Green crabs are being used in Nova Scotia as an alternative bait for lobsters. Fisherman are catching the crabs in specially designed traps and selling to lobstermen at a lower cost than other bait. To learn more, please follow this link. http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/Green-crabs-as-lobster-bait-working-in-Nova-Scotia/15829
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cashes Ledge Deserves Protection
Bottom trawling and scalloping have been banned for more than a decade, but the New England Fishery Management Council recently voted to reverse these safeguards. Please follow the link to read more about this resource and support the efforts to protect Cashes Ledge. http://www.clf.org/cashes-ledge Join the petition to protect Cashes Ledge: https://secure2.convio.net/clf/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=395&AddInterest=1079 … Continue Reading
Mercury levels close mouth of the Penobscot to fishing
Fishing and lobstering are banned in the mouth of the river as of February 22. High levels of methyl mercury found in lobster and crabs are the reason, according to the DMR. The contamination is related to the HoltraChem plant which operated in Orrington between 1967 and 1982. The DMR is confident that mercury levels outside… Continue Reading
DMR Sends Rockweed Proposal to Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources
This new proposal would include rockweed harvesting in all of Maine. At this time, only Cobscook Bay is regulated. Included in the proposal are a 16 inch minimum cutting height above the attachment area; establishment of sectors giving harvesters exclusive rights; harvest to be limited to 17% of the biomass annually. To read the full… Continue Reading
Recent Additions to the Web Site
- FOBHB joins Frenchman Bay Partners. Study shows loss of eelgrass in Goose Cove 2008-2011. Click Here. -Best Management Practices for the East Coast Shellfish Aquaculture Industry The manual is the final product of 22 workshops with input from hundreds of stakeholders. – Aquaculture Update: New NB Rules on Sea Lice Proposed New Brunswick is… Continue Reading
Follow FOBHB’s Effort to Protect Newbury Neck
This spring, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) granted a blue mussel aquaculture lease just off shore of High Head at the end of the much-loved Newbury Neck. Despite opposition from the Town of Surry and FOBHB, DMR granted the lease in April, and consequently in June, FOBHB filed a petition in Maine Superior… Continue Reading
Latest Disease Fiasco Confirms Need for Land-Based Farmed Salmon
The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) urgently calls upon Fisheries and Oceans Canada and provincial governments to restore public confidence in salmon farming by immediately imposing a moratorium on the expansion of open net pen salmon farming and seriously investing in closed-containment technology. Read more…
Blue Hill Bay Watershed Needs Assessment
****** Needs Assessment Now Available******** The Blue Hill Bay Needs Assessment report is now ready. The Blue Hill Bay Watershed Needs Assessment is a multi-town, multi-stakeholder initiative designed to engage these communities in a dialogue to better understand their resources, assess the status of the resources, and make informed decisions about coastal activities which impact… Continue Reading
FOBHB Receives Grants to Study Shellfish and Ocean Acidification
Researchers in the Gulf of Maine, have observed episodes of acidic river influx corresponding to the peak spawning period for softshell clams (Mya arenaria). They conclude that such events have the potential to adversely affect the survivability and subsequent settlement distribution of softshell clams if they occur during spawning periods. In Blue Hill Bay, over… Continue Reading