State and Local

MACHIAS, Maine — August 28, 2013 —  The Navy’s plans to run a power cable under Machias Bay to bring electricity to its communications station in Cutler has caused area scallop fishermen to be apprehensive.

There is a possibility that fishermen may be restricted from dragging gear along the bottom of the bay in the vicinity of the cable in search of scallops or urchins.

“It’s a big concern to the fisherman,” Michael Murphy II, chairman of the Machiasport Board of Selectmen, said of the plans.

The issue on restrictions, however, isn’t clear.

Murphy, a scallop fisherman, said Wednesday that fishermen are restricted by state law or regulation from dragging gear within 300 feet of underwater cables.

But Deirdre Gilbert, director of marine policy for Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, said there is no minimum setback per se in state law or regulation.

“It’s not based on a certain number of feet,” she said.

Instead, such a determination would be made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in consultation with the Navy, according to Gilbert. If a designated cable area by NOAA is marked accordingly on marine charts, dragging would be prohibited in the vicinity of the cable, Gilbert noted.

The Navy may not seek such a designation since the cable will be buried 3-5 feet below the ocean floor.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News 

TRENTON, N.J. — August 29, 2013 — The Christie Administration today directed additional state resources toward the investigation of bottlenose dolphin deaths along the coast of New Jersey that are part of what federal officials suspect is a naturally occurring disease cycle affecting populations of these marine mammals from New York to Virginia.

These steps include using Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) aircraft and expanding patrols by DEP conservation officers. The Administration is also providing the use of a Department of Agriculture lab for testing, a move that will greatly help the nonprofit Marine Mammal Stranding Center, on the front lines of responding to the deaths since early July.

"Fortunately, the federal investigation into the dolphin deaths is making significant progress," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said. "The Christie Administration is committed to doing everything we can to assist in this investigation, and to helping the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in their work to respond to this sad situation." The DEP will pay for the testing at the Department of Agriculture's Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Ewing Township.

The Brigantine-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center had been taking the animals to a University of Pennsylvania veterinary facility, paying for the cost of testing from its own resources. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through a Joint Enforcement Agreement with New Jersey, is providing the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife nearly $92,000 to increase land and boat patrols to assist in the monitoring and recovery of bottlenose dolphins.

Read the full story at NBC40

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Seafoodnews.com] — August 29, 2013 –In response to the letter from Alaska Sen. Begich on Sodexo's dismissal of Alaska salmon due to its current purchasing guidelines, CEO George Chavel said not only would they purchase Alaska salmon so long as a chain of custody was in place, but that they are committed to the Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative (GSSI) and that they work with other organizations besides MSC in determining what seafood meets their sustainability guidelines.  Begich's office has released Chavel's response.

The letter provides strong evidence of the evolution of thinking among companies who have made seafood sustainability committments.

Chavel says "MSC is not the only organization with whom we engage as part of our commitment to sustainable seafood. We continue to refine our definition of sustainable seafood through work with globally credible multi-stakeholder and non-governmental organizations. If the Alaskan salmon processors who have chosen not to continue their MSC certification are interested, we would be willing to consider alternative chain-of-custody arrangements in conjunction with the external organizations that help ensure our commitment to sustainability is both based on robust science and responds to our customer demand."

"Finally, as a founding member and current board member of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), we are taking an active role in the delivery of a common, consistent, and global benchmarking tool for seafood certification and labeling programs to ensure confidence in the supply and promotion of sustainable seafood to consumers worldwide, as well as promoting improvement in the certification and labeling programs."

Chavel also says Sodexo purchased more than 6 million pounds of salmon from Alasak in 2012, including 237,220 pounds of chum salmon.

Sodexo has a global committment to source 100% sustainable seafood in all countries where they operate by 2015.  Their strategy to accomplish this focuses not just on "sustainable fisheries, but also on ensuring the integrity and traceability of the product throughout our supply chain."

He goes on to say that is one reason they have supporte MSC – that a chain of custody is in place.  "This is one reason we have supported the MSC certification as it includes not only fisheries, but the entire supply chain."

In short – this letter fully supports the Alaskan processors decision to leave MSC, and asks for two things in order to keep supplying Sodexo:  robust scientific evidence of sustainability in conjunction with external organizations; and a chain of custody to guarantee the integrity of the supply chain.  These are in fact major goals of the GSSI initiative.

The Alaska processors, by opening up this discussion, are paving the way for the entire global seafood industry -both suppliers and their customers – to adopt a more "common, consistent, and global benchmarking tool for seafood certification and labeling programs", as described by Sodexo. 

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

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. — August 27, 2013 — New Jersey's 127 miles of coastline is home to some of the most beautiful and popular beaches in the USA and abroad. Sixty-two percent of the State's $38 billion tourism dollars in 2008 were spent at the Jersey Shore.

New Jersey's fisheries and shell-fisheries generated $168 million dollars in revenue from landings and employed over 40,000 people in 2008 alone.

The Governor was in North Wildwood today to say that healthy marine ecosystems are necessary to sustain coastal tourism, including recreational boating and beach visitation-one of the largest industries in the state.

Read the full story at NBC News 

Boston — August 27, 2013 — While the Bay State fishing fleet’s haul of cod has dropped precipitously, the waters now teem with others species that had not been present in such previously cool waters and several that are not common on American menus.

“The biomass is growing, but it’s not necessarily the most marketable fish,” Laura Foley Ramsden, a member of the New England Fishery Management Council and owner of M.F. Foley Fish Company, told the News Service. She said, “The biomass of species has actually grown since the Sustainable Fisheries Act was enacted. I should be clear, though, because there are certainly people that are hurting, lifelong fishermen that are unable to afford fishing.”

Meanwhile, scientists are developing a new method for measuring fish populations, similar to the photographs used to calculate the number of scallops on Georges Bank, which might one day replace the current system of dragging a net and counting the species that are hauled up by it.

“Now we’re applying specially designed cameras that takes stereo images of these fish, measures them and enumerates them with infrared lasers. So we’re going to drag nets but not catch any fish. We’ll be imaging them, and doing something very similar as we do with the sea scallop survey,” said Paul Diodati, director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries and an NEFMC member, speaking at last week’s Gaming Commission meeting.

Read the full story at Wicked Local 

August 27, 2013 — Mayor Carolyn Kirk’s administration will support Cape Pond Ice owner Scott Memhard’s request to remove his Commercial Street property from the city’s Designated Port Area through the filing of special legislation in the Massachusetts Legislature.

“We should not turn our back on Mr. Memhard and the Cape Pond Ice Company,” Kirk wrote in a letter to state Sen. Bruce Tarr. “Therefore we must support his request for removal from the Gloucester Designated Port Area by legislative means as a most effective way to allow the company to physically restructure its organization, retain its core mission of providing ice to fishing vessels in a sustainable manner, and to attract additional market opportunity to its location for investment and long-term profitability.”

Tarr could not be reached Monday for comment.

Memhard, in an email, expressed his gratitude for the mayor’s support and spoke of the long process that remains. Meredith Fine, Memhard’s lawyer, reiterated her client’s gratitude for the manner in which Tarr, Kirk and the mayor’s staff listened to Memhard’s case at a meeting last week in Kirk’s office.

“I want to emphasize the unique position this property is in,” Fine said. “If you care about keeping the fishing industry alive, and you believe in the goals of the DPA, then you have to preserve the only independent ice house on the waterfront.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times 

August 26, 2013 — COOS BAY, Oregon — The Oregon Dungeness Crab fishery plopped tens of millions of dollars on the Oregon coast this year. In a fishery known for its up and down nature, it has contributed enormously to the state’s economy over the past decade.

Hugh Link, Executive Director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, recently returned from an economic summit where he touted some staggering numbers.

“Last 10 years, Oregon fishermen brought a billion dollars of seafood to the docks,” Link said. “That’s billion with a B.”

This season, according to preliminary numbers from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, commercial crab fishermen landed more than 18.1 million pounds of crab. The southern port of Brookings had the highest catch numbers, with landings exceeding 4.8 million pounds, followed closely by Newport with 4.2 million.

Link says the season ended up surpassing last year’s 14.3 million pounds, but why that is remains a mystery.

Read the full story at the Coos Bay World

August 26, 2013 — Shrimping is the second largest commercial fishing industry in North Carolina, with 6.1 million pounds of shrimp worth $13.3 million netted last year. Nearly 200 commercial fishermen work the Pamlico Sound, some of the best shrimping waters on the East Coast.

Whitfield can deal with this temporary setback from the elements – the upcoming green tail season is expected to be good. But it's foreign and domestic relations that have him worried.

Shrimp imported from countries that subsidize their production makes up 89 percent of the U.S. market. Malaysia subsidizes 55 percent of its shrimping industry and China subsidizes 18 percent, according to the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries. On Sept. 19, the U.S. International Trade Commission is to announce whether the U.S. industry is being injured by subsidized foreign imports.

In Washington, lawmakers – including U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. – are seeking to put penalties on subsidized imported shrimp, which is less expensive for consumers.

Closer to home, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission will consider a proposal to declare the entire Pamlico Sound a nursery, which would eliminate commercial shrimping.

Joe Albea, a recreational angler and member of the shrimp advisory committee for the commission, predicted that the nursery will be voted down on Thursday. Last week, his committee and three others recommended the proposal be denied at a meeting attended by more than 700 people, most in opposition.

But the committee could recommend reducing shrimp trawler net sizes in the Pamlico Sound to about 50 feet, Albea said. Boats with larger nets would shrimp in the ocean. A trawler size limit would not take effect until next year after public hearings.

Whitfield has heard trawler nets could shrink to less than 50 feet.

Read the full story at the Virginian Pilot

August 26, 2013 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources will hold a press conference on Wednesday, August 28 at noon to discuss a one-day, coast-wide survey of the invasive European green crab.

The survey will involve volunteer participants setting and hauling baited traps in areas of the coast with an abundance of soft-shell clams, the third most lucrative commercial fishery in Maine behind lobster and elvers.

The green crab population in some areas of Maine has increased dramatically in recent years and they have been feeding on shellfish resources such as blue mussels and soft-shell clams.

The survey is designed to provide a snap shot of the locations and relative abundance of green crabs populations statewide.  This information will then be used by the Department to raise awareness of the problem and to assist municipalities with a plan for control of these aggressive shellfish predators.

Speaking at the press conference will be Kohl Kanwit, Director of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Bureau of Public Health, Dr. Brian Beal, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias, and Chad Coffin, President of the Maine Clammers Association, Dan Devereaux, Brunswick Shellfish Warden, and Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The press conference will be held at Winslow Park in Freeport. Accommodations will be made available for reporters to view and record trap hauling.

 

August 24, 2013 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Scallop fishermen could end up facing the same restrictions for the upcoming scallop season that they did this past winter, according to a proposal released this month by state officials.

Like last year, the Maine Department of Marine Resources is proposing to limit scallop fishing along most of the coast to 70 days and in Cobscook Bay to 44 days. Fishermen still would be limited to catching 10 gallons a day in Cobscook Bay on days they are allowed to fish there and, as they were for most of last winter, to 15 gallons a day everywhere else.

DMR has scheduled three public hearings for the proposed rules for the upcoming season, which would start on Dec. 2 and end in March. The hearings will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at the Lincoln County 911 Communications Center in Wiscasset; on Wednesday, Sept. 4, in the Science Building Lecture Hall, at University of Maine at Machias, and on Thursday, Sept. 5, at the City Hall Auditorium in Ellsworth. All hearings will begin at 6 p.m.

The department will accept public comment on the proposed rules until Sept. 16.

Maine’s coastline is divided into three scallop fishing zones, with Cobscook Bay considered Zone 3. Zone 1 extends from the New Hampshire border to western Penobscot Bay, while Zone 2 covers everything from western Penobscot Bay to the bridge between Lubec and Campobello.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News