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.
Maine Marine Patrol Receives Prestigious National Accreditation
May 20, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:
The Maine Marine Patrol has earned accreditation from the leading national safety organization for boat operations and training. The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) recently recognized the Marine Patrol for complying with its national standard of readiness for law enforcement and emergency response boat crews in the United States.
The Maine Marine Patrol became the thirteenth organization in the country to implement this standard in all aspects of their operations and training.
“This is a prestigious accreditation that recognizes the Maine Marine Patrol’s commitment to the highest standards of operation,” said Colonel Jon Cornish.
The Boat Operations and Training (BOAT) Program, established by NASBLA, is recognized by the US Coast Guard as the national standard for training and boat operation. “Agencies that choose to adopt this standard assure their ability to conduct missions on the nation’s waterways safely and effectively, and to operate seamlessly with federal, state, county, tribal and local maritime partners,” said Colonel Cornish.
Areas evaluated included training, documentation, safety and first aid, knowledge of knots and terminology, common crew tasks on large and small vessels, use of police and VHF radio, navigation, and operation of the Protector class patrol vessel, an extremely maneuverable rigid hull inflatable boat often used in search and rescue operations.
“I’m extremely proud of our Officers, Sergeants and Lieutenants for their adherence to this nationally recognized standard of operation,” said Colonel Cornish. “Coordinated by Sergeant Matt Talbot, the evaluation process to achieve this certification was extremely thorough. I appreciate Sergeant Talbot’s dedication to ensure that the Maine Marine Patrol achieved this important certification.”
“The citizens of Maine and of this country can be assured that this agency and its officers are true force multipliers and capable of inter-agency operations within our maritime homeland security and recreational boating safety framework,” said Mark R. Dupont, NASBLA’s Director of Boat Operations and Training.
Elvers and out: Fishing season likely to end early
May 18, 2016 — Last year, legislative haggling delayed the start of the elver fishing season, cold weather delayed the arrival of elvers in Maine streams and by the time the season closed at the end of May harvesters still had not landed the total allowable quota of baby eels.
This year, the season was extended for a week to give the fishermen a better shot of filling their quotas, but the elvers paid no heed to the extension and were among the earliest snowbirds returning to Maine. One result of their early arrival is that it is likely that the Department of Marine Resources will shut the fishing season down several weeks early because the federally mandated annual harvest quota has been filled.
Two years ago, at the behest of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the state adopted a statewide 9,688-pound overall landings quota for the elver fishery. The Legislature further allocated that quota among harvesters licensed by DMR and harvesters from each of the state’s four recognized Indian tribes.
MAINE: Harvest Season for Biggest US Producer of Baby Eels Wraps Up
May 17, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The nation’s biggest producer of valuable baby eels is nearing the close of a much more productive harvesting season.
The state’s baby eels, called elvers or glass eels, are a major fishery because they are prized by aquaculture companies and demand for them is high. Fishermen in Maine, the only state with a significant elver fishery, are allowed to catch about 9,700 pounds of the elvers every spring.
Fishermen are within 900 pounds of the quota, and the elvers have sold for about $1,450 per pound this year — less than last year’s record of nearly $2,200, but easily enough for a greater total value.
Asian aquaculture companies buy the elvers to use as seed stock so they can be raised to maturity and used as food, including sushi, some of which comes back to America.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Food Manufacturing
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.
China killed thousands of Maine jobs. Now it’s eating up the state’s lobsters.
May 16, 2016 — LITTLE CRANBERRY ISLAND, Maine — The long journey from this remote island of free-spirited fishermen to the most populous country in the world began, as it does most mornings, at just about sunrise. Bruce Fernald, a sixth-generation fisherman, loaded his 38-foot fiberglass boat with half a ton of bait and set out in search of Maine’s famed crustacean: the lobster.
One by one, Fernald checked the 800 traps he had placed along 30 square miles at the bottom of the Gulf of Maine. He quickly hauled each wire cage onto his boat, reached a gloved hand inside and plucked out the lobster lurking within. The young ones, the breeders and the crusty old ones were thrown back into the water. The rest were dropped into a saltwater tank to keep them alive and energetic on their 7,000-mile trip to China.
“Just do everything you can to not stress them out,” Fernald, 64, said of his cargo. “The less stressed they are, the more healthy they’ll be, just like people.”
Little Cranberry, an island of 70 inhabitants, and China, a nation of 1.4 billion people, increasingly find themselves connected by the shifting currents of the world economy. The rise of China’s middle class has coincided with a boom in Maine’s lobster population, resulting in a voracious new market for the crustaceans’ succulent, sweet meat. Exports of lobsters to China, nonexistent a decade ago, totaled $20 million last year. The bright red color of a lobster’s cooked shell is considered auspicious, making it a staple during Chinese festivals and at weddings.
Fishing commission chair wants caution on Atlantic monuments
PORTLAND, Maine — The chairman of an influential fishing oversight board is urging President Barack Obama to seek more public input before making a ruling on a request for a national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
Environmental advocates have asked the federal government to create such a monument in the Atlantic off New England.
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Douglas Grout says the proposal needs a hard look before approval.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Washington Times
MAINE: Lobster processing plant shuttered, up for auction
May 13, 2016 — ST. GEORGE, Maine — A seafood processing plant that opened less than four years ago with the hope of bolstering the lobster industry is closed and up for auction.
Sea Hag Seafood’s plant and 7.5 acres of waterfront property at the mouth of Long Cove in Tenants Harbor will go up for auction on June 17.
Kyle Murdock opened the plant in September 2012 when he 23. The project’s financing included a nearly $1.7 million loan from Camden National Bank and a $400,000 grant through the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
The grant money was provided to the company after it created 23 jobs for low- and moderate-income workers and after it met the terms of the federal program, said Maine DECD spokesman Douglas Ray. The town of St. George had sponsored the grant application but the town will not be liable for any repayment because the jobs were created.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD: Warming Atlantic bodes poorly for lobster industry
May 13, 2016 — It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see one possible future for the Maine lobster industry. All it takes is a look south.
Warming water temperatures, the result of man-made climate change, have for decades been the primary factor in pushing the lobster population farther and farther north, first decimating the industry off the coasts of Rhode Island and Connecticut, then off Cape Cod.
And even though the industry has been booming in Maine, with record landings the last three years, the focal point of the catch has changed through the years, from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay and, now, Down East, a signal of its vulnerability to change.
One of the state’s iconic industries, indispensable to and inseparable from so many communities, is being disrupted. The question is: How far will it go?
Fortunately, regulators are watching.
TAKING NOTICE
The Maine Department of Marine Resources will soon award contracts for studies exploring not only the full economic impact of the lobster industry, on which there is surprisingly little data, but also the impact of warming ocean temperatures on lobster biology and the ocean ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine.
Filming starts soon for New Hampshire Fish and Game reality show
May 13, 2016 — New Hampshire conservation officers and wildlife biologists are gearing up to be the focus of a reality TV show, while a similar program in Maine winds down amid questions of whether the filming contributed to controversial poaching raids in 2014.
“We are scheduled to begin filming later this month – we have not determined an exact start date – and will continue through spring, summer and fall,” said Maj. John Wimsatt, assistant chief of law enforcement for the Fish and Game Department.
Filming will be done by Engel Entertainment of New York City, the production company behind North Woods Law, a long-running program on the Animal Planet channel about the Maine Warden Service.
Steven Engel, the company’s president, said that while Animal Planet had not signed a contract to continue the show with a New Hampshire angle, he was confident it would be broadcast.
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