At the Forum the fishermen and regulators agreed that more research is needed for scientists to better understand the relative health of commercial fish stocks in the Gulf of Maine. Industry officials opined that better marketing is needed to help boost the price and popularity of seafood from Maine.
There was discussion how to promote Maine seafood products. John Hathaway, owner of Shucks Maine Lobster food products company in Richmond, said that if lobstermen want to push up the value of their catch, they need to spend some time and energy finding out what consumers want.
In another seminar, George Parmenter of Hannaford Bros. said the Maine-based supermarket firm is developing standards for verifying that the seafood it sells was harvested with sustainable methods. It is informed that marketing has helped some scallop fishermen find repeat local customers for their catch, but some fishermen suggested that possible stricter regulations are a bigger issue.
It is explained in the seminar that industry officials are trying to organize a stakeholder meeting next month in Portland to discuss how to pursue another scientific assessment that hopefully will generate more scientific data about herring stocks than the most recent assessment. David Ellenton, general manager for Cape Sea Foods in Gloucester, Mass., and a member of NEFMC, said the lobster bait market is the best market for herring. The problem is that lobster industry demand peaks in the latter half of the year, when it is more likely that annual herring catches are getting close to the limit.
