2019 Aquaculture & Maine Living Marine Resources Broadsheet

AQUACULTURE & MAINE LIVING MARINE RESOURCES Saturday, August 3, 2019 • Bangor Daily News • Special Advertising Section

South American fish species could provide bait for Maine lobstermen

BY NICK SAMBIDES, JR.

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he state for the first time has approved using fish raised off the coast of Uruguay as lobster bait to help offset a bait shortage that could increase lobster prices.

Cooke Aquaculture USA of Machiasport, Maine, announced the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ decision recently, saying it could help lobstermen weather a drop in the population of their primary bait source, herring, off the Maine coast.

The New England Fishery Management Council in June cut the amount of herring fishermen can catch off the New England coast in 2020 and 2021. The decision will allow Cooke to sell whole blackbelly rosefish for use as bait to lobstermen dealing with the herring decline. It could also open a lucrative line of trade for Cooke, which employs more than 200

in Maine at its Atlantic salmon marine farms, freshwater hatcheries and processing plant in Machiasport.

The lobster industry has enjoyed large hauls in recent years, but it is dependent on bait to lure lobster into traps. A spike in bait prices could hit consumers in restaurants and fish markets, which have already seen increases in lobster costs over the past few years.

Cuts in the herring catch quota that are already in effect this year will mean the total haul for 2019 will be less than a fifth of the 2014 harvest, which was more than 200 million pounds.

Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, called the new bait fish from Cooke “a very promising solution to a serious issue.”

“We’re very pleased by the collabora-

tive approach Cooke and the state took to help deal with the challenges that the lobster fishery has been facing related to securing bait,” McCarron said in a statement.

Headquartered in New Brunswick, Cooke has nearly 3,800 employees in the United States. The company will harvest the rosefish from South Atlantic waters off Uruguay, freezing them at sea as whole fish within hours to maximize quality and sell them to Maine lobstermen, among others. The company described the species as plentiful, and said it comes from the same scientific classification as the familiar Atlantic redfish, which lobstermen already often use for bait.

The Department of Marine Resources approved the rosefish for use as bait on June 28, with some conditions attached to the approval. Cooke must keep the

harvested fish frozen and document all movements of the fish on their way to market to prevent pathogens and predators from invading the catch, said Jeff Nichols, the department’s spokesman.

Maine lobstermen have been looking into a number of options to compensate for the herring shortage, including freshwater carp from the Midwest, pig hides and engineer-manufactured baits.

The rosefish is the 48th species that can now be used to harvest lobster and crabs, according to the Department of Marine Resources. Other species allowed include multiple types of herring, Atlantic cod, croaker, halibut, mullet, skate, shad and tuna.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.

This story originally appeared in the Bangor Daily News, July 10, 2019.

Climate change cause of vanishing coral reefs, Maine researcher finds C

limate change is causing a significant shift in coral reef populations as warmer ocean waters drive them away from the equator, a new scientific study has found.

The study, published this month in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, found that young corals on tropical reefs have declined 85 percent over the past four decades, while they have doubled in subtropical waters. Climate change is the “greatest global threat” to coral reefs as mass coral bleaching and disease outbreaks become more common as the ocean warms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But as the coral reefs come under increasing pressure from climate change, they are finding new opportunities to thrive in a changing ocean environment.

“Climate change seems to be redistributing coral reefs, the same way it is shifting many other marine species,” said Nichole Price, a senior research scientist at Maine’s Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the lead author of the paper. “The clarity in this trend is stunning, but we don’t yet know whether the new reefs can support the incredible diversity of tropical systems.”

Researchers have suspected that warming oceans are causing populations for many species to move beyond

their traditional ranges in search of more suitable environments and food.

New data released recently by University of Maine scientist Rick Wahle showed that baby lobsters are appearing in higher numbers off Atlantic Canada as below average numbers were found in the Gulf of Maine from Bar Harbor to Cape Cod. The warming Gulf of Maine is believed to be driving the endangered Atlantic right whale farther afield in search of food.

Now that appears to be the case as well with corals as subtropical waters become more favorable to them than the equatorial waters where they have traditionally thrived, according to the study.

Questions remain about the impact of this shift. The new subtropical reefs could provide a refuge for species under increasing stress from climate change, the study suggests. But what’s unknown is whether species such as coralline algae, crucial to the survival of young coral, are making the move into subtropical waters or whether young coral can thrive in without them, according to the study. The composition of the new reefs is unknown, because of the expense of collecting genetic and species diversity data.

“So many questions remain about which species are and are not making

it to these new locations, and we don’t yet know the fate of these young corals over longer time frames,” Price said.

“The changes we are seeing in coral reef ecosystems are mind-boggling, and we need to work hard to document how these systems work and learn what we can do to save them before it’s too late.”

Price and her team examined latitudes up to 35 degrees north and south of the equator and found the shift of coral larvae away from the equator mirrored on both sides. The researchers, who came from 17 institutions in six countries, compiled a global database of studies dating back to 1974, when record-keeping began, which they hope scientists will continue to add to and document the change in

coral reefs over time.

“The results of this paper highlight the importance of truly long-term studies documenting change in coral reef communities,” said Peter Edmunds, a professor at the University of California at Northridge and a coauthor of the paper. “The trends we identified in this analysis are exceptionally difficult to detect, yet of the greatest importance in understanding how reefs will change in the coming decades. As the coral reef crisis deepens, the international community will need to intensify efforts to combine and synthesize results as we have been able to accomplish with this study.”

This article originally appeared in the Bangor Daily News, July 11, 2019.

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Cooke Aquaculture has long legacy of healthy, sustainable Maine products COURTESY COOKE AQUACULTURE

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hen Greg Lambert returned home to Maine two decades ago to take up a job in his newly minted profession, he considered himself lucky—most young Mainers he knew had to go elsewhere to pursue their careers.

He had studied wildlife management at the University of Maine and caught a particular interest in fish, perhaps reflecting the fond memories he had of angling with his father and grandfather as a boy growing up in Caribou.

After graduating in 1997, he nabbed a job at an aquaculture operation in Indiana that raised walleye and catfish for public stocking. It was seasonal work during spawning season, and when he had the chance to work in Maine in 1999, he jumped at it—signing on as an aquaculture technician in western Maine for a firm that raised Atlantic salmon. In 2004, that firm and two other operations in the state were purchased by Cooke Aquaculture, a family company based across the border in New Brunswick, Canada.

His passion, knowledge and commitment shone through, and before too long he found himself freshwater production manager for Cooke’s U.S. operations, which today includes a significant presence in Maine—24 marine salmon farms, three landbased freshwater sites, and value-added processing operations in Machiasport.

Describing himself as a “Mainer through and through,” the 43-year-old has opportunities to travel the world with Cooke but is happiest at home. He

feels fortunate to be able to work right here in Maine in an industry that he loves—an industry that provides healthy, fresh, and sustainable food choices and that has done so in Maine for 40 years.

“With aquaculture, we’re feeding America. It’s a very good job. There’s only so much protein to go around and seafood is a very healthy choice,” says Lambert, who is based in Bingham. “That drew my attention and still interests me very much to this day.”

He’s passionate not only about his job but also about Cooke’s commitment to community, to innovation, to serving the customer— and, of course, to his home state. He is struck by how much aquaculture has changed and advanced over the last two decades.

“As you grow and evolve in this industry, you realize how far-reaching it is.

It is not just isolated to your little corner of the world,” Lambert says. “At the time I started, I was a technician in Oquossoc.

Now it is very evident that this is a global industry.

We sell products virtually worldwide through Cooke’s operations.”

Cooke began in Canada in 1985 with just three employees. Today, it has operations in 10 countries and sells its products into 67. It has more than 9,400 employees worldwide—200 of those in Maine.

Cooke is firmly committed to the communities it operates in: every year, it spends about $7.5 million in Maine, buying from more than 500 suppliers in the state.

“If you look at the areas where we operate here— we’re in coastal communities, we’re in western Maine where forestry used to be king. I think aquaculture has done a great job of coming in to these remote communities where economic development has lagged behind the rest of the state, and they have made investments in these commu-

nities and have created jobs,” Lambert says.

“Cooke has done a tremendous job in that respect—of keeping people employed in these communities where jobs are not as easy to come by.”

For Rockland Marine, repairing and retrofitting Cooke barges and ships has become an increasing part of its business over the last five years—so much so that has had to bring on new workers and expand its range of services.

“Cooke has turned into one of our top customers; it is a game changer for Rockland Marine – it really is,” Rockland Vice President Regan Parini says in an interview from his office. “The employees love working for Cooke.”

Located at Rockland Harbor on land that has been used to build ships for more than 150 years, the shipyard now boasts nearly 50 workers, including local tradespeople.

The centerpiece of that work, the most ambitious project for Rockland, has been a complete retrofit and upgrade of a 142-foot offshore supply ship brought in from oil operations off Louisiana to ready it for service for Cooke’s aquaculture operations.

The refurbishment has included upgrades to electrical systems, advanced camera systems, and new automation systems.

“Cooke likes doing things right—they like doing things right the first time. They have great new ideas. This vessel is almost 100 percent automated— you switch it on and it can almost run by itself.

There’s a lot of technology, and I think that’s what people are excited about,” Parini says.

“The work could have been done anywhere but they chose to do it here in Maine, which is great,” Parini says. “And it definitely helps the community because we’ve used so many local contractors. That was a big thing for us – we have a lot of contactors in the area that we use normally on a yearly basis and now we’re using them on a daily basis with Cooke. You really can’t get better than that in terms of benefit to the local economy.”

The shipyard is itself undergoing an upgrade, Parini says, having recently received a government grant of about $350,000 to upgrade its infra-

Greg Lambert is the freshwater production manager for Cooke Aquaculture’s U.S. operations, which includes a significant presence in Maine with 24 marine salmon farms, three landbased freshwater sites, and value-added processing operations in Machiasport. Courtesy Cooke Aquaculture

structure, including new forklifts, manlifts and water blasters—improvements he hopes will benefit Cooke and other customers, leading to more work and more jobs for the area.

Parini says it is gratifying to work with a company like Cooke.

“With Cooke, you know the fruits of your labor will be in the grocery store someday and that is awesome. You go into a Hannaford grocery store to buy a filet of salmon and it’s likely coming from Cooke. It’s coming from the Gulf of Maine and that’s fantastic,” he says.

“I don’t think the people in the area know how much Cooke contributes to the food that they get in the area and how close that fish is harvested from.”

Cooke also attracted attention from none other than Martha Stewart, who visited Cooke sites near her home in Maine in 2016.

Impressed with the operations and coming away with a better understanding of exactly where her seafood was coming from, she was keen to work with the company on a new product line.

The Martha Stewart line includes four different product offerings under Cooke’s True North brand, including Atlantic salmon with lemon herb butter and a seafood medley with herb spice blend.

As well as its strong commitments to community and customer satisfaction, Cooke is committed to innovation, on a global scale as well as local.

Seeing the challenges for Maine lobstermen in finding bait amid a decreasing herring quota, Cooke began a global search for a replacement bait, canvassing its operations around the world for suitable alternatives.

Blackbelly rosefish stood out as a possibility: a plentiful fish, it is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean and is from the same scientific classification as the Atlantic redfish, which lobstermen already use for bait.

Cooke turned to researchers at the University of Maine, who verified the rosefish as a safe alternative, and then to the Maine Department of Marine Resources for thorough evaluation. The department approved the rosefish as a new lobster bait in the state in late June.

“We believe this is a solution to address concerns from the lobster fishery on the challenges they are

currently facing on account of bait shortages,” says Glenn Cooke, CEO of the Cooke Inc. family of companies. “We operate alongside lobster fisherman in coastal communities in the state and hope this new option for safe, clean bait will benefit our colleagues in the lobster fishery.”

There is a strong commitment by the company to work with colleges, government and others in innovating and advancing the industry. Lambert points to a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a successful breeding program that has improved the robustness and growth of its Atlantic salmon, providing a better product for consumers.

Cooke also worked with Kennebec River Biosciences of Richmond, ME, an internationally renowned laboratory, to produce customized vaccines against naturally occurring environmental pathogens, an innovation that can protect fish from disease and avoid antibiotic use. For the last several years, none of the company’s Maine operations have used antibiotics, according to Lambert.

As an avid angler, Lambert hopes for a day when he can work on the revival of endangered wild Atlantic salmon stocks—similar to a project involving his Cooke colleagues across the border in Canada.

“We have a great program in New Brunswick where we are raising wild salmon in pens and releasing them back into the wild prior to spawning.

The results have been tremendous. We’re seeing record numbers of fish in these bodies of water. So we’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to do a restoration project here in the State of Maine to use our skills and our knowledge to help bring back the salmon,” Lambert says.

“And nothing would make me happier than one day being able to go out to the Penobscot River and fish again for salmon.”

He stops a moment to ponder how much aquaculture has changed in Maine since he began his career here.

“If you were at a site 20 years ago, there might be a guy out there by a pen with a scoop flinging food out there. It worked—the fish grew. But now with new technologies, every pen has a camera inside of it and you have techni-

cians on a barge who are operating a feeder. When they see the feeding slow down, they stop feeding.

Food is no longer wasted— every morsel is consumed,” he says.

“This industry has changed a lot since I started in 1999. With everything from sustainability in feed products to selective breeding—we use genetics and DNA of the fish to find the best fish and to move their genetics forward for future generations,” he says.

“Years ago when you were spawning fish, you would just look for the biggest fish you could see.”

Today, Lambert and his colleagues electronically tag a robust sample of stocks which are in turn studied for lineage, disease resistance, survival rates, and more. While these fish do not go to market, the siblings of those with the best traits are selected for breeding.

“That really has produced a better, faster-growing fish over time. The quicker and more efficient you can produce a product and bring it to market, the better it is for the environment, the less it costs, which in turn corresponds to a lower price for the consumer,” he says.

“We’re also able to differentiate ourselves by being antibiotic-free, by being local, having a small carbon footprint. Salmon aquaculture has an advantage over terrestrial animals – the growth rate and feed ratio are much better than a cow, pig or sheep and chicken,” he says.

“We’re taking what nature has given us and are trying to improve upon it in little steps.”

As Lambert looks to the future, he is excited about the potential for Maine aquaculture to meet increasing demand from consumers for healthy, sustainable food. He notes that about 90 per cent of seafood consumed in the U.S. comes from other countries.

“I think Maine has a great name—people love Maine seafood, Maine lobsters, Maine potatoes, all that good stuff. We are well-positioned to build on the Maine brand. I think Maine salmon is well-respected,” he says.

“I know when I go into my local supermarket, and there is product of Maine and product of wherever, I like to ask the fella at the fish counter what he is selling more of. When he has made-in-Maine fish, it flies off the shelf. That gives me a sense of pride.”

D6 Saturday/Sunday, January 19-20, 2019, Bangor Daily News PHOTO BY LEAH FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY

Freshly harvested Bangs Island mussels.

The changing faces of Maine’s working waterfront COURTESY MAINE AQUACULTURE ASSOCIATION

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he coast of Maine is often romanticized by both locals and by those “from away.” Folks travel from near and far to enjoy a lobster roll on a working dock overlooking a July sunset. A desire to be

close to the ocean often motivates folks to relocate to or stay and work in Maine. Stretching nearly 3,500 miles, Maine’s complex network of islands, tiny inlets, peninsulas, and protected coves and

PHOTO BY LEAH FISHER PHOTOGRAPHY

Matt Moretti of Bangs Island Mussels takes a bite out of some freshly harvested kelp.

harbors have provided nourishment, economic opportunity, and cultural significance to the state for centuries. But beyond the surface of Maine’s quaint seaside, there are many economic, ecological, and social challenges to be faced.

Maine’s ground fishing industries have largely collapsed. Today, Maine’s most prominent fishery is lobstering, which has maintained high landings and provided good jobs to coastal residents for decades. While the lobster fishery has been remarkably well-managed, the state’s reliance on a single species for a majority of its fishing efforts has created a new risk. In the face of changing environmental factors including ocean temperatures, acidification, and pollution, coupled with increasing pressures on the fishery related to rising bait prices and whale protection regulations, many lobstermen are concerned with the fu-

ture of their industry, and future generations.

Maine has the oldest workforce in the country.

It is also challenged to retain and attract young people to live and work in the state. As lawmakers work to create incentives and economic opportunities for young people, a promising industry that has taken root and continued to flourish along the coast may provide one solution. Aquatic farming— formally known as aquaculture—is the practice of cultivating aquatic species for human consumption.

Maine aquaculturists have grown oysters along the Damariscotta River and salmon in the Downeast region since the 1970s.

Aquatic farming has recently experienced steady growth in Maine, with many prospective growers awaiting license approval from the state to start farming different varieties of scallops, seaweed, oysters, clams, and mussels.

The expansion of

Maine’s aquaculture industry is providing more opportunities for young people to live and work on the coast. While the lease application process is thorough, it has become much more feasible to obtain aquaculture leases than lobstering licenses, which are currently under moratorium with waiting periods up to ten years.

Getting young people involved in aquaculture has been a focus of the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, which recently launched a summer internship program for high school seniors at Lincoln Academy. The program offers a week-long class on aquaculture, field trips, and the hands-on experience of working on local aquatic farms. Programs like this can help expose young people to career opportunities they may not have considered, and raise awareness of the benefits of local, sustainable seafood production. Other programs such as Aqua-

culture in Shared Waters and the Aquaculture Business Development Program offered by Maine Sea Grant, Coastal Enterprises Institute, Maine Aquaculture Association, and the Island Institute seek to train traditional fishermen in aquaculture methods to help them diversify their income base while upholding the tradition of Maine’s maritime heritage.

Maine’s coastal communities will continue to weather the storm of everchanging economic and political climates. While aquaculture alone cannot solve many of the challenges faced by the state, it can help to build a more resilient coastal economy.

By supporting Maine’s aquatic farmers, consumers can feel good about not only enjoying some of the freshest and highest-quality seafood in the world, but also ensuring that Maine’s working waterfront continues to thrive in the years to come.

Bangor Daily News, Saturday/Sunday, August 3-4, 2019 D7 PHOTO COURTESY DOWNEAST INSTITUTE

Students and DEI researchers deploy a field experiment in Jonesport, Maine, to examine the survival and growth of clams in the intertidal.

Downeast Institute: Engaging students of all ages in authentic scientific inquiry COURTESY DOWNEAST INSTITUTE

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zra Strout bends over to pry a small plant pot, covered in netting, out of the intertidal mud. He deposits it into a sled where 20 other similarly outfitted plant pots reside. These plant pots are samples from a field experiment at Molly Cove mudflat in Beals, Maine. Deployed as part of the Downeast Institute’s Marine Science Days educational program, these pots, and the student tending them, will provide useable, current data about growth and survival rates of the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria.

“Hey, look what I found!” he exclaims, holding up a small crab by its leg. “A green crab! It was trying to get inside the mesh netting to eat the clams!”

“Great find! Let’s put it in a sample bag and measure it when we get back,” says Colleen Haskell, director of education at the Downeast Institute (DEI), as she opens a plastic bag to place the crab in. “We’ll write up a tag to record where it was found.”

After collection of all the samples, Strout and his classmates at Beals Elementary School will pull the totes to shore and transport them back to DEI’s Education Center. They will process the samples by sieving

them until the mud is washed away. Then they will carefully count and measure each planted clam along with each tiny juvenile clam “recruit” that has settled into the pot during the year. They will also count and measure any clam predators, such as the invasive green crab, Carcinus maenas. Together, this data provides valuable information about the health of the “steamer” clam fishery.

For the past 20 years, researchers and students at DEI have conducted these seemingly simple plant pot experiments. By doing so, DEI has uncovered key facts about one of Maine’s most valuable fisheries.

For example, DEI discovered that hatchery clams planted in the mud form a visible “disturbance” line around the edge of their shells. The disturbance line becomes a natural marker that can be used to determine the growth of the clam from when it was planted to when it was removed from the mud. By conducting these experiments across the coast, DEI found that growth rates of clams differ in each geographic region. Clams in the mid and low intertidal areas of southern Maine grow to a harvestable size of two inches in two to

three years, while clams in the mid and low intertidal areas of eastern Maine require three to five years to reach two inches. In fact, DEI researchers found that clams at the far eastern portion of the state, Cobscook Bay, take seven to eight years in the mid intertidal to reach two inches while clams close to shore may never reach two inches. This information is extremely useful for shellfish managers and clammers, who have to wait until clams are two inches or larger before they can harvest them.

Generating useful information about the marine ecosystem to improve the lives of Mainers is at the core of DEI’s work. Located in the fishing village of Beals, nestled deep in the heart of downeast Maine, DEI is the easternmost marine research laboratory and education center in the United States. Their facility houses Maine’s first and only public shellfish hatchery where research assistants grow up to 10 different commercially important shellfish species for public fisheries stock enhancement, research and development.

The campus serves the University of Maine at Machias as their Marine Sci-

ence Field Station. College students utilize DEI for classes, internships, mentorship, and research projects. Researchers, educators, and students use Maine’s coast and DEI’s state-of-the-art laboratories to pursue solutions to real world questions, often partnering with fishermen, aquaculturists, and seafood companies in these investigations.

DEI engages learners of all ages in authentic scientific inquiry. Its leaders believe that educating the current and future generations of Mainers is key to sustaining and growing the marine economy and ensuring the continuation of Maine’s coastal culture.

“Connecting students with research pertaining to the natural resources that their families and communities depend on ignites an enthusiasm for learning,” said Haskell. “This translates into higher test scores and an understanding of the relevance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to their lives and to their own career aspirations. “ “Our motto is ‘let’s find out.’ As an educator, I explore and learn alongside the students. The people we work with are encouraged to make observations about

the natural world and are empowered to design research projects that answer their own questions.”

DEI continues to work with fishermen, teachers, students, scientists, municipal officials, aquaculturists, seafood dealers and others on research that increases collective understanding of the marine environment.

“Our continuous empha-

sis on using the scientific process to approach and dissect complex problems encourages critical thinking,” said Haskell. “This emphasis ultimately helps increase capacity to address challenges and strengthen Maine communities.”

To learn more about DEI’s education programs, research, shellfish hatchery, or business incubator, visit downeastinstitute.org.

PHOTO COURTESY DOWNEAST INSTITUTE

Clams showing a distinctive disturbance line indicating the size of the clam when it was planted.

DEI scientists use this mark to determine clam growth rates.

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