Archives for fisheries

Talk of the Towns 11/22/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Scallops—Trying to Sustain the Fishery

Key Discussion Points:
a) Share a profile of scallops as much sought after public fisheries resource… their biology, habitat requirements, two methods of catching (dragging and diving), and anything else that distinguishes scallops when compared to other fish, and a sense of the overall market and the value of the scallop fishery in Maine
b) On the broadest scale, how do we “manage” marine fish, including scallops, trying to make sure that we have these public resources into the future?
c) What is different in how we manage lobster fishing, including those conservation measures that fishermen supported long ago and are part of current management?
d) Despite our best attempts to manage fisheries along these lines, what is our track record, including with ground fish, sea urchins, lobster and scallops?
e) How have we managed the scallop fishery in the past, bringing us forward to last year? Include role of Department of Marine Resources, and Scallop Advisory Council?
f) What triggered the desire by the Department of Marine Resources to try new methods of managing the scallop fishery, and how did you work with them to gain input from fishermen?
g) What is new and different about how Maine is managing scallops this coming season, beginning December 2nd? What are results are you hoping for?
h) Dana Morse describes briefly the pilot efforts to grow scallops in cages, as a kind of aquaculture? What are the challenges to be overcome, what would be some of the potential benefits to scallop aquaculture and who might benefit?
i) Hopes for managing the scallop fishery for the long haul

Guests:
A) Dr. Carla Guenther, Penobscot East Resource Center
B) Trisha DeGraff, Resource Management Coordinator, Department of Marine Resources
C) Andy Mays, Scallop Diver, Southwest Harbor,
D) Dr. Erin F. Owen, Husson University
E) Dana Morse, University of Maine Sea Grant

Talk of the Towns 3/23/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Joel Mann

Program Topic: Is it time for a closed fishing area in the Northeastern Gulf of Maine?

Key Discussion Points (list at least 3):
a) Thumbnail history of fish and fishing along Maine’s coast and Gulf of Maine
Species, abundance, fishing methods, contribution to local communities and overall economy
b)The notion of fish as a public resource, transition from hunter-gather values when fishing pressure and ecosystem and supply of fish were in balance, to a specialized, highly capitalized and efficient industry which outstripped the ability of fish to “replenish” themselves
c) Meanwhile, back on shore… dams and culverts prevented passage for free-running anadromous fish (alewives and other species) so diminished food sources for cod and other ground fish… but due to changes in policy (clean water act and others) we are removing dams (Kennebec, now Penobscot, maybe St Croix) that may mean more food for groundfish
d)How do we manage fish—transition from huge geographic scale, single-species management to exploration of managing smaller scales, multiples species/ecosystems and recognition of importance of relatively small areas of habitat… transition from managing quantity of fish caught, to managing how fish are caught, when they are caught, where they are caught…
f)Emerging—multiple rationales for New England Fisheries Management to develop a closed area in the Northeastern Gulf of Maine
g) How would a closed area work? What would be restricted, who would be affected, how are fishermen responding to the idea, what criteria would determine optimum location, how long before we could detect results, what is the process for moving the idea forward?
h)How can listeners learn more and get involved?

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Aaron Dority, Penobscot East Resource Center, Stonington
B) Dennis Damon, Chair and board member, Penobscot East 460 0001
C) Ted Ames, Founding Board member, Penobscot East

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Talk of the Towns 1/22/10

Guest host: Natalie Springuel, University of Maine Sea Grant

Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Aquaculture on the Maine Coast

Guests:
Dana Morse, University of Maine Sea Grant (207-563-3146 x205 or [email protected])
Adam Campbell, North Haven Oyster Company and commercial fisherman ([email protected])
Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association (207-867-4453, North Haven, Maine)

Boattalk 7/14/09

Producers/Hosts: Mike Joyce and Alan Sprague
Special Guest Host: Capt. Giffy Full
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne
Topics: Fisheries “permit banking”, Fox Islands wind power, Nevada Lobster industry
What is the state of the ground fishery today and historically? How can the fisheries have a sustainable future? Why is wind power good for Maine islands?
Guests: Geoff Smith, Nature Conservancy; Aaron Dority, Penobscot East Resource Center; Glenn Libby, Port Clyde Fisherman’s Coop and National Marine Fisheries Council
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