Saving Seafood

Warming waters threaten young lobsters, study finds

SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — The Gulf of Maine’s lobster population, which has boomed even as climate change and overfishing have hurt other commercial species, could suffer if water temperatures keep rising, according to a University of Maine study.

The study suggests that, as the Gulf of Maine continues to grow warmer, the state’s $495 million lobster industry — by far the most valuable commercial fishery in Maine — could face the same kind of population decline that has affected urchins, scallops, groundfish and shrimp. Overfishing greatly reduced harvests for many of these species, but warming waters have been identified as an impediment to recovery.

The new lobster study, conducted by UMaine’s Darling Marine Center and by Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, indicates that larvae reared in 66-degree water had a distinctly higher mortality rate than those cultivated in the water 5 degrees cooler, the temperature now typical in the western Gulf of Maine. Water temperatures in the western Gulf of Maine are expected to rise 5 degrees by 2100.

The study looked only at larval lobsters, which spend all their time floating, and not at juveniles or older lobsters that live on the ocean floor.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Invasive green crabs are scuttling from dilemma to delicacy

August 15, 2016 — A marine biologist, an art conservator and a group of fishermen from Georgetown are trying to use traditional Venetian fishing methods to turn the invasive green crab into a gourmet dish known in Italy as moleche.

Moleche is the name of the young, soft-shelled Venetian crabs that are caught, sorted and held in floating cages and harvested daily, right after they shed their hard outer shell. They are dipped in milk or egg, floured and fried, served up six or eight at a time for about two dozen euro in upscale eateries across the Veneto region of Italy.

Their nearly identical American cousins are reviled in Maine for decimating clam flats and threatening the state’s $23 million industry, as well as preying on other mollusks such as mussels and scallops. They can be caught with nets or traps, including the shrimp traps that now lie fallow here in Maine.

The real art of the moleche (moe-le-che) fishery, however, is about spotting the subtle signs of a molt about to happen in time to catch them before they hide or are eaten by a predator, including their fellow crabs.

Scientists at the University of Maine at Machias had studied the moleche possibility of the green crabs once before, and concluded the crabs did not give any external clues to their molts and thus could not be harvested commercially. But as the invasion marched on, and efforts to eradicate the crab failed, scientists on Prince Edward Island decided to give it a second look. So did marine biologist Marissa McMahan, a Northeastern University Ph.D. candidate from a Georgetown lobstering family who lives in Phippsburg.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA recommends millions in grants to study salmon, cod, shrimp, lobster

June 14, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced its support for more than USD 11 million (EUR 9.8 million) in recommended grants to study or improve the nation’s fisheries as part of its Saltonstall-Kennedy grant competition.

The grants, which still must be approved by the NOAA Grants Management Division and the Department of Commerce’s Financial Assistance Law Division, and are contingent upon adequate funding availability, include projects in seven categories: aquaculture, fishery data collection, bycatch reduction, climate change adaptation, marketing, socio-economic research and territorial science.

All areas of the United States, including overseas territories, have projects that have been recommended.

In Alaska, they include a proposed University of Alaska, Fairbanks study of halibut bycatch management (USD 297,995, EUR 264,877) and an Alaska Department of Fish and Game analysis of pink salmon productivity (USD 249,998, EUR 222,222).

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

Changing ecosystem, disease challenge lobster industry

June 14, 2016 — In the past decade, the Gulf of Maine has seen an increase in the number of lobsters and a higher demand for lobsters in international markets, which have translated into a boom for Maine’s lobster industry. Recently, however, there have been concerns about what effect a changing climate and disease threats may have on the lobster population off the coast of the state.

As water temperatures rose in the Atlantic off the coast of southern New England and Maine, lobster landings off the coast of Maine rose from under 40 million pounds in 1981 to 140 million in 2013, according to data from Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

By contrast, landings in southern New England went from just over 20 million pounds in 1997, to less than 5 million pounds in 2013.

That change in population is both a boon and a benefit to the lobster economy Down East.

“In New England, we’re sort of straddling the adverse and the positive effects, if you will, of a warming climate,” said Richard Wahle, a marine researcher at the University of Maine. “The fishery has all but collapsed in southern New England, whereas not too much farther north, just into the Gulf of Maine, we’re seeing record abundance of lobsters.

“Things have just really taken off in the past 10-15 years” in the eastern part of Maine, Wahle continued.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Sara Rademaker is letting little eels get big in Maine

May 31, 2016 — SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — “They are like little torpedoes,” Sara Rademaker says, looking down at a tank full of year-old eels in a feeding frenzy.

Her tone is fond, almost as if the eels wiggling in and out of a submerged laundry basket were a basket of lively kittens, but this is all business. Rademaker is doing what no one has tried to do in Maine before – grow out elvers to eels for the commercial food market.

Rademaker is a young woman, but has 12 years of farming and aquaculture experience. A graduate of Auburn University in Alabama, she’s worked with subsistence farmers in Uganda as part of a U.S. AID project and farmed tilapia in Ghana. She’s taught middle school students how to farm tilapia and lettuces.

Three years ago she began studying European and Asian systems for growing elvers into eels in contained areas, asking herself the question, why not here in Maine, the biggest source of American baby glass eels in the country?

Although she’s just starting her third year developing her eel aquaculture system, she’s gearing up to bring her first eels to market this summer, with plans to tap into the local sushi market to begin with.

“She’s already so far ahead of anyone else in the state,” says Dana Morse, a UMaine Cooperative Extension associate professor and researcher based at the Darling Marine Center. “It’s impressive.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine Department of Marine Resources Announces Lobster Research and Education Awards

May 23, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has announced four grant awards from the Research, Education and Development fund. The four organizations receiving funding include the Penobscot East Resource Center, the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance, University of Maine System, and Colby College. Each responded to a request for proposal issued in December 2015.

The Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC) will receive $37,500 to develop four lobster curriculum units for its Eastern Maine Skippers Program (ESMP), an educational initiative for high school students planning a career in Maine’s lobster fishing industry. Two units will cover lobster fisheries management and two will target science and life history. PERC, a Deer Isle-based non-profit, will engage industry experts including fishermen, dealers, advocates, managers and scientists in the development and implementation of the curriculum units.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance will be awarded $37,500 to build on the success of its Maine Lobstermen’s Leadership Institute (MLLI). Begun in 2014, the MLLI provides education for Maine’s lobster industry members. Participants in the MLLI program will complete three training modules. They will include a workshop on industry issues such as management, science, market and supply chain dynamics, and product quality. There will also be modules that provide opportunities for experiential learning and information exchange with fisheries participants outside of Maine.

The University of Maine System will receive $127,482 to develop a research project titled “A Proactive Approach to Addressing Lobster Health in the Context of a Changing Ecosystem.” Focus of the University of Maine System’s project will be on the changing ocean ecosystem and how these changes can impact lobster reproductive development and susceptibility to disease. An objective of the project is to develop the ability to respond rapidly to reports of shell disease in lobsters.

Colby College will receive $81,657 to conduct an analysis of economic impacts at each point along the supply chain in Maine’s lobster industry. The analysis will not only quantify the direct and indirect economic impacts of the industry throughout the supply chain, but also the induced effects on Maine’s economy of spending by industry workers. Project research will involve confidential surveys of Maine’s lobster dealers and processors as well as analysis of existing Maine Department of Marine Resources and Department of Labor data.

“These projects will help sustain Maine’s iconic lobster fishery by fostering a new generation of educated and engaged fishermen, by improving our understanding of the complex marine environment, and by refining our ability to measure the impacts of the lobster industry on Maine’s economy,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

With revenues from the sale of Maine lobster plates, the Research Education and Development Board provides funding for projects that support Maine’s lobster industry.

Odor plays a role in whether mussels stay or go

April 29, 2016 — For people looking to settle down, a location’s odor can be a factor in whether they stay or go.

Turns out the same is true for mussel larvae.

Mussel larvae swim toward odors from adult mussels, and swim away from odors from predators, including green crabs and dog whelks, says Scott Morello, a visiting researcher at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine.

Morello found mussel larvae can recognize and respond to a broad range of odor cues when deciding whether to settle in wild beds or on aquaculture lines.

And, says Morello, the predator odors he used are from species that do not directly feed on mussel larvae, or even on newly settled mussels. The odors were from predators that feed on older mussels, which indicates larvae assess future risk on some level when they make settlement decisions.

Read the full story at the Boothbay Register

Extensive Coral Communities Found in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park

April 28, 2016 — On a recent research expedition in Alaska, scientists aboard the R/V Norseman II conducted the first-ever deepwater exploration of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Using both surveys by scuba divers and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Kraken2, scientists found an abundance of cold-water corals and associated organisms that use these corals as habitat, from the very bottom to the top of the submerged portion of the fjords. Prior to the expedition, little was known about ecosystems in the depths of the fjord and records of corals were sparse. Led by Rhian Waller, Ph.D., of the University of Maine, this project was funded as part of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research’s 2014 Federal Funding Opportunity.

“This expedition was incredibly exciting. Not only did we find abundant cold-water coral communities at both deep and shallow depths, we recorded species new to this area and abundant life living around these corals, and we documented and took imagery for the first time of cold-water coral ecosystems existing within one of our national parks,” said Waller when asked about the success of the expedition.

Throughout the expedition, scientists were struck by the size of the corals, some estimated to be up to three meters tall, and the amount of corals observed on nearly every ROV dive and the majority of scuba surveys. Stony corals were also observed for the first time within the park, and a species of stoloniferous octocoral – a type of encrusting coral – was found at greater depths than has been observed anywhere else in the world.

Read the full story at Ocean News & Technology

Portland Press Herald: Case for EU ban on live Maine lobsters doesn’t hold water

April 21, 2016 — Thirty-two lobsters. Taken off the same shore in one day, and it’s a grand start toward a summer feast.

But picked out over a long stretch of coast in an eight-year period? That hardly warrants an absent-minded mention at the dinner table, much less an international trade incident.

But that’s just where Sweden is taking its find, as the country seeks to ban all imports of live American lobster into the European Union’s 28 member nations.

The ban would be a $10 million annual hit to the pockets of Maine lobstermen – and roughly $150 million for the U.S. industry as a whole – all over a number of bugs that would have a boat captain cursing if it were one day’s haul.

Sweden’s proposal, backed by dubious science and questionable motives, is now in front of the EU, which should reject the ban, and tell Sweden to find a solution much more on scale with the problem.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

New Lobster Scientist Hired by Maine Department of Marine Resources

February 18, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Katherine Thompson has been hired by the Maine Department of Marine Resources as the lead lobster sampling program scientist. Thompson, a Ph.D. student in Marine Biology at the University of Maine, will be responsible for the coordination, implementation, and participation in the lobster sea sampling program in all seven-lobster management zones as well as the juvenile lobster ventless trap survey.

Thompson’s responsibilities will include supervision of DMR scientific staff and contractors who participate in the sea sampling and ventless trap survey programs. 

The DMR sea sampling program places trained observers onto commercial lobster boats to gather data on the near shore lobster fishery. The ventless trap survey uses specially modified traps distributed along the coast to help the DMR characterize the juvenile lobster population in Maine waters. 

Thompson will also manage the lobster research program database, oversee data entry compilation and annual summary statistics/reports for publication and will assist in writing grant reports. In addition, she will present survey results at lobster zone council meetings. 

Thompson brings to the position experience both in commercial fishing and fisheries research. Raised in a fishing family in New Harbor, Thompson served as a sternman for a Round Pond lobster fisherman during summers while she pursued a degree in Biology from Smith College. The vessel she worked on participated in DMR’s ventless trap survey, providing her first experience with cooperative research. After graduating, Thompson completed an internship in lobster research through Bigelow Laboratory focusing on the settlement index survey conducted by Dr. Richard Wahle.

In 2013 Thompson received her Master’s degree in Living Marine Resource Science and Management from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology. Her Master’s thesis project provided the first conclusive evidence of semiannual scallop spawning in U.S. waters on Georges Bank, which has important implications for management of the fishery.

From 2013 to 2014, Thompson served as a Supervisory Research Biologist for Coonamessett Farm Foundation, a scientific research and education foundation based in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

In January 2015 she began her doctoral studies at the University of Maine focusing on northern shrimp reproduction and distribution. 

“I’m excited about working closely with industry, especially here in my home state,” said Thompson.

“Katherine’s experience in scientific research of multiple fisheries provides a strong foundation for her work here at DMR,” said DMR’s Lead Lobster Biologist Kathleen Reardon. “She has the strong academic and practical experience in marine science and commercial fishing to help move our monitoring programs forward.”