State and Local

March 18, 2015 — The washing ashore of hundreds of menhaden Monday morning north of Corolla and other Outer Banks beaches was caused by a natural fish feeding frenzy.

“Something was feeding on large schools of menhaden and pushing them up to the waters’ surface very near shore,” Charlton Godwin, biologist with the Division of Marine Fisheries said in an email. “Birds were working the entire area as well. This seems to be the likely cause of the dead menhaden washing up.”

Read the full story from The Virginian-Pilot

 

March 18, 2015 — The New England Seafood Exposition opened this past Sunday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

A vast expanse of hot spotlights and sleek-walled booths stationed with plush lounges for brokering things such as Malaysian tuna deals, The New England Seafood Exposition felt part Disney, part massive Acura dealership. There were even long-legged brunettes passing sashimi samples.

Except for the homier folks from the Chesapeake and Maine Lobster companies, whose booths photographically declared friendly expanses of their gentle waters, this event seemed fixed on making fish glamorous. Most booths had a tiny kitchen and a chef; samples were everywhere, from slick platters of steamed slipper lobster tail to teaspoons of glistening caviar in six different grades.

For the first time in two decades the city of Gloucester was represented at the event; what better way to declare the city’s unique heritage than to put aprons on Angela Sanfilippo and Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, and have them show everyone how to cook like a Gloucester fisherman’s wife?  (Sanfilippo is president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association; Romeo Theken is a member.)

Repeatedly billed by the mayor as a wonderful dinner, “if you’re a working woman like me,” Redfish Stew is a classically simple, inexpensive and nutritious — all that fish! — dinner for a family. Make it in a stockpot, and come home to a hot flavorful dinner. Sanfilippo and Romeo Theken said don’t worry if the fish is soft and broken to pieces after hours of simmering; the flavors have melded and your family will taste a wholesome, mild-flavored stew.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

March 17, 2015 — Legislation setting new size and catch limits for anglers who catch striped bass and requiring new homes to be built with sprinkler systems will go to Gov. Chris Christie’s desk for consideration.

The striped bass bill changes the state’s minimum size and catch limits from the current two fish at a minimum size of 28 inches to one fish between 28 and 43 inches and a second fish no smaller than 43 inches.

The change is needed to comply with a mandate from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a regional agency that sets fishing quotas for East Coast states.
If the Legislature failed to act soon, the federal government could have ordered a moratorium on catching any stripers off the Jersey coast.

The bill also seeks to empower the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council, a board made up of 11 appointees, to set striped bass fishing regulations in future years like it does most fish species. The Assembly approved the bill in February. The Senate’s 40-0 vote Monday sends the bill to Christie.

Read the full story at the Burlington County Times

March 16, 2015 — The Selling of Gloucester to the Seafood World, approaching an HBO miniseries, rolled into its second day today with a whirlwind mini-tour of the city and an abduction of the U.S. ambassador to Iceland by Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken.

Just another ho-hum day on the Gloucester waterfront.

"I kidnapped our ambassador to Iceland," Romeo Theken confessed soon after arriving at The Gloucester House late this morning to host a reception for the international contingent of about 25 seafood representatives attending the Seafood Expo of North America in Boston. "I told him, 'You're coming with me'."

The mayor had met Ambassador Robert C. Barber, at an earlier event this morning at the Innovation House in Magnolia, and convinced him to accompany the Seafood Expo group on the Jodrey State Fish Pier portion of its tour of the city.

"I told him that if he didn't want to come, we could always do business with Scotland," Romeo Theken said.

In fact, Romeo Theken made it clear she would love to do business with Scotland. And Iceland. And Malaysia. And Indonesia. And the United Kingdom. And the Netherlands and any other country interested in partnering with the city, its fishermen and seafood companies.

"You are very important to us," Romeo Theken told the assembled seafood buyers, owners, government representatives and processors from around the globe. "Gloucester is here for you. Gloucester wants to partner with you. We believe in partnership. We believe in innovation."

The pitch seemed to go well.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

March 16, 2015 — Maine shrimp trappers are almost finished participating in a state project to learn more about the prospects of the depleted fishery.

Shrimp trawlers and trappers are collecting samples for state regulators in the Gulf of Maine. The Maine Department of Marine Resources is paying four trawlers $500 per trip and allowing them to sell up to 1,800 pounds of shrimp per trip. It is also allowing five trappers to keep up to 100 pounds of shrimp per week for personal use.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WABI

March 14, 2015 — Yes, soup for you.

And anyone else with a hankering for homemade, Gloucester-style redfish soup. The soup is courtesy of a coalition of public and private interests that have banded together to elevate the city’s profile — both as a place to live and do business — at the upcoming Seafood Expo of North America in Boston.

The show, the largest in North America, draws thousands of seafood companies, seafood buyers, processors and exhibitors from around the globe. It is scheduled to run from Sunday through Tuesday at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

For the first time in more than two decades, Gloucester will have a tangible presence at the show — booth No. 3067 if you’re scoring at home — and will extend its reach even further by hosting two groups of international seafoodians for tours of the city and its seafood industry.

“We want to show them that we’re not just a great place to do business, but a great place to live, as well,” said Sal Di Stefano, the city’s economic development director and one of the point people in organizing the city’s far-flung plans for the show. “It’s been a real team effort.”

That team includes public contributors, including Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, the Fisheries Commission, and Di Stefano, Tom Daniel, and Carol Thistle from the city’s Department of Community Development.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

March 14, 2015 — An attempt to relaunch Ocean Classroom, a nonprofit that ran schooling-at-sea programs until its financial collapse last summer, is expected to be delayed because new backers failed to agree on terms for leasing a ship.

The Ocean Classroom Foundation, which was based in Damariscotta, shut down last summer after officials learned that two of the three ships it owned faced expensive and lengthy overhauls. The organization had fallen behind on a $2.2 million mortgage and would have needed about $1.4 million more to repair two of its ships, the Westward and the Spirit of Massachusetts, and probably another $100,000 for the third ship it owned, the Harvey Gamage.

A group of backers who want to resurrect the programs formed a new company, Ocean Classroom LLC, based in Portland, late last year. But a plan to lease the Harvey Gamage from local businessman Phineas Sprague fell through last week when Sprague and Ocean Classroom could not agree on financial terms. The company’s board, which expects to file papers as a nonprofit, is meeting Saturday to consider its options.

The failed deal with Sprague means the organization has no ship for its sea-based programs. The executive director, Margo Mallar, said she’s exploring options for other ships, which she declined to identify because no lease had been signed.

Ocean Classroom had planned on some land- and sea-based programs this summer, but wasn’t expected to launch its more extensive semester-at-sea trips until next year.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

March 13, 2015 — Maritime Gloucester, a maritime museum and educational resource whose mission is to "inspire students and visitors to value marine science, maritime heritage and environmental stewardship through hands-on education and experiences," is accepting applications for a new Education Director. The job description and instructions on how to apply are listed below.

Maritime Gloucester seeks a dynamic leader with significant informal education experience to serve as our education program director. Maritime Gloucester is a leading provider of marine science/maritime heritage education and programming with a one-acre campus on Gloucester Harbor (MA).

The Education Director will advance the organization’s mission to inspire students and visitors to value marine science, maritime heritage and environmental stewardship through hands-on education and experiences.  Current education programs serve 5,000 students and nearly 70 school groups, annually.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Education will provide leadership to develop, deliver and evaluate existing education programs and lead the growth of grant and fee-based educational, place-based programs associated with fisheries and a working waterfront; marine science; and understanding and protecting the ocean ecosystem.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

– Provide leadership, management, support, and supervision of the Education Staff and interns
– Create curriculum, implement, evaluate and refine educational programming
– Write, manage , administer and report on educational grants
– Teach selected classes/programs
– Initiate, develop and oversee the development of educational program marketing materials, both print and on-line
– Work with Maritime Gloucester staff to support interpretive programs,  aquarium operations, community partnerships, member activities, and visitor programming
– Collaborate with other local, regional and national groups and marine science/maritime educators
– Work with key staff and Board to develop and manage annual education budget

The ideal candidate will have:

– An innovative vision for informal, marine science/maritime heritage educational programming
– An entrepreneurial spirit
– Passion for teaching and learning
– Demonstrated leadership, coaching, planning and organizational skills
– Proven record of grant writing, administration and fiscal management
– Evidence of successful collaboration with diverse stakeholders
– Familiarity with federal and state education standards and relevant frameworks (e.g., NGSS, MCAS, Ocean Literacy)
– Experience in developing integrative, waterfront programs within a STEM framework
– Knowledge of fisheries/working waterfront and on the water experience is a plus
– Aquarium experience a plus
– Ability to handle and balance a wide variety of day to day tasks

Qualifications

The Education Director will have, as a minimum, a B.S. degree in a related field. Advanced degree a plus
A minimum of 10+ years of experience in informal marine science/maritime education with at least 5+ years of experience in a leadership/management position including responsibility for financial management.

This is a full-time, exempt position. We offer a competitive salary for this position. Please submit cover letter, salary requirements and resumes to info@maritimegloucester.org. Include “Director of Education” in the Subject line.

March 12, 2015 — Part of the pleasure of attending the annual Maine Fishermen's Forum has been its medley of the bureaucratic and the personal, science and anecdotes, the esoteric and the commonplace. During the recent 40th Maine Fishermen's Forum, held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, that array was as engaging as ever, spiced up a bit by the appearance once again of Dave Carraro from the T.V. show "Wicked Tuna."

To no one's surprise, lobster dominated many of the weekend's sessions. Lobster is Maine's dominant commercial fishery. Preliminary numbers released by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) show that Maine lobstermen landed $457 million worth of lobster in 2014, a record for the state. The total value of all commercial fisheries landed in Maine came to $585.3 million. And there's the rub: lobster comprises 78.1% of total landed value.

Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative

For some, the disproportionate weight of lobster among all landings is a cause for worry. The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, however, is happy with those numbers. The Collaborative, established in 2013 to replace the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, presented its marketing plan for lobster at the forum on Friday. Executive director Matt Jacobson, former head of Maine & Co., introduced experts from the marketing firm Weber Shandwick, which the Collaborative hired in December 2014. Weber Shandwick is responsible for such nationally known advertising campaigns as "Got Milk" and "Pork, the other white meat."

Joe Frydl, strategist at Weber Shandwick, explained the Collaborative's goal succinctly: "We need to stabilize the price." The price paid to lobstermen for their catch hit historic lows in 2012 after taking a severe tumble during the recession that began in 2008. The price typically fluctuates greatly during the year based on the amount landed in Maine and the lobstering results in Canada.

So what will Weber Shandwick do for Maine lobstermen? Increase demand for Maine lobster, specifically, and at a time when most of the lobster is landed, said Frydl, by emphasizing the quality and local characteristics of that lobster. "Seasonality and provenance are popular with diners," he said. Consumers are searching for food that is in season, locally grown, and has a story attached to it. "The moment you attach a place name to a protein it means something," he said, noting that items such as Waygu beef (from Japan), Copper River Salmon (from Alaska) and New Zealand lamb command attention from consumers.

Read the full story at The Free Press

March 10, 2015 — They fist-bumped a James Beard chef, knocked back pollock and mahogany quahog ceviche, and remarked on the wonders of a handheld lobster smoker.

Amid the heady discussions of shrimp regulation, advancements in clamming and the state of elver fishing, 70 fishermen, farmers and aquaculturists gathered at the Samoset Resort in Rockport last week to celebrate Maine’s marine bounty.

For the first time in 40 years, four top chefs joined the Maine Fishermen’s Forum to put on a dazzling display of new kitchen trends for familiar and emergent food from the sea.

Echoing farm to table, chef Barton Seaver whipped out a smoking gun to turn Maine lobster into a delicacy served atop gourmet seaweed salad — and the crowd went wild.

“That’s the first time I’ve had smoked lobster,” said Bruce Fernald, owner of Cranberry Isles Fisherman’s Co-op, who has worked in the lobstering industry for 41 years and has attended all but one forum.

At the end of the cooking demos, he and a group of fellow lobstermen all agreed this was one of the best forums they’ve attended. They saw the fruits of their labor in a new light. And it was tasty.

Inviting both parties who share a livelihood from the sea — producers and seafood chefs — was an attempt to “start a two-way discussion,” said Sebastian Belle, executive director of Maine Aquaculture Association, who came up with the idea.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News