Posted | April 2018
Fish Talk in the News – Friday, April 27, 2018
In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, record annual algae bloom in Narragansett Bay; recent shortage has lobster prices soaring; charter boat caught with illegal Gulf of Maine cod; NOAA Fisheries finalizes plan for record scallop year; Rhode Island finalizes the RI Commercial Fisheries Blueprint for Resilience; and NH fisheries specialist says yes to green crabs on the menu. … More Info
Warming in Deep Waters May Impact the Gulf of Maine
Four years ago, we learned that the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than over 99 percent of the world’s ocean. Two weeks ago, we learned that a key circulation system in the Atlantic Ocean is moving more slowly than it has in 1,000 years. This week, we learned that there is deep water flowing into the Gulf of Maine at record-breaking temperatures. What does this mean for New England, a region historically, culturally, and economically tied to the ocean? … More Info
Fish Talk in the News – Friday, April 20
In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, NEFMC wants to approve Sector XII and Sector IX operations plans; right whale researchers attempt to disentangle Kleenex on Stellwagen Bank; Trump Administration files motion to dismiss fishermen’s lawsuit; matching grants being offered for New England groundfish projects; basking sharks gather by the hundreds in Southern New England. … More Info
WATCH: Right Whales on the Brink of Extinction
CLF recently hosted a conversation with experts on right whales to discuss the crisis – and what can be done to save them. … More Info
Fish Talk in the News – Friday, April 13
In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, Maine DMR receives a grant to study lobster gear and right whales; NEFMC meets next week in Connecticut; Bay State Wind offers $2 million in environmental research grants; researchers see a slight uptick in lobster shell disease off Maine; and Maine is ready to close shellfish areas at first sign of toxins. … More Info
Fishermen Missing One Big Thing in Opposition to Offshore Wind
A broad coalition of Northeast fishermen, suppliers, and shore-based industries has written a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker opposing development of offshore wind in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. The letter makes two good points but misses one big thing. … More Info
Fish Talk in the News – Friday, April 6
In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, new habitat management measures become effective next week; Maine lobster industry buoyed by higher menhaden quota; right whale breeding season ends without calves; John Bullard says the lobster industry must lead on right whales; river herring are running early in Gloucester; and a local non-profit trains fishermen in survival and safety. … More Info
Atlantic cod is still a world of unknown, so why raise the catch limit?
New England’s groundfish fishery is a particularly tricky one to manage, and I don’t envy those who are faced with the task. But when it comes to Atlantic cod—still persistently overfished and subject to overfishing in the Gulf of Maine after 28 years of management – you just have to ask, what are they thinking? … More Info
Thank You, Canada, for Taking Bold Action to Protect North Atlantic Right Whales
Sometimes I wonder how I’d protect right whales if I were an ocean czarina. In the U.S. we’ve got powerful statutes – the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act – that require the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to protect and rebuild depleted marine mammal populations, often with input from other management bodies. What we don’t have is a streamlined process, even in the face of a crisis, to get the job done. … More Info