Tag Archives: maine
Floating offshore wind experts say they want to coexist with Maine lobstermen, but lobstermen say no thanks
Lobstermen asked pointed questions Thursday about a planned offshore floating wind array that they fear will take away fishing grounds and potentially disrupt the species they rely on to make a living. “Offshore wind overall we have a lot of issues with,” Virginia Olsen, political director of the Maine Lobstering Union said. “We know it will be industrializing our ocean and as fishermen we just don’t want to see that happen.” During the Thursday presentation, state officials and consultants working on the floating array emphasized they want to work toward “coexistence” between the new technology and the fishing industry. But that didn’t sit well with some of the lobstermen, who said they don’t want to co-exist with the turbines. more, >>click to read<< 06:50
A sunken historic fishing boat is leaking fuel off Maine’s coast
Harpswell officials are working to raise a historic 83-foot fishing boat that’s been leaking oil in the New Meadows River after it was sunk by one of the twin storms that hit Maine’s coast in January. But it’s unclear who would pay for that work or how quickly it could happen. It’s also questionable whether a new owner would be able to save the boat once it’s recovered, although a relative of its original owner is making a longshot effort to do so. First built in 1949 by Newbert & Wallace in Thomaston, the Jacob Pike was a refrigerated vessel used to fish for and transport sardines. After the collapse of Maine’s sardine industry in the 1950s, the vessel was used to transport lobster, then pogies. more, >>click to read<< 09:30
Maine Fishermen’s Forum begins Thursday at Samoset in Rockport: shellfish, wind power, working waterfront access
Patrick Keliher, Commission of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, will be the keynote speaker at 70th annual meeting of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, March 1, at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, in Rockport. The Fishermen’s Forum, now in its 49th year, begins Thursday, Feb. 29, with seminars and the trade show, and continues through Saturday, culminating with an annual dance. The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is a three-day annual event held over the first weekend in March at the Samoset Resort. The Forum brings together fishermen, sea farmers, gear suppliers, state and federal scientists and regulators, and other stakeholders for education, collaboration, commerce, and more. The trade show and seminars are free to attend. more, >>click to read<< 07:03
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
Lifelong Commercial Fisherman Jason Libby of the Saint George Peninsula, has passed away
Jason Libby, a lifelong resident of the St. George Peninsula, died in his sleep at home, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Jason graduated from Georges Valley High School in Thomaston in 1992, where he played soccer, was the class clown and made his mark on all those around him. He started his lifelong commercial fishing career while still in school, fishing for scallops, shrimp, and groundfish with his father, Glen, and uncle, Gary, on the family fishing boats out of Port Clyde. Later, Jason also spent time fishing on boats out of Gloucester and New Bedford, Mass. as captain, mate and crew. He fished with his uncle Wayne, brother Justin, longtime captain Stephen Sukeforth, and on many other boats with dorymates who loved and respected Jason. Jason enjoyed spending his free time with his children and grandchild, going out of his way to ensure they were cared for and loved. more, >>click to read<< 13:45
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
Here’s how activists use lobstermen as bait to endanger Maine industry, communities
Far left activists are exploiting the recent death of an endangered whale to imperil the future of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery. These organizations have poor command of the facts and no knowledge of our industry. Their agitating imperils our fishery and the working communities that depend on it. Organizations like the National Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation and others are exploiting this event to pressure regulators to impose new rules. These organizations are restless and can claim some success. A self-styled watchdog called Seafood Watch convinced Whole Foods to stop stocking Maine lobster products late in 2022. 3 Videos, more, >>click to read<< By Dustin Delano 16:12
A day on the ocean with Maine’s tough winter scallopers
Their day began in the 5:30 a.m. darkness, when Josh Todd and his father, Alex Todd, steamed the F/V Jacob & Joshua from Chebeague Island to Littlejohn Island, where they picked up Blanchard. As Alex Todd piloted his boat to the day’s fishing ground west of Eagle Island, Josh Todd and Blanchard readied the vessel’s eight-foot, 1,500-pound dredge where it hung from scaffolding at the stern. Once in position, Blanchard lowered the dredge on a quarter-inch steel cable. The Jacob & Joshua shuddered, and the rigging groaned, as the dredge bit into the graveled sea floor, roughly 80 feet below. 8 photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:15
War On Maine’s Lobstermen?
If you want an emblem of the “man’s man,” larger than life, daring and doing, self-reliant, depend-on-nature, a make-it-happen guy, who rises with the dawn, works hard, asks little, wants little, values independence, and will never fly a desk… that’s the Maine lobsterman or woodsman. Now, they are being scapegoated for wind farms – or some other cause – apparently killing Right whales. Go figure. A more cynical irony is hard to imagine. The wind subsidy crowd, sure they will make money off the taxpayer-funded “green wave” with gold at the end of a government-funded rainbow, has decided – in Washington and “activist cells” around America – to hit Maine’s lobstermen. Wrong. more, >>click to read<< by Robert B. Charles 07:17
Maine Lobster Community Alliance donates $10,000 to help coastal communities rebuild
The Maine Lobster Community Alliance (MLCA), a non-profit based in Kennebunk whose mission is to foster thriving coastal communities and preserve Maine’s lobstering heritage, announced today that it is donating $10,000 to the Working Waterfront Support Fund. The fund was established following January’s devastating storms and historic flooding that caused widespread destruction and millions of dollars of damage in communities up and down the Maine coast. “Lobstermen can’t get to work if they don’t have access to working waterfront,” said Amber-Jean Nickel, president of the MLCA. “Right now, so many hardworking families who live in our coastal communities are suffering and trying to pick up the pieces. more, >>click to read<< 10:18
Grants available for municipal and regional projects in coastal communities
The Department of Marine Resources’ Maine Coastal Program (MCP) and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Municipal Planning Assistance Program (MPAP) are seeking applications for coastal planning grants totaling approximately $300,000. Funding for these planning grants comes from the Maine Coastal Program’s annual grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In response to the significant impacts of recent storms experienced by Maine’s coastal communities, the FY 2025 Coastal Community Grant Program and Shore and Harbor Planning Grant Program are being combined into one grant program. The matching fund requirement has been eliminated and the application process has been modified to include a Letter of Intent, followed by a final application by invitation only. Lots of links, and information. more >>click to read<< 16:39
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
Statement from Maine Lobstermen’s Association on Right Whale death
“The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) is deeply saddened by the death of a juvenile right whale that NMFS has attributed to the Maine fishery. We know that entanglement in Maine gear is extremely rare. This is the first reported entanglement of a right whale in Maine lobster gear in 20 years and the first death attributed to the fishery. Maine lobstermen have made significant changes to how they fish over the last 25 years to avoid entanglement and continue gear testing. The MLA will continue this important work as we review the data and evidence that NMFS has collected. MLA remains committed to finding a solution to ensure a future for right whales and Maine’s lobster fishery”. 16:50
Lifelong commercial fisherman Jeremy Davis of Maine, has passed away
Jeremy G. Davis died unexpectedly on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at York Hospital after a short illness. Jeremy was a lifelong commercial fisherman. He crewed and eventually captained boats for others out of ports in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in his early years. Eventually, Jeremy purchased his first commercial fishing boat, a 42′ boat fittingly named the F/V Chutzpah. This allowed him to stay closer to home, support his young family, and avoid the extended offshore trips on larger vessels. His love for fishing was not just a job; it was his life’s work. Jeremy was an extremely hard worker who rarely took a day off from running his fishing business. He eventually purchased his largest boat, the F/V Karen Lynn I, named after his wife of 42 years. Jeremy captained that boat until his semi-retirement a few short years ago when he started spending winters in Port Charlotte, Florida. more, >>click to read<< 09:34
January storms leave many working waterfronts in Maine adrift
Chris Hole watched in horror last month as the storm pummeled his family’s fishing business at Lookout Point in Harpswell. It was Jan. 13, and the second of two powerful storms in less than a week leveled Henry Allen’s Seafood, a lobster wharf, wholesaler and retailer. Strong winds and high tides wiped out the dock’s seawall, drowned new refrigeration units and flooded buildings with waist-high water. Guy Baker left his fish house on Bailey Island that day so he wouldn’t have to bear witness. When he returned, the building that had stood on the edge of Baker’s family property for more than 80 years had been reduced to a pile of rubble on the shore. Farther up the coast in the Washington County town of Milbridge, all but the supporting structure of Chipman’s Wharf floated away at high tide during the Jan. 10 storm. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:11
A treasured industry and an endangered species compete for survival
On a cold morning in January, Chris Welch is already out preparing his boat. This time of year, his days begin before sunrise. It’s a ritual he’s grown accustomed to — at just 35 years old, he’s already spent decades working in the lobster business. “I started lobstering when I was six.” Welch said. Being a lobsterman in Maine is less of a job and more of a lifestyle. It’s a family business for many, including Welch, whose learned the ropes from his grandfather. But recently, the focus is less on what lobstermen’s ropes are pulling up and more on what may be running into them. Video, more, >>click to read<< 10:23
Fishing regulators say no to catching more elvers, a most valuable species
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission needs to set a new quota for next year and beyond because the current management plan is expiring. The commission said Monday its only considering one option for next year’s limit and that is a little less than 10,000 pounds, the same level fishermen have been allowed to catch for several years. The commission is under pressure from fishermen who want the quota raised and from environmentalists who would like to see it reduced. Fishermen who have advocated for removing dams are good stewards of the elvers, said Darrell Young, president of the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association. Many fishermen run through their quota in just a few days, he said. more, >>click to read<< 20:46
Wide-ranging meeting covers gauge changes, ropeless gear, damage repair – DMR to lobstermen: We need your data
The Maine Department of Marine Fisheries held its January 29 Lobster Zone C Council meeting in Stonington Town Hall, drawing more than four dozen fishermen, marine scientists and local politicians eager to weigh in on a number of policy initiatives. Among the topics: the timeline for changes to gauge and vent sizes that were triggered due to declining juvenile lobster abundance; challenges to Canadian management practices; and plans to spend $17 million allocated last year by Congress to develop better science around lobstering’s impact on North Atlantic right whale mortality. Keliher kicked off the meeting with a discussion of impending gauge-size changes under Addendum XXVII, a management strategy adopt by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to increase protection of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank spawning stock. more, >>click to read<< 07:57
A Maine lobster co-op looks to recover after storm ravages fishing pier
The Corea Lobster Co-op, located on the far eastern side of Hancock County in the town of Gouldsboro, had its main pier and building repeatedly lifted up and down in the waves that surged into the small harbor on Jan. 10. Like many wooden-piling piers up and down the coast, the deck was lifted off the posts underneath, while buildings on top were pounded by the surf. “That is by far the worst storm I’ve seen since I been here, about five years,” Darryl Stanley, the co-op’s manager, said Wednesday. “The hurricanes did nothing compared to that. “Chipman’s Wharf in Milbridge, Beal’s Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor, the Stonington Lobster Co-op, Greenhead Lobster in Stonington, and the New Harbor Co-op in Bristol are among other commercial docks that serve hundreds of lobstermen from May through October and were heavily damaged in the back-to-back storms on Jan. 10 and 13. more, >>click to read<< 06:32
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 lobstermen save missing man’s life, officials say
A man was rescued by a local lobsterman off the coast of St. George Sunday evening in a case that fire officials say highlights the importance of telling people what your plans are and when you plan to return. St. George Fire and Rescue were called just before 5 p.m. Sunday to look for a man who had missed a check-in with his family while he was bringing in a skiff. While first responders were figuring out where to begin their search between Tenants Harbor and Rackliff Island, someone heard a person yelling from a nearby island and called it in. More, >>click to read<< 18:45
Maine Lobster Industry Faces off against Conservationists over Whale Protections
Maine lobster fishers recently won reprieve on new federal regulations to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. According to the Maine’s Lobstermen Association, The regulations could dramatically change lobster fishing practices, impacting fishers and Maine’s island communities who depend upon this resource. In 2023, a federal court ruled in favor of the Center and other groups, finding that NOAA had violated the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, and was not doing enough to reduce the lobster industry’s threat to right whales. But Maine’s community of lobster fishers are encouraged by the decision. “It gives us time to take a breath,” Steve Train, a commercial lobster fisher from Long Island, Maine, tells Food Tank. “Some people think it might be the end of it all, but I think most people see a little light now that we can work under.” “In the last 25 years, there has been one documented entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale in Maine fishing gear,” Train says. more, >>click to read<< 13:16
‘Working Waterfront Support Fund’ helping Maine fishermen impacted by recent storms
It could be a while before Maine’s commercial fishing industry really sees the extent of the damage caused by the recent storms and flooding. Restoration efforts are underway now along the coast. The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association is stepping in to help. They’ve established the “Working Waterfront Support Fund.” They’re encouraging Mainers to make a contribution to help in the reconstruction of the working waterfront. more, >>click to read<< 07:52
Maine Beer Co. donates $30,000 to Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association for storm recovery
Freeport’s Maine Beer Co. donated over $30,000 this weekend to the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association to help coastal communities address the aftermath of a pair of January storms that caused widespread damage and flooding. “We’re all very well aware of the record high tides that we’ve experienced over [that] weekend, and we’ve all read about the damage that has happened to our coastal communities,” said Maine Beer Co. CEO Steve Mills. “It seemed like a very natural fit to partner up [with the MCFA].” The funds will go to help fishermen and waterfront businesses clean up and rebuild, according to Susan Olcott, director of operations at MCFA. more, >>click to read<< 18:40
Inside the frigid effort to salvage a wrecked Maine fishing boat
With an environmental remediation and salvage plan in place and OK’d by several governmental agencies, landowners and the Coast Guard, workers toiled in sub-freezing temperatures, on icy rocks, trying to remove any reusable fishing equipment from the vessel before breaking it up and hauling away the pieces in dump trucks. The Tara Lynne II’s owner, David Osier, stood and watched, impassive, as his boat was shredded. “It wasn’t making money, anyway,” Osier said, shaking his head a little bit. “We were insured, but not enough.” Besides, the Bristol-based fisherman and business owner has other things to worry about. Osier has two more boats at sea right now, trying to catch enough fish to make a living. more, >>click to read<<12:21
Collins vows to help rebuild Harpswell waterfront during visit
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, vowed to help secure funding to rebuild Harpswell’s storm-damaged working waterfront during a visit to the town on Saturday, Jan. 20. Collins, who visited Henry Allen’s Seafood on Lookout Point and two other heavily damaged sites on Bailey Island, called the destruction “heartbreaking.” “I want to do everything that I can to try to secure assistance, working with the governor, with the local community, with the rest of the (congressional) delegation, in order to assist these families in their time of need,” Collins said before a group of lobstermen and other waterfront workers and advocates during her visit. “The devastation is incredible.” phootos, more, >>click to read<< 07:15
F/V Tara Lynn II: Multiple groups work together to remove fishing vessel from Cape Elizabeth shore
This week, Portland-based salvage company Determination Marine, along with crews from Scott Dugas Trucking-Excavating, worked Friday to remove as much gear off the Tara Lynn II as possible. Parker Poole, the owner of Determination Marine, said Friday morning that the boat was leaning at a 60-degree angle and it needed to be tilted to as level as possible to remove the mast and other parts still on board. While the cold winter weather this week makes for tough working conditions, Poole said it has benefits for land preservation. Crews left the scene on Reef Road Friday evening, and Poole said he and some workers will return Saturday to continue cleaning up debris before the heavy machinery returns Monday morning. Video, more, >>click to read<< 09″08