January 29, 2019 — Maine fishing regulators are shutting down some of the most fertile scallop fishing grounds in the state to help keep the shellfish’s population healthy.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it will implement a closure of Cobscook Bay, including the Whiting and Dennys Bay areas. Cobscook Bay is the most productive scallop fishing area in Maine.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald
January 29, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
On February 1, the Closed Area I (CAI) North seasonal closure goes into effect, through April 15. See below for map and coordinates.
The closure applies to all commercial and recreational vessels except:
Vessels that are transiting;
January 28, 2019 — Jack Morris and Justin Dube, scallop boat captains fishing out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, shared with Saving Seafood how the recent federal government shutdown negatively affected their businesses.
Capts. Morris and Dube discussed how the closure of NOAA offices prevented them from getting necessary permits from the agency for their scallop fishing vessels. Without these permits, they were unable to fish during the shutdown, negatively impacting their livelihoods and those of their crews.
The captains were in Washington for a Chamber of Commerce event where people from around the country shared how they were negatively affected by the 35-day shutdown.
January 11, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
This is an important update regarding New England Fishery Management Council meetings during the partial government shutdown.
IS THE COUNCIL IMPACTED BY THE SHUTDOWN: The Council staff is at work and conducting business as usual. However, most of our federal partners at the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) are on furlough during the shutdown.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS: Since many GARFO and NEFSC scientists and fishery management specialists are key contributors to the Council’s Plan Development Teams (PDTs) and provide critical input and analyses during Committee meetings, the Council is rescheduling or modifying the agendas of several meetings where NOAA Fisheries representatives were expected to provide pivotal presentations, reports, and/or analyses.
WHAT ABOUT THE COUNCIL’S JANUARY 2019 MEETING: The Council’s January 29-31, 2019 meeting in Portsmouth, NH will proceed on schedule. The Council will not be taking final action on any agenda items during this meeting. If the partial government shutdown remains in place, the Council will conduct as much business as possible given the federal furlough. The agenda and additional information can be found at NEFMC January 2019 meeting.
GROUNDFISH: Groundfish PDT meetings have been revised or postposed. The Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, 2019 has been postponed. The Groundfish Committee will meet on January 15 at the Doubletree by Hilton in Danvers, MA beginning at 10:00 a.m. under a revised agenda. All groundfish-related meetings and agenda updates will be posted on the Council’s groundfish webpage. Check back frequently during the shutdown.
RECREATIONAL WORKSHOPS: GARFO and Tidal Bay Consulting were scheduled to host three workshops to collaboratively brainstorm short- and long-term approaches for possible future recreational fisheries management strategies that could be shared with the Council, Groundfish Committee, and RAP. The January 8 Recreational Fishing Workshop in Portsmouth, NH has been postponed. The January 10 workshop in Narragansett, RI and the January 12workshop in Plymouth, MA also may be postponed. Interested parties are encouraged to continue checking the workshop registration page at the dates above for more developments.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Council’s Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Wakefield, MA. Meeting details will be available shortly at Executive Committee.
SCALLOPS: The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel (AP) will meet on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boston beginning at 9 a.m. Learn more at Scallop AP. The Scallop Committee will meet the following day, Friday, January 18, 2019, at the same hotel. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Meeting materials will be posted in the near future at Scallop Committee.
EBFM: The Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) PDT meeting that initially was scheduled for January 9, 2019 has been rescheduled for January 18. The revised meeting notice and agenda are available at EBFM PDT. The EBFM Committee will meet for two days, Wednesday and Thursday, January 23-24, 2019, at the Boston Marriott Quincy in Quincy, MA. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. both days. Visit the EBFM meeting webpage for more information.
NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL UPDATES: Any further updates to the Council’s January PDT and Committee meetings will be posted on the Council website. Visit the homepage at www.nefmc.org and click on the fishery management plan or Committee you are interested in.
COUNCIL PRIORITIES: During its December 2018 meeting, the New England Council adopted 2019 priorities for each of its fishery management plans, committees, and other responsibilities with partner agencies. View the list at NEFMC 2019 Priorities.
BOEM: Also of interest to New England Council stakeholders, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has postponed a January 8 meeting in New Bedford and a January 9 meeting in Narragansett, RI that were intended to gather public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind. Check the Vineyard Wind Website for updates on these two meetings, as well as the January 15 and 16 meetings currently scheduled for Hyannis and Nantucket, MA respectively.
January 10, 2019 — The price of scallops caught in Maine waters is comparing well with previous years.
The Ellsworth American reported that harvesters were receiving prices as high as nearly $14 per pound. But in some cases, harvesters received $8.75 to $10.75 per pound, depending on meat size.
That compares with the 2017-18 scallop season, which started off with prices that were down $2 to $3 from 2016-17’s average of $12.77.
In 2017, Maine scallop harvesters landed the most scallops since 1997, bringing ashore 793,544 meat pounds, a nearly 45% jump from 2016. At $9.3 million, scallop landings had the highest overall value since 1993.
The 2018-19 season began Dec. 1. By Jan. 4, the Maine Department of Marine Resources had begun implementing its emergency rulemaking authority to implement conservation closures along parts of the coast to protect the scallop resource from the risk of depletion of broodstock and seed scallop. Called “targeted conservation closures,” they’re determined by the marine resources commissioner based on depletion, seed, the presence of spat-producing scallops and other factors.
January 2, 2019 — Maine fishery regulators are shutting down a couple of scallop fishing areas for the first time this season.
Maine’s home to some of the most lucrative scallops in the country, and the state maintains the population of the shellfish by closing some areas to fishing over the course of the season. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it’s closing Machias and Little Machias Bays for the rest of the season.
The closures went into effect on Dec. 30.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Miami Herald
December 31, 2018 — It’s pretty well known around these parts that homegrown research proved the ocean held more Atlantic sea scallops than federal regulators thought.
And a lot of folks know that the value of those succulent bivalves has made New Bedford the highest-grossing fishing port in America for 18 years running.
Starting in the late 1990s, Professor Kevin Stokesbury of the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth, working with SMAST founding dean Brian Rothschild, developed a video technique to count scallops on the seafloor without harvesting or killing them.
Along the way, he pioneered a partnership with local fishermen.
Some fishermen say the research saved the New Bedford scallop industry. (Other observers point out that federal regulations protected the species at critical times.)
December 14, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council covered numerous issues during its December 4-6 meeting in Newport, RI. In addition to taking final action on Scallop Framework 30, Groundfish Framework 58, and the Clam Dredge Framework, the Council discussed a slate of other topics. Here are a few highlights.
WHITING: The Council took final action on Whiting Amendment 22, which was developed to consider limited access options for the small-mesh multispecies fishery. After reviewing all public comment and available analyses and considering a recommendation from its Whiting Committee, the Council selected the alternative called “status quo/no action.” As such, the whiting/small-mesh multispecies fishery will remain an open access fishery and no changes will be made to existing regulatory measures. More information, including summaries of public hearing comments, is available at December 3 Committee Meeting and December 4, 2018 Council Meeting Materials.
ENFORCEMENT: The Council adopted several consensus statements drafted by its Enforcement Committee. One of these pertained to use of the OMEGA Mesh Gauge® to measure fishing nets. The Coast Guard extensively tested the OMEGA gauge and concluded that it has notable benefits over the weight-and-spade tools currently being used to measure webbing. Coast Guard representatives provided a demonstration for Council members comparing the OMEGA gauge versus the weight-and-spade. The Council recommended that NOAA, under existing authority, adopt the OMEGA gauge to measure mesh size once the Enforcement Section of NOAA General Counsel determines that all legal requirements have been met.
Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council
December 14, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — U.S. commercial fishing generated more than $144 billion in sales in 2016, buoyed by growth in key species such as sea scallops and American lobsters, the federal government reported on Thursday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the total of $144.3 billion in sales from commercial fishing in 2016 was up about $100 million from the previous year. The agency released the figure as part of its annual Fisheries Economics of the United States report, one of two reports about the health of fisheries that came out on Thursday.
The economics report states that the industry was boosted by growth in value of some economically critical species, also including shrimp, but other big-money species such as Alaska pollock and pacific salmon were down from the previous year.
The report shows U.S. fisheries holding steady, and continuing to play a critical role in the economies of states from Maine to California, said Ned Cyr, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology.
Read the full story at the Associated Press
December 10, 2018 — Massachusetts is home to the nation’s top fishing port. More than $300 million in seafood lands in New Bedford every year.
But the kinds of seafood are changing.
Rising ocean temperatures are driving southern fish species into our coastal waters. Today’s there are strict catch limits on Massachusetts’ state fish, the Atlantic cod. Scallops are now the New Bedford fishing industry’s primary source of revenue.
In response, local researchers are developing artificial intelligence to promote smarter fishing. And private companies are working on alternatives — including bioengineered fish and even fish flesh grown in laboratories.