Saving Seafood

From hake to skate: Behind the push to bring ‘unknown’ fish to New England’s dinner table

July 29, 2021 — It’s exceptionally rare to dine at a restaurant and hear someone say, “I’ll have the scup,” or, “I’ll have the conger eel.”

Salmon, cod and tuna dominate the plate in the U.S. – but why? The world’s oceans are home to more than 30,000 species of fish, and most of the edible ones have never been marketed to the average consumer’s tastebuds.

All along New England’s coastline, small boat fishermen are catching a wide array of fish for which there’s barely any market – hake, dogfish, butterfish, skate and countless others. They struggle to sell these lesser-known species, and in turn, people are missing out on high-quality, delicious seafood, industry advocates contend.

Some have historically labeled them as “trash fish,” but Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, takes major exception to that.

“We don’t call any other type of food ‘trash’ except for seafood,” said Martens. “It’s coming out of the ocean, it’s not like we’re talking about highly processed fast food. I always get very prickly at that term ‘trash.’ We’re talking about food, and we’re talking about some of the best food for your body, mind and the environment.”

Rather, Martens says, these fish are “unknown” to most eaters.

There’s virtually no marketing behind them, he said, and organizations like his are trying to change that – through education, distribution and community projects. They’re partnering with restauranteurs, holding “meet the fishermen” events, and connecting food-insecure and multicultural populations with diverse seafood selections.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Maine tightens up proposed offshore wind farm area, but fishermen still don’t like it

July 15, 2021 — Maine fishermen said they appreciate the effort by the Department of Marine Resources to get their input on the site for a proposed offshore wind-turbine array.

After collecting input over the past few months about fishing activity, marine wildlife and navigation in a 770-square-mile “area of interest” off the southern Maine coast, the Governor’s Energy Office on Monday announced a “narrowed area of interest” of 16 square miles.

But industry representatives said they’re still concerned about potential impact on fisheries.

“I’m concerned with this narrowed focus on an already heavily fished area,” Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, said during a virtual work session held yesterday by the Governor’s Energy Office on the latest proposal.

Carl Wilson, director of the Department of Marine Resources’ Bureau of Marine Science, who has spearheaded the effort to gather fishermen’s input, said he agreed that not all of the fishing data is in on fisheries such as lobster and groundfish.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Covid helped connect small fishermen to the emergency food network. Can the link last

June 25, 2021 — By now, last year’s food supply chain chaos has been widely reported. We’ve also learned about all the chain’s desperate fixes and ingenious workarounds: Fruit, veg, meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy produced for Covid-shuttered restaurants, cafeterias, and other institutions were diverted to grocery co-ops, local CSA programs, the frozen/canned/preserved market, and even reef restoration projects.

Some fresh food also made its way into the emergency food system. It was a welcome counterpoint to shelf-stable goods like peanut butter and beans, at food banks and pantries that struggled to feed up to 70 percent more hungry Americans than in 2019. “We had a lot of people in the industry reaching out to us, saying, ‘We’ve got pork! How can we move this food that’s just sitting on farms?’” said Joe Weeden, who sources protein for the food bank network Feeding America.

Weeden was also approached last November by a Massachusetts-based fishermen’s association, looking to forge a partnership between Feeding America food pantries and small-boat fishermen who needed a new market for their catch. The resulting program—one of 21 funded by a nonprofit called Catch Together—was so well-received that Weeden and other organizers want to continue and maybe expand it, even as the pandemic winds down and the usual purchasers of high-quality fish re-open for business. There’s also hope among some fishermen that this may provide a way to reconnect with local communities that their business models have left behind, and to provide themselves with a layer of stability in an unpredictable sector.

In the charitable food sector, seafood is considered a nutritious “food to encourage.” But the good stuff can be hard to come by, because it’s expensive—$7 per pound or more, compared to less than $1 per pound for bulk chicken. Small-boat fishermen contend with quotas and fluctuating prices; they garner the most stable profit by sending most of their catch abroad or into food service. When Covid-19 upended these supply chains, Catch Together saw an opportunity to feed ever-more hungry local people while keeping fishermen and processors financially afloat.

Catch Together normally exists to offer low-interest loans to buy fishing quotas that are then leased affordably to community-based fishermen. But in early 2020, “We saw a total collapse that caused fishermen to tie up because the pricing wouldn’t support a harvest. It was a really scary time,” said Paul Parker, Catch Together’s president. Some state and local governments had begun loosening regulations to help, like allowing fishermen to sell “over the wharf” (straight off the boat to customers). Nevertheless, many fisheries still faced abysmal market prices that didn’t justify their opening.

Read the full story at The Counter

Statement from Maine’s Fishing Community on Offshore Wind Development

January 28, 2021 — Editor’s Note: This opinion piece is written on behalf of Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermen’s Association; Ben Martens, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association; Annie Tselikis, Maine Lobster Dealers Association; Rocky Alley, Maine Lobstering Union; Paul Anderson, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries; and Sheila Dassatt, Downeast Lobstermen’s Association

Maine fishermen are deeply committed to clean energy and protecting the environment. We draw our livelihoods from the ocean and recognize the fragility of our shared marine environment. Maine fishermen understand and support the need to develop clean renewable energy sources, but do not share the Governor’s vision to achieve this through rushed offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine.

While the Gulf appears vast and without borders, it is, in reality, an area well‐managed by generations of fishermen who feed our nation with healthy, sustainably harvested seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine fishermen worried that protections for whales will damage industry

November 10, 2020 — Maine’s fishermen are concerned about potential closure of fishing grounds under new federal rules being considered for right whale protections.

“Anytime you talk about closing areas, there are profound impacts to the fishing communities and the ecosystem,” Ben Martens, Executive Director of The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) told The Center Square.

“You could put it in an area that could decimate an entire community.”

Maine Public Radio recently posted documents from the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MDMR), including a letter from MDMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher that details concerns about closing Lobster Conservation Management Areas (LCMA) to fishing.

“These lobster zones are among the most productive and lucrative areas in the Maine lobster fishery,” Keliher wrote.

Read the full story at The Center Square

Maine lobstermen prepare for uncertain summer season, hoping for further federal relief

July 28, 2020 — More than 1,300 lobstermen in Maine – about 1 in 3 – received forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), with the majority amounting to roughly $10,900.

It may not be enough to sustain fishermen through an already uncertain summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, told the Portland Press Herald.

“A lot of people got very small loans that helped in the short term, at the start of the crisis, but now the crisis is dragging on and lobstering season hasn’t even really started,” Martens said.

New data from the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that altogether, Maine’s lobster industry received roughly $24 million in PPP funding, the most given to any business concern in the state; dine-in restaurants, beauty salons, real estate, and home building received the next highest amounts.

While the bulk of the fishing sector money – nearly $15 million – went to fishermen, some dealers, retailers and processors received loans between $150,000 and $1 million.

Read the full story at The Center Square

1 in 3 Maine lobstermen lands federal pandemic loan

July 20, 2020 — Maine lobstermen reeled in more small federal emergency loans under the Paycheck Protection Program than members of any other industry in Maine, with about one out of every three commercial lobstermen landing one, but the average loan was barely large enough to cover a month’s worth of bait at the height of the summer fishing season.

About $14.9 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loans of less than $150,000 have been handed out to 1,358 Maine lobstermen, according to an analysis of newly released U.S. Small Business Administration data. That puts lobstermen ahead of full-service restaurants, real estate offices, beauty salons and home builders, which rounded out the top five Maine industries receiving small PPP loans.

But the high participation rate didn’t net Maine lobstermen a lot of money, with the average small PPP loan to lobster fishermen working out to be just $10,900 each, data show. By comparison, full-service restaurants got $53,500. Home builders, $30,000. It didn’t get better when the loans got bigger: Only two lobstering companies got large loans of more than $150,000.

“A lot of people got very small loans that helped in the short term, at the start of the crisis, but now the crisis is dragging on and lobstering season hasn’t even really started,” said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. “Ten grand is nice if you’re struggling, but not enough if you’re suffering.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

BEN MARTENS: Federal COVID response a missed opportunity to help Maine fishermen

June 26, 2020 — President Trump’s recent roundtable meeting with fishermen in Bangor was a unique opportunity to bring national attention to COVID-19’s catastrophic impact on fishing communities here in Maine and around the country. Most Americans are unaware of the devastation the crisis has inflicted on fishing economies, which support 40,000 jobs in Maine and 1.5 million jobs in the United States. The president’s visit put a spotlight on Maine’s fishermen for a brief moment during this time of crisis.

What resulted from this meeting was the opening of a national marine monument south of Cape Cod to additional commercial fishing, and the creation of a yet-to-be-defined fisheries task force. While significant, this action does not address the underlying economic challenge facing Maine fishermen because of the pandemic – the collapse of domestic and international demand for seafood.

Roughly three-quarters of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is eaten at restaurants. With restaurants closed or severely constrained, prices and demand have dropped dramatically – close to 70 percent for many New England species. As families struggled to find healthy, affordable food, fishermen were being told not to go fishing. Seafood is one of the healthiest food choices you can make for your mind, body and the environment. More access to heathy food should be our shared priority. Unfortunately, the pandemic has illuminated the cracks in our national food system, meaning that now is the time to invest in comprehensive solutions to protect local, sustainable seafood for our nation.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Fishermen Hope for Change as the Seafood Industry Faces a Crisis

June 25, 2020 — Earlier this month, President Trump traveled to Maine to announce plans to reopen a vast marine preserve, created by President Obama in 2016, to commercial fishing. While ostensibly aimed at helping New England fishermen catch more fish and expand their businesses, Maine fishermen—and fishermen across the United States—are grappling with a sobering reality that the president’s controversial plan won’t solve: They can’t sell their fish.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, only half of the fish harvested by Maine fishermen in May sold, and prices averaged 18 percent less in comparison to May the prior year. Landings were also down by more than half, at 44,495 pounds, because many fishermen aren’t going out to sea while the restaurants that are their main markets remain shuttered.

“It’s been a difficult slog over the past couple of months,” says Ben Martens, executive director of Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association, emotion rising in his voice. “It’s just really scary right now, with the marketplace and COVID, and thinking about how we protect the fishing heritage.”

For Martens, the president’s visit was a missed opportunity to address the real problems facing Maine fishermen. Very few, he says, even fished in the Northeast Canyon and Seamounts stretch of deep ocean before Obama designated it a marine monument to protect its fragile ecosystem and the sea turtles, mammals, and other life it supports.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

Maine fishing industry awaits distribution of federal stimulus money

May 19, 2020 — While Maine is due to receive $20 million in federal funding to help shore up fishing trade losses caused by the COVID-19 economic downturn, industry leaders say more relief is needed to address the full scope of the decline.

“It’s not a lot of money for the size of the problem that we are dealing with in Maine,” Ben Martens, Executive Director of The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) told The Center Square. “The goal is to get the money out the door as soon as possible, at least that should be the goal, so we can all survive this.”

The $20.3 million going to Maine is part of $300 million allotted to the seafood industry under the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. The $300 million will be helping about 30 states, with Alaska receiving the highest amount, roughly $50 million, Martens said. Maine’s amount was the fifth highest in the nation.

Dividing the $20.3 million among Maine’s 18,000 licensed fishermen, seafood processors, charter fishing operators and aquaculture workers will be up to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at The Center Square