Saving Seafood

MAINE: $17 million for lobster industry included in bill

March 17, 2022 — A sum of $17,065,000 to support Maine’s lobster industry was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced March 11. Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee. Pingree is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.

The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate before heading to the President’s desk.

“NOAA’s own data show that the Maine fishery has never been linked to a right whale death, and the record clearly demonstrates that ship strikes and Canadian fishing activities are major contributors to right whale mortalities,” said Sens. Collins and King and Reps. Pingree and Golden in a joint statement. “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it. That’s why it is extremely frustrating that they have been targeted by the deeply flawed and unfair Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Sen. Collins, Rep. Golden Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Lobster Industry Afford New Gear

March 9, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Jared Golden:

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support lobstermen by creating a grant program to help them comply with federal right whale regulations requiring a change in fishing gear. The Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability (SAFE SEAS) Act of 2022 will help lobstermen and women with the financial burden of this transition by authorizing grant assistance for fiscal years 2022 through 2024 to help cover the costs of compliance. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) have signed on as cosponsors of the bill.

According to an estimate by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) rule will cost Maine lobstermen and women at least $45 million due to the expense of trawling up, acquiring and adding weak points, purchasing specialized rope, lengthening groundlines, marking gear, and hiring additional crew to complete this work.  Notably, there are no known cases of Maine’s lobster industry being responsible for killing a right whale, and there has not been a single right whale entanglement attributed to Maine lobster fisheries in nearly two decades.

 “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it,” said Senator Collins.  “As NOAA moves ahead with this rule despite the Maine delegation’s urging against it, our legislation would help alleviate the financial burden our lobstermen and women face. We must ensure that this heritage industry has the assistance it needs to continue to support coastal families and communities for generations to come.”

Read the full release at the office of Congressman Jared Golden

 

Maine delegates decry ‘broken promise’ in China lobster-buying deal

February 22, 2022 — All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation want the Biden administration to hold China accountable for its apparent failure to live up to a 2020 trade deal.

In a letter sent Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Sen. Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden said China has broken its promise to buy more Maine lobster. They also requested details on exactly how much lobster China agreed to buy under the trade deal, which was negotiated and signed during the Trump administration. Sen. Susan Collins sent Tai a similar letter Wednesday.

Recent analyses indicate that China has failed to buy all of the additional $200 million in U.S. goods that trade officials said the country committed to in the “Phase One Deal” unveiled in early 2020. An analysis by Bloomberg released last month said China had only purchased 63 percent of the U.S. goods it had agreed to buy as part of an effort to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries.

In their letter, King, Pingree and Golden said China has bought “almost no lobster above 2017 levels” and said U.S. officials need to take action to make sure the additional purchases spelled out in the agreement take place.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine groups receive $900K to help restore Atlantic salmon populations

September 8, 2021 — Continuing efforts to help restore Atlantic salmon populations in Maine are receiving a boost thanks to $900,000 in funding awarded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced Tuesday that four organizations in Maine have been selected to receive money from the distribution to assist their efforts.

“Atlantic salmon are a critical part of our state’s marine ecosystem, but they are endangered and at risk of extinction,” Collins and King said in a joint statement. “These fish help to ensure the health of our rivers and oceans that Mainers and wildlife depend on. We welcome this funding, which will help to conserve and restore wild Atlantic salmon and their ecosystems across the state.”

The Atlantic salmon, specifically the Gulf of Maine distinct population that has been protected since 2000 under the Endangered Species Act, is one of the most at-risk endangered species, NOAA reported. Only approximately 1,200 fish return each year, although as of Aug. 30 only 522 salmon have been counted so far this year at the Milford and Orono dams.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Maine legislators call for no “hasty” changes to whale plan

August 31, 2021 — Maine’s legislative delegation in Washington is urging federal officials to ensure that the forthcoming North Atlantic right whale regulations don’t include any last-minute changes that would hurt the livelihood of Maine’s fishing communities without providing any meaningful protections for the whales.   

“We are now asking for your assistance to avoid hasty, late-breaking changes by (National Marine Fisheries Service) to measures that have been extensively negotiated and carefully designed in consultation with Maine’s Department of Marine Resources and broad outreach to stakeholders,” legislators Susan Collins, Angus King, Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “These changes, as indicated by the Final Environmental Impact Statement, add significant costs to the industry without corresponding gains in conservation and seriously undermine conservation partnerships at state and local levels.”  

With finalization of rules on the lobster and other trap fisheries in response to declining right whale populations expected imminently, the delegation outlined three areas of concern.   

The proposed rule includes a requirement for Maine fishing gear to have a green marker if a specific piece of gear was set inside or outside a certain boundary. This would help determine the origin of gear should it become entangled with a whale.  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Federal regulators urged to protect Maine lobstermen in crafting whale rules

August 31, 2021 — Maine’s congressional delegation is urging the federal government not to approve new rules that would negatively impact the state’s commercial fishing industry as they finalize protections for endangered whales.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers wrote that they have a number of concerns about the National Marine Fisheries Service’s proposed regulations and the plan’s “ability to meaningfully protect whales and its impact on those who depend on fishing, especially lobstering, for their livelihoods.”

The lawmakers, which included Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked regulators to illuminate several “hasty, late-breaking changes” to the final whale protection rules.

Read the full story at The Center Square

MAINE: Congressional delegation blasts Pew petition calling for closures

August 26, 2021 — Maine’s congressional delegation called on U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to reject a petition to impose seasonal and dynamic closures on parts of the state’s lobster fishery.

The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a petition to close four areas of lobster fishing in Maine unless lobstermen used so-called “ropeless” fishing gear.

“The petition submitted by Pew undermines our shared goal of both protecting the North Atlantic right whale and ensuring the future viability of our nation’s lobster fishery,” wrote Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) and Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Jared Golden (D-Maine). “Unfortunately, this proposal would have a detrimental economic impact on Maine’s lobster industry and the coastal communities they support, while providing limited risk reduction. It is unfortunate to see this attempted circumvention of NOAA’s established regulatory process when lives, livelihoods, and the survival of an endangered species are on the line.”

Pew petitioned former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in 2020 to call for closures throughout New England waters, including an area Downeast from August to October, to better protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Last month, the organization submitted an updated petition for rulemaking, arguing that action was needed to save the species, which has dipped down to an estimated population of fewer than 356.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Maine delegation deplores ‘hasty’ changes to whale rules affecting lobster fishery

August 25, 2021 — A set of new rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale is on the way to being finalized by the federal government.

But the rules include “hasty, late-breaking changes” that would “significantly harm the livelihoods of communities that depend on fishing and lobstering without meaningfully protecting whales,” U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, and Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, said in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan was first developed in 1997 and has been modified in various ways since then, in an attempt to save the endangered whales from extinction.

The delegation cited several of the newer proposed modifications, now under consideration, as potentially harmful for the lobster industry.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Maine Delegation Urges Commerce Secretary to Protect Lobster Fishery

August 24, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden have sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, urging her to ensure that the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule does not include last minute changes that would significantly harm the livelihoods of communities that depend on fishing and lobstering without meaningfully protecting whales. In their letter, the Maine Delegation emphasize that many measures have been crafted after years of negotiation and careful consultation with Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) to protect the coastal Maine communities that rely on the lobster fishery. The Delegation specifically cites potential changes to regulations on gear marking, closures of valuable fishing areas, and enforcing dangerous one-size-fits-all approaches on gear configurations as risks that could endanger livelihoods and safety for Maine’s lobstering communities.

“We are getting in touch with you once again about the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS’s) Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule (RIN: 0648-BJ09), the finalization of which we understand to be imminent,” wrote the Delegation. “We are grateful for your previous engagement with us over our concerns about this new regulation’s ability to meaningfully protect whales and its impact on those who depend on fishing, especially lobstering, for their livelihoods. We are now asking for your assistance to avoid hasty, late-breaking changes by NMFS to measures that have been extensively negotiated and carefully designed in consultation with Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and broad outreach to stakeholders. These changes, as indicated by the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), add significant costs to the industry without corresponding gains in conservation and seriously undermine conservation partnerships at state and local levels.

“As you know, this rule builds on over two decades of collaborative whale conservation efforts and is the specific product of massive stakeholder input and data analysis in recent months and years,” the Delegation continued. “Despite this long timeline and vast effort, we and many of our constituents are deeply concerned about three specific elements of the rule, which we have outlined below. We have also shared these views with Shalanda Young, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and we urge you to direct NMFS staff to engage with their counterparts at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to ensure this opportunity for good public policy making and consideration of informed public comment is not squandered in the midnight hour.”

The Maine Delegation has been steadfastly opposed to undue burdens that would threaten the lobster fishery – an important economic driver for Maine – without meaningfully protecting whales. The Delegation has urged President Joe Biden to act on his pledge to protect lobstermen’s livelihoods, citing the lack of data to support claims that the lobster fishery presents an extreme risk to whales compared to other marine activities such as ship strikes.

The Maine Delegation’s full letter can be downloaded HERE.