Saving Seafood

Rep. Golden’s effort to withhold whale protection money fails

June 21, 2019 — An amendment filed by Maine Rep. Jared Golden to prohibit federal regulators from spending money on right whale protections that would impact lobstermen was voted down Thursday.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 345-84 to kill the amendment to the U.S. Department of Commerce spending bill. The proposed budget rider was also supported by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

In defense of his amendment, Golden, D-2nd District, told a largely empty House chamber that it was needed to protect Maine’s $485-million- a-year lobster industry from being unfairly blamed for a problem that it didn’t cause. Good science would prove that, Golden said.

“(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), facing the threat of lawsuits, has rushed ahead using a tool that was developed for the purpose of reducing ship strikes by the Navy,” Golden said. Then NOAA “fed that tool with old data and hasty assumptions.”

“For years now, Maine lobstermen have made sacrifices with almost no measurable effect on right whales,” Golden said later Thursday in an emailed statement. “My amendment simply required the government to ensure the use of sound science and reliable data before they take even more from our lobstermen. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Group calls on Maine’s federal reps to oppose offshore drilling along entire Atlantic coast

November 19, 2018 — A small group of environmental activists gathered in Bangor Saturday to call on Maine’s congressional delegates to express more opposition to offshore drilling.

Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree all previously voiced their stances opposing offshore drilling in New England, but the group called on them to prevent the practice along the entire Atlantic Coast.

“What we want is for them to increase their opposition and oppose offshore drilling in the entire Atlantic ocean, not just in New England,” said Sarah Starman, a field organizer with Oceana. “We believe that drilling anywhere will affect everyone because oil spills don’t respect state boundaries.”

Senator Collins and King sent a joint letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke back in January — expressing their stances against drilling in New England.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree also voiced her opposition directly to the Secretary during an Appropriations Committee meeting in June.

“Countless Maine jobs depend on the health of the ocean. The Maine lobster, aquaculture, and tourism industries are among the many critical industries dependent on Maine’s pristine waters, and even a minor spill could irreparably damage the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine,” Senator Collins said in a written statement. “That’s why I oppose any effort to open waters off the coast of Maine to offshore drilling, which could negatively affect the health of Maine’s fisheries and other coastal resources, threatening to harm not only the environment but the state’s economy as well.”

Senator King also said during a floor speech in February:

“In Maine…we depend upon the coast,” Senator King said. “Tourism and visitation to our beaches and coastal communities are a billion dollar industry, the largest single employer in our state. So that is an enormous economic engine that is currently working, and running, and powering at least a portion of the economy in our state. And of course, on my tie, I have lobsters. A $1.7 billion a year industry in Maine and it promises to be even stronger as processing is developed. We also have an offshore fishing industry, shrimp, shellfish. It is enormously important. It is part of who we are in the state of Maine.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Five US House Democrats get behind tariff-relief bill for fishermen

July 30, 2018 — In the same week that President Donald Trump announced his plan to offer land farmers in the US $12 billion to help compensate for losses suffered as a result of his trade scuffles with China and other nations, a small group of Democrats in the House of Representatives have put forth a plan to help fishermen.

HR 6528, introduced Wednesday by Massachusetts representative Seth Moulton, would amend a provision contained in the Magnuson Stevens Act that allows for the government to make money available to harvesters in the case of a natural or man-made disaster. It would add language that clarifies that such funds can also be used in the case of “unilateral tariffs imposed by other countries on any United States seafood.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include representatives Chellie Pingree of Maine, Stephen Lynch and William Keating, both of Massachusetts, Jared Huffman of California, and Raul Grijalva of Arizona.

Pingree, an organic farmer, has been particularly vocal about the president’s tough trade stance, writing letters to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Trade Representative.

“Farmers haven’t been the only ones to suffer the consequences of the Trump administration’s sloppy trade actions,” she said in a statement issued this week.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Lobster amendment could win industry support for Young’s MSA update

July 16, 2018 — By adopting an amendment submitted by the US state of Maine’s two representatives Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, and Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, proponents of Alaska representative Don Young’s update to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) may have won over at least one seafood group: the Maine lobster industry.

Young’s bill, HR 200, cleared the House of Representatives by a 222-193 vote on Wednesday after a heated debate that involved both sides displaying lists of commercial fishing industry organizations that they said agreed with them, for and against the measure.

The bill now awaits a Senate companion, a similar circumstance faced by Young’s attempt in 2015 to update MSA. His bill that year, HR 1335, expired when the session ended, as a Senate bill never arrived. Young and others are hoping for a different outcome this time.

The amendment proposed by Poliquin and Pingree would help pave the way for lower federal inspection fees, and wait times, on lobster sales to Europe, the Portland (Maine) Press Herald reports. Though China has been growing as a more important export destination, Europe accounted for 31% of US lobster shipments abroad in 2017, the newspaper notes.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fishing groups divided over proposed update to fisheries management law

July 13, 2018 — Fishing groups are divided over what a proposed update to the nation’s marine fishery management law would mean for Maine.

Some groups worried the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives would hurt efforts to rebuild Maine’s cod, haddock and scallop fisheries, while others say giving regional councils flexibility to decide what kinds of science they will use to guide their decisions could help rebounding fisheries and fishermen.

Lobster dealers will be happy with at least one part of this reauthorization bill – an amendment submitted by Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District, and Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, that would help pave the way for lower federal inspection fees, and wait times, on lobster sales to Europe, which despite China’s growing demand still accounted for 31 percent of U.S. lobster shipments abroad in 2017.

This would give lobster dealers a break at a difficult time for the industry, which is facing new trade barriers in Europe. European nations can buy lobster for less from Canada because of a new trade deal and a weak Canadian dollar. Chinese buyers are also turning to Canadian lobster to avoid steep new Chinese import tariffs on U.S. lobster levied as part of the U.S.-China trade war.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

China threatens tariffs on US lobsters as business booms

June 18, 2018 — A set of retaliatory tariffs released by China on Friday includes a plan to tax American lobster exports, potentially jeopardizing one of the biggest markets for the premium seafood.

Chinese officials announced the planned lobster tariff along with hundreds of other tariffs amid the country’s escalating trade fight with the United States. China said it wants to place new duties on items such as farm products, autos and seafood starting on July 6.

The announcement could have major ramifications for the U.S. seafood industry and for the economy of the state of Maine, which is home to most of the country’s lobster fishery. China’s interest in U.S. lobster has grown exponentially in recent years, and selling to China has become a major focus of the lobster industry.

“Maine’s lobster industry is an irreplaceable piece of our state’s economy that supports thousands of jobs and entire coastal communities,” the state’s congressional delegation said in a statement. “Just two weeks ago, the Maine delegation heard directly from our state’s lobster industry about the economic hardship a trade war with China would cause them.”

The delegation — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Independent Sen. Angus King; Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree and Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin — said they plan to outline their concerns to federal trade officials.

“Hopefully cooler heads can prevail and we can get a solution,” said Matt Jacobson, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. “It’s a year round customer in China. This isn’t good news at all.”

Read the full story at the Associated Press

As potential trade wars loom, lawmakers step up to protect Maine lobster

June 4, 2018 — Lobster has a way of bringing people together – particularly Mainers.

The prized crustacean’s magnetism was on full display on Friday, 1 June, when the state of Maine’s four congressional representatives convened in Portland, Maine, U.S.A., with a group of U.S. federal trade officials to start a dialogue about the economic importance of the state’s USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) lobster industry.

Concerns that Maine lobster could become a casualty in international trade wars spurred U.S. senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin to come together for the closed-door trade meetings, which were organized by the Maine Lobster Dealers Association (MLDA).

“This is an incredibly unique opportunity for all of us to have the entire delegation from Maine here in Maine, all under one roof, working together for a really important, common goal,” said Annie Tselikis, who serves as the association director for MLDA, during a press conference at Portland’s DiMillo’s on the Water restaurant, before the delegation moved into their private session with the trade contingent.

“You almost never see all four of us together,” King said. “That’s an important statement in itself.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine: Promising scallop aquaculture initiative gets $600K boost

April 24, 2018 — The Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research awarded a $300,000 grant to CEI to investigate the economic viability of a Japanese scallop production technique that has been shown to grow scallops faster as well as produce larger yields of meat.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, announced Monday that FFAR, a nonprofit corporation established by the 2014 Farm Bill, awarded the $300,000 research grant to Hugh Cowperthwait of CEI, which is matching the award to double its impact.

It is one four grants totaling $1.5 million announced by FFAR that will fund research to improve economic opportunities for farmed fish, shellfish and marine invertebrate production and increase the supply of domestically-produced, nutritious foods in the United States.

The grants are matched by five companies, one industry association and three universities for a total of $3 million in funding for research including best practices for aquaculture producers and economic feasibility studies. All research results will be shared publicly with the goal of stimulating aquaculture markets.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Maine: 43rd Fishermen’s Forum opens on Thursday

February 27, 2018 — ROCKPORT, Maine — The weathermen may be predicting snow for the weekend but Maine fishermen, or at least the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, say that spring is nearly upon us.

The 43rd annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum gets under way on Thursday at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.

The event features three days of seminars and workshops that bring fishermen from the along the entire New England coast together with: state and federal fisheries scientists, regulators and managers; political incumbents and hopefuls; and maritime enterprises hawking everything from new lobster boats and giant diesel engines to lobster traps, marine electronics, refrigeration systems and foul weather gear.

“This is our biggest trade show ever,” forum Coordinator Chiloa Young said Monday.

The forum also draws a variety of nonprofit organizations involved in fisheries research and conservation, preservation of working waterfronts and similar marine-related causes.

There is also no shortage of social opportunities, including an opening day seafood reception Thursday evening, the fresh fish dinner on Friday and the final banquet and dinner dance Saturday.

Thursday is Shellfish Day, with programs relating to the economics and business innovation in the shellfish industry.

On Friday, the forum will host programs relating, among other topics, to new herring fishing rules, electronic monitoring of fishing vessels and the increasingly fraught issue of the coexistence of the lobster fishery and endangered right whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association will hold its 64th Annual Meeting, and mark the retirement of David Cousens after 27 years as the organization’s president.

Friday is also the day for political visitors. According to Young, U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) will be on hand between 9:30 and 11 a.m., Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) will visit during the morning and Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) is planning to attend the fresh fish dinner in the evening.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

 

Maine’s congressional delegation unites against drilling off New England coast

January 12, 2018 — U.S. Reps. Bruce Poliquin and Chellie Pingree of Maine are among the co-sponsors of a bill that would prohibit gas drilling off the coast of New England.

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King on Thursday signed on to a similar measure introduced in the Senate.

The House bill, which is also supported by representatives from New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, comes in response to a plan announced by President Donald Trump’s administration last week to expand drilling in U.S. coastal waters.

“I am opposed to oil drilling off the coast of our state of Maine,” said Poliquin in a written statement. “So much of our state’s economy and tens of thousands of Maine jobs along our coast depend on our marine and tourism industries. I am committed to protecting Maine’s unique natural resources.”

Pingree has also vowed to fight the president’s policy.

“President Trump’s offshore drilling plan is unprecedented and will face major opposition from Mainers,” Pingree said in a statement last week.

The House bill was introduced Thursday with Rep. David N. Cicilline, R-Rhode Island, as the lead sponsor. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have also announced their opposition to Trump’s plan and wrote a letter to that effect to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke earlier this week.

“With our environment so closely tied to the vitality of Maine’s economy, we cannot risk the health of our ocean on a shortsighted proposal that could impact Maine people for generations,” Collins and King said in a joint statement.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News