Tag Archives: Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Lobstermen and Scientists See a Fishery in Flux
While overall the fishery seems stable, some lobstermen are seeing changes that have them worried about its future. Scientists are looking into what role the changing climate may be playing in those changes, but they don’t have definitive answers. “It’s horrible,” said Mike Rego, a lobsterman and owner of the F/V Miss Lilly who operates out of Provincetown. “Last year was the worst year I ever had.” Dana Pazolt, another Provincetown lobsterman who owns the F/V Black Sheep, said that the last four years have been slim for lobsters around the Outer Cape. “You’ve got to hunt for them,” he said. “I can’t tell you why that is.” The surface waters of the Gulf of Maine are warming at a rate of about one degree per decade, faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Meanwhile, in other areas, warming has already had an effect — it played a major role in causing the collapse of the lobster fishery in Long Island Sound in 1999. more, >>CICK TO READ<< 21:20
Warming waters in Casco Bay are driving herring farther from shore
The Gulf of Maine is warming three times faster than the average global ocean, driving some cold-water species like Atlantic herring, the preferred lobster bait — farther away from its shoreline spawning habitat earlier than usual and attracting species from warmer southern waters, including blue crab and black sea bass, a new survey found. The warmth is stressing some of Maine’s keystone fisheries, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s report on the Casco Bay ecosystem released recently. The report is the first time the institute took a longer, 10-year look at the pace of environmental changes and their effects on ecosystems close to shore. It found that warming waters related to climate change, along with human activities, ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms, are causing different behaviors in species that could hinder their ability to reproduce and thrive. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:52
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
Ongoing Legal Battles Put Maine Lobster Fishery in Crosshairs, Results in Suspension of Marine Stewardship Council Certification
An ongoing legal dispute between environmental activists and the federal government has led Maine Lobster’s Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fishing certification to be suspended. An independent auditor conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the fishery earlier this year and determined that Maine Lobster is a well-managed and sustainable fishery according to MSC fisheries standards. Shortly after this assessment, a court ruled that regulations issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service to govern the management of North American right whales (NARW) do not meet the requirements of federal laws to protect endangered species. As a result of this court ruling, while the industry has complied with all regulations in good faith, the independent auditor suspended the MSC certificate of the fishery. >click to read< 18:02
Are the whales leaving with the food? Gulf of Maine research raises questions about new lobstering rules
As the Gulf of Maine’s waters warm, recent studies show the main food source of the endangered North Atlantic right whale is moving north, out of Maine waters. And the whales appear to be following them. Such findings haven’t escaped the notice of the Maine lobster industry, which has been referencing them in its legal arguments as to why impending new federal restrictions on lobstering gear won’t help save the whales. Oceanographer Jeffrey Runge, of the University of Maine and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, said the lipid-rich copepods have been abundant in the Gulf of Maine since Henry Bigelow did his first oceanographic surveys in the early 20th century, but that abundance has dropped by about 70 percent in the past 20 years. >click to read< 11:57
Can True Fin Buoy Maine’s Floundering Groundfish Fleet?
It’s true, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Maine fishermen, though, haven’t had much choice but to leave them there. Over the past several decades, the state’s groundfishing fleet dwindled because of low market prices, suppressed by international competition, that didn’t keep up with the cost of gear, diesel, and labor. By 2020, groundfish, including New England staples cod, haddock, halibut, and flounder, accounted for just 1 percent of Maine’s commercial catch. Most of what’s landed nowadays is shellfish. For finfish, many restaurants have to source from elsewhere what’s abundant just offshore. >click to read< 08:47
Fishermen not feeling the effects of ‘marked decrease’ in Atlantic cod population
What started as a research presentation on rising ocean temperatures and decreasing cod supply by NOAA quickly turned into a revealing conversation about how scientists and their data often do not reflect fishermen’s experiences. Findings by a working group of researchers indicated that the lifecycle of the species is being influenced by the environment, specifically rising ocean temperatures, which have changed the fish’s spawning behavior and their predator-prey relationships. Fishermen did question is whether these facts are having the same implications that the researchers believe. Al Cottone, a Gloucester fisherman, says he feels cod are in different areas, and that he has noticed a change in the tides, too. >click to read< 10:56
The ‘last 20 miles’: Real estate boom, new demands threaten Maine’s working waterfront
Rockland – The potential sale of three commercial waterfront properties has the potential to bring new development and tax revenue, but also great change to the town’s character. The properties are being marketed as development opportunities for hotels, restaurants, retail or office space, residential or marine usage and are listed for sale for $13.9 million, according to the New England Commercial Property Exchange. “We expect that whatever we do will be controversial,” Ed Glaser, mayor of Rockland. Elsewhere in Rockland, the nonprofit Island Institute has been sounding the alarm about shrinking coastal frontage still available for commercial use by fishermen, boatbuilders, marinas and so on. Of Maine’s 5,300 miles of coastline, just a fraction, 20 miles, is still available for working waterfront, according to the nonprofit’s 2014 report, “The Last 20 Miles.” >click to read< 13:32
Portland: Union Wharf being sold, preserved for maritime use
Union Wharf, keystone of the working waterfront in Maine’s largest city for 228 years, is being purchased by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute,, The wharf has been in private hands since it was constructed in the aftermath of Portland’s destruction in the American Revolution. Members of the Poole family have owned it outright since the 1950s, Working waterfront advocates have feared the property might wind up in less sympathetic hands,,, Instead the Pooles, led by brothers Charlie and Malcolm, are selling to their immediate neighbor, GMRI, a marine research institution >click to read< 16:29
Lobster stock levels remain high in Gulf of Maine, but there is cause for concern
The “now” looks solid for local commercial lobster fishery, based on findings reported in the 2020 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment, which reported the stock at “record high abundance levels.” The good news continued,, The news for southern New England, including southern Maine, remained poor, with a depleted fishery and no signs of resurgence. The research was conducted by several organizations, including the Department of Marine Resources, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the University of Maine’s Sea Grant program and Lobster Institute. The assessment, released in October, was based on surveys conducted from 2016 through 2018. However, once the research turns to lobster settlements the future does not look as bright. >click to read< 18:29
Federal grant giving ice-making equipment to Marshfield, Newburyport and Chatham fishing fleets
The USDA recently awarded $480,000 to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, which will use the grant, in part, to purchase ice making equipment for three hand-selected communities, including Marshfield. Harbormaster Mike Dimeo said the GMRI reached out to him last year to check the town’s interest, which he had an easy answer for. “This is something Marshfield has been talking about for a few years now with the fishermen,” he said. “It’s a great thing.” Newburyport and Chatham will also benefit from new equipment. Currently, commercial fishermen truck in ice,.. >click to read< 12:38
Warming waters, local differences in oceanography affect Gulf of Maine lobster population
Two new studies published by University of Maine scientists are putting a long-standing survey of the American lobster’s earliest life stages to its most rigorous test yet as an early warning system for trends in New England’s iconic fishery. The studies point to the role of a warming ocean and local differences in oceanography in the rise and fall of lobster populations along the coast from southern New England to Atlantic Canada. >click to read< 12:36
Our View: Time for Maine to look past lobster boom years
There is an economic principle that’s usually attributed to Herbert Stein, who worked for the Nixon administration and The Wall Street Journal. Stein’s law: If something can’t keep going forever, it won’t. Maine’s lobster industry is near the peak of a historic boom, making it the state’s most lucrative fishery. In the last 30 years, lobster landings have increased from 20 million pounds a year to 130 million. No one expects the catch to keep growing forever. The question is not whether it will decline, but when. >click to read< 13:57
Gulf of Maine had cool year in 2017, but is still warming – >click to read<
Education key to electronic reporting, monitoring systems
In a perfect world, Steve Kennelly sees the New England Fishery transitioning to electronic reporting within the next year. “There’s no reason why that group can’t be formed pretty soon,” the director of IC Independent Consulting said. The next step would be implementing electronic monitoring within 3 to 4 years. “It’s silly to talk anywhere beyond five years out” because of how fast technology continues to evolve, Kennelly said. The New England Fishery Management Council, which concluded two days of meetings on Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, resides in an imperfect world, though. >click here to read< 18:34 
State disputes study that predicts sharp decline in Gulf of Maine lobster population
The state agency that oversees Maine’s marine fisheries is questioning the reliability of a new study that predicts a sharp decline in Gulf of Maine lobsters over the next 30 years. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration built a computer model that predicts the population will fall 40 to 62 percent by 2030. But Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, won’t be using the model to help him decide how to manage the state’s most valuable fishery,,, >click here to read< 01:06 
Maine’s lobster population will drop but fishery ‘not doomed’
The lobster population in the Gulf of Maine could decline by nearly two-thirds by 2050, according to a scientific study released this week. As bad as that sounds, scientists and industry representatives say the demise of the most valuable single-species fishery in the country is unlikely. “It doesn’t mean Maine’s lobster fishery is doomed,” said Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at Gulf of Maine Research Institute and a co-author of the study. >click here to read< 10:17
Gulf of Maine lobster boom over as population starts to decline
The Gulf of Maine lobster population will shrink 40 to 62 percent over the next 30 years because of rising ocean temperatures, according to a new study released Monday. As the water temperature rises – the northwest Atlantic ocean is warming at three times the global average rate – the number of lobster eggs that survive their first year of life will decrease, and the number of small-bodied lobster predators that eat those that remain will increase. Those effects will cause the lobster population to fall through 2050, according to a study by scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. >click here to read< 19:49 
Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are rebounding — but raising quota proves controversial
Fishermen up and down the New England coast say it has been decades since they’ve been able to catch so many Atlantic bluefin tuna, so fast. Once severely depleted, populations of the prized sushi fish appear to be rebuilding. Now the industry and some scientists say the international commission that regulates the fish can allow a much bigger catch. But some environmental groups disagree.,, click here to read the story 09:18
Nova Scotia lobster fishermen reject idea of surveillance cameras on boats
The global demand by consumers (enviro’s) that seafood be harvested sustainably made its way into a firehall in Lockeport Thursday. More than a hundred fishermen from southwest Nova Scotia showed up at an information session on the use of video cameras on fishing boats to monitor catch. The session was hosted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and organized by the Ecology Action Centre. A fisherman from British Columbia and a program manager from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute both spoke about the use of camera monitoring in those regions. At issue is the bycatch of endangered or threatened species. In Nova Scotia’s lobster fishery, the Atlantic cod and cusk are among fish stocks to watch as they get trapped along with the crustaceans. Many of the fishermen who attended the workshop were upset about the perceived need for cameras, and suspicious about an invasion of privacy. click here to read the story 08:10
Kitty’s out of a job! Researchers Discontinue Annual Lobster Season Forecast After Complaints From Industry
A Portland-based research institute is dropping its yearly forecast of when lobster landings in Maine will begin their annual surge. The move comes after criticism from Maine’s lobster industry about the report’s timing and accuracy, and its effect on lobster prices.,, State regulators and lobster industry groups asked the institute whether it could develop a tool that would allow the timing of the annual uptick in lobster landings to be predicted. After a few years studying the issue, the institute started publicizing its statewide predictions in 2015 and again last year. But last year, and particularly in certain geographic areas, the prediction didn’t match conditions. click here to read the story 11:40
Catch Shares? – Researchers Fear Industrialization of Maine Lobster Fleet
Unlike most fisheries in the world, the lobster industry is actually experiencing an unprecedented boom despite centuries of sustained harvesting. Last year, the lobster catch was a record 130 million pounds, marking the fifth straight year the annual catch went over 120 million pounds, and over six times more than the long-term average for the state. The recent lobster boom, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, is likely primarily due to warmer ocean temperatures as younger lobsters are reaching sexual maturity faster in warmer waters. But it’s also because, unlike the ground fishery, the state long ago took a proactive approach to conserving the resource. “There are some interesting differences between those two fisheries in terms of the regulations we put in place very early on in the lobster fishery,” said fisheries researcher Patrick Shepard at the Penobscot Marine Museum’s “Our Evolving Fisheries History Conference” in Belfast on April 8, “but there are also some interesting parallels to what might be happening as far as technological advances.” click here to read the article 13:49
New net opens a way to help fishermen and protect cod
Catching the wrong fish, or catching too much of a low-quota fish like cod, can end a season for a commercial fisherman. In recent years, the interstate New England Fishery Management Council has slashed the number of cod that can be landed from the Gulf of Maine from about 1,550 metric tons in 2014 to 280 metric tons now. Fishermen who catch too many, even by accident, can be shut down for the season. A team of scientists and fishermen led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute has created a new kind of fishing net that can catch popular flatfish like yellowtail flounder without busting strict quotas set to protect the Atlantic cod from overfishing. The net redesign team was led by Eayrs, himself a former commercial fisherman in Australia, and Massachusetts state fisheries biologist Michael Pol. The team included four commercial fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, two other scientists and a Rhode Island netmaker. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Saltonstall-Kennedy program funded the $265,000 project in 2015, when it awarded $22 million in fisheries grants. Read the story here 07:57
New Trawl Avoids Cod
A new fishing net has been designed in New England, US, which avoids catching cod while retaining flatfish, reports Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The net was designed in response to the drastic reduction in catch quotas for Gulf of Maine cod. The reduced quotas have made it difficult to target other species that are more abundant. The ultra low opening trawl (ULOT) has a smaller vertical opening than a typical trawl net; just over 2 feet compared to the 6-foot opening in standard nets. This design allows for cod to swim up and over the net, escaping capture. Read the rest here. – Read more about this – Ultra-Low-Opening Groundfish Trawl Development This project is a collaboration with scientists (Mike Pol – MA DMF; Chris Glass – UNH; Pingguo He – SMAST), fishermen (Jim Ford – F/V Lisa Ann III; Dan Murphy – F/V Bantry Bay, Tom Testaverde – F/V Midnight Sun) and a net maker (Jon Knight – Superior Trawl). Click here to read 13:31
Utilizing sound technology, scientists assess northern shrimp population along the Maine Coast
This winter, a small fleet of Maine fishermen will head out to hunt for northern shrimp, even though the fishery itself has been closed for three years. They won’t be landing the New England delicacy so it can be eaten. The fishermen will use acoustic transducers, and a few nets and traps, to help the Gulf of Maine Research Institute learn where these small pink crustaceans congregate in our near-shore waters over the winter, where they lay their eggs. Using sound waves to survey a species as small as shrimp is a new challenge for scientists. “We have found low-frequency sound waves are good at detecting big fish, like cod, and high frequencies are good at detecting small organisms like shrimp,” said research associate Adam Baukus of GMRI. “The technology allows us to cover a lot more of the ocean than we can with trawls or traps alone. With sound, we can do 40 miles at a time. … Traditional (trawl) surveys are lucky to cover a quarter mile.” Read the story here 11:34
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s forecast could be affected by next week’s anticipated cold snap.
An early June start to this year’s lobster season appears less likely in the latest forecast by researchers, but water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine still favor a “very early” start by June 19 or so. Scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland put the odds of a very early start to the season – meaning two to three weeks before the traditional early July start – at 62 percent in the latest update of the forecast, issued Thursday. Read the rest, Click here 11:28
Gulf of Maine Research Institute says lobster season will likely start around June 19.
An updated forecast points to an even stronger likelihood that Maine’s lobster season is going to get off to a very early start. The forecast from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, updated Thursday, said there’s a 47 percent chance of an “extremely early start,” defined as beginning as early as June 12. The lobstering season typically kicks into high gear after July 4. A “very early start,” defined as beginning around June 19, has a likelihood of 50 percent, the institute said, and an “early start” of around June 26 has a likelihood of 3 percent. The institute said there’s virtually no chance of a normal or late start to the season for Maine’s most valuable fishery. Read the rest here 17:38
Warmer Gulf of Maine clobbering the cod
Desperate measures have been taken, cod quotas have been slashed again and again, and yet fish numbers continue to slide. Now, a new study by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute suggest the Gulf’s warming waters have led to the collapse of the fishery and recovery depends “as much on temperature as it does on fishing.”,, But if is the prime culprit, not over zealous fishermen, what more can be done on a local level? Andrew Pershing, “Our work suggests that had temperature been factored in,,,” Read the article here 09:18
Lobsterman discovers sea squirts on his traps
It’s no secret that the waters of the Gulf of Maine are getting warmer. Although many fishermen say that this summer the water around Downeast Maine has been colder than in recent years, according to data compiled by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, from 2004 to 2013, water surface temperatures rose faster in the Gulf of Maine than in 99.9 percent of the global ocean. Cold or warm, this year strange critters have made themselves at home in local waters, some of them apparently settling in Downeast Maine for the first time. Read the article here 19:02
WEEKEND FOCUS: Warming waters and the Gulf of Maine’s fate
Headlines around that great body of water, cradled inside of Cape Sable Island to the north and Cape Cod in the south, screamed alarm this fall about a pending ecosystem collapse brought on by climate change. Most of those headlines linked back to a study by Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, published in October in the journal Science. In it, Pershing attributes the non-recovery of cod stocks to the Gulf of Maine having warmed faster between 2004 and 2014 than 99 per cent of all other saltwater bodies on Earth. Read the rest here 09:38
A fisherman’s doubt, and his love of the sea
He is up before the dawn, and, a creature of steady habits, he heads for the seashore. It’s dark when Frank Mirarchi jumps into his black pickup truck, and dark still when he reaches Scituate Harbor. He parks on the town pier and stares at the ocean. But his 55-foot stern dragger is no longer moored there. Actually, the boat is there. But it’s no longer his. It was renamed last June after he sold it — a poignant punctuation point to Mirarchi’s half-century career as a commercial fisherman. Read the rest here 15:01
