Saving Seafood

$16 million grant program opens to help Maine’s seafood industry

April 1, 2022 — A $16 million grant could go a long way for Maine’s seafood industry.

The multi-billion-dollar industry took a big hit during the pandemic, but a new grant program could help businesses trying to recover while preparing for the future.

This state grant program is for wholesale seafood dealers and processors, which play a vital role in the state’s overall economy.

For some, like Ray Trombley, this money comes at the perfect time. He has big plans for his small seafood business in Brunswick.

“I want a cooler three times the size of this,” Trombley said. “This whole cooler fills up one to two days.”

Read the full story at WGME

Are the whales leaving? Gulf of Maine research raises questions about new lobstering rules

April 1, 2022 — As the Gulf of Maine’s waters warm, recent studies show the main food source of the endangered North Atlantic right whale is moving north, out of Maine waters. And the whales appear to be following them.

Such findings haven’t escaped the notice of the Maine lobster industry, which has been referencing them in its legal arguments as to why impending new federal restrictions on lobstering gear won’t help save the whales. Its members have pointed to recent studies that suggest the relocation of copepods – small aquatic crustaceans that make up the whales’ preferred diet – is not just a temporary phenomenon but a long-term trend.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service arguing that its 10-year conservation plan to protect right whales, primarily by requiring commercial fishing gear modifications such as using breakaway rope and deploying more traps per line, is not based on the best available science. The new gear restrictions are set to take effect May 1 despite ongoing legal challenges by the lobster industry and repeated protests by government officials.

“(The association is) asking the court to require the agency to develop a new plan based on sound science that would protect both the whale and the lobster industry,” said Patrice McCarron, the group’s executive director.

Read the full story at the Sun Journal

Maine’s leaders seek delay on whale protection rules

April 1, 2022 — A last-ditched request to delay new federal whale protection rules is being made by Gov. Janet Mills and members of the state’s congressional delegation, citing fears the state’s commercial lobstermen won’t be able to comply.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Riamondo, Mills and other officials urge federal fisheries regulators to extend the May 1 deadline to comply with the new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales by setting a seasonal closure and requiring modifications to gear. They are requesting a July 1 deadline.

Mills, who penned the letter with Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and other congressional lawmakers, said the state’s commercial fishing industry is working “in good faith” to comply with the new rules but are facing supply chain issues and other complications with less than six weeks to go until implementation of the new rules.

Read the full story at The Center Square

Seafood biz braces for losses of jobs, fish due to sanctions

March 31, 2022 — The worldwide seafood industry is steeling itself for price hikes, supply disruptions and potential job losses as new rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key species such as cod and crab harder to come by.

The latest round of U.S. attempts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes bans on imports of seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The U.S. is also stripping “most favored nation status” from Russia. Nations around the world are taking similar steps.

Russia is one of the largest producers of seafood in the world, and was the fifth-largest producer of wild-caught fish, according to a 2020 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Russia is not one of the biggest exporters of seafood to the U.S., but it’s a world leader in exports of cod (the preference for fish and chips in the U.S.). It’s also a major supplier of crabs and Alaska pollock, widely used in fast-food sandwiches and processed products like fish sticks.

The impact is likely to be felt globally, as well as in places with working waterfronts. One of those is Maine, where more than $50 million in seafood products from Russia passed through Portland in 2021, according to federal statistics.

Read the full story at AP News

Despite PR Aqua lawsuit, Whole Oceans renews site work on Maine RAS salmon farm

March 31, 2022 — Whole Oceans is beginning site work in preparation for construction of a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) Atlantic salmon farm in Bucksport, Maine, U.S.A.

The company, which is owned by Auburn, Indiana-based Emergent Holdings, first announced a plan to build the farm at the site of a former paper mill site at a cost of USD 250 million (EUR 203 million), with the initial goal of producing 5,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon annually, and eventually expanding to produce up to 50,000 MT.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

MAINE: New advisory group to study port development for offshore wind

March 30, 2022 — The Mills administration has expressed its official view of offshore wind as an “unprecedented economic and investment opportunity for Maine” and plans are underway to study options for possible uses of the renewable energy at the state’s commercial ports as part of Maine’s Offshore Wind Roadmap, a strategic planning process coordinated by the Governor’s Energy Office.

Now the latest step is underway for the industry’s development, with the creation of an Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group.

The Maine Department of Transportation last week announced it was establishing the group to advise the agency and other state officials regarding the potential development of wind port facilities.

The goal is to rapidly develop the offshore wind market, according to a news release.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

 

2021 was the hottest year on record in the Gulf of Maine, new data show

March 29, 2022 — Scientists say the highest water temperatures ever in the Gulf of Maine were recorded last year.

The Gulf is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water on the planet, and fishermen are noticing signs of the change.

Data released by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute show that last year surface water temperatures in the Gulf were on average a half-degree higher than the previous record, with record highs recorded on 169 days — almost half the year.

The Gulf experienced what scientists now call a “marine heatwave” for the entire year.
“As unusually warm as 2021 was in a historical context, it’s likely to be one of the coolest years we’ll experience going forward, especially if we’re not able to reduce greenhouse gas emission globally,” says the institute’s David Reidmiller.

Reidmiller says the latest data punctuate a decades-long trend that shows no sign of abating.

“The warming trend is unequivocal in the Gulf of Maine. It’s been going on now for decades, and from a climatological sense we are assuredly in a new regime,” Reidmiller says.

Read the full story at Maine Public Radio

‘It used to be just simple:’ Maine lobstermen concerned for future of industry

March 29, 2022 — The working waterfront is one of Maine’s most prominent industries, but it faces an uncertain future.

From new regulations to high fuel prices, some Maine lobstermen say they just can’t catch a break.

Many are concerned for the future of the industry that is so much a part of Maine.

Steve Train grew up lobstering.

I’ve just always had a love for this as a way to make a living,” Train said.

Lobstermen are facing many obstacles, from offshore wind farms to impending federal fishing regulations meant to protect endangered right whales and even high fuel prices.

“I’ve never seen a right whale, and I’ve been doing this since the 70s,” Train said. “But they say that I pose a risk.”

For Train, it’s hard to predict how federal regulations will ultimately affect local lobstermen and the thousands of jobs that rely on the industry.

Many are left holding their breath, waiting for what the tide will bring.

Read the full story at WGME

 

MAINE: House advances bill to support lobster fishing industry

March 28, 2022 — The Maine House delivered a strong bipartisan vote Thursday to advance a measure sponsored by Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, that would provide direct relief funds to Maine’s lobster fishermen impacted by recent federal regulatory changes. The vote was 116-18.

Following the closure of approximately 1,000 square miles of federal waters off the coast of Maine, LD 1898 would establish the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Impact Fund to provide compensation for the immediate financial losses felt by lobster fishermen.

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

 

$30 million fund to help lobstermen meet new rules gets strong support in Maine House

March 25, 2022 — A proposal to create a $30 million fund to help lobstermen comply with new federal requirements designed to protect endangered right whales received overwhelming and bipartisan support in the Maine House on Thursday.

Funding for the bill, sponsored by Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, would come from the state’s unallocated surplus and would help fishermen meet new federal requirements for fishing rope.

Those rules could cost the industry between $50 million and $80 million in lost revenue, additional gear, lost time and added labor, according to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. One lawmaker estimated the new rules would cost the average fisherman tens of thousands of dollars.

Stover said the relief fund is needed to protect Maine’s iconic and valuable lobster fishing industry, which has had to constantly adapt to evolving federal regulations to prevent endangered right whales from being entangled in ropes.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald