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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 2
October 2008
Bait supply, prices squeeze ME lobstermen
FREEPORT, ME – Lobstermen and dealers throughout Maine were closely monitoring herring supplies in mid-September and adjusting their fishing practices in response to herring restrictions in Area 1A.
Fresh herring was generally in tight supply for the lobster industry this summer and, with ongoing management actions, the shortage was expected to continue well into the fall.
While the Maine lobster industry uses approximately 60,000 metric tons (mt) of herring for bait every year, this year’s total allowable catch (TAC) for herring from Area 1A – the region’s prime bait-producing ground – was effectively only 40,900 mt.
That’s because even though the 2008 TAC for Area 1A is 45,000 mt, 1,350 mt was reserved for research set-aside, 500 mt was put aside for the fixed gear fishery, and 5% was reserved to accommodate bycatch in other fisheries.
“We planned for this shortage and hopefully we will get through it without running out of herring bait, but the situation has turned out to be worse than what we had originally planned for,” said Spencer Fuller, shrimp and bait director for Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland.
The directed fishery for herring in Area 1A essentially was closed from March through May, and no landings occurred during January and February.
Then the fishery reopened on June 1 to fixed-gear vessels only, which essentially meant purse seiners. Midwater trawlers cannot fish in Area 1A from June through September anymore.
Since June 1, purse seiners have not been allowed to land herring in Maine from 6 pm on Wednesdays to 6 pm on Sundays, while New Hampshire and Massachusetts prohibited landings from 12:01 am on Thursday until 12:01 am Monday.
Then the Eastern Maine Spawning Area closure was in effect from Aug. 17 through Sept. 14 and the Western Maine Spawning Area closure began on Sept. 5 and runs through Oct. 3, further tightening fishing time and bait flow.
Additionally, the New Hampshire/Massachusetts Spawning Area closure will be in effect from Sept. 21 through Oct. 19.
Inventories
Tom Flanigan at Seaview Lobster in Kittery reported that things weren’t going well.
“We did have a decent amount of herring bait in inventory, but we have been working through it, and we are getting close to the end of our supply,” he said.
Like Flanigan, Jennie Bichrest, owner-president of Purse Line Bait in Phippsburg, also stocked the freezers full with herring to stave off the inevitable bait shortage, but was finding that this strategy was not working for the long run.
“We had thousands and thousands of bushels of herring in storage, but we have started emptying the coolers and now we have whittled away our stock down to just the junk,” she said.
Maine state managers were fully aware of the dire situation the Area 1A closure was creating for the industry.
“This is the biggest situation impacting the state of Maine I have seen in my life,” said Dana Rice, chairman of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Advisory Council at its Sept. 17 meeting. “But we need to make sure we do not become divided and fight amongst ourselves.”
Terry Stockwell, DMR’s deputy commissioner for external affairs, pointed out that 12,500-15,000 mt of the Area 1A TAC will become available to the herring fishery after Oct. 1. However, he cautioned, “The quota will be harvested very, very quickly.”
Stockwell explained that the herring fleet has the ability to land 2,000 mt of fish per night based on the combined fishing effort of the midwater trawlers and the seiners.
“The 12,500 mt held aside for October will be harvested in less than a week,” he predicted.
Peter Moore of NORPEL explained that the economic impact of Area 1A restrictions, especially the summertime ban on midwater trawlers, has been drastic.
"Being shut out of Area 1A without valid scientific data does not make economic sense," he said. "We have lost two boats to bankruptcy because of this closure and many more boat owners are suffering economically."
New Bedford, MA-based NORPEL, the trade name for the Northern Pelagic Group LLC, operates a herring and mackerel processing plant in that port and runs a fleet of midwater trawlers. The company provides frozen herring for bait.
Price
Dealers up and down the Maine coast expressed frustration in mid-September at being unable to supply herring to their lobstermen at a reasonable price.
"This situation is simply putting more stress on an already stressed industry," said Flanigan.
Steve Robbins, manager of the Stonington Lobster Co-op, reported that he had to raise bait prices by 30% to the lobstermen he supplies.
"The biggest problem for us has been the costs,” he said. "The costs have made a huge impact on us, but we are still trying to provide a high-quality product at the lowest price we can."
At Purse Line Bait, lobstermen were paying $25 for a bushel of Canadian herring.
For Spencer Fuller at Cozy Harbor Seafood, bait prices to the lobstermen he supplies had gone up by 15%. Cooler bait was $115-$120 a barrel. Imported herring from Canada cost $130 a barrel.
While there were plenty of pogies available from New Jersey caught by the Cape May boats, Fuller said most lobstermen do not bait with only pogies because they believe it reduces lobster catches.
Fuller concluded, "There is bait available. You just have to pay a lot of money for it."
Gina LeDuc-Kuntz
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