Saving Seafood

Herring, Haddock Fishermen at Odds as Regulators Seek Peace

January 26, 2016—PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing regulators are trying to broker peace between two of the most economically important fisheries in the Northeast, herring and haddock.

One of the areas where fishermen seek the two species is Georges Bank, a critical fishing ground off the New England coast. Atlantic herring are important as bait and sometimes as food, while haddock are a staple of New England’s fish markets and seafood restaurants.

Herring fishermen often accidentally capture haddock as bycatch, and they are allowed a “catch cap” of the fish in Georges Bank every year. They exceeded it last year, as they have in other recent years, and regulators closed a large section of Georges Bank to herring fishing until May 1, 2016.

Some herring fishermen have requested higher bycatch limits or other changes to the rules, but haddock and other groundfishermen frequently opposed changes. Haddock are an important money-maker for fishermen of bottom-dwelling species because they are much more abundant in Northeastern waters than cod, which have collapsed off of New England.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

Portland-based fishing boat captain and daughter to be featured on ‘Wicked Tuna’

January 25, 2016—Pete Speeches sees himself as a competitive guy, competing against the unpredictability of nature every time he sets foot on his boat.

So when Speeches and his daughter Erin signed up to be featured on the new season of the popular tuna-fishing reality show “Wicked Tuna,” he wasn’t looking to just get his face on TV or for a career in acting.

He was looking to win.

“I’m not in the habit of not catching fish, I like to be the guy who catches fish,” said Speeches, 54, who fishes out of Portland on a boat named for his daughters, the Erin & Sarah. “I fish hard, in all kinds of weather. I feel like I’m competing against nature every day.”

Speeches and his crew will make their TV debut Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. when the fifth season of “Wicked Tuna” begins on the National Geographic Channel. Eight tuna boat crews will be seen during one complete fishing season (filmed last summer and fall), fishing for bluefin tuna with hand-held rods. Their catches are tallied and ranked, but there is no monetary prize. The winner gets bragging rights only.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Navy’s new Zumwalt destroyer rescues ailing fishing boat captain off Portland

December 12, 2015 — The Navy’s new stealth destroyer endured a real life-and-death test Saturday when crew members aboard the future USS Zumwalt helped rescue a Maine fisherman suffering a medical emergency at sea.

The Zumwalt, a 600-foot-long guided missile destroyer built at Bath Iron Works, was conducting sea trials early Saturday morning when the U.S. Coast Guard requested assistance from any boats in the vicinity of the fishing vessel Danny Boy, located about 40 nautical miles southeast of Portland at 3 a.m. The captain of the Portland-based Danny Boy, 46-year-old Dale Sparrow, was experiencing chest pains, but a Coast Guard helicopter crew determined it was too dangerous to try to hoist the captain because of the 45-foot boat’s deck configuration.

The Zumwalt responded to the scene and launched an 11-meter “rigid hull inflatable boat” – the type used by Navy SEALs and other special forces – to bring Sparrow on board the destroyer.

“After medical evaluation, the patient was transferred from Zumwalt to a Coast Guard helicopter and then to an area hospital,” a Navy spokeswoman, Capt. Thurraya Kent, said in a statement Saturday night. The Coast Guard said Sparrow was flown to Portland International Jetport and then taken to Maine Medical Center.

Read the full story at Portland Press Herald

 

Warmer waters affecting the New England fishing industry

December 9, 2015 — A new study has found the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost every other ocean in the world. For the first time, it links warming sea temperatures to the collapse of cod stocks in the region.

For Portland’s fishing community, the first hours of daylight are the most important. At the town’s fish exchange, boats rush to unload their catch, ready to be sorted, and sold.

They are not just working against time.

Today’s landing at the Portland fish exchange was about 40,000 pounds worth. That’s not considered very much. Out of that, just seven boxes worth of cod; that’s about 500 pounds.”

Cod stocks have been declining here for decades. Federal quotas were slashed by 75 percent back in May, to help the species recover.

Now a new study suggests that intervention may have been too late.

Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute says, “You assume that if you pull back on the fishing, the stock will have the same productivity that it had in the past.  But our work really shows that the productivity in Gulf of Maine cod was declining pretty rapidly as the waters were getting warm and so by not factoring that in they weren’t able to rein in the quotas fast enough.”

Read the full story from CNN at WWLP

 

Webinar/Agenda for NEFMC Meeting, Portland, ME, Dec 1-3, 2015

November 25, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold its Dec 1-3 meeting in Portland, ME. Please take a look at the details below if you would like to listen in. 

Location: For further information about the venue, check Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, ME

Meeting Materials: See the agenda here Dec 1-3, 2015 Council Meeting Agenda and meeting materials at www.nefmc.org/calendar/december-2015-council-meeting 

Webinar Registration: See https://global.gotowebinar.com/ojoin/9120951799557371650/300000000000299567 for online access to the meeting.

The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:00 a.m. each day and end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST .

Charges for Listening: There are no charges if you access the webinar via your computer. If dialing in, your normal phone charges will apply.

Dial in number: Toll: +1 (646) 307-1720

Access Code: 399-520-213

View a PDF of the Meeting Agenda

MAINE: Ben Alfiero, ‘face’ of Portland’s Harbor Fish Market, dies at 59

November 19, 2015 — One of the three brothers who own and operate an iconic fish market on Portland’s waterfront has died, following a long struggle with cancer.

Benjamin A. Alfiero, 59, of Scarborough, died Monday, his family said.

Alfiero and his brothers, Nick Alfiero and Mike Alfiero, have been involved in the operation of the Harbor Fish Market since their father Ben Alfiero Sr. founded the business in 1969.

For years, Benjamin A. Alfiero ran the retail store for Harbor Fish Market, which is located at 9 Custom House Wharf on the city’s waterfront.

“He was the face of the business in a lot of ways,” said his younger brother, Mike Alfiero. “Ben became a local celebrity.”

Alfiero was born and raised in Portland, the son of Benjamin and Gloria Alfiero.

He attended Portland schools and graduated from Portland High School.

He joined the business as a teenager and never lost interest.

“We grew up doing every aspect of the entire operation, from cutting fish to sweeping floors,” Mike Alfiero said.

In the 1990s, when their father retired, the three brothers took over.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Searchers looking for missing Portland water taxi and its captain

November 11, 2015 — A search is underway for the captain of a Portland-based water taxi who has not been seen since Wednesday afternoon.

The Maine Marine Patrol, the Coast Guard and the Portland Police Department are looking for the 24-foot boat, which is owned by Portland Express Water Taxi, and Adam Patterson, who was believed to be on the boat.

Police Lt. Robert Ridge said the company’s owner, Gene Willard, reported the boat and Patterson missing at 2 p.m. Ridge said Patterson, has been living on the boat.

“We’re treating it as a missing persons case,” Ridge said, and no one else was believed to be on the boat.

Willard, who works as a captain for the Casco Bay Lines ferry service, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday night.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Ocean Planning Update: Supplementary November 16-17 Meeting Materials

November 11, 2015 — The following was released by the Northeast Ocean Council: 

Supplementary meeting materials, which will be presented and discussed at the upcoming November 16-17 Northeast Regional Planning Body Meeting, have been posted online. If you have not yet registered, please do so by following the registration link on the meeting webpage.

The meeting summary from our October 20 Stakeholder Forum is also available online.

Americold wins bid to build cold-storage warehouse on Portland, Maine waterfront

September 1, 2015 — The world’s largest cold-storage company has been chosen to build a modern refrigerated warehouse on the Portland waterfront, providing the port with a critical missing element to compete with larger, more congested ports on the Eastern Seaboard.

The state will lease a 6.3-acre site to Americold, which will design the warehouse, fund its construction and operate it. The project is part of a state-led effort to make the port more competitive with other ports and to boost Maine’s seafood, agriculture, and food and beverage industries.

The Maine Port Authority announced Monday that Americold Logistics LLC won the bid to develop the site, located adjacent to the expanded International Marine Terminal on West Commercial Street. The proposed cost of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017, was not disclosed.

Americold already operates a 63-year-old cold-storage warehouse on Read Street in Portland. Company officials say they’re evaluating whether to close that outmoded facility or keep it open for overflow and long-term storage. Americold is partnering on the project with Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company that made Portland its North American headquarters in 2013. Eimskip will be both an investor and an anchor tenant.

There is currently a shortage of cold-storage warehouse space in Maine, prompting many of the state’s food producers and processors to ship their products out of state for storage.

Eimskip primarily ships frozen fish from Europe to the United States through Portland. While Eimskip now stores some of its imported seafood at the Americold facility on Read Street, the company trucks most of its fish to cold-storage warehouses in the Boston area.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald