Saving Seafood

Ropeless Buoy Technology Tested in New England

November 25, 2023 — A federal program testing the viability of “fishing on demand” technology – also known as ropeless buoys – is seeing growing interest and success off the waters of Massachusetts.

But even though the program is experimental, free, and voluntary – and allows fishermen to trap in seasonally closed waters and keep what they catch – many of the state’s lobstermen don’t like it.

The project was started by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2018, in response to federal court rulings and NOAA regulations that seasonally closes thousands of square miles of fishing grounds to protect critically endangered right whales from the risk of entanglement in fishing gear.

Research shows there are fewer than 350 right whales left in the world, a population that has fewer than 70 reproductive females living off the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada. Their biggest threats are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes. The legal and regulatory action to protect the whales through seasonal fishing and speed restrictions in critical areas stems from lawsuits brought by environmental groups and subsequent court rulings to enforce provisions in the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act.

The seasonal closures prohibit lobster and Jonah crab fishing with traps and vertical lines in high-risk areas, covering almost 13,000 square miles in several restricted blocks off Massachusetts, with additional closures off New Hampshire and Maine. Fishermen who agree to participate in NOAA’s program and test the gear can access those areas under a special permit, using various ropeless buoy technologies being developed by NOAA, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, other non-governmental organizations and several marine technology companies.

“We acknowledge the tremendous impact these closures have on fishing communities and are looking for solutions that would allow fishing without increasing entanglement risk” when vertical line restrictions are in effect, said Henry Milliken, head of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Protected Species Gear Research Program.

“We are just trying to provide opportunities for fishermen who want access to those [restricted] areas. Nobody wants to close down the lobster fishery, especially in Maine and Massachusetts,” said Milliken.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Turbines are in the water – offshore wind has arrived in Massachusetts

November 20, 2023 — After more than two decades of proposing and planning, offshore wind is up and spinning. Fifteen miles off the coast of Matha’s Vineyard, the Vineyard Wind Project is installing 62 massive turbines. They estimate that this $4 billion project will power 400,000 homes and businesses. But some environmentalists believe the project could cause more harm than good.

Offshore wind is making a splash in New England, but it isn’t new to the Bay State. For more than two decades, plans for offshore wind turbines have been under discussion. Nearly 20 years after developers proposed the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound – a project that was eventually scrapped – offshore wind is up and spinning.

From concrete gray to ‘tutu’ green, Mass. shows off the many colors of coastal resilience

November 18, 2023 — Hurricane Carol devastated the port of New Bedford in 1954, leaving millions of dollars of damage in its wake. The fishing community couldn’t risk another blow, so business leaders decided to construct a massive barrier at the mouth of the port.

The hurricane barrier is made of 900,000 tons of stone, 20 feet high and stretches 3.5 miles across New Bedford’s port. It can protect New Bedford, Fairhaven and Acushnet from a Category 3 hurricane.

When a storm comes and the water level stops rising behind the barrier, it is “such a feeling of security,” John Bullard, the former mayor of New Bedford and president of the board of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster, told Boston Public Radio on Thursday. Bullard was 15 when the barrier was built.

Yet there are only two hurricane barriers on the East Coast — the other is in Providence. And coastal cities are facing growing threats from sea level rise and storm surge connected to climate change.

In 30 years, sea levels may be as much as 1.5 feet higher than they were in 2000. And by 2070, they may be as much as 3 feet higher, according to predictions from NOAA and Climate Ready Boston.

Read the full article at GBH

MASSACHUSETTS: Deadly fentanyl raises stakes for addicted fishermen

November 16, 2023 — As the crew of the clam vessel Lori Ann prepared to set out from Fairhaven, the fleet manager was told that something wasn’t right with a fisherman below deck.

The manager climbed down into the cabin. There, he recalled, he found Thomas Post, a 48-year-old deckhand and father of two. The manager had worked with Post for years, and described him as an eccentric mentor to the young crew.

But on Oct. 8, 2021, Post was sitting upright at the galley table. He was naked. His eyes were wide open. His skin was cold. He had no pulse. Post, who often slept on the boat the night before fishing trips, had died that morning due to the combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine.

Post was just one of at least 70 New Bedford fishermen who died of drug overdoses in the five years between 2018 and 2022, according to state death records analyzed by The Light.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for commercial fishermen in Massachusetts, records show. The vast majority of those deaths involve fentanyl. Since 2015, the powerful synthetic opioid has killed fishermen more than anything else. More than car crashes. More than work-related accidents. More than heart disease or cancer.

“This fentanyl is just everywhere,” said the manager who found Post dead in 2021. “I haven’t seen anything like it.” Earlier that same year, he recalled, a 24-year-old deckhand didn’t show up the morning of a fishing trip. When the fisherman’s mother came to pick up his last check, she told the manager that her son had died of a fentanyl overdose the morning of the trip.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

New England lobstermen threaten to sue feds over planned Massachusetts fishing closure

November 10, 2023 — New England lobstermen are threatening to sue a federal agency planning to make fishing on Massachusetts waters even more challenging from February until May, when they already face restrictions on where they are allowed to tend to their livelihood.

NOAA Fisheries is looking to permanently add a wedge between state and federal waters to an existing closure that stretches roughly 9,000 square miles off the Massachusetts coast, a measure feds have put in place to preserve the North Atlantic right whale.

An emergency rule prohibited trap and pot fishery buoy lines on the wedge during the past two years, but the feds are looking to make the zone permanent and have the backing of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

The proposed permanent expansion to the Massachusetts Restricted Area has caught lobstermen by surprise.

Dustin Delano, chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, took exception to the “recklessness” of the proposal after an amendment was included in this year’s $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that looked to delay protections for the North Atlantic right whale by six years.

Read the full article at Boston Herald

Canastras buy vessels, permits from Blue Harvest bankruptcy

November 8, 2023 — The Canastra family, owners of New Bedford’s seafood auction, closed a deal to buy out groundfish giant Blue Harvest Fisheries from bankruptcy, a move finalized Wednesday with the approval of a federal judge.

After a short bidding war, Cassie Canastra submitted the highest bid of $12 million on Monday, beating out the second-highest bid from O’Hara Corporation, which is a part owner of New Bedford-based Eastern Fisheries, by $750,000.

The sale includes “all the vessels, all the permits” that once belonged to Blue Harvest Fisheries. It includes eight vessels and 48 state and federal fishing permits, representing about 13% of all Northeast groundfish permits or about 250 million pounds of quota for the current fishing year.

The sale marks the final chapter in the saga of Blue Harvest Fisheries, which was founded in 2015 by the Dutch billionaire Brenninkmeijer family, through their Manhattan-based private equity firm. The company quickly expanded to become the single-largest groundfish company on the East Coast before declaring bankruptcy in September and liquidating its assets.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

C&P Trawlers submits highest bid for Blue Harvest’s fishing vessels

November 8, 2023 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based C&P Trawlers has won the bankruptcy auction for Blue Harvest’s fishing vessels, officially bringing Blue Harvest’s bid to be a dominating force in the region’s groundfish industry to a close.

According to a court transcript, C&P Trawlers, represented by Cassie Canastra – who according to LinkedIn also serves as the director of operations for New Bedford’s Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE) auction house – submitted the winning bid of USD 12 million (EUR 11.2 million) for the vessels. C&P Trawlers, a company incorporated on 26 October 2023, beat out multiple other bidders for the property, with the O’Hara Corporation submitting the second-place bid of USD 11.25 million (EUR 10.5 million).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

BOEM Seeks Input to Inform Environmental Analysis for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Proposed Wind Energy Project Offshore Massachusetts

November 7, 2023 — The following was released by the BOEM:

On Nov. 7, BOEM will publish a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider additional site assessment activities submitted via an amendment by Beacon Wind in March 2023 that were not covered under its Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for its lease (OCS-A 0520) that BOEM approved on Sept. 24, 2021. The original SAP and EA can be found on BOEM’s webpage.

The EA will analyze the environmental impacts of site assessment and foundation testing activities in the lease area, as described by Beacon Wind’s amendment.

The publication of the NOI in the Federal Register on Nov. 7, 2023, opens a 30-day public comment period that ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 7, 2023.

BOEM seeks public input on important environmental issues and the identification of reasonable alternatives that should be considered in the EA.

You may submit comments by either of the following methods:

  • Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No. BOEM-2023-062 to submit public comments and view supporting and related materials available for this notice.  Click on the “Comment” button below the document link.  Enter your information and comment, then click “Submit Comment”; or
  • By U.S. Postal Service or other delivery service: Send your comments and information to the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Mail Stop VAM-OREP, Sterling, VA 20166.

The public comment period for the NOI will help identify what BOEM may consider as part of its environmental assessment of Beacon Wind’s SAP. The comments received will help BOEM determine the important resources and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures that should be analyzed in the EA. Following the comment period, BOEM will review the comments to include information for consideration in the Beacon Wind Draft EA.

See more on BOEM’s website.

 

Seasonal Resident Files Vineyard Wind Appeal

November 7, 2023 — A seasonal Edgartown resident is challenging a federal court’s ruling on his lawsuit that tried to halt Vineyard Wind, the offshore wind energy development in construction south of the Island.

Thomas Melone, who owns a home on the Vineyard and is the president of a solar energy company, filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the National Marine Fisheries Service, claiming several agencies were violating the Endangered Species Act when they approved the 62 turbines. That case was dismissed by U.S. District Court judge Indira Talwani in August.

On Monday, Mr. Melone filed a brief with the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming the National Marine Fisheries Service did not meet all of the federal requirements when it approved Vineyard Wind, and that some of its interpretations of statutes are “unreasonable.” In his brief, he also contended the U.S. District Court erroneously allowed Vineyard Wind to be involved in his lawsuit.

Read the full article at the Vineyard Gazzette

MASSACHUSETTS: Can a shellfishing license go to a company? Proposals spark controversy on Cape Cod

November 2, 2023 — On a sandbar just off the coast of Barnstable one recent windy morning, Corey Hendricks picked up a metal mesh bag. It’s one of 125 large bags laid out, all full of young oysters.

“Once they get big enough like this, they’re going to go pretty much straight in the cage,” he said.

Hendricks poured the oysters from the bag into one of 100 cages lined up on the sandbar, then evenly spread out the shellfish to line the bottom.

This setup doesn’t look like the typical image of a farm, but that’s what it is: instead of agriculture, it’s aquaculture. Hendricks said the changing tides jostle the oysters and help them grow.

His company is called Duck Island Oysters, and his farm is 2 acres of offshore public land controlled by the town of Barnstable.

“I have roughly a half a million oysters,” Hendricks said. “And last year we planted 200,000 quahogs. This year another 200,000.”

Shellfishermen in Massachusetts farmed nearly $37 million worth of oysters and quahogs in 2022. Unlike other fisheries, shellfishing is regulated locally by individual cities and towns. But in some Cape communities, there’s been a hot debate over changing those regulations and what it would mean for the future of the industry.

Read the full article at CAI