May 20, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The city of Ellsworth has landed a state grant to support development of bioscience businesses in the region, as part of a series of grant awards that will also give money to support seafood industry initiatives.
The Maine Technology Institute announced Thursday that it awarded $658,765 through its Cluster Initiative Program, aimed at studying or implementing ways to support or grow certain industries in the state.
The state-financed economic development agency awarded $398,306 to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to advance its study of creating a market and supply chain for sustainable seafood in Maine.
The latest grant round also delivered $134,189 to Coastal Enterprises Inc.’s Maine Scallop Aquaculture Project, which MTI said aims to study the Japanese scallop aquaculture industry and explore how to adapt them to Maine waters.
At ‘Lobster Hack,’ crowd takes in-depth look at building a better lobster trap
May 16, 2016 — Drop a lobster pot in front of a bunch of problem solvers, mix in a handful of fishermen, add some craft beer and what do you get?
The organizers of Drink Tank, a recreational think tank that calls itself a party with a purpose, were hoping for enough collaboration and creativity to make a better lobster trap.
“Everyone associates lobster with Maine, but very few people know how the whole process works,” said Drink Tank co-founder Kate Garmey. “Everybody knows the lobster trap, or has at least seen a buoy, so it’s something we’re all familiar with, but the mechanics of it are a little more mysterious. … So it is an opportunity to learn something. Once you learn all the pain points and all the issues that lobstermen have, it’s really interesting to think about, ‘How could we make that better?’”
Zach Whitener, who grew up lobstering and now works at Gulf of Maine Research Institute, told the crowd of about 50 people who attended the “Lobster Hack” at the Open Bench Project at Thompson’s Point on Wednesday that the design of lobster traps hasn’t changed much over the last 120 years; only the materials to build them have. Steel has replaced wood. Biodegradable rings help lobsters escape lost traps. The vertical lines that connect traps to buoys now must break if a large sea mammal, like a right whale, becomes entangled.
Cameras Pitched As On-Board Fishing Monitors
May 10, 2016 — As the struggling New England groundfish industry takes up the cost of federally required, on-board fishing monitors, federal regulators are considering allowing 14 boats from Maine to Cape Cod to use cameras to record their catches instead. It’s part of a pilot program to test out if cameras can replace humans and do it for less money.
Watching For When They Discard Fish
Located near fishing vessels moored in Portland’s harbor, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute is a nonprofit that’s trying to modernize the oversight of commercial fishing for cod, haddock and other groundfish.
In the “gear lab,” Mark Hager demonstrates the equipment used to set up an electronic monitoring system: a computer, a GPS tracker, a hydraulic sensor and four weatherproof cameras.
“If you’ve ever been to McDonald’s and you go to the drive-through and you pull up? They are actually using almost the same cameras we’re using,” Hager says.
Hager plays footage of an actual fishing trip from a vessel that’s already been equipped with cameras. The captain and crew divide the haul into the adult groundfish they keep, and the juveniles they’re required to put back into the ocean.
Helping Fishermen Catch What They Want, and Nothing Else
May 3, 2016 — Heather Goldstone, of NPR affiliates WGBH and WCAI, discusses bycatch reduction in fisheries on a recent episode of “Living Lab.” Her guests were veteran gear designer Ron Smolowitz of the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, who has worked with the southern New England scallop industry; Steve Eayrs, a research scientist at Gulf of Maine Research Institute, who has worked with groundfishermen in Maine; and Tim Werner, a senior scientist with the New England Aquarium, who put acoustic pingers on gill nets to warn away dolphins. An excerpt from the segment is reproduced below:
It’s the holy grail of commercial fishing: catch just the right amount of just the right size of just the right species, without damage to the physical environment. It’s a tall order, and few fisheries are there yet.
Leaving aside the issue of straight up over-fishing, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that, each year, fishermen around the world accidentally catch more than seven million tons of marine life – everything from whales and turtles, to sea cucumbers – that they weren’t even after. Such by-catch, as it’s known, is essentially collateral damage.
And fishing has other environmental impacts. In some parts of the ocean, the scars left by trawls dragged across the sea floor can be seen for years.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Over the past decade or so, a lot of effort has gone into designing fishing gear and related equipment that allows fishermen to catch more of what they do want, and less of what they don’t, while also minimizing damage to the environment. For example:
- Veteran gear designer Ron Smolowitz and the Coonamessett Farm Foundation have worked with the southern New England scallop industry over the past several years to develop a trawl that excludes loggerhead sea turtles. It turns out, it’s also better at capturing scallops, with the end result that scallopers can use smaller areas and less fuel – 75% less – to make their catch.
NEFSC, Canadian scientists critique study claiming overfishing of Gulf of Maine cod
April 26, 2016 — A study by a group of researchers led by Dr. Andrew J. Pershing from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute appeared in Science last November (“Slow adaptation in the face of rapid warming leads to collapse of the Gulf of Maine cod fishery”). The Pershing study concluded that fisheries managers overseeing Gulf of Maine cod failed to consider ocean temperature in their management strategies, leading to overfishing of the stock. This week’s issue of Science published comments from two groups of scientists critiquing the Pershing study and its conclusions. In the same issue, the Pershing team responded with a defense of their work. Summaries of the comments and response are provided below:
A group of researchers at the Population Dynamics Branch of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, led by Dr. Michael C. Palmer, argues that the Pershing study’s claim that rising temperatures led to “extra mortality” is unsubstantiated by the overall mortality data. While Palmer’s group agrees that environmental factors affect fish stocks, they argue that the Pershing study failed to attribute additional mortality to temperature alone. Consequently, they conclude, “The analyses of Pershing et al. provide no evidence to support the hypothesis that failure to account for increases in temperature led to overfishing of the Gulf of Maine Atlantic cod stock.”
Read the full comment at Science
A group of Canadian fishery scientists led by Dr. Douglas P. Swain from Fisheries and Oceans Canada argues that the Pershing study is based on a flawed analysis of the population dynamics of Gulf of Maine cod. They write that the Pershing model made inappropriate assumptions, and that the model should undergo simulation before being used to make management decisions. They also argue that the Pershing study failed to take into account other factors that may have affected the mortality rates of Gulf of Maine cod. They conclude, “It is necessary to reserve judgment on the role of climate change…until more defensible analyses are conducted to address this issue.”
Read the full comment at Science
The Pershing group published a response to these comments. They argue that including temperature-dependent mortality improves abundance estimates. Further, using this metric shows that warming waters reduces growth rates of Gulf of Maine cod. They conclude, “Our report did not claim to have a definite answer to what is causing cod mortality to increase. Rather, we claimed that this increase is real, that it is likely related to temperature, and that failing to account for it led to catch advice that allowed for overfishing.”
Changing Ocean Topic Draws Record Crowd
March 30, 2016 — ROCKPORT, Maine — More than 350 fishermen and others attended a Maine Fishermen’s Forum session, March 3, that focused on the changes fishermen are seeing in the water.
The three-hour event featured a panel of nine speakers and a standing-room-only audience, one of the largest in the 41-year history of the forum. Topics ranged from water temperatures to migrating species. Participants ranged from fishermen with 50 years on the water to marine scientists with the latest data on a changed ocean in the Gulf of Maine. Organizers titled the event “Changing Oceans” and encouraged discussion to revolve around how fishermen might deal with a changing reality.
Cutler lobsterman, and one of the organizers of the program, Kristen Porter said, “We wanted to focus attention on what we can do about working in a changed ocean, rather than debate the causes and who is at fault.” Scientists presented data to verify what fishermen have reported seeing.
Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) scientist Andy Pershing said, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”
Pershing said there has been a lot of variability in the weather since 1980 and the Gulf of Maine has been the most variable water body on the planet. Water temperatures warmed in 2012 and took off. And the Gulf of Maine is experiencing changes in air, salinity, and Gulf Stream currents as well, according to NOAA ecosystem data.
Maine lobster industry wary as warm waters suggest repeat of disastrous 2012 season
February 4, 2016 — For those in the lobster industry, any sign of a return to the conditions of 2012 is cause for high anxiety.
Researchers say the industry needs to be prepared for that possibility because warming trends are laying the groundwork for a potential repeat of the disastrous season of four years ago.
“We learned a hard lesson in 2012,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.
Because of warm waters in the Gulf of Maine, peak harvesting started in May that year, weeks ahead of schedule. The catch jumped more than 20 percent, from 104 million pounds in 2011 to 127 million pounds in 2012. The shedding season, when lobsters lose their hard shells and grow new ones, typically happens in June and results in soft-shelled lobsters that are difficult to transport. In 2012, shedding began almost as soon as the lobstermen started pulling in traps, and extended into the fall.
As a result, prices paid to lobstermen fell to as low as $2 a pound.
Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, said Thursday that the stage is set for a possible repeat of 2012, at least weather-wise.
Pershing said five buoys that measure water temperatures around the gulf are all running above average, and three are at record highs.
“The average surface temperature across the entire Gulf of Maine is now slightly warmer than during the 2012 ocean heat wave,” Pershing said.
Read the full story at Portland Press Herald
NEFMC: Fish Tank Request for Proposals
January 21, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the New England Fishery Management Council are requesting proposals for projects that aim to improve the data and models used to manage New England groundfish, and that address one or more of the six research priorities developed during GMRI’s 2015 Fish Tank series of scoping meetings. A total of $30K is available to support an anticipated one or more projects. Proposals are due Friday, February 19th.
Attached is the full request for proposals. As stated in the attachment, please be aware that the submitting applicant must have attended one of the Fish Tank port meetings or the Taking Stock workshop (http://www.gmri.org/fishtank). However, other project team members need not have participated in the Fish Tank series.
Please contact GMRI Project Coordinator, Mary Hudson, at mhudson@gmri.org or 207-228-1666 with any questions.
Gulf of Maine Research Institute to study fishing communities’ climate vulnerability
December 16, 2015 (AP) — The Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland will get $1.3 million in federal money to investigate fishing communities’ vulnerability to climate change in the Northeast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the award Tuesday. Researchers from the institute will examine ecological, social and economic impacts of climate change on fishing communities.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Portland Press Herald
Warmer waters affecting the New England fishing industry
December 9, 2015 — A new study has found the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost every other ocean in the world. For the first time, it links warming sea temperatures to the collapse of cod stocks in the region.
For Portland’s fishing community, the first hours of daylight are the most important. At the town’s fish exchange, boats rush to unload their catch, ready to be sorted, and sold.
They are not just working against time.
Today’s landing at the Portland fish exchange was about 40,000 pounds worth. That’s not considered very much. Out of that, just seven boxes worth of cod; that’s about 500 pounds.”
Cod stocks have been declining here for decades. Federal quotas were slashed by 75 percent back in May, to help the species recover.
Now a new study suggests that intervention may have been too late.
Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute says, “You assume that if you pull back on the fishing, the stock will have the same productivity that it had in the past. But our work really shows that the productivity in Gulf of Maine cod was declining pretty rapidly as the waters were getting warm and so by not factoring that in they weren’t able to rein in the quotas fast enough.”
Read the full story from CNN at WWLP
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