F R O M   T H E   C R O W E ’ S   N E S T

An Industry in Crisis



The fishing industry is in crisis. As one industry advocate in Maine notes, without a definitive end to the pandemic, the losses to fishermen and their families and communities are just beginning. In Maine, 70 percent to 80 percent of seafood is eaten in restaurants, an industry that has taken a devastating hit during the pandemic. Prices haven fallen significantly and processors are unloading product at losses. A $20 million allocation of aid to Maine from the federal government is expected to barely make a dent. Industry stakeholders in Maine have joined a national plea to the federal government to increase aid.

Add to that other emergencies, including legal wranglings around the lobster industry’s alleged impact on the North Atlantic right whale; ever-increasing ocean temperatures, which were historically hot in April; and the effects of ocean acidification.

The good news includes the many interests – fishermen, managers, scientists – who work constantly to navigate these choppy waters and find safe harbors. That includes studies to track oceanographic conditions and their effects on marine life and ecosystem health; new ways to manage marine life as essential players in a complex ecosystem rather than as single species; and potential opportunities presented by “exotic” species arriving off the Maine coast.

Read all about these and other topics in this issue of Fishermen’s Voice.