Saving Seafood

Lobstermen’s group launches $10 million fundraising push to ‘save’ industry jobs

November 17, 2021 — The Maine Lobstermen’s Association announced a three-year, $10 million fundraising campaign Tuesday to raise money for the fishery’s fight against impending regulations that industry members say could “eliminate the fishery and end Maine’s lobstering tradition.”

It named the fundraising campaign “Save Maine Lobstermen” and created a website at savemainelobstermen.org.

Earlier this year, the National Marine Fisheries Service released a 10-year plan, known as a biological opinion, to help protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from deadly entanglements in fishing gear.

The first phase of the plan, released in August, adds requirements that include state-specific gear marking, weak points in rope to allow entangled whales to break free, and a 967-square-mile seasonal closure off the coast of Maine to reduce risks to whales by 60 percent this year and 98 percent over 10 years.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine lobstermen ask the public for money in their legal fight against federal regulations

November 17, 2021 — The Maine Lobstermen’s Association held a press conference announcing a fundraising appeal to the general public. The association wants to raise $10 million for what it foresees as endless, costly court clashes over right whale supporters and their industry.

Without the financial means to fight both the government and environmental activists, lobstermen said their very existence is at stake.

“We need to level the playing field and make this a fair fight,” said Lobstermen’s Association Vice President Dustin Delano.

President Kristan Porter said his association was assembling the best legal team they could find.

“It’s not cheap,” Porter said “but we need to be able to stand and fight.”

The offshore fishery currently in question covers 950 square miles of ocean, about 30 miles off the coast, from Mount Desert Island to Casco Bay. Federal regulators want it closed from October through January.

The closure is meant to protect endangered right whales traversing the Gulf of Maine from Canadian waters to the Florida coast. Maine lobstermen, who have already switched to non-floating and breakaway lines in an effort to protect the scarce mammals, said they are not to blame for increased mortalities seen in recent years.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Federal appeals court reinstates lobster gear restrictions off Maine’s coast

November 17, 2021 — A federal appeals court is reinstating restrictions on fishing gear in a nearly 1,000 square mile swath of ocean off Maine’s coast. It’s a blow to Maine’s lobstermen and a victory for advocates for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

In October, in an effort to protect the roughly 340 right whales remaining on the planet from potentially deadly entanglements with fishing gear, the federal government imposed a four-month restriction on the use of trap-rope in the area. Lobstermen consider the area prime winter fishing grounds, but the rope-ban would effectively bar 60 or more boats from fishing there. Before the restrictions took effect, the Maine Lobstering Union won a stay from a U.S. district judge in Bangor.

But late Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that the lower court overstepped its authority. The court said that while the stakes are high on both sides, Congress had “placed its thumb on the scales” for endangered species such as the right whales.

Read the full story at WBUR

Endangered whales off US coast at center of fierce fight

November 16, 2021 — A judge ruled in favor of Maine’s multimillion-dollar lobster industry, pushing back on efforts to protect endangered species and limit how much fisherman can capture marine life.

The seafood industry is a huge part of Maine’s economy; in 2018 the state’s lobster fishery alone was valued at more than $400 million and brought in approximately 119 million pounds of lobster. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), American lobster was the most valuable single species harvested in the U.S.

But all that harvesting has affected marine life. The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC) announced in October that the North Atlantic right whale population dropped to 336 in 2020, an 8 percent decrease from 2019. The group said 2020 was the lowest number for the species in nearly 20 years.

The federal government had attempted to protect endangered right whales, with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo authorizing a partial closure of a fishing zone along the Maine coast that would have prohibited the use of buoy lines that many marine life are hurt or killed by. It was intended to restrict commercial lobster fishing for four months and was the first step in a 10-year plan to protect North Atlantic right whales.

Read the full story at The Hill

A fish farm next to Acadia? Lobstermen, NPS give a loud ‘no’

November 16, 2021 — The issue is heating up this week in Gouldsboro, a town of 1,700 on the bay. At a special townwide meeting last night, more than 200 voters showed up and overwhelmingly approved a six-month ban on all aquaculture development.

The tensions in this corner of Maine mirror the national debate in Washington and across the country, where supporters view fish farming as a way to improve U.S. food security by producing more locally grown food but opponents worry the cost will be too high for the environment.

Local critics in Gouldsboro have found an ally in the National Park Service, which voiced its objections to a project so close to Acadia. Park officials fear the huge fish pens could chase away visitors, with more noise, damaged air quality and a rise in ocean acidification.

Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider, a leading opponent, said the 120-acre project would bring “an industrial factory just 2,000 feet from the park’s boundary.”

“This is a park that’s been here for 105 years,” he said. “The park generates 6,000 local jobs and $400 million that our visitors spend in the local communities here, and so our product here in many respects is the scenery. People are coming for these amazing vistas that you can see from Park Loop Road and from the north ridge of Cadillac that look out to Frenchman Bay, this incredible idyllic location.”

Schneider outlined his complaints in a letter to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, telling state officials that “the scale of the development — the equivalent of 16 football fields — is unprecedented in the United States and incongruous with the existing nature and setting of Frenchman Bay and surrounding lands.”

But Dana Rice, harbormaster and chair of the Gouldsboro board of selectmen, countered he sees promise in the proposal by American Aquafarms. He believes it would revive the town’s waterfront, with the company wanting to use an abandoned sardine plant to process its farm-raised salmon.

“I’m all about economic development,” he said. “And if there’s anything we can do to bring in good jobs, I view it as my responsibility to look at that. It’s a big deal area-wise and economic-wise.

Read the full story at E&E News

 

Lawsuit over whale protections off Maine’s coast to proceed

November 15, 2021 — A federal judge has declined to throw out a lawsuit against the federal government seeking tougher rules to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from collisions with ships.

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation and other environmental groups in 2012, seeks to force the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) to take aggressive steps to protect the right whale population by setting a speed limit for vessels to prevent collisions.

The groups filed a new petition to the court last year accusing the federal agency of dragging its feet on responding to their request for new whale protection rules.

The Biden administration had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, but U.S. District Court judge Amit Mehta ruled on Wednesday that the federal agency “cannot ignore its obligation to fully and properly consider a petition for rulemaking.”

Read the full story at The Center Square

MAINE: Governor Mills Announces $10 Million Maine Jobs & Recovery Initiative to Support and Strengthen Maine’s Seafood Industry

November 12, 2021 — The following was released by the Office of Governor Janet T. Mills:

Governor Janet Mills today announced that her Administration is investing $10 million in federal funds through her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to allow Maine seafood dealers and processors to upgrade their infrastructure.

The new Seafood Infrastructure Investment Program will launch early next year and will be administered through the Maine Department of Marine Resources. It will provide grants to Maine seafood dealers and processors to upgrade buildings, equipment, and utilities. These grants will help seafood dealers and processors increase the supply of Maine-harvested seafood; strengthen their ability to deliver to markets in Maine, across the United States, and around the world; and create and sustain jobs throughout Maine’s iconic seafood industry

“Maine’s seafood industry – from our fishermen and lobstermen to our processors and our dealers – is a cornerstone of our economy, employing thousands of people up and down the coast and generating about two billion dollars every year,” said Governor Janet Mills. “They work hard every day, and they have adapted with characteristic Maine grit and ingenuity to meet the challenges of the pandemic, but it hasn’t been easy by any means. Helping our dealers and processors upgrade their infrastructure will ensure the strength and vitality of this industry for years to come, will keep Maine people working in our waters and waterfronts, and will keep delivering Maine’s world-class seafood across the globe.”

Today’s announcement was made at the Portland waterfront facility of Luke’s Lobster, a family-owned Maine seafood business, founded by third-generation lobsterman Luke Holden.

“The pandemic forced our business to pivot from production and sales tailored for the food service industry to production and sales for grocery and ecommerce channels,” said Luke Holden, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Luke’s Lobster. “While we created new demand and opportunity for the Maine lobster and seafood industry, there were many costs associated with opening up these new channels and shifting production in such a dramatic way. Getting support from the State is necessary and appreciated so that we can continue to focus on ensuring a strong market for Maine’s fishermen and lobstermen both here in Maine and nationwide.”

“The pandemic tested the limits of the infrastructure, personnel, and resources in the Maine lobster supply chain,” said Annie Tselikis, Executive Director of the Maine Lobster Dealers Association. “Our businesses incurred costs associated with but not limited to employee quarantine and testing, Personal Protective Equipment, facility reengineering for worker safety and social distancing, and new product lines and packaging to support shifts in distribution from food service to retail or e-commerce. In our industry, like so many others, necessity is the mother of invention, but invention always comes at a cost. To date, there has not been a fund that directly or effectively mitigates the massive costs that Maine lobster wholesalers and processors experienced during the pandemic. We welcome the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan funds to support the needs of the lobster supply chain.”

“At Atlantic Sea Farms, we work to diversify incomes for fishermen by farming kelp – and one component of that commitment is to guarantee purchase of every blade of kelp that our partner farmers grow,” said Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms. “The pandemic hit right as harvest season was beginning in 2020 and, at the same time, our customers – almost all of whom were food service customers – shuttered overnight. We still bought all of that kelp that we had promised to buy even though we didn’t know where or how we would sell it – because it was the right thing to do. We had to completely change our process and our offerings and hired new staff and purchased new machinery to pivot into retail. This was no small task, and its failure would have had a potentially irreversible effect on Maine’s growing kelp industry, as our partner farmers produce more than 85 percent of domestic line-grown seaweed. Through this grant, the State of Maine is recognizing the significant cost and effort that processors had to make to address an entirely new market resulting from COVID and is helping us continue to grow opportunities for fishing families in Maine.”

“Many Maine seafood dealers and processors have had to adjust their facilities at great financial cost during the pandemic to safely continue operations,” said Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “Supply chains have also been volatile, requiring dealers and processors to invest in new ways to get their product to market. Unfortunately, many of Maine’s dealers and processors have had limited access to other federal COVID-19 relief programs, and the expenditures they have made to remain in business during the pandemic have depleted their financial resources and left many of them unable to continue to make the investments necessary to grow. This funding is designed to provide a flexible opportunity for businesses that wish to make investments that will enable greater resilience to changing market conditions in the future. Such investments are critical to the stability of Maine’s seafood industry.”

The Department of Marine Resources will begin accepting applications in the coming months. A range of funding will be offered, including smaller grants for facilities improvements and larger grants for capital projects. Eligible investments may include:

  • Capital improvements, including modifications to existing buildings and construction of new buildings at existing facilities
  • Upgrades to utilities (including water, electric, heat, refrigeration, freezing, and waste facilities)
  • Processing and manufacturing equipment
  • Packaging and handling equipment
  • Technology that allows increased capacity or business resilience

This new Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan program builds on the Mills Administration’s commitment to Maine’s seafood industry. In 2020, the Administration awarded approximately $17 million from the CARES Act in direct payments to Maine fishermen, aquaculturists, charter fishing operations, dealers and processors.

This event is the second in Governor Mills’ Maine Heritage Industry Week, which features a series of announcements through the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan focused on supporting Maine’s iconic farming, fishery and forestry industries. Earlier this week, Governor Mills announced that she was investing $20 million in Maine’s farmers and food processors to help them strengthen their businesses.

The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan is the Governor’s plan, approved by the Legislature, to invest nearly $1 billion in Federal American Rescue Plan funds to achieve three goals: immediate economic recovery from the pandemic; long-term economic growth for Maine; and infrastructure revitalization.

It draws heavily on recommendations from the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee and the State’s 10-Year Economic Development Strategy, transforming them into real action to improve the lives of Maine people and strengthen the economy.

Since the legislation implementing the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan took effect on October 18, 2021, Governor Mills has announced:

  • $139 million to support small businesses, including $20 million for a new small business grant program, $39 million to help lower monthly health insurance premiums, and $80 million to replenish the Maine Unemployment Trust fund and mitigate tax hikes for small businesses.

Funding for the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan is through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which allocated $4.5 billion in stimulus funds to Maine earlier this year.

Coordination of the Jobs Plan is led by the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services and the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, through a new Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan Office.

This Office will oversee the transparent and accountable implementation of the Jobs Plan, including ensuring that proposed expenditures are permissible under U.S. Treasury eligibility guidance, the final version of which remains pending.

 

 

Governor Mills announces $10M Maine Jobs & Recovery Initiative to support and strengthen Maine’s seafood industry

November 11, 2021 — Governor Janet Mills today announced that her Administration is investing $10 million in federal funds through her Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to allow Maine seafood dealers and processors to upgrade their infrastructure.

The new Seafood Infrastructure Investment Program will launch early next year and will be administered through the Maine Department of Marine Resources. It will provide grants to Maine seafood dealers and processors to upgrade buildings, equipment, and utilities. These grants will help seafood dealers and processors increase the supply of Maine-harvested seafood; strengthen their ability to deliver to markets in Maine, across the United States, and around the world; and create and sustain jobs throughout Maine’s iconic seafood industry.

“Maine’s seafood industry – from our fishermen and lobstermen to our processors and our dealers – is a cornerstone of our economy, employing thousands of people up and down the coast and generating about two billion dollars every year,” said Governor Mills. “They work hard every day, and they have adapted with characteristic Maine grit and ingenuity to meet the challenges of the pandemic, but it hasn’t been easy by any means. Helping our dealers and processors upgrade their infrastructure will ensure the strength and vitality of this industry for years to come, will keep Maine people working in our waters and waterfronts, and will keep delivering Maine’s world-class seafood across the globe.”

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

Seafood: The next generation

November 11, 2021 — Over the last few decades local fish has become harder to source for coastal communities, but covid-19 has changed that. Local food systems, including fisheries, have been thriving in the lockdowns, and educators are starting to notice. Small-scale fishermen and local distributors are meeting with students from high schools and colleges all around the coasts.

In August and September, one such group from Sterling College in northern Vermont visited Downeast Maine to learn about local fisheries, seaweed gathering, and aquaculture.

Read the full story at National Fisherman