Saving Seafood

UMaine research defines lobster line requirements for whale entanglement risk reduction

May 4, 2022 — Efforts to reduce the risk of entanglement in lobster trap lines for the endangered North Atlantic right whale may need to consider more factors than just line strength if they want to be safe, effective and economical, according to new research led by the University of Maine and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

North Atlantic right whales have the potential to get caught in the vertical line that runs from gear set on the bottom to the surface marker buoy in fixed-gear fisheries, like that of the American lobster fishery in Maine. Often whales can break free of the gear and are simply left with scars, but the risk of death increases as the lines are stronger and more densely distributed throughout the water.

To mitigate right whale injury and deaths, U.S. federal management agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have mandated weak points or weak ropes be inserted into vertical lines to limit strength and provide points at which right whales can break the ropes if they become entangled. New regulations on minimum trawl lengths — or the number of traps fished per vertical line — took effect on May 1, 2022, and caused increases in lobster fishery vertical line loads across all fishing grounds, considerably increasing with depth and distance from shore.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

New report sets broad goals for Maine’s aquaculture industry in the next decade

April 15, 2022 — In the last 8 years, Maine’s aquaculture harvest has more than doubled in volume and in value, and some predict that the state’s aquaculture exports could be worth as much as $800 million by 2025. A new report is recommending how that growth should be managed over the next decade. But critics say it’s too focused on expanding the industry, and gives short shift to other users of the ocean commons or the ecosystems that they all depend on.

The document sets broad goals for aquaculture’s next decade in Maine, starting with streamlined permitting for public water leases that “balances the rights of the applicant and the public.

And it identifies the potential costs of specific actions: $100,000, for instance, to support a state employee who would help applicants get through the permitting process and engage with host communities, $100,000 to integrate aquaculture into K-12 education, and a quarter million dollars to create a Maine Seafood Council to market both farmed and wild-caught seafood.

“It’s one tool that can be used along with the many tools the state has in thinking about the future,” said Gayle Zydlewski, who directs Maine Sea Grant, a federal-state program housed at the University of Maine that led a collaborative effort to create the so-called Maine Aquaculture Roadmap.

Read the full story at Maine Public

MAINE: Lobster fishery, coming off a record year, faces challenges ahead

March 18, 2022 — Maine’s lobster fishery scored a record-breaking value in 2021, with a 75% increase over 2020 and a 10% increase in landed weight.

But fishermen face increasing pressures, including difficulty finding and keeping crew, rising operational costs, competition for fishing grounds from other industries, new regulations affecting fishing gear and methods and coastal development pressure that’s squeezing waterfront access and opportunities to live they work.

There are plenty of long-term studies on the lobster side of the fishery. For example, the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute handles the American Lobster Settlement Index, which monitors larval lobsters and their environment.

Now a new study is underway to study the human side of the fishery.

“Last year’s season was the most valuable ever,” said Theresa Burnham, a University of Maine research associate and a member of the study’s research team.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

Pingree, New England Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Study Sustainable Offshore Wind Development in Gulf Of Maine

February 22, 2022 — The following was released by The Office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:

U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) are urging the Biden Administration to fund critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. In a letter to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton, the New England lawmakers urged BOEM to prioritize two studies that are crucial in determining habitat use and distribution of species in the Gulf of Maine—information they say is needed to protect critically important habitats for American lobster and Atlantic cod.

“Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind,” Pingree, Moulton, Kuster, and Pappas wrote. “While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.”

“BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible,” they continued.

In late January, Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also wrote to Director Lefton to highlight the significant potential for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine, but stressed that additional thorough research is needed to assess the impacts on local industries and ecosystems.

Pingree, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and current Chair of the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for BOEM, has been a longtime supporter of the efforts to develop sustainable offshore wind power.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Director Lefton,

As members of the Congressional delegations of Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, we write in support of funding for critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. The recent announcement from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland outlining BOEM’s plans to pursue offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine by mid-2024 brings new urgency to commence key research studies that will ensure offshore wind development in this area is underpinned by robust scientific research.

Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind. While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.

In BOEM’s National Studies List for 2022, the Office of Renewable Energy Programs identified two studies that would provide essential information and enhance BOEM’s capacity to assess, predict, monitor, and manage the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine prior to inform the agency’s planning process. The two studies include an Ecological Baseline Study of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Off Maine (AT-22-12), and a Comprehensive Assessment of Existing Gulf of Maine Ecosystem Data and Identification of Data Gaps to Inform Future Research (AT-22-11).

We urge BOEM to invest in the Gulf of Maine as funding decisions are made for the fiscal year by prioritizing these two studies, in particular the Ecological Baseline Study (AT-22-12). As part of this study, BOEM should consider using targeted benthic habitat surveys collected via high resolution multibeam mapping and ground truthing of the data using sediment sampling and benthic fauna characterization to generate detailed habitat and sediment maps.

Existing bathymetric and benthic habitat data is extremely limited for the Gulf of Maine, yet it is fundamental to determine habitat use and distribution of species. This information is needed to determine areas of complex habitats, which are critically important for several important species including American lobster and Atlantic cod. This survey would also protect areas in the Gulf of Maine that have been designated as critical habitat for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and other species. We also encourage you to prioritize a comprehensive marine mammal and wildlife surveys and the collection of fisheries data in coordination with NOAA and state marine resource agencies to inform our understanding of the potential impact of offshore wind development on regional fisheries and marine species.

Continuing engagement with regional stakeholders has identified gaps related to the socioeconomic and cumulative impact assessments of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. Accordingly, we support regionally specific research to investigate the projected economic impacts of offshore wind development on existing ocean users, as well as its cumulative impacts on our natural resources, existing uses, industries, and people.

The State of Maine spent more than a year working directly with fishermen and other stakeholders to put forward a comprehensive application to BOEM for a research lease. This project would use an innovative floating wind turbine technology developed at the University of Maine, which was developed with funding from the Department of Energy. We strongly support this research array application and believe it would contribute valuable and complementary data to an Ecological Baseline Study and a comprehensive evaluation of existing ecosystem data in the Gulf of Maine. Together, the resulting information will help advance floating offshore wind in the U.S. and build on our collective understanding of how to best minimize impacts to the fishing industry and the environment.

BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible. We thank you for your attention to the Gulf of Maine and look forward to continuing to engage with you as you initiate these essential studies to aid in responsibly developing offshore wind.

 

‘Roadmap’ plots aquaculture’s needs, future in Maine

February 2, 2022 — As aquaculture and its contribution to the state economy grow, so does the need to support it. 

The Maine Aquaculture Association and Maine Sea Grant released the Maine Aquaculture Roadmap 2022-2032 last week, a 10-year plan developed with feedback from nearly 100 organizations and companies. It outlines four main goals and identifies $15 million in resources needed to strengthen the commercial aquaculture industry and working waterfronts across the state. 

“Aquaculture is clearly a priority for Maine, and we needed a forward-looking, research-driven plan to responsibly sustain Maine’s marine farming sector. Now we have one that supports Maine’s farm families and the future of the working waterfront,” said Fiona de Koning, a shellfish farmer and owner of Acadia Aqua Farms in Bar Harbor. 

A 2017 economic impact report by the Aquaculture Research Institute at the University of Maine noted that the economic impact of aquaculture tripled between 2007 and 2014, from $50 million to $137 million. 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Researchers look at direct seafood sales

November 15, 2021 — A team of researchers is looking to learn about the direct seafood market across the country in order to strengthen local food systems and coastal communities.

“Currently, there is a gap in national-level data on the domestic seafood system,” said Joshua Stoll, a marine policy professor at the University of Maine and one of the lead investigators for the project.

The collaboration between the school, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will help better understand how fishermen in the U.S. market their catch.

The agriculture sector has collected this kind of data for decades but the scale of the direct market, where fish is sold from fishermen directly to customers, isn’t clear.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

UMaine research to bolster bluefin tuna industry

November 10, 2021 – A new study of western Atlantic bluefin tuna population data is expected to improve management practices and a valuable marketplace for fishermen from Maine to Texas.

Thousands of commercial and recreational fishermen capture the tuna, one of the strongest and fastest predators in the open ocean, off the East Coast each year.

The tuna is “among the most sought-after commercial fish in the world’s oceans,” University of Maine assistant professor Walt Golet said in a news release.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Golet, a research assistant professor with the School of Marine Sciences, more than $276,000 to lead a team of researchers who will collect and analyze updated the animal’s population data. The new data will help reduce uncertainties in assessment models that estimate the amount of fish in the fishery, which can help guide management practices and prevent overfishing, he said.

Golet was also awarded almost $300,000 from NOAA for a project to help bolster the industry. The research includes developing best practices for handling, particularly cleaning and chilling the fish, and outreach to improve consumer perceptions and markets.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

NOAA awards $2M in climate-related lobster research 

November 9, 2021 — Several  Maine scientists have received federal funding to learn how the American lobster is affected by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine and across New England.   

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  Sea Grant  announced $2 million in grant s late last mont h for six projects as part of the American Lobster Initiative. The initiative looks to bridge critical gaps in knowledge for Maine’s iconic species.  

“Given the importance of lobster to the economy and culture of Maine, I’m thrilled to have these new projects join the growing initiative,” said Amalia Harrington, a marine extension team member with Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine. “The more we learn now, the better prepared our lobster industry will be in the future.”  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

MAINE: Seafood purveyors look to boost direct marketing

October 27, 2021 — A drop-off last year in seafood exports and the domestic wholesale market resulted in a pivot that increased direct marketing, retail and e-commerce sales.

Now a new survey is looking to help the commercial fishing industry continue the direct-marketing trend, as an important socio-economic hedge to protect against future shocks to the system and ensure food security.

A partnership between the University of Maine and federal agencies aims to help the commercial fishing industry understand local and regional seafood marketing practices, and help remove barriers to direct marketing.

UMaine initiated the partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The service is a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Over the next year, the partners will develop a national benchmark survey of direct seafood marketing practices in domestic wild-caught fisheries in an effort to strengthen food systems and coastal community resilience.

“Currently, there is a gap in national-level data on the domestic seafood system,” Joshua Stoll, one of the principal investigators for the project and a UMaine assistant professor of marine policy.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

 

Maine seeks lease for nation’s first offshore wind research site on federal waters

October 5, 2021 — The state of Maine has applied to lease a little more than 15 square miles of ocean for a floating offshore wind research area in what would be the nation’s first such undertaking in federal waters.

In a 143-page application to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Management, the Governor’s Energy Office notes that Maine is uniquely qualified to hold the research lease, which will be limited to 12 or fewer turbines located nearly 30 miles offshore.

The distance is meant to avoid nearshore waters valuable to fishing and recreation, in line with the state’s new moratorium on development of offshore wind in state waters. The moratorium was imposed in response to concerns by Maine fishermen about the potential impact of wind projects on their industry.

Securing a lease to conduct research in federal waters will allow the state to use patented technology developed at the University of Maine and help Maine meet long-term climate change goals through wind energy, which represents a $1 trillion opportunity worldwide by 2040, according to the application.

Read the full story at Mainebiz