State and Local

AUGUSTA, Maine — March 31, 2014 — Accurate reports by elver fishermen and dealers are critical to keeping a multimillion-dollar industry from being shut down, Maine’s commissioner of marine resources said Monday in announcing guilty pleas by a fisherman who earned $700,000 from the baby eels in 2012 but reported less than half of his earnings.

The agreement by Danny Deraps, 43, of Ellsworth to plead guilty to income tax evasion and theft calls for jail time, restitution and the loss of his elver harvesting license for this season, the state Attorney General’s Office said. The agreement, approved Friday, was announced Monday by Attorney General Janet Mills and Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher, six days before the start of the 2014 elver season.

“Our ability to manage and sustain Maine’s marine resources relies heavily on accurate reporting of harvester landings data,” Keliher said. “We take this very seriously and will continue to be vigilant in our efforts to ensure compliance.”

The case highlights the gold-rush mentality that the fishery has created in the past two years as market conditions in Japan, where the elvers are sold, have driven prices paid to Maine fishermen from as low as $25 a pound to as much as $2,000 a pound.

Prices soared after a 2011 tsunami in Japan wiped out eel farms. In 2012, Maine’s haul of about 20,700 pounds was worth nearly $40 million, making elvers the state’s second-most valuable fishery, after lobster. Some fishermen, such as Deraps, earned more than $100,000 during that 76-day season.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

April 1, 2014 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the public comments on its proposed action to block work in a controversial Alaskan pebble mine show overwhelming support for government action.

According to the EPA, about 77 percent of the 1.1 million total comments favored EPA action to prevent work in the Bristol Bay area mine, which critics argued could do vast damage the environment, including destroying up to 94 miles of salmon-spawning streams.

"Nearly all" of the comments opposing EPA action "came from a single organization backed by mining interests," the EPA wrote in its statement.

Read the full story at Seafood Source 

 

March 28, 2014 — Cape Ann Seafood Exchange is the lone Gloucester-based applicant that NOAA is recommending to receive a grant under the long-awaited 2013 Saltonstall Kennedy Grant dispersal of funding.

The Rogers Street business, which primarily operates as one of the city’s two seafood auctions, is set to receive $391,670, pending final cost analysis and legal review by NOAA’s grants management office, for its project to help build a sustainable redfish fishery and market the under-utilized species to consumers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it anticipates the recommended applicants will receive the grants within 30 to 60 days.

The award makes leaves Cape Ann Seafood as the last applicant standing among the more than half-dozen Gloucester-based applicants.

Cape Ann Seafood survived a witheringly competitive field to reach the final stage, with more than 261 Saltonstall Kennedy grant applications nationwide and 123 from the Northeast.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., — March 31, 2014 — More than 100 people packed into the Whaling Museum for Sunday's Taste of the Port event, which focused on creating a New Bedford Fishing Heritage Museum. The collaboration between the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE), New Bedford Port Society and Working Waterfront Festival has a mission to raise awareness and historical respect of the fishing industry through renovating the Mariners' Home and the Seaman's Bethel into a museum.

"The fishing industry hasn't been recognized like the whaling and textile industries," said Fred Toomey, president of the New Bedford Port Society.

"This project will enlarge the scope of what people in our community can learn about the fishing industry," said Laura Orleans, who organizes the annual Working Waterfront Festival. "This is an exciting community project."

With an estimated cost of $2 million, the capital building fund is looking to raise $500,000. Teri Bernett, executive director of WHALE, is optimistic because, "any donations leverage a 100 percent match by the state of Massachusetts."

If funded, the project will connect the Marines' Home and the Seaman's Bethel with an enclosed walkway, ensuring handicap accessibility. Plans also include renovating the interiors of each building.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times 

 

March 31, 2014 — They’ll be talking fish and fisheries at Maritime Gloucester on Thursday nights throughout the month of April during the speaker series presented by the Large Pelagics Research Center of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The center, based at Hodgkins Cove in Annisquam, has assembled a diverse lineup of marine scientists and researchers for the series that begins Thursday at 7 p.m. and is free to the public at Maritime Gloucester on Harbor Loop.

“Our goal is to inform and educate the general public about fishing science,” said Molly Lutcavage, the director of the Large Pelagics Research Center. “We’ve chosen as speakers scientists who are very well known in the field, as well as being good communicators.”

Lutcavage said the speakers were chosen with an eye toward providing the audience with a glimpse of their field of expertise, but also with the goal of providing a sense of what it is like to engage in scientific research on the water, beyond the walls of land-side laboratories.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

March 30, 2014 — The Aleutian Islands golden king crab fleet came away empty-handed last week, after the Alaska Board of Fisheries declined to increase its quota — rejecting both the initial request of 15 percent and the compromise proposal of 5 percent.

Dillingham fish board member Fritz Johnson said the stability and health of the fishery merited at least a small increase, and proposed a 5 percent boost, which passed by a 4-3 vote. But the amended motion ultimately failed by the same margin, after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s representative, shellfish biologist Heather Fitch of Unalaska, said the department opposes even 5 percent more harvesting of the crustaceans, also called brown king crab.

Fitch said the department lacks the data needed to justify any increase, and a majority of the board agreed when they voted it down March 20, meeting at the Anchorage Sheraton. The annual quota remains unchanged, at 6.29 million pounds.

“I’d hate to take a chance and look back at this two to three years from now, and say ‘we made a big mistake,’” said board chair Karl Johnstone of Anchorage.

Also opposed was board member Sue Jeffrey of Kodiak, who said crab are a difficult species to manage, and can “fall off the cliff pretty easily.” Though voting in favor of the 5-percent amendment, she said she only did so to prevent a possible increase to 15 percent.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch 

 

 

March 29, 2014 — Not that there’s ever a good time or place for an oil spill, but from the perspective of the Gulf shrimping industry, the timing and location of the March 22 spill in the Houston Ship Channel was unfortunate.

That’s because the bay system where the channel is located is basically a nursery where baby shrimp head this time of year to put on some size before swimming back into the Gulf and trawlers’ nets.

That’s not to say that local shrimpers, who fish up and down the Texas Gulf Coast including Galveston Bay, will be catching and offloading contaminated shrimp, since the oil does not appear to be sinking and no dispersant is being used.

It is possible that shrimp populations will be diminished as a result, however, which in turn would affect production.

The spill dumped nearly 170,000 gallons of crude into the busy channel after the barge carrying it was struck by a ship. The channel reopened all lanes of the channel on March 26.

Andrea Hance, the Brownsville-based executive director of the Texas Shrimp Association, said she reached out to multiple experts to try to get a handle on the consequences of the spill, if any, for Gulf shrimpers, including the local fleet.

Read the full story at the Valley Morning Star

 

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [SCOM] March 28, 2014 — Two Maine legislators are proposing revenue bonds that would help boost lobster processing in Maine.

If the legislature approves, they will go to voters for approval as well.  The money would then be available as loans for lobster businesses.
 
The first bill, sponsored by Sen Troy Jackson, would invest $10 million in the development of lobster processing facilities.  The second, sponsored by Sen Mark Eves, would invest $15 million in research intitutions to partner with businesses to develop new products and diversify lobster offerings.
 
The bills have the support of lobster harvesters, who see the increased activity as boosting the value of their catch.
 
“We believe we can preserve our way of life, but it’s going to take creativity and hard work. We have to invest in the future,” said Rocky Alley of Jonesport, lobster fisherman and President of the Maine Lobstering Union.
 
“Right now, when we haul our traps and bring lobsters to the dock, a majority of them end up shipped out of Maine to be processed,” said Alley. “It does not make sense to send all of the lobsters we catch across the border to have them turned into value added products and then come back into the U.S.,” he said.
 
“Investing through these bonds will be a win-win for everyone. It will create jobs and help us preserve our way of life in Maine’s coastal communities. We ask the Legislature to support us,” said Alley.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ELLSWORTH, Maine — March 27, 2014 — A last-minute bid by the Passamaquoddy Tribe to avoid a requirement to impose individual catch quotas on its licensed elver fishermen has come up short.

Rep. Madonna Soctomah, the tribe’s representative in the Legislature, proposed an emergency bill that would have allowed legislators to consider whether the tribe should adhere to one tribal catch quota for elvers instead of setting individual quotas for each of its members.

The Legislative Council, 10 legislative leaders who decide which proposed bills can move forward for consideration during the shorter second session, on Thursday rejected Soctomah’s proposal, according to council staff. The rejection means that the Passamaquoddys and Maine’s three other federally recognized Indian groups will have to assign individual quotas to their licensed members if they want to receive required electronic transaction cards from the state.

Newell Lewey, a Passamaquoddy tribal council member at Pleasant Point, said Thursday evening that the vote in Augusta was not a surprise. What avenue the tribe might pursue next is the “1,600 pound question,” he said, referring to the tribe’s expected overall quota for this year.

Lewey said the Passamaquoddy’s joint tribal council, which includes elected tribal officials from Pleasant Point and Indian Township, is expected to meet at 10 a.m. Friday, March 28, to discuss the matter.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News 

 

 

 

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [SCOM] March 28, 2014 — Cape Ann Seafood Exchange is the lone Gloucester-based applicant that NOAA is recommending to receive funds under the long-awaited 2013 Saltonstall Kennedy Grant dispersal.

The Rogers Street business, which primarily operates as one of the city's two seafood auctions, is set to receive $391,670, pending final cost analysis and legal review by NOAA's grants management office, for its project to help build a sustainable redfish fishery and market the under-utilized species to consumers.

Cape Ann Seafood Exchange is operated by Kristian Kristensen, who took it over from the Ciulla family after a series of lawsuits.  He had been a tenent of the Ciulla's before, operating Zeus packing as a successful exporter of skate wings, dogfish, and monkfish.  The current project will focus on redfish.

The other auction in Gloucester is affiliated with New Bedford's BASE seafood display auction. The two auctions in Gloucester have both been holding their own as well as they can with declining volumes. 

For the rest of the country educational institutions are managing the majority of the projects.  They focus on the following four areas:

– reducing fisheries bycatch in the lobster, monkfish and striped bass fisheries

– ecosystem investigations involving Bluefin tuna, blue crabs, cod, lobster, mackerel and striped bass

–  understanding the socio-economic issues affecting groundfish fishermen

– projects that increase utilization of fishery resources including redfish and dogfish.

 NOAA said anticipates the recommended applicants will receive the grants within 30 to 60 days.

The announcement of the successful candidates has been delayed almost three months, first by the partial shutdown of the federal government last fall and then by what NOAA characterized as the sheer volume and competitiveness of the field of candidates.

Following is the list of recommended projects for the Greater Atlantic Region (New England and Mid-Atlantic).  Under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, which is administered by NOAA Fisheries, funding would be made available to provide financial assistance for research and development projects that benefit the U.S. fishing industry. NOAA Fisheries has recommended these projects for approval. They still have to be reviewed by the NOAA Grants Office.

This list was provided to by NOAA Fisheries.

Recommended for funding:

13NER028
University of New Hampshire, NH "A Multi-Trophic, All-Season Aquaculture Raft," Federal Funding: $249,762. Principal Investigators are Dr. M Robinson Swift and Michael Chambers.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture provides the by-products, including waste, from one aquatic species as inputs (fertilizers, food) for another.  A multi-trophic raft will be developed for the cultivation of steelhead, blue mussels, and sugar kelp. 

13NER077
Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research & Education, ME  "Demonstrating Shellfish Aquaculture Technology in Pilot and Commercial Scale Projects: Creating New Opportunities for Maine's Coastal Communities," Federal Funding: $348,767.  Principal Investigator is Dr. Brian Beal.

To create a model shellfish management program for soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria. 

13NER110
Marine Biological Laboratory, MA "Expanding Opportunities for Blue and "Gold" Mussel Farming in New England from Hatchery to Growout," Federal Funding:  $373,088.   Principal Investigator is Dr. Scott Lindell.

To develop hatchery and nursery technology for the improved production of blue mussels.

13NER031
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Testing Raised Foot Lines in Virginia Striped Bass Fishery: A Gear Based Method of Reducing Sturgeon Interactions in Anchored Gillnet," Federal Funding: $138,632. Principal Investigator is Thomas Murray.

Development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear technologies to reduce sturgeon interactions in the striped bass fishery.    

13NER055
University of Maine, ME  "Improving survivability of cusk and Atlantic cod bycatch discarded in the Gulf of Maine lobster trap fishery," Federal Funding: $229,326. Principal Investigator is Dr. Yong Chen.

To identify the time and areas where cusk and cod are likely to be caught in lobster traps; identify key factors in handling which may significantly influence the survival rates of discarded cusk and cod; evaluate the effectiveness of recompression and venting in improving the survivability of released cusk and cod discarded in the lobster trap fishery; develop a protocol to reduce the discard mortality; and to conduct an outreach program to educate stakeholders on the discarded groundfish in the lobster fishery.  

13NER105
Delaware State University, DE  "Conservation Engineering Within the Monkfish Gillnet Fishery: Reducing Negative Fishery Interaction Through Gear Modification and Assessing Post Release Mortality and Behavior of Atlantic Sturgeon," Federal Funding: $316,325. Principal Investigator is Dr. DeWayne Fox.

To quantify the nature of sturgeon/sink gillnet interactions through direct assessment of post-release survival and in-situ behavior observation of Atlantic sturgeon exposed to sink-gillnets. 

13NER107
Marine Biological Laboratory, MA "Developing Whale and Turtle-Friendly Subtidal Aquaculture Gear," Federal Funding:  $125,638.   Principal Investigator is Dr. Scott Lindell.

Investigators, in collaboration with shellfish farmers, will demonstrate ways that subtidal aquaculture gear, including anchors and lines, may be modified to eliminate the risk to protected species, such as whales and turtles.

13NER005
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Genetic Tagging of Bluefin Tuna: Marker Optimization and Preliminary Assessment," Federal Funding: $107,924. Principal Investigators are Dr. Jan McDowell and Dr. John Graves.

To develop a suite of molecular markers that can be used to estimate the abundance of the western stock of Atlantic bluefin tuna.  

13NER010
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, MD "Otolith Stable Isotopes: A Natural Marker of Contingent Structure for Northwest Atlantic Mackerel," Federal Funding: $205,281. Principal Investigators are Dr. David Secor and Dr. Lee Cooper.

Project aims to better resolve the migration and range dynamics of Northwest Atlantic mackerel through the development of otolith stable isotope markers (δ13C, δ18O, and δ2H) to track the migration patterns.  

13NER016
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Laboratory Studies on the Effect of Temperature on Epizootic Shell Disease in the American Lobster, Homarus Americanus,"  Federal Funding: $279,492. Principal Investigator is Dr. Jeffrey Shields.

To understand and quantify how temperature affects lobsters with epizootic shell disease, so as to better understand the disease dynamics in light of the increasing variability in ocean water temperature in the region.

13NER044
University of Maine, ME "The Effects of Regional Temperature Cycles on the Development and Disease Susceptibility of the American lobster (Homarus americanus),"  Federal Funding: $249,516.  Principal Investigators are Dr. Heather Hamlin, Deborah Bouchard, Dr. Robert Bayer, Dr. Ian Bricknell and Dr. Anne Lichtenwalner.

The project goal is to examine the hypothesis that increasing ocean temperature is a causative agent in the population decline of lobsters in Southern New England.   

13NER058
Smithsonian Institution, DC  "Nursery Habitat Contributions to the Chesapeake Blue Crab Spawning Stock,"   Federal Funding:  $323,341.  Principal Investigator is Dr. Matthew Ogburn.

To generate information on the relative nursery value of sub-estuaries of Chesapeake Bay with a particular focus on their contribution to the reproductive output of the blue crab spawning stock.

13NER069
The Nature Conservancy, MA "Ecosystem Studies of Atlantic Cod Spawning Aggregations in Relation to Fisheries Interactions Using Novel Active and Passive Acoustic Approaches,"  Federal Funding: $400,000.  Principal Investigator is Christopher McGuire.

To provide a detailed description of the spatial and temporal extent of winter cod spawning activity in Massachusetts Bay.  

13NER111
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, ME "Continuation of the Maine Inshore Acoustic Herring Survey: Collaborative Research to Support the Maine Lobster Industry," Federal Funding:  $385,263.  Principal Investigators are Dr. Graham Sherwood, Adam Baukus and Curt Brown.

Project activities would support continuation of an ongoing acoustic herring survey being conducted in Maine's inshore waters for an additional two years.  Information gathered provides direct and quantitative estimates of herring abundance in State waters.

13NER116
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, ME "Ecological Diversity of Atlantic Cod in the Gulf of Maine Fishery and Its Role in Resiliency of a Fishery," Federal Funding: $332,741. Principal Investigators are Dr. Lisa Kerr, Dr. Graham Sherwood, Dr. Steve Cadrin, Dr. Adrienne Kovach, and Captain David Goethel.

To characterize the ecological diversity (i.e., genetic variation, habitat use, and spatial behavior) of two major spawning complexes of Atlantic cod in the Gulf of Maine and evaluate how the fishery interacts with these groups of fish.  

13NER114
Northeastern University, MA "Assessing Social Impacts in Groundfish Fishing Communities," Federal Funding: $236,785.  Principal Investigators are Dr. Jonathan Grabowski and Dr. Steven Scyphers.

Working directly with New England groundfish industry stakeholders and fishing communities, investigators will conduct an integrative research study and intervention program to document and mitigate the social and psychological consequences resulting from the Northeast groundfish fishery disaster.

13NER006
University of Connecticut, CT  "Harmful Algal Blooms: A Compendium Desk Reference," Federal Funding: $217,865.   Principal Investigator is Dr. Sandra Shumway.

This proposal will result in a publication that summarizes decades of research in the field of harmful algal bloom science. 

13NER026
Cape Ann Seafood Exchange, Inc., "Sustaining Redfish," Federal Funding: $391,670. Principal Investigator is Gerald McCarthy.

The goal of this project is to build a sustainable, fully utilized fishery for Gulf of Maine harvested redfish (Sebastes fasciatus).  Efforts undertaken to realize the full market potential value of this underutilized species include creating the capacity to process and market whole redfish fresh and frozen fillets that are competitively prices for new domestic and international markets.   

13NER042
Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, NJ  "Collecting Fishery Dependent Data on the Developing Offshore Whelk fishery in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Using HabCam to Estimate Relative Abundance," Federal Funding: $262,940.  Principal Investigators are Dr. Daphne Munroe and Dr. Eleanor Bochenek.

This project will collect information on relative abundance of offshore whelk in the Mid-Atlantic Bight over the fishery range using HabCam images from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center  scallop survey, collect baseline fishery dependent data on offshore whelk biology and population demographics, and  investigate the  potential of new locations to support expansion and development of  the fishery.

13NER051
University of Rhode Island, RI "Bioconversion of Squid and Scallop Processing Byproducts into Specialty Aquaculture Feed Ingredients  Employing Energy Efficient Hydrolysis and Low-Cost Drying Processes," Federal Funding: $279,544.  Principal Investigators are Dr. Chong Lee and Dr. David Bengtson.

The goal of this project is to develop innovative ways for complete utilization of squid processing byproducts and scallop for specialty aquaculture feed ingredients. 

13NER052
University of New England, ME  "Optimum Utilization of Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias, through Industry Partnerships and Product Development and Marketing,"  Federal Funding: $245,246. Principal Investigators are Dr. Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Eric Brazer, and Nancy Civetta.

To increase domestic demand for consumption of fillets by educating consumers and creating improved domestic demand for this underutilized species.

 

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.