January 22, 2019 — In this episode of the Sourcing Matters podcast, former NOAA Regional Administrator of the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and former Mayor of New Bedford, John Bullard discusses the impacts of the federal shutdown on marine management and coastal communities.
Maine Fisherman Says ‘Sea-To-Table’ Is Path To Sustainability — For Oceans And His Business
January 22, 2019 — It’s tough to be an independent commercial fisherman, and regulations designed to manage fish populations are part of the reason why.
The government has imposed a quota system: fishermen have to pay to catch certain kinds of fish, like cod. Cod is deemed to be in low supply. So, fishermen are only allowed to catch a limited amount of it. They can pay to lease someone else’s quotas, so they can catch more. But that’s expensive, and makes it harder to turn a profit.
One fisherman in Maine is trying to fish more sustainably — and make a living doing it.
“The average fish that you go and eat at an average seafood restaurant has been around for 10 days and traveled 7,000 miles. We beat that by about 99.9 percent,” says Tim Rider, who’s adopted a sea-to-table method that means consumers get fresh seafood just a few days — or even hours — after it was caught.
Instead of selling fish through wholesalers who control the price, Rider’s company New England Fishmongers sells fish directly to local restaurants and consumers.
Considering the strict regulations and fishing quotas that commercial fishermen face, Rider focuses on quality over quantity in order to compete with larger fishing companies. The fish are bled and gutted on the boat, which Rider says yields a higher quality product. This approach also proves to be less wasteful, he says.
NEFMC Meeting January 29-31, 2019, Portsmouth, NH, Listen Live, View Documents
January 22, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a three-day meeting from Tuesday, January 29 through Thursday, January 31, 2019. The public is invited to listen-in via webinar or telephone. Here are the details.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: This meeting will proceed on schedule, regardless of the status of the partial government shutdown. Please note the revised agenda.
MEETING LOCATION: Portsmouth Harbor Events & Conference Center, 100 Deer Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; Portsmouth Harbor Events Center.
START TIME: The webinar will be activated at 8:00 a.m. each day. However, please note that the meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday. The webinar will end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST or shortly after the Council adjourns each day.
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.
CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 930-5321. The access code is 145-763-000. Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.
AGENDA: In addition to the revised agenda, all meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at January 29-31, 2019 NEFMC Portsmouth, NH.
THREE MEETING OUTLOOK: A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available HERE.
COUNCIL MEETING QUESTIONS: Anyone with questions prior to or during the Council meeting should contact Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.
MAINE: Aquaculture rule changes
January 21, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources will hold a public hearing Thursday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. at Ellsworth City Hall on proposed changes to aquaculture leasing regulations.
This proposed rule would make a number of changes to clarify the aquaculture leasing regulations, including the elimination of redundant language.
It would also make several changes to the leasing procedures for standard and limited-purpose aquaculture leases, including the timing of scoping sessions, required information regarding an applicant’s financial capability and a prohibition on the siting of leases within a designated zone around a wastewater treatment plant.
MAINE: Dreaming of a lobster license, but trapped on a waitlist
January 21, 2019 — Holly Masterson got her start in the lobster industry when she was 15, when her stepfather, David Horner, hired her to stock and clean up his boat at night.
Horner taught her how to lobster, fish for shrimp and scallops, and drag for haddock, monkfish and cod. When he lost his sternman, Masterson filled in. The Southwest Harbor resident hadn’t planned to become a fisherman, just help out her family, but she got hooked. At 24, Masterson entered the lobster apprenticeship program. In July 2008, after completing the program, Masterson was added to a list of area fishermen waiting for a state lobster license.
“I was so excited about the future,” Masterson recalled. “I knew I’d have to wait, but I thought it would be a couple years. Little did I know.”
Ten years later, after almost a quarter century in the business, the 38-year-old Masterson is still waiting. She still works for Horner, even though he and her mom are no longer together. She got her real estate license, and rents out a handful of vacation properties she has bought up over the years. But that’s just a side gig. She still dreams of getting that license, and the freedom that comes with being her own boss.
“Some years, nobody comes off the list,” Masterson said. “At this rate, my 9-year-old daughter, Eden, will be able to fish and sell her lobsters before I will.”
As many industries get shutdown relief, those without political clout feel left behind
January 21, 2019 — In the chaotic landscape of the partial federal shutdown, some constituencies have gotten speedy relief and attention from federal officials — while others are still trying to get in the door.
In some cases, even players within the same industry find themselves in starkly different predicaments.
When the shutdown began, members of Alaska’s congressional delegation said they made it clear that it was imperative that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service keep enough managers on the job. Without the inspections the NOAA staff perform, boat operators would not be able to head out to the Bering Sea to catch cod starting Jan. 1 and pollock beginning on Jan. 20.
Chris Oliver, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service — an Alaskan himself — tapped funds the agency had collected from industry to keep some employees at work over the past month and brought at least a couple back from furlough this month, according to several individuals briefed on the matter.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) credited Oliver’s “outstanding work” for keeping the fisheries in business.
“Since holiday break, my office and I have worked and been in direct communication with a number of Commerce Department officials to ensure that federal fisheries in Alaska opened on time and fishermen were able to gain the necessary approvals and inspections to get out on the water,” Sullivan said in a statement. “This approach is vastly different from the 2013 government shutdown, which delayed Alaska’s lucrative and iconic crab fishery, and the agency’s efforts at mitigating impacts from the lapse in funding should be commended.”
But some fishing operators on the East Coast have yet to receive similar help — leaving their vessels grounded.
John Lees, managing partner of the scallop fishing vessel Madison Kate in New Bedford, Mass., said he was in the final stages of getting NOAA officials to transfer his federal permit from his old boat to his new one last month when the agency closed. Under federal rules, he has until March 31 to catch 134,000 pounds of scallops under certain conditions.
If he cannot sail, he said, he and his crew stand to lose $1.5 million worth of seafood.
“All we’re looking for now is for NOAA to just assign a number. That’s it,” Lees said in an interview, adding that he is working to reach agency officials amid the short staffing and that his assigned quota could now be out of reach. “It’s possible that we won’t be able to do it.”
NOAA spokeswoman Julie Roberts said in an email that agency staffers were working on key matters, despite the shutdown.
“NOAA continues to conduct enforcement activities for the protection of marine fisheries including quota monitoring, observer activities, and regulatory actions to prevent overfishing,” she said. “This is not specific to Alaska.”
New bill would change Massachusetts lobster processing laws
January 18, 2019 — The first bill introduced in the Massachusetts Senate in 2019 aims to modernize the state’s lobster processing rules and expand in-state processing.
Massachusetts currently allows only for the production and sale of live and cooked lobsters and canned lobster meat, while raw and frozen lobsters are shipped to either Maine or Canada for processing before returning to the state.
“Our state has the second-largest lobster catch in the country. Yet without this bill, raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to be brought back to our local consumers,” said the bill’s sponsor, State Senate Majority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). “This bill modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores, more choices, all while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”
In 2017, Massachusetts lobstermen landed 16.57 million pounds of lobster for a total value of $81.54 million.
Offshore Wind, Commercial Fishing Industries Partnering Up In Unusual Collaboration
January 18, 2019 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a group representing fishermen from Maine to North Carolina formed specifically to interact with offshore wind companies, and developer Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind (formerly Deepwater Wind) said the partnership is the first-of-its-kind.
As development of offshore wind farms is underway off of Rhode Island and Massachusetts’ coasts, commercial fishermen have been in talks with developers to figure out the best way to build wind farms that sustain the fishing industry.
However, RODA and Orsted feel the way the industries have been engaging with one another has been inefficient.
“The fishermen are being pulled in a million directions and we’re very excited to have a more structured approach where we can get that input and give it back to the developers as well as to the government,” Annie Hawkins, executive director of RODA, said.
Jeff Grybowski, Co-CEO of Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind, agreed the new partnership will make it easier for the industries to communicate.
“It can often be difficult for a developer to find the right people to talk to because obviously fishermen are, they’re small businesses and some of them are big businesses, but there are lots of different people,” Grybowski said.
Hawkins added the goal is to have fewer, more productive meetings, however any recommendations that come out of them are nonbinding.
Commercial fishermen have raised multiple concerns about offshore wind farms, such as the layout of the turbines affecting their access to fishing grounds and ability to safely return to shore, and spinning turbines interfering with their radar navigation.
Offshore Wind Giant and Fishing Group Agree to Partnership
January 18, 2019 — A new agreement has been announced between a group representing commercial fishermen and the world’s leading developer of offshore wind farms.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and Orstead U.S. Offshore Wind are looking for ways to improve communcation with each other.
Alliance Director Annie Hawkins says the agreement provides a structure to help fishermen give direct input to Orsted.
“Having a structured partnership will create a much better opportunity for fishermen to be involved,” said Hawkins. “It’s a good faith agreement; it provides a forum for the concerns of fishermen to be heard.”
The agreement calls for the creation of a joint industry task force to explore issues like the siting and design of offshore wind facilities.
Hawkins says when it comes to the North Atlantic fisheries, Orsted is still learning. “They are certainly a developer with a lot of experience in offshore wind, but probably a little less experience in dealing with Federal fisheries in the U.S.”
New partnership develops with goal of improving talks between offshore wind, fishing
January 18, 2019 — The pool of organizations aiming to generate a mutually beneficial relationship between offshore wind and the commercial fishing industry grew on Thursday.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) announced a partnership with Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind that is meant to improve communications between the fishing industry and offshore wind developers.
While the agreement was described as a “first-of-its-kind” partnership in the press release, it’s not the first pact agreed upon with the hopes of improving communication.
Last November, the New Bedford Port Authority announced an agreement with all offshore wind developers operating in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island market to serve as the designated Fisheries Representative of the commercial fishing industry to each of the development companies.
Orsted said this agreement would not affect its partnership with the Port Authority. It said it views this most recent announcement as an addition to its relationship with New Bedford.
The agreement between RODA and Orsted is unique in that RODA extends its representations from Maine to North Carolina.
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