Saving Seafood

Lawmakers come out against higher fees for large aquaculture projects

February 22, 2022 — A key state legislative committee voted this week against recommending a proposal to allow the state to charge up to $250,000 in application fees for large scale aquaculture projects.

The bill was proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources as a way to cover the costs of vetting complicated aquaculture applications and prevent them from monopolizing the department’s resources to the detriment of others in the queue.

Seven of the marine resources committee’s 12 members voted against the bill. On Friday, the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Jay McCreight, D-Harpswell, said that she planned to ask the committee to reconsider the bill next week and, if allowed, would propose pulling the fee portion so two non-contested parts of the bill could move forward.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Maine lobster at risk of losing a sustainability label over right whale concerns

February 22, 2022 — Maine’s lobster fishery is at risk of losing a key sustainability label over concerns for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Industry members, meanwhile, say the idea that Maine’s lobster fishery poses an environmental threat is nonsensical.

The California-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program is considering which species to add to its “red list,” and North American lobster from both the U.S. and Canadian fisheries is a candidate, as are over a dozen other species fished up and down the East Coast, according to a draft assessment.

Seafood Watch, which is designed to help consumers make informed choices about sustainable seafood, rates fisheries as green for “best choice,” yellow for “good alternative” and red for “avoid.”

Industries on the program’s red list are “overfished, lack strong management or are caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment,” according to Seafood Watch.

It’s the latter reason that the program may urge consumers to steer clear of the state’s lobster fishery, which landed a record-value catch of $725 million in 2021. Trap-caught Maine lobster already has been downgraded to yellow status, but Seafood Watch representatives declined to answer questions about when the change occurred or when the fishery might be downgraded to red.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at The Portland Press Herald

 

Maine: Bill to support lobster fishing industry receives committee support

February 17, 2022 — The Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee voted on Tuesday to advance a bill by Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, aimed at supporting Maine’s lobster fishing industry following recent federal regulatory changes.

LD 1898, An Act To Address the Economic Impact of Federal Closures on Maine’s Fixed Gear Fishing Industry, would establish a fund to provide financial assistance to lobster fishermen who have been impacted by the closure of nearly 1,000 square miles of federal waters off the coast of Maine.

“The federal closures our lobster fishing industry are facing are immediate, which means they need immediate financial assistance to adapt quickly enough to sustain their livelihood and our economy,” said Stover. “I am grateful for the committee’s collaborative effort to make this bill the best it can be for our fishing industry.”

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

Maine lobster value soared 75 percent in 2021

February 16, 2022 — Maine fishermen landed nearly $725 million worth of lobster during 2021 – a leap in value of 75 percent over 2020 and by far the single largest year over year increase, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Preliminary numbers released Feb. 14 show state officials expect total landings will be up 10 percent, to over 108 million pounds. Final landings figures are expected to be complete in March.

Coming out of the protracted covid-19 crisis – with its huge impacts to Maine lobster domestic and international markets – the industry saw $7 to the boat prices during 2021 and reported up to $10 in early 2022.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine eyes concepts for developing Searsport as offshore wind hub

February 16, 2022 — State agencies have developed concepts to use the port of Searsport as a manufacturing hub for the burgeoning offshore wind industry.

“We envision an entire port concept,” said Matthew Burns, director of ports and marine transportation with the Maine Department of Transportation.

Burns spoke during a webinar last week, hosted by Augusta public policy nonprofit Maine Conservation Voters, on proposed plans to develop the port for offshore wind.

In November, Gov. Janet Mills directed her administration to study options for renewable energy development at the state’s commercial ports, calling offshore wind an “unprecedented economic and investment opportunity for Maine.”

Led by the Governor’s Energy Office, the Maine Department of Transportation and other agencies, officials are looking at a variety of wind options at Searsport, Portland, Eastport and others.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

Webinar to outline changes to the Northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery

February 16, 2022 — The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is hosting a webinar on Thursday, Feb. 17, which will outline changes to the scallop fishery of the Northern Gulf of Maine in which many Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts fisherman participate.

Many scallopers work out of Gloucester to be closer to the fishing grounds. The new measures start April 1, and the webinar will be an educational session to make scallopers aware of the changes.

The webinar, organized by the New England Fishery Management Council, is scheduled to run from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Panelists scheduled are Jonathan Peros, scallop lead for NEFMC; Travis Ford, scallop lead for the Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries); and Jessica Blaylock, industry-funded scallop observer program lead at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Maine lobstermen post record-high $725 million haul in 2021

February 15, 2022 — Maine fishermen landed some $725 million worth of lobster in 2021, shattering the previous record of $541 million. It happened thanks to a sizeable harvest of 108 million pounds, but also sustained high prices at the dock.

Unlike 2020, when the lobster haul dropped below 100 million pounds for the first time in a decade, landings were back on track in 2021. And so was consumer demand.

Shipping and inventory issues related to the pandemic continued to pose some problems, but the Maine Department of Marine Resources says the lobstermen received an average $6.21 a pound last year — also a record. And that led to some surprises, like $34 lobster rolls in midcoast Maine last summer.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Maine lobster fishery hits record value, but faces challenges in 2022

February 15, 2022 — The lobster fishery in the U.S. state of Maine has its most-valuable year in history in 2021, pulling in a record-shattering USD 724.9 million (EUR 638.1 million) in the year – an increase in value of USD 312.4 million (EUR 275 million) over the previous year – according to data released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The previous value record for the fishery was set in 2016, when the Maine lobster fishery earned roughly USD 541 million (EUR 476 million) in value, USD 184 million (EUR 161 million) less than it earned in 2021.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Newcomers may find themselves shut out of Maine’s pogie fishery

February 11, 2022 — The number of Maine fishermen who can catch menhaden — more commonly called pogies in Maine — could soon be limited to only those who have historically gone after the increasingly important baitfish.

The state Department of Marine Resources submitted a proposal to the state legislature that would, starting in 2023, only allow fishermen to obtain commercial menhaden licenses if they’ve held the license in one of the last six years and caught at least 25,000 pounds of pogies during one of those years.

The bill, which was heard by a legislative committee earlier this week, has sparked a debate over who should be allowed to catch the small, oily fish.

Menhaden are schooling fish that can be found up and down the east coast. Maine lobstermen have started to rely on them as bait in the last few years as herring quotas have been cut and some have invested in expensive gear to fish for them themselves.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News