Tag Archives: Maine Department of Marine Resources

Sixteen Mainers Win a Chance to Enter Lucrative Elver Fishery

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has awarded the right to apply for an elver license to sixteen Mainers who were among more than 4,500 who entered a license lottery held by the department. Maine’s elver fishery continues to be one of Maine’s most lucrative, with a per pound value of $2,009 last year, which generated more than $19 million for fishermen. As was the case in 2022, each new license holder will receive four pounds of quota, which is made available from individual quota associated with licenses that were not renewed. They will each be authorized to choose either a dip net or a fyke net for harvesting. The lottery winners are,,, The Department has notified the winners, who have thirty days to apply for a license. This year’s elver season begins at noon on March 22 and goes until noon on June 7. more, >>click to read<< 15:41

Maine commercial fisheries jump $25M in value, with strong boat price for lobster

Commercial fishermen in Maine had a strong year in 2023. The value of the state’s fisheries increased by more than $25 million over 2022, for a total of $611.3 million at the dock, according to preliminary data released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The department attributed much of the increase to a strong boat price for lobster, Maine’s most valuable species last year. The price paid to fishermen went from $3.97 per pound in 2022 to $4.95 per pound in 2023, netting harvesters an additional $72 million compared to the previous year, for a total value in 2023 of $464.4 million. “The price Maine lobstermen received last year is a reflection of the continued strong demand for this iconic seafood,” said Patrick Keliher, the department’s commissioner. more, >>click to read<< 10:19

Maine lobstermen made more money in 2023 despite catching fewest lobster in 15 years

Maine lobstermen raked in $464.4 million at the docks last year, rebounding from the worst year the fishery had seen in a decade, according to an annual report from the Maine Department of Marine Resources released Friday. The dwindling number of landings isn’t necessarily a surprise, though. State officials and members of the lobstering community say the decrease reflects the impacts of high costs to operate the fishery last year. And the dip in poundage indicates how lobstermen navigated the challenging obstacles.“Fishermen are now very strategic about how they fish. Expenses are through the roof, so you can’t afford to be out if you’re not making money,” said Patrice McCarron, a lobsterman and policy director with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. more, >>click to read<< 16:26

Maine’s lobster fishermen struggle with efforts to save right whales

Willis Spear stands in the backyard of his Yarmouth, Maine home. Behind him are dozens of yellow and green lobster traps. Spear, 67, spends most of the winter preparing these traps to be deployed in the Gulf of Maine come April. It’s a task this lifelong lobster fisherman has carried out each year since he was a child. “The water gives us life,” Spear said on an unusually warm winter day in late February. Over the last decade, lobster fishermen in Maine have faced increasingly stronger financial headwinds, from the price of fuel to the revenue they are receiving for the lobster themselves. The lobster-fishing industry generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Maine’s economy each year. Video, more, >>click to read<< 18:37

Data show fewer baby lobsters but fishermen say ‘eggers’ abound

Lobstermen and the agency that oversees them, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), sparred a little over state data on lobster populations that lobstermen said does not reflect what they see when fishing, when the Zone B Lobster Council met Feb. 21 at the Mount Desert Island High School library. The DMR estimates the number of baby lobsters, called “year of young,” through trawl and ventless trap surveys to project future adult populations and manage the fishery — and to adhere to interstate fishery rules from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), an interstate board managing fisheries for 15 states, including Maine. 3 Photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:45

Maine lobster industry reacts to right whale found entangled in rope

Maine’s lobster industry is responding following the discovery of a dead North Atlantic right whale near Martha’s Vineyard last month. According to federal authorities, the whale was entangled in fishing rope, including portions traced back to Maine. While NOAA has yet to determine the exact cause of the whale’s demise, Maine lobstermen are fearing potential blame. “They’re going to say that the rope, you know, caused harm to the whale, and over time, it just was a very slow death,” said John Drouin, a Lobsterman from Cutler with over 40 years of experience. The incident marks the first documented interaction between a right whale and Maine fishing gear in over two decades. more, >>click to read<< 11:49

New England Fishermen Fear NOAA Retaliation as Feds Pin Dead Whale on Maine Lobstermen

For the first time in twenty years, the death of a North Atlantic Right Whale has been linked to Maine fishing gear, according to a federal environmental agency. Found dead off of Martha’s Vineyard on January 28 near Joseph Sylvia State Beach, the juvenile, female whale was described as having been entangled in a rope that was “deeply embedded in the tail.” According to the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — parent agency of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) — the rope found on the whale contained purple markings that are consistent with water trap and pot buoy lines used by lobstermen in Maine. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:22

Maine Lobstermen Ask Court to Block State Agency from Enforcing a 24-Hour Location Monitoring Mandate Pending the Resolution of Their Lawsuit

A group of Maine lobstermen have asked the United States District Court for the District of Maine to temporarily block state officials from enforcing the controversial requirement that lobstering boats be equipped with a 24-hour location monitoring system. At the beginning of January, five Maine lobstermen filed a lawsuit against the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) Commissioner Patrick Keliher, alleging violations of their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. “Before the Court is an unprecedented regulation that, if permitted to stand, would require federally permitted Maine lobster fishermen to install a tracking device on their fishing vessels that would monitor their movements on a minute-by-minute basis (and every six hours when the vessel is moored) ‘regardless of landing state, trip type, location fished or target species,’” the motion reads. more, >>click to read<< 06:44

Maine fishermen look to rebuild higher after harbors took ‘a real beating’

Working waterfront property owners along the entire Maine coast witnessed destruction as extreme winds and storm surge flooded buildings, set some adrift and tore docks apart. Some already are planning to rebuild — with sturdier and maybe higher piers in mind as they consider the future — but it’s too early to tell how long it will take and how much it might cost. Commercial lobster docks where fishermen offload and sell their catch were damaged in Milbridge, Corea, Southwest Harbor, Stonington and New Harbor, to name a few places. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:07

Maine lobstermen signal opposition to participating in ropeless testing program

Maine lobstermen are signaling their hesitation to participate in a multimillion-dollar program the state is launching to test new ropeless technology that the federal government soon may require to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Lobstermen have been largely unhappy with the regulations, fearing that the regulations will destroy the lobstering industry as they know it. Maine’s congressional delegation succeeded in securing legislative approval for a reprieve that stalls the regulations from going into effect until Jan. 1, 2029. Industry groups also have succeeded in taking NOAA to court, where the regulations are still tied up. Even so, the clock is ticking and the Department of Marine Resources wants to be prepared for what it expects is an inevitable regulation. more, >>click to read<< 06:31

NFWF grants support Maine lobster industry participation in alternative fishing gear testing

“Alternative gear, also known as “on demand” gear is a long way from being viable for fishermen or for whales,” said DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher.  “It is my goal to make sure we know what gear works, and more importantly what doesn’t work, so when future draft federal regulations come forward, we can draw on the real-world experience of fishermen when determining what the next steps should be.” One award of $1,999,992 will support the evaluation of acoustic geolocation systems that locate gear on the bottom without the benefit of surface buoys which are part of traditional gear configurations.  Regional partners will include the Island Institute, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the Sunrise County Economic Council, and the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation.  more, >>click to read<< 06:09

Lobsterman finds body off Down East coast

A Jonesport lobsterman on Monday found a body in the ocean near Addison. The Maine Marine Patrol has recovered the body, and it is being transported to the Maine medical examiner’s office in Augusta for identification, Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesperson Jeff Nichols said. Nichols declined to comment on whether the body may be that of Tylar Michaud, a Steuben lobsterman who went missing on July 21 after he went out to haul traps near Petit Manan Island. Charles Kelley, a Steuben lobsterman and pastor at a local church who led Sunday’s service for Michaud, said that while an official identification of the body has not been made, people close to the family and who were involved in the extensive search believe it is Michaud. >click to read< 17:41

Court decision a major win for Maine’s lobster industry

In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with the plaintiffs, Maine Lobstermen’s Association, and plaintiff-intervenors the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Lobstering Union, and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, ruling that NMFS distorted the science driving the regulation, relying improperly on assumptions and worst-case scenarios when determining the risk posed by industry to right whales. The court noted that the lack of data led NMFS to conclude the lobster and Jonah crab federal fisheries kill 46 whale deaths per decade, a “staggering departure from the two documented deaths known to have originated in all U.S. fisheries over a period of nine years.” >click to read< 09:58

Maine bill to pay lobstermen to test new gear gets initial Senate approval

The bill seeks to set aside $1 million a year for the next two years to help lobstermen comply with federal regulations that could kick-in within six years. Following the Senate vote on Tuesday, bill sponsor Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Arrowsic) said federal regulators have “targeted Maine’s lobster industry as a scapegoat.” “The bipartisan fight against these untenable regulations is ongoing,” she said in a statement. “This bill will help make sure that lobstermen are prepared for what might be on the horizon.” Vitelli’s bill, which faces additional House and Senate votes, would provide stipends to reimburse lobstermen for time they spend testing gear. >click to read< 09:05

Don’t make this mistake about Maine women who catch lobster

“One hundred percent of the women I talked to called themselves lobstermen, and some people asked me why I used what they said was an inappropriate word,” Farrell said. “I had to explain to them that female lobstermen aren’t lobsterwomen, or lobster fishers. They are lobstermen.” Across the board, lobstermen is the preferred term for anyone who works on a lobster boat in Maine. It doesn’t matter what age, background, sexual orientation or gender you are: If you’re working on a boat, you’re a lobsterman. Same goes for sternman, if you’re prepping bait and sorting through the day’s catch. >click to read< 11:33

Baby eels remain one of America’s most valuable fish after strong year in Maine

Baby eels, called elvers, are often worth more than $2,000 per pound because of how valuable they are to Asian aquaculture companies. That makes them one of the most valuable fish species in the U.S. They’re raised to maturity so they can be used in Japanese food, some of which is sold in the U.S. in unagi dishes at sushi restaurants. The elvers have again been worth more than $2,000 per pound at the docks this year, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. South Carolina is the only other state in the country with a fishing industry for baby eels, and that state’s fishery is much smaller. >click to read< 09:12

Green Gold Rush: What happened to Maine’s once-robust sea urchin industry?

In the United States’ easternmost city, you’ll find Paul Cox and his crew working early on the water. In late winter, they’re after a spikey, green, and otherwise inedible sea creature (besides the gonads): the green sea urchin. Alone and in often murky water that requires a flashlight, he scoops hundreds of pounds of sea urchin into yellow nets. His crew, Paul and Jevin, sort the urchin above water. Cox said he started to dive for sea urchin in the ’90s, not long before the state cut off any new licenses to prospective fishermen. After the ’90s, no one could get a new sea urchin license. Now everyone who dives for urchin is in their 60s and 70s, with little hope on the horizon for new licenses seeing how the sea urchin has lost so much of its habitat because of climate change and invasive species.  Photos,Video, >click to read< 10:54

Regulators approve new lobster size limits in Maine to preserve young population

An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission board has approved new measures that could change the minimum and maximum catch sizes for lobster in certain parts of Maine. The fisheries commission said it will gradually implement changes to measurement sizes by fractions of an inch in certain parts of the Gulf of Maine — but only if it observes a 35% decline in the young lobster population through trawl and trap survey data. Recent assessments have shown a 23% decline in juvenile lobsters, said Pat Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. >click to read< 09:01

Herring fishermen get money after decline of fish, quota cuts

Fishermen in Maine’s historic herring fishing business will receive money from the federal government to help cope with a decline in the fish’s population that has caused the industry to struggle.  The government has appropriated $7 million for the fishermen, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said Wednesday. Atlantic herring were found to be overfished via a 2020 scientific assessment, and fishing quotas were slashed after that. The nation’s catch of Atlantic herring has plummeted in the face of quota cuts and concern over the health of the stock. The loss of herring has led to a bait crunch for lobster fishermen, who have had to seek other sources of bait for traps. >click to read< 09:26

Under pressure, Maine lobstermen could get funding to test new gear that could safeguard whales and their livelihoods

Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli (D-Arrowsic) is sponsoring LD 1552, which would set aside $1 million a year for the next two years to provide stipends to lobstermen to test new lobster gear. “Over the past several years many fishermen have come to terms with the fact that some level of innovation will be needed to ensure the future of the fishery.” A move by the state’s congressional delegation late last year delayed implementation of additional regulations for six years, buying the industry time to “develop new fishing gear technologies,” Patrice McCarron, policy director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, wrote to the committee. Studies are looking at whether ropeless technology can be used, but McCarron doesn’t believe that’s the answer. >click to read< 15:29

Catch size a hot topic at Zone B meeting

A declining stock, looming federal rules to protect right whales and the court fights against them, how required gear and reporting changes will be paid for — Zone B lobstermen had a lot of industry news to talk about April 12 at Mount Desert Island High School. Discussion centered mainly on newly proposed minimum (and maximum) legal catch sizes to bolster the lobster stock. “I’ve heard at all council meetings, it’s not if you act, it’s when you act,” said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “It’s almost like no one is taking into account what we’re seeing,” Zone B Council Vice Chairman James Hanscom said. “As an industry, we’re handling a lot of lobsters.” Several lobstermen and council members at the meeting had attended a March ASMFC meeting in Ellsworth and were familiar with proposed management measures that would increase the minimum legal size for landed lobster. >click to read< 16:20

Maine’s seafood harvest has fallen 120M pounds since 2012

At 197 million pounds for all commercially harvested marine species, 2022 was the first time since 1975 that Maine’s reported annual seafood harvest has fallen short of 200 million pounds. In fact, the cumulative volume of Maine’s commercial fisheries dropped by more than 120 million pounds between 2012 and 2022, state data show. Patrick Keliher, head of the state’s Department of Marine Resources, said there are myriad reasons why fishery landings have declined — some regulatory, others environmental. Meanwhile, landings of lobster, which remains the state’s dominant fishery despite looming restrictions to better protect whales, have dipped in recent years but still are much higher than they were prior to the 1990s. >click to read< 09:12

New bill would expand state waters in attempt to protect Maine lobstermen from federal regulations

State Sen. Eric Brakey, the bill’s sponsor, said the proposal is intended to protect Maine lobstermen from what he says are overly burdensome federal regulations, particularly those aimed at protecting endangered right whales. “LD 563 would throw the yolk of these federal regulators off our Maine lobstermen by extending Maine’s claim to the sovereignty of our oceans from three miles to 12 miles, subjecting our lobstermen to the rules of Maine regulators, accountable to Maine people, rather than Washington, DC regulators who seem accountable to no one,” he told the Legislature’s marine resources committee Thursday. >click to read< 10:39

Lobstermen unhappy over proposed changes in legal size of catch

Lobstermen facing new fishing restrictions proposed by the multi-state Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) met March 9 with Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) staff to hear details, ask questions and provide public comments. But the majority of the 30 lobstermen gathered in the Ellsworth High School cafeteria said don’t change anything. The meeting came the day after an online meeting was held that drew about 50 people. Winter Harbor lobsterman Herman Faulkingham said that a multi-state commission shouldn’t regulate individual fishermen in Maine. Jim Hanscom, who fishes out of Bar Harbor and is vice chairman of the Zone B Lobster Council, agreed. >click to read< 11:29

Federal court hears arguments from Maine lobstermen appealing right whale regulations

A federal appeals court heard arguments Friday from the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, which is challenging a government plan to regulate the fishery and conserve endangered right whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association had promised to take its latest appeal of federal fishing regulations all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. But lobstermen hope they’ll avoid that prospect, especially with Paul Clement, an attorney with more than 100 past Supreme Court appearances, representing Maine. >click to read< 07:22

MLA back in court this month over federal lobstering rules

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association continues its court fight against the National Marine Fisheries Service, challenging its biological opinion for the endangered right whale, released in May 2021, and the science used to inform it. The MLA lost its original lawsuit in Sept. 2022 but was granted the right to appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 24 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Lobstering Union Lodge 207, the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, are intervenors in the case. “[The six-year delay] just really amplifies the concerns that the MLA has had,” MLA executive director Patrice McCarron said. “It highlights and exemplifies the importance of the work we’ve done and the importance of letting the lawsuit run its course.” >click to read< 09:23

Maine lobstermen deal with another new rule, and it’s not about right whales

Until this year, only a fraction of Maine’s lobster fishers were required to report what they caught, including details on when, where and how many. The data went to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a coalition of 15 East Coast states that regulates fishing for more than two dozen species. But as Jan. 1, all Maine lobstermen now have to report data on their harvests to the state and to the commission. The fishermen, traditionally wary of new regulations on their industry, aren’t saying much. “All the paperwork is always a hassle, but we need to give up the data and hopefully it doesn’t get used against us,” said John Tripp, a lobsterman from Tenants Harbor. Several other members of the lobster industry declined a request for an interview about the mandate. >click to read< 09:15

Maine delegation adds 6-year pause on lobster rules to federal spending bill

Maine’s congressional delegation has inserted a six-year pause on new regulations intended to protect endangered right whales into a key federal spending package as it seeks to protect a lobster industry that says it is under siege. The provision will help a vital Maine industry that had been hit with too many regulations despite its lack of threat to the endangered whales, Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden and Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement. The late-breaking move comes just days before Congress is expected to approve a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill that would fund the government through next fall. >click to read< 13:34

Maine to get $1.2 million for lobster gear research and communications tools

Maine’s lobster industry will benefit from $1.2 million in federal funding to study the potential impacts of new regulations on fishing gear. The money comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative. The Maine Department of Marine Resources will get $750,000 to test and evaluate lobster gear modifications that could be required under a proposal from NOAA to protect endangered right whales. Just over $400,000 will go to the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation to provide lobstermen with on-board computers, sensors and other technology to help them collect data and images. >click to read< 08:32

Fishermen reeling as further whale protection measures fast tracked

Maine lobstermen worry that their fate is sealed. Dozens gathered Tuesday evening in the Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School cafeteria for a livestream of a NOAA Fisheries scoping session on modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Hundreds more participated online. Spurred by a recent court ruling, federal regulators are fast tracking plans to achieve a 90 percent reduction in entanglement risk. “These are measures that are going to really hurt and there were measures that were put forth that look really bad that didn’t come close to 90 percent, so I want people to realize that this is real, that this is coming and it’s not going to be pretty,” said Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and an Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team member. >click to read< 10:15