Tag Archives: Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association
Massachusetts Record for Largest Lobster Caught
The price for fresh New England lobster changes frequently depending on the time of year, market conditions and suppliers. The price fluctuates so often that many seafood dealers and restaurants don’t even include it on their menus or websites. On April 1, 2024, Boston’s James Hook & Co. was advertising fresh lobster claw and tail meat at $85 per pound, fresh knuckle lobster meat at $90 per pound, and fresh lobster salad at $85 per pound. The Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association claims the record for a lobster caught off the Massachusetts coast was “Big George,” caught off Cape Cod in 1974. The Association says George weighed 37.4 pounds with a total length of 2.1 feet. more, >>click to read<< 10:06
Mass. Lobstmen Win Case Fighting Feds’ Fishing Closure
A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday that the National Marine Fisheries Service illegally closed a 200-square-mile swath of ocean to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, backing a legal challenge by a lobster fishing industry group. In a ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge William G. Young said the agency’s permanent seasonal closure of the so-called wedge area to lobster fishing in February 2023 to avoid whale entanglements with fishing gear was contrary to a federal budget law passed the previous December that hit pause on new regulations for the lobster industry until the end of 2028. “This court is convinced that the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 is clear on its face, and it clearly applies to bar the final wedge closure rule,” Judge Young said. more, >>click to read<< 12:35
Lawmakers issue strong rebuke after con group adds lobster to ‘red list’
Seafood Watch, a conservation organization based at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, this week put North Atlantic lobster on its “red list” of seafood to avoid, as a hope to protect endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale. Since the announcement, lawmakers from both states, Maine and Massachusetts, have issued a strong rebuke against the conservation organization, coming to the defense of an industry they say is unfairly being targeted. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine., held a press conference with Maine’s Governor Janet Mills and joined a statement cosigned by Maine’s entire congressional delegation, calling the “red list” designation “reckless” and “irresponsible.” “Massachusetts Lobstermen know this issue, care about this issue, and have remained committed to doing their part despite regulations that entail major sacrifices by the industry,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Video, >click to read< 09:50
Feds institute ’emergency’ lobster closure to protect right whales
The federal government will close an additional 200 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts to lobster and Jonah crab fishing in April to protect endangered right whales. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is closing the area on an “emergency” basis, without taking public comment, a move that frustrates lobstermen already contending with extensive fishing restrictions. >click to read<
Emergency Closure for Lobster and Jonah CrabTrap/Pot Fishery: Area Between Massachusetts Restricted Area and Massachusetts Restricted Area North for April 2022 – Lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fishermen fishing in the federal waters between the Massachusetts Restricted Area North and the Massachusetts Restricted Area must remove all trap/pot gear from this area, and may not reset trawls being actively fished, or set new trawls in this area for the period from April 1-30, 2022. >click to read< 12:02
BOURNE: Lobstermen seek help in protecting right whales, Testimony cites burden on local industry.
Commercial lobstermen urged federal regulators Wednesday to take Canada to task for its failure to protect North Atlantic right whales and to remember that local lobstermen carrier a heavier burden of regulation than others in U.S. waters. “We as lobstermen do not want to see harm come to the right whale,” Plymouth lobsterman Tom O’Reilly said at a public forum at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, the eighth in a series of meetings held this month,,, >click to read<08:40
Vineyard Wind challenges ‘flawed’ permitting decision
The developer of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the US is seeking a ‘superseding order’ to overturn a project application decision by the Edgartown Conservation Commission Vineyard Wind chief development officer Erich Stephens said, “Vineyard Wind always places a priority on working with local communities, and was fully responsive to all information requests received from the Edgartown Conservation Commission.,, Vineyard Wind has also entered into a Host Community Agreement with the Town of Barnstable, and a Community Benefits Agreement with the non-profit energy co-operative Vineyard Power, which serves Martha’s Vineyard. Fishing representatives for the project include the New Bedford Port Authority, the Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association, and the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust. >click to read< 08:27
Efforts Underway to Reduce Lobster Fishing Gear to Help Rare Whale
Interstate fishing managers are starting the process of trying to reduce the amount of lobster fishing gear off the East Coast in an attempt to help save a declining species of rare whale. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced this month that it would consider options designed to reduce vertical lobster fishing lines in the water by as much as 40 percent. The commission said it would try to reduce the amount of gear with a combination of trap limits, seasonal closures, changes to gear configuration and other methods. The rules are under development and it will take months before they come up for public hearings. >click to read<10:45
Seamounts and canyons: It seems fishermen can’t win
In general, sad to say, commercial fishermen are not well-regarded and struggle for respect. They don’t have powerful lobbyists or image makers and are so independent and competitive by nature that they don’t work well together. As such they are easily defeated politically when opposed by environmental groups with plenty of capital and connections. The headlong rush to deploy wind turbines offshore from here down to Delaware is now gathering momentum. From the deck of a fishing vessel that prospect is akin to a Plains Indian catching a first glimpse of smoke on the horizon, rising from an Iron Horse. <click to read>
Family, friends, mourn Scituate lobsterman who died at sea
The clink and clatter of lobster traps on the docks at Lucian Rosseau Memorial Landing stopped for a moment Friday morning as local fishermen gathered to mourn the loss of legend. After 47 years on the sea, Frederick Dauphinee died after a heart attack 10 nautical miles off the coast of Cohasset on Thursday. He was 76. As friends and family swapped stories and shared a few beers, they remembered a hard-working lobsterman with a sense of humor and a love of his family, his boat and the sea. click here to read the story 18:28
