Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Seals on a comeback, attracting sharks

May 28, 2019 — Seals have rebounded to healthy numbers along Massachusetts’ shores after being nearly decimated by early settlers and a bounty that later wiped out tens of thousands of them, according to experts — and that is what is attracting sharks.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates there are at least 27,000 gray seals and 75,000 harbor seals in U.S. waters during their breeding seasons.

“What we’re witnessing is a comeback to a really healthy marine environment,” said Kimberly Murray, seal program lead at NOAA Fisheries in Woods Hole.

The numbers are a stark contrast to the 1700s, when gray seals had been nearly wiped out during the first 100 years of New England settlement, said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston.

By the late 1800s, the seals had rebounded, but conflicts with commercial fisheries and a desire for the seals’ meat and pelts led to a bounty on both gray and harbor seals from 1888 to 1962 in Massachusetts and Maine. During those years, as many as 135,000 seals were killed, Murray said.

“Seals were perceived as competitors to fisherman,” LaCasse said. “Fishermen would carry shotguns in their boats and shoot them on sight.”

Read the full story at the Boston Herald

Electric companies seek proposals for round of wind energy

May 28, 2019 — The three electric distribution companies in Massachusetts have together issued a request for a second round of offshore wind energy, as the winner of the first round — Vineyard Wind — looks to start its project later this year.

Eversource, National Grid and Unitil issued the request for proposals May 23. Initial, confidential responses from offshore wind developers are expected by Aug. 9. The utility companies are seeking contracts running from 15 to 20 years for at least 400 megawatts of offshore wind energy. Proposals from 200 megawatts up to 800 megawatts may be submitted.

Among the restrictions, the offshore wind developer must provide electricity from an offshore wind energy project located on the outer continental shelf and where no turbine is located within 10 miles of a inhabited area. Additionally, the wind farm must operate in a designated wind energy area where the developer received an initial federal lease on a competitive basis after Jan. 1, 2012.

All four offshore wind development companies that have leases for federal land south of the Islands — Vineyard Wind, Bay State Wind, Mayflower Wind Energy,and Equinor Wind US — had weighed in on preparations for the second round of bidding.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Fishermen face another quota cut, could hit lobster prices

May 28, 2019 — Fishermen already dealing with a dramatic reduction in the amount of a key bait fish they are allowed to harvest will likely face an additional cut next year that could drive up the price of lobster for consumers.

Regulators on the East Coast are contending with a drop in the population of herring, a key forage fish species that has been used as lobster bait for generations. Cuts in catch quota this year will mean the total haul for 2019 will be less than a fifth of the 2014 harvest, which was more than 200 million pounds (90 million kilograms).

A fishery management board is due to make a decision about the 2020 catch limits in early June. The options include maintaining this year’s levels or reducing them further, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said in public documents.

The agency wants to avoid overfishing at a time when a scientific assessment has shown a below-average number of young herring are joining the population. Scientists have said it’s not clear why that’s the case, but two possibilities they’ve cited are climate change and an abundance of predators.

The lobster industry has enjoyed large hauls in recent years, but it’s dependent on bait to load traps. A spike in the price of bait could ultimately be felt by consumers in restaurants and fish markets.

For lobster fishermen, another cut to the quota will mean finding new sources of bait, said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. It’s possible there won’t be enough to go around, and prices are sure to be high.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

National Fish & Seafood revived under new ownership, new name

May 24, 2019 — The assets of Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based National Fish & Seafood (NFS) have been purchased by NSD Seafood, which said in a 22 May announcement it planned to restart production of NFS’ Matlaw’s stuffed clam line and other products.

NFS abruptly closed its doors on 10 May. SeafoodSource first broke the story on 20 May that an unnamed buyer wanted to acquire NFS and resume the company’s operations. On 22 May, NSD Seafood agreed to purchase all of National Fish’s assets and rename the company Atlantic Fish & Seafood, according to the Gloucester Daily Times. The operations team is hoping to begin production within a week at NFS’s former 60,000-square-feet facility in Gloucester.

Nicholas M. Osgood, a principal in NSD Seafood, along with two other partners from the NSDJ Real Estate company that owns NFS’s 159 E. Main St. facility, acquired NFS’s assets, according to the Gloucester Daily Times.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Vineyard Wind seeks help in protecting right whales

May 23, 2019 — The company preparing to build an 84-turbine wind farm off Martha’s Vineyard has put out a call  to universities, technology companies and other innovators that could help implement a system to detect the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales during construction.

Vineyard Wind said it is seeking a firm or institution that can “provide and operationalize enhanced acoustic monitoring systems that will detect the presence of Right Whales, and transmit information in real-time to project staff so that enhanced protections can be effectively implemented.”

Protection would include vessel speed restrictions, Vineyard Wind said.

Utility companies and the state tapped Vineyard Wind to construct an 800-megawatt wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 34 miles from the mainland to fulfill the first half of a 1,600-megawatt procurement called for in a 2016 clean energy law.

The company has already entered an agreement with a number of organizations to protect the whales.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Lobster War’ hitting Whaling Museum theater

May 22, 2019 — The New Bedford Whaling Museum, in partnership with the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, is screening a documentary with claws.

“Lobster War” is an award-winning feature-length documentary film about a conflict between the United States and Canada over waters that both countries have claimed since the end of the Revolutionary War.

The disputed 277 square miles of sea known as the Gray Zone were traditionally fished by U.S. lobstermen.

But as the Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than nearly any other body of water on the planet, the area’s previously modest lobster population has surged. As a result, Canadians have begun to assert their sovereignty, warring with the Americans to claim the bounty.

“Lobster War – The Fight Over the World’s Richest Fishing Grounds” is directed by David Abel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at The Boston Globe, and Andy Laub, an award-winning documentarian, producers of the acclaimed Discovery channel documentary “Sacred Cod.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Few herring, no eels coming to spawn

May 21, 2019 — It appears, at least for the time being, that Cape Ann largely has fallen off the list of favorite places to visit for river herring and American eels.

And no one really seems to know the reason why the river herring have been so sparse at the West Gloucester alewife fishway and American eels have been absent from the eel trap set up at Millbrook Pond in Rockport.

“Officially, I’d say we’ve spotted fewer than 10 in our fish counts of river herring making their way up to the Lily Pond,” said Eric W. Hutchins, a fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries and the Gulf of Maine restoration coordinator. “Without a doubt, it’s significantly down this year and there isn’t much time left.”

The city, in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries, organizes volunteer fish counters at the alewife fishway to document the number of river herring making their way out of the Little River, up the fishway and into the Lily Pond to spawn. Three to six weeks later, they head back to the ocean.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Right whales extending their stays in Cape Cod Bay

May 21, 2019 — With the count of North Atlantic right whale sightings in Cape Cod Bay down to zero Thursday, the end-of-season findings by the Center for Coastal Studies indicate what could be new realities: More animals are showing up each year, and the length of time they’re staying in the bay is longer.

“There are two trajectories,” said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, the center’s right whale ecology program director. “Our trajectory is going up while the total number of right whales is going down, fairly steeply.”

The center has studied the right whales in the bay for several decades, currently with airplane surveys for population counts and boat surveys to identify food densities in the water. The data collected is used, in part, to help the state Division of Marine Fisheries place and lift restrictions in the bay on trap gear fishing and vessel speeds.

The right whales — now considered at risk of extinction in the coming decades along the Atlantic coast due to deaths and injuries from being caught in fishing rope and hit by ships — have a current population of around 411. They typically arrive to feed in Cape Cod Bay in late winter and leave by the end of April, along an annual migratory path that stretches from Florida to Canada.

So far, the center has confirmed 267 individual right whales seen by either plane or boat for the current season, making that roughly 65 percent of the estimated total population. Considering the complete range of the whales’ migration along the East Coast, the concentration in the relatively small area known as Cape Cod Bay is “remarkable,” Mayo said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Vineyard Wind: May 22 Notice to Mariners and Fishermen

May 22, 2019 — The following was released by Vineyard Wind:

We wanted to let you know that Vineyard Wind will begin geological surveys on or about May 22. The estimated duration is approximately 77 days, ending on August 7, 2019. Surveys will take place in Vineyard Wind Lease Areas 501 and 522. Please see the full notice to fishermen and mariners here.

We encourage fishermen who may be working in the survey area to contact the fishery liaison.

This survey will gather data on seabed and subfloor conditions that will assist in identifying potential locations for future siting of offshore wind turbines and refine inter-array cable routes between each turbine.

Vineyard Wind is committed to communicating and working with the local fishermen in the region during all stages of development of the proposed offshore farm.

If you have any questions, please contact Crista Bank, Fishery Liaison via email at cbank@vineyardwind.com or via cell phone at 508-525-0421.

MASSACHUSETTS: Jon Mitchell gives Markey credit for $15 million upgrade to Port

May 20, 2019 — Sen. Edward Markey and others talked about the things he’s done for New Bedford Friday and local leaders talked about other things they’d like Markey to do.

It was classic “bring home the bacon” at a SouthCoast Legislative Luncheon at White’s of Wesport, sponsored jointly by the SouthCoast and Bristol County chambers of commerce.

Mayor Jon Mitchell introduced Markey to the gathering, attended by some members of the SouthCoast legislative delegation but not by indicted Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia. Mitchell told of Markey’s role in obtaining a $15.4 million federal transportation grant to improve the Port of New Bedford. The money will be used to extend the bulkhead and remove contaminated materials.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times