In the News | June 2026

Red tide risk low in Gulf of Maine

A low-to-moderate red tide bloom is projected for the Gulf of Maine this spring and summer, continuing the pattern of smaller blooms observed in the region for over a decade. The annual red tide forecast is based on data collected from the toxic algae Alexandrium’s dormant stage, when it exists as seed-like cysts in ocean sediments before growing into the swimming cells that can produce red tide in the spring.

Big Jim returns

In a barn in Belmont, a group of artists are finishing repainting a 40-foot-tall aluminum sign of a smiling fisherman known as Big Jim. Big Jim was part of an advertising campaign in the 1960s to promote Maine sardines.” He was reportedly named after Jim Warren, director of the Maine Sardine Council at the time. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport is leading the $30,000 effort to restore the sign, which will be featured this summer along Main Street in Searsport as part of the Museum’s Sardineland exhibit before returning to Prospect Harbor’s Bold Coast Seafood company property in the fall.

Atlantic tuna find refuge off the Northeast coast

A three-decade study has confirmed that conservation measures in the western Atlantic have turned U.S. and Canadian waters into a critical refuge for Atlantic bluefin tuna, including fish that are born in the heavily fished eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are based on electronic tagging data from 1,720 bluefin tuna tagged between 1996 and 2025, combined with catch records going back to 1950.

Inventors hope new game will be a hit

Gregory Birgfeld and Cindy Wren of Anchor Point Games in Searsport have created a new board game based on lobstering in Penobscot Bay.

Corker is a strategy game currently in play tests. They named the game after “a corker,” an old term that can refer to a great catch. Designed for two to six players, each person must decides how many traps to set and haul, how much bait to use, and when to head to port to sell. The game spans the time from the post-winter hard shell season, through the summer soft shell season, and back to hard shell in the fall.

“A lot of the game play involves tangling ropes, stacking traps improperly, changing weather around the islands, ledges, open ocean. You’re thinking every turn how much risk you’re willing to take on,” said Birgfeld in an interview. The game is available at https://corkerthegame.com.

Maine Halibut Season underway

Photo courtesy of Lukes Lobster.

DMR announced the 2026 halibut season runs May 18 through June 13. Regulations are unchanged from last year. DMR reporting requires commercial halibut license holders to submit weekly trip-level catch reporting. The reporting week begins Sunday at 12:01a.m. (0100 hrs) and ends Saturday at midnight. Electronic reports must be submitted by Monday at midnight.

There are four Mondays in 2026 when commercial harvesters will be required to report by: May 25, June 1, June 8, and June 15. Electronic reporting can be done through the harvester reporting app VESL or Maine LEEDs.

For questions about harvester reporting, including how to report electronically, please contact landings.dmr@maine.gov or call 207.633.9500 (select Option 2 for Landings and then Option 4 for electronic reporting help).

Summer Hauling Schedule Begins

The summer hauling schedule starts June 1.

• No hauling lobster traps ½ hour after sunset to ½ before sunrise from June 1 to October 31.

• No hauling lobster traps on Sundays from June 1 to August 31.