Saving Seafood

MAINE: Small Area Added to Penobscot Closure in Response to Monitoring Program

June 21, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) announced today that it will add a small area to the current lobster and crab fishing closure in the mouth of the Penobscot River in response to data gathered during 2014. The area will be added through rulemaking that takes effect Tuesday, June 21, 2016 and will extend the closure’s southern boundary to between Squaw Point on Cape Jellison and Perkins Point in Castine.

In February 2014, the department closed an area in the river that extends from Wilson Point across to Fort Point and north into the river after receiving information from a federal court-ordered study, the Penobscot River Mercury Study (PRMS). The area within the 2014 closure where lobster harvesting had occurred is approximately 7 square miles out of more than 14,000 square miles in the Gulf of Maine where lobsters are harvested. The additional area adds nearly 5.5 square miles to the closure.

To confirm the methodology and results in the PRMS and to determine whether or not to change the closure boundaries, the Department conducted monitoring in 2014 and 2015 of lobster and crab in the closed area and beyond it. Results of 2015 monitoring work are not yet available but will be evaluated as soon as they are.

Data from DMR monitoring work done in 2014 are from areas inside the original closure, including Odom Ledge, South Verona, and Fort Point, and three areas outside the closure, including Cape Jellison, Turner Point, and Sears Island. All areas had been previously sampled except Cape Jellison. Results from the PRMS and 2014 DMR sampling were similar in that mercury concentrations in lobster tail and claw tissue decreased geographically from north to south.

Levels in lobsters sampled from the Cape Jellison shore, an area immediately adjacent to the closure, and the shore adjacent to Turner Point, were lower than most of the other areas sampled in 2014, yet elevated enough to warrant including in the closure.

On average, tails in 40 legal size lobsters harvested for testing during 2014 along the south eastern shore of Cape Jellison contained 292.7 nanograms (a billionth of a gram) of mercury per gram of tissue (ng/g) while claws contained much less, at 139.2 ng/g. According to the FDA, canned white tuna contains 350 ng/g of mercury.

In addition to lobsters, crabs were also included in the original closure and evaluated in the on-going monitoring work. “Despite insufficient data on crabs in the PRMS study, we wanted to include them in the initial closure as a precaution,” said Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “While the 2014 study does not show levels of concern for crabs, the closure will continue to include crabs because of enforcement challenges and to provide time to continue to analyze the data.

“We are adding this very small, targeted area to the closure so consumers can continue to be confident in the exceptional quality of Maine lobster,” said Commissioner Keliher.

The department will host a public meeting to discuss the closure at the Bucksport Area Performing Arts Center at the Bucksport Middle School at 100 Miles Lane in Bucksport on Tuesday, June 28 at 5:30 p.m.

A Frequently Asked Question document, a chart of the closure area, and a copy of the report titled “Penobscot River Estuary Lobster and Rock Crab Mercury Study” can be found here.

Maine Elver Harvesters Net Third Highest Overall Value in the History of the Fishery

June 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

With Maine’s 2016 elver season concluding yesterday at noon, the 982 harvesters who fished this season netted $13,388,040, which is the third highest value in the history of the fishery according to preliminary landings data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Maine DMR data indicates that the total was nearly $2 million more than was earned last season by the 920 active harvesters. While the average value this season was $1,435 per pound compared with $2,171 last season, it was the fourth highest on record.

Preliminary landings data indicates that harvesters caught 9,330 pounds of the 9,688 total statewide quota compared with 5,259 pounds harvested last season. According to DMR data, 285 harvesters reached their individual quota in 2016 compared to 104 in 2015.

“Law changes put in place for this season, including the elimination of the weekly 48-hour closure and the extension of the season by a week, have resulted in much better opportunity for Maine’s elver harvesters,” said Marine DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“Our success using the swipe card and quota systems to manage this fishery gave us the confidence to eliminate those restrictions and provide Maine harvesters a better chance to land their full quota.

“The swipe card and quota systems, which were implemented in 2014, also continue to provide reliable tools to prevent illegal trafficking,” said Commissioner Keliher. “This season there were only 7 violations related to illegal elver possession, which is a dramatic decline from the 219 recorded in 2013 before the new management system was implemented.

“With this innovative approach to management, Maine has proven its ability to strike a balance between protecting the resource and providing opportunity for Maine fishermen.”

Maine Department of Marine Resources Announces Lobster Research and Education Awards

May 23, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has announced four grant awards from the Research, Education and Development fund. The four organizations receiving funding include the Penobscot East Resource Center, the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance, University of Maine System, and Colby College. Each responded to a request for proposal issued in December 2015.

The Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC) will receive $37,500 to develop four lobster curriculum units for its Eastern Maine Skippers Program (ESMP), an educational initiative for high school students planning a career in Maine’s lobster fishing industry. Two units will cover lobster fisheries management and two will target science and life history. PERC, a Deer Isle-based non-profit, will engage industry experts including fishermen, dealers, advocates, managers and scientists in the development and implementation of the curriculum units.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance will be awarded $37,500 to build on the success of its Maine Lobstermen’s Leadership Institute (MLLI). Begun in 2014, the MLLI provides education for Maine’s lobster industry members. Participants in the MLLI program will complete three training modules. They will include a workshop on industry issues such as management, science, market and supply chain dynamics, and product quality. There will also be modules that provide opportunities for experiential learning and information exchange with fisheries participants outside of Maine.

The University of Maine System will receive $127,482 to develop a research project titled “A Proactive Approach to Addressing Lobster Health in the Context of a Changing Ecosystem.” Focus of the University of Maine System’s project will be on the changing ocean ecosystem and how these changes can impact lobster reproductive development and susceptibility to disease. An objective of the project is to develop the ability to respond rapidly to reports of shell disease in lobsters.

Colby College will receive $81,657 to conduct an analysis of economic impacts at each point along the supply chain in Maine’s lobster industry. The analysis will not only quantify the direct and indirect economic impacts of the industry throughout the supply chain, but also the induced effects on Maine’s economy of spending by industry workers. Project research will involve confidential surveys of Maine’s lobster dealers and processors as well as analysis of existing Maine Department of Marine Resources and Department of Labor data.

“These projects will help sustain Maine’s iconic lobster fishery by fostering a new generation of educated and engaged fishermen, by improving our understanding of the complex marine environment, and by refining our ability to measure the impacts of the lobster industry on Maine’s economy,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

With revenues from the sale of Maine lobster plates, the Research Education and Development Board provides funding for projects that support Maine’s lobster industry.

MAINE: Lawmakers endorse stripped-down version of lobster license changes

AUGUSTA, Maine — February 25, 2016 — Lawmakers on the committee that handles marine resources issues voted Wednesday to make modest changes in the rules that control lobster fishing licenses in Maine, side-stepping a more controversial proposal for access to Maine’s most lucrative fishery.

Members of the Marine Resources Committee voted 11-1 to increase the age for young people to finish a required apprenticeship program, and to take steps to verify the validity of hundreds of names on a license waiting list. The action was a compromise between attempts by the Department of Marine Resources to trim the waiting list without hurting the resource and resistance from established lobstermen, who were opposed to what they saw as a loss of control and the potential for overfishing.

“It’s not a giant change,” said Patrick Keliher, the marine resources commissioner, “but it will redefine the list and make it smaller.”

A spokesman for many fishermen, however, said he would have been happier if nothing was changed.

“It could have been worse,” said David Cousins, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Interest by the state in reforming the licensing process has been building for years, but has repeatedly failed under pressure from the industry. The department’s initial proposal was crafted after four bills that dealt with license changes were killed in the last legislative session.

Read the full story from Portland Press Herald

MAINE: State seeks to reduce waiting times for lobster licenses

ELLSWORTH, Maine — September 28, 2015 — Fishermen are used to having to wait until they catch something, but there are many in Maine who don’t think it is right that they should have to wait a decade or more to catch lobster.

The state Department of Marine Resources agrees that the waiting list for lobster licenses in most fishing zones along the coast is too long and, if possible, something should be done to reduce the time it takes to get a license.

At a meeting last week in Ellsworth — one of several DMR has held over the past month along the coast — Commissioner Patrick Keliher told a group of nearly 60 people that he wants to make waits predictable, so that applicants will know roughly how long it will be before they get their license. But, he added, the department wants to avoid increasing the number of active lobster traps in the fishery, which he said already is being “fully exploited” by licensed fishermen.

“What do people on the waiting list want?” Keliher asked the group at Ellsworth High School, most of whom were fishermen with and waiting for lobster licenses. “They want predictability.”

Read the full story from the Bangor Daily News