Saving Seafood

MAINE: Gov. Mills: Future of lobster industry is threatened

February 25, 2021 โ€” A draft federal biological opinion on the impact of fisheries on endangered North Atlantic right whales would โ€œnecessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery,โ€ Governor Janet Mills wrote in a forceful Feb. 19 letter to NOAA Fisheries, citing โ€œgrave concernโ€ and โ€œinequities.โ€

The draft biological opinion includes a conservation framework that calls for a 98 percent reduction in risk to whales from U.S. federal fixed gear fisheries, including lobster fishing, over the next decade.

โ€œThe survival of Maineโ€™s iconic lobster fishery, and in fact, our heritage, through the future of Maineโ€™s independent lobstermen and women, depend on your willingness to act,โ€ Mills wrote to Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries regional administrator. The letter was included with the state Department of Marine Resourcesโ€™ comments on the draft opinion.

In his comment letter, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher wrote that his agency is โ€œdeeply concernedโ€ that while several human causes of whale mortality are cited, โ€œthe draft Bi-Op places the overwhelming majority of the burden to reduce mortality/serious injury on U.S. fisheries, and specifically the U.S. trap/pot fishery.โ€

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine Gov. Janet Mills Warns Draft Right Whale Biological Opinion Will be Devastating For Lobstermen

February 24, 2021 โ€” Maineโ€™s Governor Janet Mills is speaking out on the North Atlantic right whale draft Biological Opinion. The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with NOAA late last week regarding the draft Biological Opinion for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. Governor Millsโ€™ โ€œgraveโ€ concerns were outlined in a cover letter included with the DMRโ€™s comments.

One of the issues regarding the draft Biological Opinion is that it calls for a 98% risk reduction over 10 years in U.S. fixed gear fisheries, including lobster. And as Mills wrote, โ€œIn the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery.โ€ Fishermen would not only be limited in putting out traps, but they would also have to invest in new gear. The results would be economically devastating to the stateโ€™s coastal economy.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maineโ€™s governor outlines โ€œgraveโ€ concerns regarding right whale lobster measures

February 23, 2021 โ€” U.S. State of Maine Governor Janet Mills has written a letter to NOAA Fisheries outlining โ€œgrave concernโ€ over the latest Biological Opinion that has been drafted for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region โ€“ including the stateโ€™s lucrative lobster industry.

Mills, in a letter to NOAA Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator Michael Pentony, said the framework could have drastic consequences for the stateโ€™s lobster industry, which was a USD 485 million (EUR 399 million) industry in 2019 and is by far Maineโ€™s most valuable fishery. The framework is being established in order to increase protection for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: New England Aqua Ventus moving forward with turbine

February 23, 2021 โ€” New England Aqua Ventus (NEAV), formerly known as Maine Aqua Ventus, will soon begin ramping up efforts to put a single 10-12 megawatt turbine about two miles south of Monhegan Island. The project seeks to lay over 20 miles of cable several feet under the ocean floor from East Boothbay shores to the site.

The floating semisubmersible hull is a University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center design patented as VolturnUS. The UMaine-based researchers and engineers constructed and ran a 1:8, one-to-eight, version of a six megawatt turbine off the coast of Castine.

The project scored $39.9 million in U.S. Department of Energy research and development funds beating out 70 other public and private projects; however, the project cost, about $100 million, and other snags along the way kept the project relatively dormant until Gov. Janet Mills signed a law in November 2019 directing Maine Public Utilities Commission to approve the projectโ€™s contract. This paved the way for Aqua Ventus to sign a 20-year power-purchase agreement at above-market rates with Central Maine Power.

When the project rebranded in August 2020 as NEAV, partnering UMaine with Mitsubishi subsidiary Diamond Offshore Wind and German utilities giant RWE Renewables, the two-turbine project morphed into a singular larger one. Since then, NEAV has waited for the COVID-19 pandemic to quiet down before attacking the project in earnest and connecting with the coastal and fishing communities.

Read the full story at The Boothbay Register

MAINE: Local legislators float several fisheries bills

February 18, 2021 โ€” The 130th Maine Legislature has released a list of bills proposed in the House and Senate, and local representatives are focused on the commercial fishing industry, alongside other constituent concerns.

The lobster fishery, in particular, is grappling with the prospect of offshore wind energy development and conservation measures, both of which could affect lobstermen and their livelihood.

While more than 1,600 bills have been introduced since the Legislature opened session on Dec. 2, 2020, many are just working titles as the proposed legislation is prepared for committee review.

Fisherman and state Rep. William โ€œBilly Bobโ€ Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) is sponsoring โ€œAn Act to Prohibit Offshore Wind Energy Developmentโ€ (LD 101). Last November, Governor Janet Mills proposed a floating offshore research array of wind energy turbines in the Gulf of Maine, and on Jan. 25 confirmed the project. No decision has been made on a site. After an outcry from the fishing industry, she also has proposed a 10-year moratorium on new wind energy development in Maine-managed waters.

Mills has said that by โ€œfocusing on floating offshore technology deep in the Gulf of Maine where the wind is strongest, we will protect Maineโ€™s maritime heritage and coastal economy while being out front in this new competitive industry.โ€

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Pause new offshore wind projects to protect fishing industry, Maine Gov. Mills says

February 3, 2021 โ€” As Maine pursues the nationโ€™s first offshore wind research array in federal waters, Gov. Janet Mills is trying to ease the concerns of the stateโ€™s commercial fishing industry.

In a letter to commercial fishermen, Mills said she will ask the state Legislature for a 10-year moratorium on the development of new offshore wind projects in waters managed by the state.

Mills said the efforts are aimed at protecting fishing and recreational opportunities within the three miles of the stateโ€™s coastline, which she said are more heavily fished than federal waters.

โ€œOffshore wind is a significant clean energy and economic opportunity for Maine, which we will pursue responsibly, transparently and in consultation with our fishing and maritime industries,โ€ Mills said in a statement. โ€œBy focusing on floating offshore technology deep in the Gulf of Maine where the wind is strongest, we will protect Maineโ€™s maritime heritage and coastal economy while being out front in this new competitive industry.โ€

Read the full story at The Center Square

Statement from Maineโ€™s Fishing Community on Offshore Wind Development

January 28, 2021 โ€” Editorโ€™s Note: This opinion piece is written on behalf of Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermenโ€™s Association; Ben Martens, Maine Coast Fishermenโ€™s Association; Annie Tselikis, Maine Lobster Dealers Association; Rocky Alley, Maine Lobstering Union; Paul Anderson, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries; and Sheila Dassatt, Downeast Lobstermenโ€™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 Governorโ€™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 wellโ€managed by generations of fishermen who feed our nation with healthy, sustainably harvested seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine fishing groups remain skeptical of offshore wind plans

January 27, 2021 โ€” Members of the fishing industry in Maine said they remain skeptical of plans to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine in the wake of a moratorium proposed by the stateโ€™s governor.

Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who supports offshore wind, has proposed a 10-year moratorium on offshore wind projects in state waters. She also pledged Monday to continue involving members of the fishing industry in plans for offshore wind off Maine.

Millsโ€™s announcement comes as the state is working with New England Aqua Ventus on a project that would be the first floating offshore wind research array in the country.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

Maineโ€™s governor requests 10-year moratorium on wind permits in state waters

January 26, 2021 โ€” In a 22 January letter addressed to fishermen and fishing organizations in the U.S. state of Maine, the stateโ€™s governor, Janet Mills expressed support for an offshore wind research proposal in federal waters, coupled with legislation that would establish a 10-year moratorium on wind energy development in state waters.

โ€œI want to make it clear that my focus is the research array, proposed for federal waters,โ€ the letter reads. โ€œNew, commercial-scale offshore wind projects do not belong in state waters that support the majority of the stateโ€™s lobster fishing activity, that provide important habitat for coastal marine and wildlife species and that support a tourist industry based on part on Maineโ€™s iconic coastal views.โ€

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Janet Mills proposes offshore wind moratorium to quell fisheries concerns

January 26, 2021 โ€” Gov. Janet Mills on Monday proposed a 10-year moratorium on new offshore wind projects in state-managed waters and other actions aimed at calming concerns among the fishing industry about her plan to create the nationโ€™s first floating offshore wind research farm in the Gulf of Maine.

In a letter Friday to licensed commercial fishermen, the Democratic governor said she would propose the moratorium to the Legislature. It would protect fishing and recreational areas within three miles of coastal waters managed by the state, which she said are more heavily fished than federal waters. She also has directed her energy office to review offshore wind regulations, asking for input from fishermen about the site of the proposed array.

The research array, announced in November, is part of an ongoing offshore wind initiative announced in 2019 by Mills, who has made climate one of her main issues since being elected more than two years ago. A report from her office last November touted offshore wind as a significant opportunity for economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession. Mills did not provide a timeline for the project, but the stateโ€™s climate goals are to move to 80 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News