In the News | September 2025

Gulf of Maine Buoys Stay, For Now

The U.S. Coast Guard will delay a plan to remove hundreds of navigational buoys from New England waters, following pushback from mariners and federal and state lawmakers in Maine. The proposal called for the removal of nearly 150 buoys in the Gulf of Maine. More than 3,000 people commented on the proposal, including harbormasters, ferry operators and fishermen who rely on the buoys, particularly at night or in poor weather. Maine Senators Angus King and Susan Collins joined other senators from New England in asking the Coast Guard to delay the plan. The Coast Guard said it will issue a revised proposal this fall; the public will have two months to comment.

RI PBS photo.

Maine Representative Urges Regulatory Moratorium Extension

Maine Rep. Jared Golden and a coalition of Maine fishing organizations urged Congress to extend a right whale regulatory moratorium for another ten years. The moratorium went into place at the end of 2022 as part of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act, stating that until the end of 2028, the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries were in compliance with applicable federal law and prohibiting the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from implementing new regulations designed to protect North Atlantic right whales. Rep. Golden and others argue that the moratorium should be extended until 2035.

Bluefin Tuna Prey Changing

Bluefin tuna, a commercially valued fish in Maine and other New England states, have changed their diet. Sammi Nadeau, manager at the University of Maine’s Pelagic Fisheries Lab, conducted a study recently published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series on the bluefin tuna’s diet. Researchers observed a large shift away from herring towards menhaden, another fatty pelagic fish. Additionally, they found that Northern shortfin squid were among the primary prey species tuna consumed in 2018 and 2019.

Offshore Surveys Begin in October

The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and partners including the University of Maine, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute will be conducting offshore surveys of the Maine Research Array Wind Energy Area from October 1 through December 31. These surveys are likely to include active acoustic surveys, plankton and larval lobster surveys, deployment of a passive acoustic receiver, deployment of acoustic telemetry receivers, and tagging of highly migratory species. It is not anticipated that DMR will have to ask for gear to be moved. Casey Yanos is the contact for the survey work and for lost gear. He may be reached at (207) 350-7165, casey.yanos@maine.gov. 

Long Distance Lobster Caught Off Provincetown

Heather Koopman, a senior research scientist at the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station, documented a female lobster who travelled from Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick down to Massachusetts. Koopman has worked at the station for over 30 years and conducts a project tagging female lobsters caught around the island to track their movement. Since the project started in 2019, about 6,600 lobsters have been tagged. Koopman has received reports back on about 23%. In August she got a text message from a Massachusetts fisherman Mike O’Brien with GPS coordinates that placed the tagged lobster just off Provincetown. The distance from Grand Manan to Provincetown is roughly 220 nautical miles.

Grand Manan tagged lobsters.

Raffle to Benefit Carter's Wharf

Maine artist Susan Bartlett Rice has been commissioned to create two murals for the Carter’s Wharf buying station on Atlantic Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. Rice’s two original paintings, the basis of the murals, will be raffled to raise funds for the Carter’s Wharf rebuilding project.

Carter’s Wharf is one of the few remaining commercial working wharves in the Boothbay Harbor region. In 2019 the wharf was donated to the Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation, a local nonprofit organization. In the fall of 2024, reconstruction of the pier was started. Construction of the new buying station building is scheduled to start in September 2025. The final phase of the project is a marina, which will provide dockage for commercial fishermen.

The two paintings are entitled “Generations” and “Futures.” Anyone who makes a minimum donation of $44 will be entered into the raffle. Donors who contribute $500 or more will receive an 8.5” X 15” print of “Generations.” Donations must be received by September 30th to be eligible for the raffle and free print. Donations can be made online at www.boothbayregionmaritimefoundation.org/carters-wharf or mailed to PO Box 285, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.