Saving Seafood

Sen. Collins, Rep. Golden Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Lobster Industry Afford New Gear

March 9, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Jared Golden:

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support lobstermen by creating a grant program to help them comply with federal right whale regulations requiring a change in fishing gear. The Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability (SAFE SEAS) Act of 2022 will help lobstermen and women with the financial burden of this transition by authorizing grant assistance for fiscal years 2022 through 2024 to help cover the costs of compliance. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) have signed on as cosponsors of the bill.

According to an estimate by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) rule will cost Maine lobstermen and women at least $45 million due to the expense of trawling up, acquiring and adding weak points, purchasing specialized rope, lengthening groundlines, marking gear, and hiring additional crew to complete this work.  Notably, there are no known cases of Maine’s lobster industry being responsible for killing a right whale, and there has not been a single right whale entanglement attributed to Maine lobster fisheries in nearly two decades.

 “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it,” said Senator Collins.  “As NOAA moves ahead with this rule despite the Maine delegation’s urging against it, our legislation would help alleviate the financial burden our lobstermen and women face. We must ensure that this heritage industry has the assistance it needs to continue to support coastal families and communities for generations to come.”

Read the full release at the office of Congressman Jared Golden

 

Lawmakers propose grant to help lobster industry navigate whale protections

March 9, 2022 — Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at establishing a grant program to assist the lobster industry as it upgrades its gear to reduce risk of entanglement with critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.  

The “Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability Act of 2022” was introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to support the transition, which is expected to cost “tens of millions of dollars each year.” The lawmakers secured $10 million in draft appropriations for fiscal year 2022.  

“This bipartisan bill helps ensure that lobstermen aren’t put out of business and can afford equipment to reduce mortalities of endangered right whales,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I’ll keep working in Congress to support our fishing industry as we enhance protections for endangered species.” 

Read the full story at The Hill

Feds institute ’emergency’ lobster closure to protect right whales

March 3, 2022 — The federal government will close an additional 200 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts to lobster and Jonah crab fishing in April to protect endangered right whales.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is closing the area on an “emergency” basis, without taking public comment — a move that frustrates lobstermen already contending with extensive fishing restrictions.

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said she recognized that the “wedge” of federal water is particularly dangerous for right whales.

“If there’s an entanglement of serious injury or mortality attributed to the American lobster fishery, it’s not going to be good for anyone, anywhere,” she said.

But Casoni said she was worried by NOAA closing the waters through an emergency order.

Read the full story at WBUR

MAINE: DMR sets public hearing on whale rule changes

March 3, 2022 — Now that new federal regulations are in place to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement with fishing lines, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has drafted revisions to state lobster and crab fishing laws to implement the changes.

For Chapter 75, Protected Resources Compliance with Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, the proposed changes align with gear marking, fishing ropes, weak links in fishing rope, the minimum number of traps per trawl and the seasonal closure of Lobster Management Area 1. For Chapter 25, Lobster and Crab Fishing, proposed changes to Zone B increase the trawl limit from a maximum of three traps per line to five traps from 3 to 12 nautical miles from shore.

A remote public hearing is scheduled for March 15 at 5 p.m. for Chapter 75 and 5:30 p.m. for Chapter 25.

“These changes are routine in nature to implement such a large federal mandate,” Maine Lobstering Union member and Deer Isle lobsterman Virginia Olsen said. “However, we, the MLU, do not feel the goal of a 98 percent reduction is a way the Maine lobster industry can survive moving forward. We feel more real-time science needs to be done and the restrictions put in place to date need to be reviewed for effectiveness before additional restrictions are implemented.”

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

NEW YORK: Long Island’s Offshore Wind Farm Plans Take Root

March 2, 2022 — After years of planning and debate, offshore wind farm developers recently took several big steps forward in a half dozen projects in various stages of development off the coast of Long Island.

A record-setting sale of offshore wind development rights last week saw combined bids for six areas off the coasts of New York and New Jersey stretching to $4.73 billion. The auction came less than two weeks after officials held a groundbreaking — or a seafloor breaking, as it were — ceremony in Wainscott on Feb. 11 to mark construction starting on the 130-megawatt South Fork Wind, the first offshore wind project in New York State.

LOCAL OPPOSITION

The South Fork Wind farm’s developers, Ørsted & Eversource, who plan to build 12 turbines about 30 miles off Montauk’s coast — enough to power 70,000 homes annually — have faced legal challenges from some Wainscott residents opposed to the cable coming ashore in their community.

Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott filed a motion in the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court to block the construction until the court has an opportunity to rule on the group’s appeal of the state Public Service Commission’s decision allowing the cable to run through the community. The appeals court judges rejected that motion last month, but the suit is pending.

“We continue to support the move to renewable energy and celebrate the progress toward that goal,” the group said in a statement following the groundbreaking. “But we continue to have serious reservations regarding an infrastructure project that runs its cable through residential neighborhoods, and next to a PFAS superfund site, particularly when better alternative sites were available. Our focus will continue to be on protecting our community.”

The group isn’t the only one opposed. Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Montauk-based Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, protested the groundbreaking ceremony while playing an audio recording of what she says the construction noise will sound like from on land. As officials left, she reminded them that the turbines will be built in North Atlantic Right Whale territory.

Read the full story at the Long Island Press

Federal right whale legislation floated

March 2, 2022 — Introduced to the U.S. Senate last week was the Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022, led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and joined by fellow Democrats. The proposed bill seeks to help right whale conservation efforts “by supporting and providing financial resources for conservation programs and projects.”

The legislation adds to the swirl of regulatory and legal action aimed at protecting the right whales — but at a cost to Maine lobstermen and the $1 billion that the industry is estimated to add to the state’s economy each year.

The Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022 aims to support through grants and other financial assistance conservation programs that curtail the effect of human activity on right whales. Right whales are injured and killed from ship strikes as well as being entangled in fishing lines.

The North Atlantic right whale is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. The number of right whales has steadily declined since 2010 and the estimated population dropped 30 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to federal monitoring programs. It now stands at below 340, the lowest in two decades, and the reported number of breeding females is small.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Diversifying the catch seen as more important than ever for Maine’s fishery

February 23, 2022 — While lobster dominates Maine’s seafood economy, threats to the industry suggest that improving the diversity of the state’s seafood production is an important solution to consider.

The lobster catch in Maine broke a record last year at $725 million, up more than $312 million from 2020. But concerns about the future of the industry are looming with new regulations that have been imposed to protect right whales.

More concern surfaced when the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, based in California, said it is considering adding the North American lobster to its “red list,” which means Maine’s lobster fishery would lose its sustainability label.

The preliminary report on the American lobster, which questions the impact lobster traps have on right whales in the Gulf of Maine, remains under consideration and is open to public comment through the end of March.

Maine’s lobster fishery is currently rated “yellow,” meaning it’s OK to buy, but consumers should be aware of “concerns” regarding how the product is caught or managed.

Read the full story at the Portland Phoenix

Committee rejects proposal for Maine lobster industry legal defense fund

February 23, 2022 — A Maine legislative committee largely rejected a bill Tuesday that would have created a legal defense fund to help the lobster industry fight recent and expected regulations designed to help protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.

A bipartisan majority of the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee members, despite expressing support for the bill’s intent, voted 9-4 “ought not to pass” after regulators, industry members and the state Attorney General’s Office said the bill could have unintended consequences and might be unconstitutional.

The industry would pay for the legal defense fund through surcharges on lobster trap tags and licenses. The surcharges would generate an estimated $900,000 a year for the legal fund, but would divert money away from other industry causes.

The money would be split three ways among the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, Maine Lobstering Union and Maine Department of Marine Resources. The two industry groups would be reimbursed for any legal expenses incurred, and the state agency for added staffing expenses and any related legal action or research.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Federal lawmakers want to save the North Atlantic right whale

February 18, 2022 — One of New England’s most critically endangered species is getting some love from federal legislators.

On Thursday, Congressional Democrats introduced a bill focused on saving the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, would start a new grant program, making $15 million available each year for the next decade to projects that can reduce the risks of entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.

North Atlantic right whales live almost exclusively along the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada. Many spend time in late winter and early spring feeding in Cape Cod Bay.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

BOEM announces effort to protect right whales

February 10, 2022 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced in a press release it is partnering with multiple federal and state entities to research and strengthen the protection of the endangered North Atlantic right whales. The groups mentioned in the press release include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA Fisheries, and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

According to the release, BOEM is working with NOAA to develop strategies to “protect and promote the recovery of right whales” while allowing responsible development of offshore wind farms. The two organizations, with other partners, are also working on a passive acoustic monitoring network to identify and monitor the movements and distribution of marine mammals.

Read the full story at The Martha’s Vineyard Times