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Maine SAC recommends split area scallop plan
ELLSWORTH, ME – Scallop closed areas along the coast of Maine are set to open this December, and fishermen are anxious to access the areas they’ve been kept out of for three years. The need to prevent these areas from being quickly depleted during the first open season created a sense of urgency at the …
NMFS shifts yellowtail quota from scallopers to groundfish fleet
GLOUCESTER, MA – Just three short weeks after receiving an official request from the New England Fishery Management Council to transfer a sizable portion of the scallop fishery’s Georges Bank yellowtail flounder allocation to the groundfish fleet, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced on July 13 that it had the taken the necessary steps …
NMFS assessing the impacts of climate change on fish stocks
NARRAGANSETT, RI – Decades of data on temperature, salinity, ocean acidity, and wind patterns for the Northeast US continental shelf indicate that climate changes are already affecting commercial fisheries in substantive ways and will continue to do so far into the future. According to researchers, 24 out of 36 New England and Mid-Atlantic stocks have …
Lobster landings overwhelm demand; prices tank
The lobster industry was in crisis, as calls were being made July 3-10 for the Lobster Market Report. The crisis resulted from unexpectedly high and earlier than expected catches in Canada and the US, with no comparable surge in demand. Besides more product being on the market than usual, US fishermen were paid prices they …
Herring Amd. 5 includes 100% observer coverage
PORTLAND, ME – More than four years after first making a commitment to develop a comprehensive catch monitoring program for the Atlantic herring fishery, the New England Fishery Management Council voted on June 20 to approve Amendment 5 to the federal herring plan for submission to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The amendment is …
Maine trappers form new shrimp association
GEORGETOWN, ME – Jan. 19, 2012 turned out to be a pivotal day for Maine shrimp trap fishermen. The Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was meeting in Portland for a midseason check to see how fast landings were tallying up against the year’s very small total allowable catch (TAC). …
Longliners won’t benefit from swordfish revitalization
SAINT PETERSBURG, FL – The good news is that the swordfish are thriving. Two decades of effort by US fishermen paid off with the 2010 stock assessment finding that the North Atlantic swordfish population is completely rebuilt. The bad news is that, despite the resurgence of the resource, there has been chronic underharvest of the …
Bluefin market report: Cautious optimism as season starts
HARWICH, MA – After a slow start following the June 1 opening of the commercial season, the bluefin tuna fishery was picking up speed in mid- June as Commercial Fisheries News went to press. As of June 8, dealers reported sporadic landings of bluefin between western Maine and Cape Cod with a few early fish …
GOM gillnetters under Oct/Nov closure to protect harbor porpoise
MYSTIC, CT – Gillnet fishermen will be prohibited from working in a large area of the inshore Gulf of Maine annually during October and November until harbor porpoise bycatch rates drop dramatically or major changes are made to existing rules under the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (TRP). From September 2010 through May 2011, the …
Sluggish lobster demand; downward price pressure
The June lobster market was a mess. Problem #1 – prices were too high. Problem #2 – too much product was on the market. And problems #1 and #2 were exacerbated by #3 – the extremely early appearance of US shedders. The result: Sluggish movement through the lobster pipeline, and that has consequences affecting all …
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