March 13, 2017 — PERRY, Maine — Fishing regulators are shutting down Maine’s most productive scallop fishing grounds for the season to protect the valuable shellfish.
Cobscook Bay is the most important scalloping area along the Maine cost. Maine marine resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher says it needs to be shut down for the season on Sunday to make sure it stays fertile.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public
October 13, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Downeast shellfish harvesters are reeling as the Department of Marine Resources last Friday expanded its closure of the Downeast clam and mussel fisheries because of the westward spread of the microscopic marine organism that causes amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP).
On Sept. 27, DMR closed Cobscook Bay from Perry and Lubec to the Canadian border to the harvesting of mussels. A day later, the department expanded the closure to include clams.
On Sept. 30, DMR closed the entire state east of Otter Point on Mount Desert Island to all clam and mussel harvesting. Last week, the closure boundary was shifted westward to encompass much of Penobscot and Blue Hill bays and the outer islands.
“Currently, mussels, carnivorous snails and surf clams are closed from Deer Isle to the Canadian border,” DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols said in an email on Friday. “All other clams (softshell and hardshell) are closed from Isle au Haut to the Canadian border; European oysters are closed from Deer Isle to Machiasport.”
Harvesters and dealers have already felt the impact.
On Sept. 30, DMR ordered the recall of mussels and mahogany quahogs harvested or wet stored in the Jonesport area between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30. It also ordered a recall of clams harvested in the area between Cranberry Point in Corea and Cow Point in Roque Bluffs between Sept. 28 and Sept. 30.
According to Nichols, the recall affected five licensed shellfish dealers, “and more than 10,000 pounds of product was recovered and destroyed, which was more than 96 percent of the total product recalled.”
PERRY, Maine (AP) — July 5, 2015 — Maine wants to get better and timelier information about the harvest of its sea urchins, which are the most valuable in the country, and it will begin doing so with a new swipe card system in a few weeks.
Maine sea urchins are harvested for their roe, which is especially popular in Japan and Japanese restaurants in America as sushi and sashimi. The swipe card system is similar to a program the state unveiled for its baby eel fishery last year.
The new card system will allow the state to collect information about volume and price of urchin sales in real time, said Maggie Hunter, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The season begins Sept. 1 and Hunter said the cards will likely be ready by October.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Inside Bay Area News