Saving Seafood

NH lobstermen trying to keep afloat in COVID-19 economy

April 6, 2020 — With international and local restaurant sales drying up because of COVID-19, Seacoast lobstermen are relying more on direct sales to individual buyers.

Linda Hunt is the general manager at Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook. She said that at this time of year, lobster prices should be $8.50 a pound.

“I’m lucky enough, because we do have the retail store. I’m trying to get our boats $5.50 a pound,” Hunt said.

Hunt said that in the past few weeks, more people have been coming into the market, which is open Monday to Thursday from noon until 6 p.m. and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We’ve had a very, very good turnout lately from locals and even people from, I would say probably up to half an hour, 45 minutes away,” Hunt said.

Read the full story at The New Hampshire Union Ledger

Fading Fishermen: A Historic Industry Faces A Warming World

June 27, 2016 — SEABROOK, N.H. — The cod isn’t just a fish to David Goethel. It’s his identity, his ticket to middle-class life, his link to a historic industry.

“I paid for my education, my wife’s education, my house, my kids’ education; my slice of America was paid for on cod,” said Goethel, a 30-year veteran of the Atlantic waters that once teemed with New England’s signature fish.

But on a chilly, windy Saturday in April, after 12 hours out in the Gulf of Maine, he has caught exactly two cod, and he feels far removed from the 1990s, when he could catch 2,000 pounds in a day.

His boat, the Ellen Diane, a 44-foot fishing trawler named for his wife, is the only vessel pulling into the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook. Fifteen years ago, there might have been a half-dozen. He is carrying crates of silver hake, skates and flounder — all worth less than cod.

One of America’s oldest commercial industries, fishing along the coast of the Northeast still employs hundreds. But every month that goes by, those numbers fall. After centuries of weathering overfishing, pollution, foreign competition and increasing government regulation, the latest challenge is the one that’s doing them in: climate change.

Though no waters are immune to the ravages of climate change, the Gulf of Maine, a dent in the coastline from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, best illustrates the problem. The gulf, where fishermen have for centuries sought lobster, cod and other species that thrived in its cold waters, is now warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, scientists have said.

Read the full story at the Associated Press 

Ohio Gov. Kasich and the New Hampshire Fishermen

January 25, 2016 — When John Kasich tells you that he is a skilled executive, believe him.

Governor Kasich met with several New Hampshire fishermen on 8 January.  David Goethel, owner and captain of the 44-foot fishing trawler Ellen Diane, is suing NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) for bureaucratic overreach and has explained his position in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.  Governor Kasich read the op-ed and as a result requested the meeting.

This was not a campaign stop.  Nobody took names for a mailing list; nobody handed out bumper stickers.  The governor was there to learn and to help.

The impromptu get-together was held indoors in the fish-processing bay at the Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative in Seabrook, N.H.  The aroma of fish guts filled the air, reminding me of my school-day summers working on the fish pier in Gloucester.

There were several fishermen present – a small several, as years of government assistance have driven many from the business.  The governor listened to them as they expanded their complaints beyond the scope of Mr. Goethel’s lawsuit.  I couldn’t hear well, as the non-campaign stop lacked an audio system.

After a few minutes, Governor Kasich said, “OK, can I speak now?” and then went on in a loud but conversational tone to outline what needs doing.  First and foremost, he said, get your congressional representatives involved.  Have them write letters, forceful letters, to the executive branch.  Get the powerful congressional leaders involved, Republicans and Democrats, like Senator Schumer among the latter group.

The fishermen told the governor that there had been several congressional letters in their behalf; all apparently fell on deaf ears.  There are currently two letters relative to Mr. Geothel’s lawsuit sent to Dr. Sullivan, the head of NOAA, in early January.  One was signed by nine senators and several House members from the five seacoast New England states.  The other was from the tenth senator of the region, the obsequious Edward Markey.

Read the full story at American Thinker

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Ohio Gov. John Kasich vows to help fishermen

January 9, 2016 — SEABROOK, N.H. — It’s been tough going for fishermen in recent years, but yesterday the local fishermen’s co-op managed to reel in a big catch — a candidate for president swung by to listen to their concerns and offer help.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich spent about an hour talking with members of the Yankee Fishermans Co-op. Of the dozen or so presidential hopefuls canvassing the Granite State on the eve of its primary, the Republican is the only one so far to come to the co-op. The Route 1A fishing business is the last remaining fishing coop in the greater Newburyport area — most of the fish caught off the local coastline are landed there and sent to market.

For fishermen, the predominant issue is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA for short. The agency regulates the fishing industry, and fishermen have long complained that it uses bad science and a heavy hand to enforce regulations that are putting many of them out of business.

Fisherman David Goethel of Hampton expressed his frustration with NOAA’s monitoring program, which requires that fishermen pay $710 a day to have a person serve onboard their fishing vessels as the government’s eyes and ears. Goethel is suing NOAA over the issue, arguing it is an unfair financial burden.

Read the full story at the Daily News of Newburyport

 

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Fishing for new markets

December 23, 2015 — New England wouldn’t be the same without the sight of fishing boats easing in and out of its working waterfronts. There is no better homage to this rich seafaring heritage than the visitors and residents alike who clamor for the region’s cod sandwiches, crisp haddock, buckets of steaming fried clams and, of course, the iconic overstuffed lobster roll.

But now, the industry that for centuries shaped New England’s economic, culinary and cultural life, faces serious challenges. This is exemplified by the reality facing New Hampshire’s groundfishermen, who catch the species that dwell near the bottom of the ocean, like cod, haddock and hake.

Dwindling stocks, stricter regulations and an influx of inexpensive seafood from other countries have made making a living off these species difficult, and forcing these pillars of the fishing industry to find alternative routes to market to survive.

Read the full story from the New Hampshire Business Review