The tag-recapture research, done in collaboration with the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, will improve area-specific growth rate models to inform and assess rotational management strategies and specifically address DMR scallop research priorities.  

If you find a tagged scallop, shuck if legal size, save shells with tag still attached; write down latitude and longitude, date and depth of catch location; call Todd Mihal at Maine DMR (207) 350-7005; get a free hat, an entry into a $100 raffle and information on your scallop. 

For other questions on scallop science and surveys, email Amber.Lisi@maine.gov or phone (207) 350-6004. 

Reporters tackle climate change and lobsters 

PORTLAND — In a rare collaboration between the Portland Press Herald and The Boston Globe, a group of reporters set out a year ago with a simple question: Can Maine’s lobster industry survive as the water gets warmer?  

There was nothing small or simple about the answer, which can be found in a multi-part series titled Lobster Trap, published by both papers last week.  

The Lobster Trap tells the stories of real people trying to find their way in a period of rapid change. The focus is on Vinalhaven, an island community that benefited from the lobster boom of the last decade and has much to lose in the climate-driven bust that some believe has already started. 

To read the series, visit https://tinyurl.com/mwarvrb2. 

Cookbook benefits fishing nonprofit 

BRUNSWICK — Proceeds from a new cookbook will go toward two programs from Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.  

The first program is Fishermen Feeding Mainers, which launched in 2020 and finances local fishermen whose catches are cut and packaged through Maine businesses and distributed to hungry Mainers statewide. The second program is Fishermen Wellness, which promotes the need for more mental health resources for commercial fishermen, gathers data on the subject and removes access barriers. 

The 198-page cookbook includes 48 food and 10 cocktail recipes, crowdsourced from chefs and foodies throughout the state. The cookbook, with an initial printing of 1,500 copies, costs $40. It can be pre-ordered at mainecoastfishermen.org and will soon be available in local bookstores.  

Canada lobster company mislabeled lobsters 

NOVA SCOTIA — A Chinese-owned lobster company in Nova Scotia has been fined $50,000 for illegally shipping American lobsters primarily to China and claiming they came from Canada. 

CBS News reports that Atlantic ChiCan pleaded guilty Thursday in provincial court in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to two counts related to the mislabeling. 

Between May and October 2019, the big holding facility on Cape Sable Island in southwest Nova Scotia imported 63,000 pounds of live lobster from the U.S. and exported it as product of Canada, according to an agreed statement of facts presented in court.  

Atlantic ChiCan lawyer Victor Goldberg said the Chinese owners were unaware of what was going on. Those in charge of the plant have left or were fired, consultants were brought in for spot audits and the company no longer imports U.S. lobster, he told the court. The company pleaded guilty to one charge under the Customs Act and one under the Safe Food for Canadians Act.