Harpswell Information

Coastal Harpswell
Ground fishing links

Contents

• General

• Information

• News

General

• 8/25/06 Reason: Pick Your Poissons: Economic and ecological diversity for fisheries
  The pitiful state of America's ocean fisheries provokes perennial handwringing. In its July 31st issue, The New Yorker profiled historical ecologist, fisher and MacArthur genius Ted Ames. Mining the memories of old fishers and historical documents, Ames has rediscovered the former spawning and feeding grounds of ghost cod populations in the Gulf of Maine that were destroyed by overfishing. The hope is that that knowledge will aid in some day restoring them. The profile notes that with modern fishing methods "[e]ntire populations of fish can be erased." In fact, New England's once vast cod fishery is all but gone today.

• CLF New England Groundfish
  discusses problem and a solution

Information

• 5/20/04 Lincoln County News
  Waldoboro Board Denies Dock on Clam Flats

• 3/24/04 Field & Stream - Freedom to Overfish
  How well-meaning anglers may harm saltwater fishing.

• 2/22 The Herald News
  Fishermen’s health plan launches survey
  BOSTON -- A health plan providing coverage to Massachusetts fishermen and their families is about to launch a survey to determine how many fishermen are having trouble paying for health care and how many more fishermen would join the plan if they could.

• 2/12 PH Snowe offers plan to rewrite fisheries rules

•  Northeast Groundfish Amendment 13
  This site seems to have a lot of information about Amendment 13, as well as links to many other related sites

• CLF New England Groundfish
  discusses problem and a solution

• NEFMC
  New England Fisheries Management Council

• Barbara Stevenson Seller Rep - Home
  A good website that you may be interested in for your information is a website maintained by Barbara Stevenson there is info on all fisheries but particularly groundfish

• Seafood Choices Alliance
  Bringing sustainable fishing to the table. Some may disagree with this site. Send me a note; I'll post it.

• Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program - Home page

News

• 7/9/06 Lax regulation blamed as fish stocks lag
  The United States has failed to rebuild its depleted fish stocks because federal regulators over the past decade have continued to allow overfishing, and New England fisheries have fared the worst, according to a University of New Hampshire study to be published next month.

• 6/19/06 Buyout program may lure fishermen to quit
  "Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Give a man a groundfish permit and watch him starve."
  That twist on a Chinese proverb - spoken this month during informational meetings at major fishing ports from Maine to New Jersey - is used to describe the beleaguered state of New England's groundfishing industry. It also helps to explain why many fishermen may take advantage of a new, industry-led buyout proposal.

• 3/28/06 VillageSoup - Sports & Outdoors News - VillageSoup
  Report examines threat of 'Roving Bandits' to local fisheries
  ORONO (March 25): A recent study published in the journal Science by UMaine researchers and others has identified a growing threat to the health of local fisheries across Maine and around the world: the so-called "roving bandits" of the seas. [except lobster fishermen]

• 5/29/05 Groundfishing fight heats up Down East
  When groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine recover, fishermen in eastern Maine fear they'll be left on the sidelines as big vessels from Portland and Gloucester haul in fish from the coastal waters.

• 2/20/05 BBC NEWS Science-Nature Fish shrinkage threatens survival
  The shrinking size of fish due to their overexploitation has dire consequences for the recovery of depleted stocks, scientists have claimed.

• 2/18/05 Hearing Fishermen's Voices - Bangornews.com Staff
  Fishermen can be excused for not being enthusiastic about the industry's top regulator finally talking about "community-based management." Fishermen from Maine and around the country have long suggested that decisions about how many fish are caught and where be made by those with the most knowledge of the area. Now, it seems that the National Marine Fisheries Service has heard them. That's a good start.

• 11/27/04 Herring Boats Fined, Haddock Hard to Avoid
  ELLSWORTH — The coastal herring fishery will close tomorrow for the remainder of 2004. Having reached 53,840 metric tons of the 60,000-ton Area 1A total on Nov. 6, regulators decided Monday to close the area to all but incidental herring catches starting Nov. 19, the same date it closed in 2003.

• 11/22/04 Sea squirts put squeeze on 40 square miles
  Sea squirts, an invasive animal found on the Georges Bank seabed a year ago, now cover at least 40 square miles, a sixfold increase, say researchers who inspected the offshore area earlier this month.

• 10/19/04 Waterfront feels pinch of high oil prices
  The rising price of oil is taking a toll on Maine's waterfront, cutting into fishing incomes and threatening to increase ferry rates.

• 10/7/04 Newport News-Times Newport public sport groundfish meeting venue changes
  Last month's groundfish sport fishery closure will be the topic of a public meeting in Newport at 6:30 p.m., today (Wednesday).
  Anticipating high public interest, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Division, changed the location from its original location to the Hatfield Marine Science Center Auditorium, 2030 S.E. Marine Science Drive in Newport.

• 10/9/04 Rep. Frank asks for quick action on haddock grounds 10- 8- 2004
  Granting fishermen immediate access to haddock-rich fishing grounds in Georges Bank is necessary to relieve New Bedford's "beleaguered groundfish fleet," according to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.

• 10/5/04 Tank-raised halibut could pad mainers' pockets
  FRANKLIN - Nick Brown flutters his fingers against the deep green water of a 3,000-gallon tank. Nothing. The water remains as dark and still as a Down East night.

• 10/4/04 PLAN SET TO PREVENT FUTURE FISH CLOSURES Oregon
  This year's Labor Day groundfish season closure will not be repeated if state and federal agencies agree to the plan worked out Thursday night by community leaders and fishermen.

• 9/29/04 Newport News-Times Newport Chamber protests sport groundfish closing
  Newport Chamber protests sport groundfish closing
  The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce leadership last week urged its members to contact Governor Ted Kulongoski, Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith and Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, to protest the recent Labor Day closure of sport and charter groundfishing

• 9/16/04 Boston.com - News - Local - Ways to revive clam beds explored
  HAMPTON, N.H. -- Declining clam populations, clam mortality rates, and shellfish bed closures in Hampton/Seabrook Harbor will be the focus of a forum on the status of New Hampshire's shellfish tonight in Hampton.

• 9/18/04 Council will study proposed herring fishing ban
  Fisheries managers may ban herring fishing in some areas off the coast of New England to keep the trawlers from accidentally killing haddock and other groundfish.

• 8/11/04 Groundfishing task force urges subsidies, tax breaks
  AUGUSTA - A panel that Gov. John Baldacci ordered to come up with ways to support the state's beleaguered groundfish industry offered some 30 ideas Tuesday, including subsidies and tax breaks to rebuild an industry that provides 1,500 Maine jobs.Groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine may be on the rebound, the panel argued, but crucial steps must be taken if the state wants to position itself to reap the benefit of future harvests.

• 8/5/04 Precious little time
  ABOARD THE TARA LYNN — Sam Galli is going to have to make another tough decision. The Tara Lynn's veteran captain is watching from the wheelhouse as the boat's trawl net opens up on the deck and spills out a meager catch of cod, flounder and monkfish. The day's second tow is as bad as the first, maybe worse.

• 5/26/04 The News@Ellsworth American.com
  Amendment 13 Lawsuits Abound

• 5/14/04 The News@Ellsworth American.com Groundfisheries Group Explores Area Management
  There's only two fulltime ground fishermen east of Vinalhaven

• The News@Ellsworth American.com Amendment 13 in Effect, Changes Already Afoot
   

• 4/28/04 Wired 12.05 The Bluewater Revolution
  Interesting article about an open ocean aquaculture experiment by the U. of N.H. which is taking place near the Isle of Shoals with cod, haddock and halibut

• 4/28/04 Fishermen cry foul over new regulations 4- 28- 2004
  News, south coast of MA

• 4/2 Boston.com - News - Local - Mass. - Fisherman facing new catch limits
  Last November, New England fishermen cheered when a government agency accepted a plan that would allow them to spend more days at sea. But on May 1, when the Amendment 13 fishing regulations take effect, most fishermen who catch groundfish -- such as cod, flounder, and white hake -- will actually be working fewer days

• 3/31 The News@Ellsworth American.com
  Funds Restored For Pending Fishing Rules
  Collins Says Freeze Was Impetus For Regulation Changes

• 2/5 Fishupdate.com Haddock baby boom detected on Georges Bank
  Woods Hole, Mass. Resource surveys conducted by US federal fishery scientists in late summer and fall of 2003 have detected evidence suggesting that spawning haddock on Georges Bank have produced the largest incoming group of young fish in forty years, and perhaps the largest on record for the stock.

• 2/4 FISH STICKERS
  Seafood to Get Country-of-Origin Labels. Starting this fall, seafood sold in the U.S. will be labeled with information about where it was caught, the country where it was processed, and whether it was wild or farmed, thanks to a provision in a spending bill recently passed by Congress. Seafood will be the first food group subject to "country of origin" labeling, something the beef and pork industries have avoided through heavy lobbying.
  The provision was welcomed by enviro and consumer groups, who point to recent news that farmed salmon contains high levels of pesticides as one of many reasons consumers need more complete information. It was also welcomed by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and muscular advocate for Alaska's wild salmon fishers. The rest of the seafood industry was pretty ticked off, claiming that the labeling requirements would produce a logistical nightmare. Consumer groups say it's only a matter of time before beef and pork are labeled as well. straight to the source: The San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Kay, 04 Feb 2004
  <http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=1976>

• 1/23: Maine senator withdraws opposition to fishing plan 1- 23- 2004

• 1/15 Frank targets fishing rules 1- 15- 2004
  U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., wants to change the federal fishing laws, and he says he has the support to put it on Congress' plate this year.

• 12/30 Projo.com Providence Local News
  Fishing rules remain unsure A Maine senator's actions on behalf of commercial fishermen in her home state don't sit well with other New England fishermen who thought new regulations were finally ready to be implemented.

• 1/5: JuneauEmpire.com Local Cold water coral war 01-04-04
  A battle heats up between trawlers, environmentalists

• 1/5 (CA) Mercury News 01-05-2004 Losing a way of life
  Interesting description of problems facing groundfishing in California