Saving Seafood

No shrimp today: Maine’s waters are warming and it’s costing fishermen money

April 20, 2017 — David Goethel wishes he could retire.

At 63, he’s been fishing off the Gulf of Maine for over 34 years. Shrimp used to be plentiful there. Back in 2000, Goethel remembers seeing 100 commercial boats out in the harbor. Now, he’s just one of a handful of local fisherman struggling to make a living.

“There was life on the docks, there were people working,” lifelong fisherman Arnold Gamage, 64, agrees. “Now, it looks like a ghost town.”

Maine’s fishing industry has been declining for years due to factors like overfishing and increased regulation, but there’s another culprit eating away at profits: Maine’s ocean waters are warming — and it’s killing northern shrimp.

Goethel, Gamage and other fishermen used to look forward to shrimping as a way to augment their income in the cold New England winters.

“Now, I see a lot of those same people, they’ve got 4-wheel trucks and they’re trying to plow snow to take in some kind of income,” Goethel says.

Regulators at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission banned commercial shrimping in 2014. The goal was to give northern shrimp a chance to repopulate. While the ban has helped, regulators are still worried about the species’ survival.

Read the full story at WGNO

Louisiana Shrimp Stocks in Good Shape But Not Ready for Early Season Opener

April 13, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — While shrimp conditions are good this year, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission isn’t ready to open the spring season early.

Commission members said at their meeting today in Baton Rouge that they want more data before setting the dates for the season.

Nearly all of the shrimpers at the meeting said they would rather wait for the season to open at the normal time so the shrimp can grow to be larger. The spring shrimp season usually opens in mid to late May.

LDWF biologist Jeff Marx said data he’s collected show better conditions than in previous years. Shrimp size, growth and development generally depend on the amount of rainfall, the temperature and salinity level of the water.

But shrimpers spoke against an early season.

“We have a year where Jeff’s data, so far, stated we have optimum weather for growth,” said Houma shrimper Barry Rogers. “I’ve spoken to factories, spoken to fishermen (and) everyone would like to see us at least work on 60 to 70 count (per pound) shrimp. It would be great for the fishermen and great for the processors.”

Acy Cooper, a commercial shrimper and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, said two weeks can make a big difference in the size of the shrimp, especially with how high the temperatures are right now.

“I don’t think we need a meeting at the end of the month because of the fact that we can’t go opening the season with smaller shrimp,” Cooper said. “Giving them another week or two would make a big difference. Even if it takes a little longer for us to go to work, the shrimp (will be) bigger and it’s more profitable for us.”

Cooper said last year the shrimp were so small that it was hard for shrimpers to make any money.

John Brown, a 33-year shrimper, was the sole fishermen to express interest in opening the season early. Brown said because of the pump stations and freshwater diversions in the Barataria Basin area, shrimp haven’t been able to grow large anymore.

“If you wait, you’re gonna catch nothing. I can tell you what you’re going to catch,” Brown said. “One hundred percent of my income comes from fishing. When the season’s open, I trawl. I don’t make money on big shrimp because we don’t catch big shrimp anymore.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Louisiana not ready for early shrimp season

April 7, 2017 — While shrimp conditions are good this year, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission isn’t ready to open the spring season early.

Commission members said at their meeting today in Baton Rouge that they want more data before setting the dates for the season.

Nearly all of the shrimpers at the meeting said they would rather wait for the season to open at the normal time so the shrimp can grow to be larger. The spring shrimp season usually opens in mid to late May.

LDWF biologist Jeff Marx said data he’s collected show better conditions than in previous years. Shrimp size, growth and development generally depend on the amount of rainfall, the temperature and salinity level of the water.

But shrimpers spoke against an early season.

“We have a year where Jeff’s data, so far, stated we have optimum weather for growth,” said Houma shrimper Barry Rogers. “I’ve spoken to factories, spoken to fishermen (and) everyone would like to see us at least work on 60 to 70 count (per pound) shrimp. It would be great for the fishermen and great for the processors.”

Read the full story at Houma Today

LOUISIANA: Red snapper presentation tops LWFC agenda

April 6, 2017 — Although listed among the items deep into the agenda for the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, the entitled “Receive input on Red Snapper Management from members of the Louisiana commercial, charter, and private recreational sectors,” likely will highlight Thursday’s monthly meeting.

Chairman Chad Courville is scheduled to open the meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Room of state Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge.

It was Courville who asked for the red snapper presentation saying he and the other six commission members needed further delineation on the wants and needs of these user groups in order to determine the future of the state’s approach to red snapper management.

In another top item, the LWFC will call on State Shrimp Program manager Jeff Marx for a presentation on the program’s operation, then discuss the possibility of a special late April meeting to set the spring inshore shrimp season. For most of the past 40 years, the commission met in the first week of May to consider the spring season’s opening dates in three coastal zones.

The LWFC will also receive final public comment, then undertake formal adoption of the 2017-2018 hunting seasons and regulations for resident and migratory game, and dates and rules for the same time frame on the more than 1 million acres of state wildlife management areas and federal lands.

Read the full story at The Advocate

Could controversial North Carolina shrimping rules be stalled?

April 5, 2017 — A bill introduced by the state senators from two of North Carolina’s heaviest-shrimping districts would keep the state from adopting controversial shrimping rules until an ongoing study could be completed.

If approved, Senate Bill 432 would prevent the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission from proposing or adopting rules related to any petitions made during its Feb. 16 meeting until a shrimp gear study has been finished and results have been reported. The bill has been referred to the senate’s rules committee.

At question is a controversial N.C. Wildlife Federation petition that would see the fisheries commission limit shrimping to three days on the Intracoastal Waterway and sounds and four days on the ocean up to 3 miles out. The proposal would also limit the time a trawl could stay in the water to 45 minutes.

Shrimpers have been adamant the petition, which was approved by a 5-3 margin at February’s meeting, would devastate their industry if the rules went into effect. Environmentalists say the rules are intended to help protect juvenile fish from being caught in shrimp trawlers’ bycatch.

Read the full story at Star News

Gloucester to host hearing on new shrimp rules

April 3, 2017 — The traveling roadshow for public comment on proposed changes to the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp fishery is set to hit Gloucester the first week of June.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the northern shrimp fishery, has scheduled four public hearings on the draft of Amendment 3. The draft includes state-by-state allocations and increased accountability measures, but does not call for limiting the number of shrimpers allowed into the fishery.

The Gloucester public hearing is set for June 5 at 6 p.m. at the state Division of Marine Fisheries’s Annisquam River Station on Emerson Avenue. The deadline for all public comment is June 21.

The AFMSC closed the northern shrimp fishery in December 2013 and it remains shuttered because the stock has been plagued by historic lows in recruitment and spawning stock biomass.

Initially, the commission’s northern shrimp section said it was going to consider a limited access program “to address overcapacity” in the fishery that draws shrimpers from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It later changed course.

“Due to the uncertainty about if or when the resource would rebuild and the fishery reopen, the section shifted the focus of draft Amendment 3 to consider measures to improve management of the northern shrimp fishery and resource,” the AFMSC stated.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester to host hearing on new shrimp rules

March 31, 2017 — The traveling roadshow for public comment on proposed changes to the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp fishery is set to hit Gloucester the first week of June.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the northern shrimp fishery, has scheduled four public hearings on the draft of Amendment 3. The draft includes state-by-state allocations and increased accountability measures, but does not call for limiting the number of shrimpers allowed into the fishery.

The Gloucester public hearing is set for June 5 at 6 p.m. at the state Division of Marine Fisheries’s Annisquam River Station on Emerson Avenue. The deadline for all public comment is June 21.

The ASMFC closed the northern shrimp fishery in December 2013 and it remains shuttered because the stock has been plagued by historic lows in recruitment and spawning stock biomass.

Initially, the commission’s northern shrimp section said it was going to consider a limited access program “to address overcapacity” in the fishery that draws shrimpers from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It later changed course.

“Due to the uncertainty about if or when the resource would rebuild and the fishery reopen, the section shifted the focus of draft Amendment 3 to consider measures to improve management of the northern shrimp fishery and resource,” the AFMSC stated.

Beyond establishing state allocations and new accountability measures, the draft amendment includes gear provisions, including the mandatory use of “size-sorting grate systems designed to minimize harvest of small (presumably male) shrimp.”

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

Plan to reopen Maine shrimp fishery in the works

March 30, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Interstate fishing regulators are sending a plan to try to fix New England’s shuttered shrimp fishery to the public for a series of June hearings.

The northern shrimp fishery has been shut down for more than three years because of a collapse in population. The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has been considering new ways to save the fishery for the shrimp, which were a popular winter seafood item in New England.

The commission’s working on a plan that includes options such as changing the way the quota system is managed.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Central Maine

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Approves Public Hearing Document on Draft Amendment 3 for Public Comment

March 29, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Arlington, Va. — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (Section) releases Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Northern Shrimp for public consideration and input. The states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on the Draft Amendment. The details of those hearings follow.

Maine Department of Marine Resources

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 6 PM

Maine Department of Marine Resources

Conference Room #118

32 Blossom Lane

Augusta, Maine

Contact: Terry Stockwell at 207.624.6553 

Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 6 PM

Ellsworth City Hall Conference Room

1 City Hall Plaza

Ellsworth, Maine

Contact: Terry Stockwell at 207.624.6553

New Hampshire Fish and Game

Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 7 PM

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095

Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries

Monday, June 5, 2017 at 6 PM

MA DMF Annisquam River Station

30 Emerson Avenue

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Contact: Kelly Whitmore at 978.282.0308

The Section initiated Draft Amendment 3 with the intention of considering a limited entry program to address overcapacity in the fishery. In the 2010 and 2011 fishing seasons, increased fishing effort and untimely reporting resulted in early season closures and an overharvest of the total allowable catch (TAC). The 2012 fishing season was further restricted, resulting in a 21-day trawl season and a 17-day trap season. In the 2013 fishing season, despite the fact that only 55% of the TAC was harvested, the fishing mortality rate (0.53) was estimated above the target (0.38). In December 2013, the Section established a moratorium for the 2014 fishing season due to recruitment failure and a collapsed stock. The moratorium was maintained each year, through 2017, in response to the continued depleted condition of the stock.

Due to the uncertainty about if and when the resource would rebuild and the fishery reopen, the Section shifted the focus of Draft Amendment 3 to consider measures to improve management of the northern shrimp fishery and resource. Proposed options in the Draft Amendment include state-by-state allocations and accountability measures to better manage effort in the fishery. The Draft Amendment also explores the mandatory use of size sorting grate systems to minimize harvest of small (presumably male) shrimp, as well as reporting measures to ensure all harvested shrimp are being reported. 

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Amendment either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. The Draft Amendment can be obtained at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/NShrimpDraftAmd3_PublicComment.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on June 21, 2017 and should be forwarded to Max Appelman, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at mappelman@asmfc.org (Subject line: Northern Shrimp). For more information, please contact Max Appelman at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

NORTH CAROLINA: Dare County GOP confronts N.C. GOP chair on shrimp vote

March 29, 2017 — In the wake of the N.C. Fisheries Commission’s approval of a petition putting greater limits on shrimp trawling, the Dare County GOP has written a letter requesting that N.C. GOP Chairman Robin Hayes appear before its executive committee and “provide relevant information regarding his personal involvement and influence in the 2016 appointment process of members of the North Carolina Fisheries Commission.”

In its letter to Hayes, dated March 16, the Dare GOP said the commission’s approval of the petition represented a decision to “ignore science and destroy our state’s shrimping industry,” and accused Hayes of intervening improperly in the process of selecting commission members.

The letter goes on to say that, if Hayes does not comply with that request to appear before the local party, he should resign his post as state party head.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners has also expressed anger at the Fisheries Commission’s Feb. 16 decision to adopt the petition from the N.C. Wildlife Federation calling for new regulations on shrimp trawling after five advisory committees had voted to deny the petition.

The petition calls for all inshore waters and the ocean out to three miles to be designated as special secondary nursery areas. It also proposes limiting tow times to 45 minutes and trawling to three days per week in the estuarine waters and four in the ocean during daylight hours.

Read the full story at the Outer Banks Sentinel