AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) โ Maine fishing regulators are shutting down more key scallop grounds as fishermen exceed targeted levels for the year.
The state Department of Marine Resources says it is closing Cobscook Bay, the most productive scallop fishing area in Maine. It is also shutting down the Owls Head area of Lower Penobscot Bay and limiting the St. Croix River to one day per week for draggers and one day per week for divers.
February 2, 2016 (AP) โ Interstate fishing regulators have decided to hold off on starting the process of crafting a plan to try to preserve the dwindling southern New England lobster stock.
A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Tuesday to postpone authorizing a new management plan for the fishery. A plan could address issues such as trap reductions and closed seasons for lobster fishermen.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Portland Press Herald
November 20, 2015 โ For the first time, Americans will be able to dine on a genetically altered animal, after federal regulators on Thursday approved a Massachusetts biotechnology companyโs bid to modify salmon for human consumption.
After years of testing the companyโs modified fish, regulators said there are no โbiologically relevant differencesโ between the so-called AquAdvantage salmon and other farm-raised Atlantic salmon. Still, for the time being the FDA has barred the fish from being cultivated in the United States and has issued strict regulations to prevent the modified salmon from breeding with those in the wild.
The decision was a big win for AquaBounty, which began seeking approval in the 1990s for its technique of inserting growth hormone genes from Chinook salmon and an eel-like creature called ocean pout into the DNA of Atlantic salmon. The faster the fish grow, the more the company can produce and sell, potentially reducing overfishing of the oceans and developing a new source of food for a growing global population.
Company officials said the federal approval would create a new industry in the United States, which they say imports 95 percent of its Atlantic salmon. But it was unclear how long it might take before the fish appear in supermarkets.
โAquAdvantage salmon is a game-changer that brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner, without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats,โ Ronald L. Stotish, the chief executive of AquaBounty, said in a statement.
October 1, 2015 โ NEW YORK โ Commercial fishing advocates Thursday lambasted a new state report that criticizes New Yorkโs top fisheries regulator, saying it failed to address fishermenโs complaints and took too long to complete.
At a rally beside a commercial fishing trawler in Hampton Bays, two state lawmakers joined several dozen fishermen and fisherwomen and an attorney for fishermen in blasting the report as a โwhitewash.โ They vowed to press for legislation and to take legal action to address their concerns.
The report by the state inspector general, released on Wednesday, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation failed to process years of paperwork that fishermen are required to fill out every time they fish; DEC enforcement officers were improperly directing plea agreements, leading to possible โcoercionโ of defendants, and that property seized in arrests wasnโt returned after fishermenโs acquittals.
Read the full story at Newsday
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