA lays out plans for expanded testing of ropeless fishing technology

August 11, 2022 — In their latest effort to protect endangered right whales, federal regulators have released a plan to increase the use of on-demand – or ropeless – fishing gear, an initiative that includes expanded testing of the new technology.

In an effort to address the two main causes of human-induced whale mortality – vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently released rules to reduce ship speeds and its “Ropeless Roadmap” to prepare for widespread adoption of ropeless fishing.

The vertical lines that connect strings of traps on the ocean floor to buoys on the surface can get caught on a whale’s fins or in its mouth as it swims, leading to death in some cases. There are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales, according to NOAA.

On-demand fishing gear would eliminate the need for the vertical lines in the water until the lobster trap, pot or gillnet is being hauled. Different technologies are under development now. Some include floatation devices that are triggered by an acoustic signal to return the gear or rope end to the surface when the fishing boat returns to collect it. Others use timers to release the rope and buoy to the surface, reducing the amount of time the rope is in the water column. And in a lower-tech option available in some cases, the traps or other gear can simply be removed by a grappling hook. The location of the gear can be communicated to boats above by acoustic signal.

Read the full article at the Press Herald

MAINE: Fundraiser for Maine Lobstermen’s Association raises over $50K

August 10, 2022 — With donations still rolling in, organizers of the fundraiser for the Maine Lobstermen’s Association held at Brady’s restaurant in Boothbay Harbor on Sunday, Aug. 7 report that over $50,000 has been raised.

The fundraiser included twin lobsters, (a non-lobster entree was available), clams or mussels, corn, blueberry pie, a live auction and silent auction, entertainment by Maine humorist Tim Sample and guest appearances by former Governor Paul LePage, NewsCenter co-host Sharon Rose who served as emcee, District 89 candidates, Rep. Holly Stover and Tricia Warren, among others.

Read the full article at Penobscot Bay Pilot

Climate change has reversed 900 years of cooling in the Gulf of Maine

August 9, 2022 — Nearly a millennium of cooling in the Gulf of Maine has been reversed over the past century.

That’s the finding of a new study, published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, led by Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, co-written by the University of Maine and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Scientists have long warned that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans — 2021 was yet another year of record warmth — but the lack of long-term records has made it difficult to compare the 20th and 21st centuries to warming or cooling trends for past periods.

The oldest records available come from a station in Boothbay Harbor, where surface water temperatures have been tracked since 1905.

Read the full article at the Bangor Daily News

Fishery interests urge judge to rule in lobster lawsuit

August 8, 2022 — Parties in a lobster industry lawsuit filed against federal regulators are urging a judge to make a decision in the case because its outcome affects a parallel case that the parties have to act on.

The federal judge considering this decision was the same who ruled last month that new regulations to protect endangered right whales do not go far enough, and violate both the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. In that case, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg asked the parties to propose remedies.

The lobster association’s case takes aim at newly enacted and proposed federal regulations to protect the whales, which the association says are invalid because they are based on flawed assumptions and calculations.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal defendants – as well as intervenors the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Lobstering Union and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association – all filed briefs this week asking Boasberg not to stay a decision on a lawsuit brought by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. The parties need to know the court’s opinion so they can develop proposed remedies that Boasberg ordered in the parallel lawsuit brought by conservation groups.

Read the full article at The Press Herald

MAINE: Finfish aquaculture ordinance drafted

August 5, 2022 — A far-reaching licensing ordinance, which would prohibit finfish farms whose annual landed catch exceeds so many pounds from operating in town, has been drafted and continues to be refined by the Planning Board. The proposal is being commented on by the public in writing or by citizens who regularly attend online or in-person the board’s regular meetings the first and third Tuesday of each month.

In its current draft form, the “Finfish Aquaculture Licensing Ordinance” applies to enterprises seeking to raise salmon, trout, sturgeon, yellowtail and other species of finfish. Under Maine law, “finfish” are defined as cold-blooded marine animals having permanent gills and fins. Finfish aquaculture licenses would be required of entities seeking to raise finfish in land-based tanks in town or operate from Gouldsboro to tend the fish in ocean pens and land their catch here. The non-transferable license would be valid for one year and renewable for one-year periods only.

Finfish aquaculture operations whose annual catches fall below a yet-to-be-determined volume threshold would not require the license but may face compliance with other municipal ordinances.

Read the full article at The Ellsworth American

Annual fisheries meeting tackles lobster lawsuits, whale protections

August 3, 2022 — On Tuesday in Washington D.C., key players from Maine’s lobster fishery tackled what it considers its most pressing issues.

Lawsuits, protections for Atlantic right whales, and new sizing limits for lobsters were some of the issues discussed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and lobster fishers.

The first issue was an update regarding Judge James Boasberg’s July ruling in the U.S. District Court case involving the Center for Biological Diversity versus Secretary Raimondo and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

This case made the news in early July after Boasberg ruled regulators aren’t doing enough to protect the right whale.

Just days after, he sided with environmental groups in another lawsuit to allow Area 1 to close again to fishermen this coming fall and winter.

Read the full article at News Center Maine

Federal commission considers increasing legal size of lobsters to protect fishery

August 1, 2022 — A federal commission will discuss increasing the minimum legal size of caught lobsters or other management measures to respond to a decline in numbers of juvenile lobster in recent years.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to discuss proposed measures to protect the spawning stock of lobster in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank on Tuesday in Arlington, Va.

Measures the commission will be considering include increasing the minimum legal harvestable size of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine by up to 1/8 inch in increments, either scheduled proactively or triggered by a  decline in abundance of young lobsters.

Maine lobstermen say the measures come at a bad time, when they are already struggling to comply with new federal regulations to protect endangered right whales from entanglement in fishing gear, and they are facing economic challenges with the price of bait and fuel at record highs coupled with low prices they are getting for their catch at the dock.

The Maine lobster industry is known for its  sustainability, with strong conservation measures already in place to protect the spawning stock. These include a maximum harvestable size limit of 5 inches, and protections against harvesting egg-bearing females through a mandatory V-notching program, in which a V-shaped cut is made into the tail of a female bearing eggs. It is illegal to keep females with this mark even if they are caught when they’re not bearing eggs.

Though the commission has determined that lobster stock is not depleted and overfishing is not occurring now, the proposed actions are intended to protect landings from potentially dropping past 100 million pounds in for the Gulf of Maine and Georges Banks because of the economic impacts that could result. They cite the example of Southern New England where the fishery collapsed after a trend of declines in juvenile lobsters.

At Lobster Zone Council meetings this spring, Maine lobstermen expressed frustration about the proposal because they say they face far greater threats to the fishery through new and upcoming federal measures to protect right whales than they do from declines in abundance when landings are still high. Rather than making size limit adjustments, some have argued, efforts should be directed toward gathering data about the shifts in right whale habitat and causes of right whale deaths, because they do not believe Maine lobster gear is to blame.

Read the full article at Press Herald