Saving Seafood

MAINE: Lobstermen’s rally targets lack of science behind right whale rules

July 29, 2019 — A rally designed to draw attention to impending federal regulations that would strike a big blow to the local lobster fishing industry drew hundreds of fishermen, their families and supporters from up and down the coast to the Stonington Commercial Fish Pier.

The rally, organized by Captain Julie Eaton, also drew Governor Janet Mills, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Jared Golden, a representative for former governor Paul LePage and State Senate President Troy Jackson, who spoke alongside lobstermen from Stonington, Winter Harbor and North Haven, Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings, Marie Hutchinson of the Island Fishermen’s Wives Association and local students. A representative from Senator Angus King’s office also attended, as did local state representatives.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

Maine political leaders promise to press Trump for state’s lobster haulers opposed to new rules

July 23, 2019 — Mainers who haul lobsters for a living do not kill right whales.

That was the message from a rally at Stonington’s commercial fishing pier on Sunday attended by more than 500 people, including Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree.

At issue are pending federal regulations aimed at protecting the endangered right whale, which can be killed by getting tangled in lobster trap-lines, but would force state lobstermen to cut the number of lines they can put into the water by 60 percent.

Rally speakers said that the rule would devastate the state’s lobster industry, which contributes an estimated $1 billion to Maine’s economy, while doing nothing to protect the whales, which, as a recent scientific study shows, seldom stray into the lobstering waters of the Gulf of Maine.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, no right whales have died from entanglement in Maine fishing lines in many years, as increasingly rising ocean temperatures have driven the whales and the food they eat into Canadian territory.

Mills and the congressional delegation, plus speakers representing former Gov. Paul LePage and U.S. Sen. Angus King, told rally attendees that they would support the state’s approximately 4,500 lobstermen and continue to press President Donald Trump to oppose the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed new regulation.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Maine delegation asks for help easing tariff impact on lobster industry

July 15, 2019 — Maine’s Congressional delegation is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include funding for Maine’s lobster industry as USDA finalizes its aid package for agricultural producers affected by China’s retaliatory tariffs.

U.S. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, and Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, have signed a letter that reiterates an earlier request of relief for Maine’s lobster industry amid the ongoing trade war with China, according to a news release.

“Retaliatory tariffs have caused a very significant export market for Maine lobster — China — to all but disappear,” the letter says.

The delegation requested “significant” funds for Maine’s lobster industry through USDA’s Agricultural Trade Promotion Program.

“ATP funding will help to develop new export markets for Maine lobster, decreasing the blow of Chinese tariffs on an iconic American industry,” the letter said.

In June, the delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to provide financial assistance to lobster businesses hurt by the ongoing trade war with China, similar to the relief being provided to American farmers.

The delegation noted that prior to the Trump administration’s tariffs imposed on a variety of Chinese goods, China had become the second largest importer of Maine lobster.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Maine lawmakers ask Trump to intervene against lobster trap rules

July 12, 2019 — All four members of Maine’s US congressional delegation are asking president Donald Trump to personally intervene against the implementation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of new lobster trap rules that they say could impose unnecessary economic hardships on harvesters in the state.

The rules, which are intended to preserve endangered North Atlantic right whales, are expected to go into effect in two years, forcing a 50% reduction in lobster trap lines. However, the members of Congress suggest in a three-page letter sent to the White House on Wednesday that “there is no credible evidence indicating the rules would have real impacts on the agencies’ stated goals”.

“Your administration has made a point of targeting regulations that you believe are ill-conceived or overly burdensome,” says the letter, signed by Democratic representatives Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree and senators Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent. “By applying the same logic to Maine’s lobster industry and intervening in the implementation of NOAA’s regulations on Maine lobstermen, you can prevent unfair harm to an iconic Maine industry and save many good American jobs.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Sen. Susan Collins questions lobster tariffs and Grey Zone dispute

April 10, 2019 — Disputes between U.S. and Canadian fishermen in the so-called Gray Zone of the waters around Machias Seal Island as well as lobster tariff disputes with China were the subject of questioning by Sen. Susan Collins (R – ME) during a recent Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.

Lobstermen who work in the Gray Zone are increasingly frustrated that their Canadian counterparts who fish in the same areas are not required to follow the same regulations (such as v-notching egg-bearing females and a maximum size limit), according to a statement, and thus are undermining American protections and threatening the sustainability of the stock.

Because Canada does not impose such conservation measures on its fisheries, a v-notched or oversized lobster tossed back by a Maine lobsterman can be caught by a Canadian lobstermen yards away and brought to market.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Senator Collins Urges Senior Administration to Develop Gray Zone Fishing Agreement with Canada

April 9, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, took issues affecting Maine’s lobster industry to the Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing this week – specifically the “Gray Zone” and the ongoing trade war with China.

The Gray Zone sits approximately 10 miles off the coast of Maine, around Machias Island. Canadian and Maine lobstermen both work in the area, but do not follow the same regulations, which has caused disputees. Maine Lobstermen mark the tails of egg-bearing females and return them to water in an effort to allow them to lay eggs and continue reproducing. Maine lobstermen also abide by size limits, and toss back oversized lobsters to keep the stock strong. Canada lobstermen do not have to follow the same conservation measures, so those notched and oversized lobsters are able to be caught by Canadian lobstermen just yards away.

“Each country manages their lobster and other fisheries in that area through separate and often conflicting regulations,” Senator Collins explained. “The implications of these regulatory discrepancies are very concerning and very unfair to Maine’s lobstermen.”

Dr. Neil Jacobs, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, committed to working with Senator Collins to “explore the possibility of developing a fisheries management agreement between the U.S. and Canada that would provide for cooperative management of the Gray Zone.”

Besides the issue with the Gray Zone, Senator Collins also spoke out on the ongoing trade war with China, urging the Senior Administration to make some progress with the dispute.

“The retaliatory tariff of 25% that China has levied on U.S. lobster has been very detrimental to the industry,” explained Senator Collins. “What is the status of the trade talks with China, and what hope can you provide to my lobster exporters who are struggling day in and day out, having lost that very lucrative market to our Canadian neighbors?”

While no guarantees were made, Gil Kaplan, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade said that they have been “making progress” and are “optimistic about an agreement.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute receives $790K grant to study impact of warming ocean on key species

March 6, 2019 — The National Science Foundation awarded the Gulf of Maine Research Institute a $789,659 grant to examine the impact of a warming climate on growth and population patterns in cod and lobster in the Gulf of Maine.

The study will also document marine habitat shifts across the northwest Atlantic caused by rising temperatures, according to a March 4 news release issued jointly by the offices of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine.

The funding will aid the institute in its work to better understand and mitigate the impacts of changing ocean conditions on Maine communities, marine ecosystems and economy, King and Collins said in the release.

The grant was awarded through the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

 

Coast Guard crews in Maine to be paid Monday after all, despite shutdown

December 31, 2018 –After a last-minute intervention by Sen. Susan Collins, employees of the Coast Guard, including hundreds in Maine, will receive their pre-shutdown pay Monday on schedule.

Previously, the employees had been told they would not be getting their second paycheck of the month because of the partial shutdown of the federal government.

A spokesman for Collins said she contacted the White House on Friday afternoon to urge an immediate fix to the payment issue, and a few hours later was told that Coast Guard members would now receive pay for their pre-shutdown work.

“Good news for the Coast Guard!” Collins, a Republican, tweeted at 8:26 p.m. Friday. “White House staff called to tell me CG members will receive their paychecks as did other federal employees. I continue to work to end the shutdown, but this will provide immediate relief to CG members & their families.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Group calls on Maine’s federal reps to oppose offshore drilling along entire Atlantic coast

November 19, 2018 — A small group of environmental activists gathered in Bangor Saturday to call on Maine’s congressional delegates to express more opposition to offshore drilling.

Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree all previously voiced their stances opposing offshore drilling in New England, but the group called on them to prevent the practice along the entire Atlantic Coast.

“What we want is for them to increase their opposition and oppose offshore drilling in the entire Atlantic ocean, not just in New England,” said Sarah Starman, a field organizer with Oceana. “We believe that drilling anywhere will affect everyone because oil spills don’t respect state boundaries.”

Senator Collins and King sent a joint letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke back in January — expressing their stances against drilling in New England.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree also voiced her opposition directly to the Secretary during an Appropriations Committee meeting in June.

“Countless Maine jobs depend on the health of the ocean. The Maine lobster, aquaculture, and tourism industries are among the many critical industries dependent on Maine’s pristine waters, and even a minor spill could irreparably damage the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine,” Senator Collins said in a written statement. “That’s why I oppose any effort to open waters off the coast of Maine to offshore drilling, which could negatively affect the health of Maine’s fisheries and other coastal resources, threatening to harm not only the environment but the state’s economy as well.”

Senator King also said during a floor speech in February:

“In Maine…we depend upon the coast,” Senator King said. “Tourism and visitation to our beaches and coastal communities are a billion dollar industry, the largest single employer in our state. So that is an enormous economic engine that is currently working, and running, and powering at least a portion of the economy in our state. And of course, on my tie, I have lobsters. A $1.7 billion a year industry in Maine and it promises to be even stronger as processing is developed. We also have an offshore fishing industry, shrimp, shellfish. It is enormously important. It is part of who we are in the state of Maine.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Trump leans in on SNAP work requirements

August 3, 2018 — President Donald Trump on Thursday jumped into the farm bill debate once again — on Twitter, of course — in an effort to tip the scales toward House Republicans ahead of conference negotiations.

“When the House and Senate meet on the very important Farm Bill – we love our farmers – hopefully they will be able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved,” the president wrote on Thursday afternoon.

The U.S. seafood industry is starting an education campaign to convince Trump and other policymakers that American workers would be hurt, not helped, by his proposed new tariffs on China. The National Fisheries Institute, which represents the seafood industry, has rebranded its AboutSeafood.com website to tell the stories of American seafood workers threatened both by the proposed tariffs, as well as the retaliatory tariffs that China has already imposed in response to U.S. duties on more than $34 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“To understand the negative impact these tariffs will have on American workers, you have to go see them, you have to talk to them, you have to hear their concerns,” National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly said in a statement. “We’re bringing those stories to policymakers so they understand; this is not a theoretical, economic chess game. These tariffs have the potential to do a lot of harm to the seafood community and that community’s jobs are right here in the U.S.”

Political opposition: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) both raised concerns about the impact of China’s retaliatory duties on their states’ lobster exports during a hearing last week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Their complaints were echoed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who told Lighthizer China’s actions have “clearly rattled my state.” The increased duty affects about 40 percent of the state’s salmon exports and 54 percent of its cod exports that went there last year, she said.

Read the full story at Politico