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WholeFuckinFoods t1_ixhzc0n wrote

Well, we’ve never sold live lobster in the years I’ve worked there, but try telling that to the people who are calling us to complain, excoriate, and avail us of their decision to never shop at WFM again. Somehow people seem to be operating under the illusion that we had a tank full of live lobster that we took out back yesterday, emptied out in the parking lot, and poked em’ with sticks saying “the wharves are thataway. Giddyup.”.

I believe we’re still carrying frozen lobster, which says “product of Maine”. Does this mean the lobsters themselves are from Maine, or that it was processed in Maine, or just packaged in Maine? Unknown.

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mymaineaccount46 t1_ixi5xe5 wrote

It's very wholesome to return them to their natural parking lot habitat. Nature is really healing.

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grc207 t1_ixixfys wrote

How dare you get in the way of our daily outrage?

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pleatedmeat t1_ixkmx0e wrote

It means the lobsters were processed in Maine. Unless contracts have changed since I changed from working for a lobster processor to a fish place (very possible) they were likely processed in Prospect Harbor, ME but the lobster itself would be either caught by Maine or Canadian (NB) boats.

It's likely that you'll have frozen lobster for a bit. MSC is allowing people to pack under certification until Dec 15th, buy then the processor will have enough in the freezer to fulfill WFM orders probably until summer rolls around again. WFM lobster is treated differently than non-WFM designated and packed lobster in that it was electrocuted prior to slaughter while its not standard to do that for any other customer.

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ShortUSA t1_ixl10k4 wrote

The residence of the lobsters is very important. When lobstermen remove them from traps they're required to check the lobsters' government issued ID.

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Soccermom233 t1_ixlzq3t wrote

This one's Canadian and he doesn't have a Seafood Visa

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ShortUSA t1_ixm1t6l wrote

Bastard! Steeling jobs, getting free stuff, theiving and raping! Send him home!

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Bywater t1_ixhz3na wrote

It's like the meme, "tHE MarKet WilL deCiDe!" followed immediately by, "No, not like that!"

Folks hating on the MSC are just dumb, I remember when they hit the scene after they overfished the grand banks in the early 90's. There is a reason that they exist and that is mostly that capitalism doesn't give a fuck about anything but that next quarters increase in profit. I go back and forth on the whales, but am back in the whales camp due to the garbage arguments they lobster industry is raising. This whole "we have never found one dead in lines" is fucking nonsense, everyone who has ever pulled knows that entanglements drowned them, you are never going to see them and that 80% of those that are still alive that they study show wounds from getting bound up in tac.

They should have come right out of the gate making the argument about Canadian fishers (who also are for sure fucking them up) and pushing for some kind of joint solution to give them a chance. Instead they leaned into right wing politics and are calling people "woke" for caring about the whales. Welp, guilty I do care, so fuck you running Bub. A smart feller would be coming up with that next hustle now before the pinch.

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OniExpress t1_ixik6op wrote

> I go back and forth on the whales

Same, but regardless I'm fine seeing this all happen because we're practically sterilizing the ocean and any little improvement is better than nothing. The global fishing industry isn't going to stop itaelf.

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BraskysAnSOB t1_ixjajbl wrote

Lobstermen have done everything that’s been asked of them to protect the whales. Weak links in the line, break aways at the buoy, stopped using float rope, and use gear markers.

You’re saying they should be shut down because you think that right whales are being killed in their gear. You can’t prove it, but you just assume. They float when they die, literally how they got the name. So where are all the ones you claim are dying? Is that how you want other laws to be written?

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Bywater t1_ixjmoa4 wrote

> They float when they die

Marine life bound with fishing lines to the point they can not struggle to the surface to breath obviously do not. Fuck me, that doesn't make even the first pass of critical thought, how can you repeat that line of garbage without realizing how dumb you sound?

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BraskysAnSOB t1_ixjru39 wrote

You missed the part about weak links in the line. What gear will be hanging off a whale? You have no comprehension of the subject you’re spouting off about. Do more research and come back with facts.

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Bywater t1_ixjtpr7 wrote

Because my research is as good as the experts who do the shit for a living? Or that I should trust some lobsterman or crabber whose fixed lines is actually killing them?

I swear this is the biggest problem with society these days, you give any fuckwit the internet and they can for sure find some asshole shouting out some shit they want to be true so they take that, call it "research" and we are all the worse off for it.

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West_Ad_8279 t1_ixli1nn wrote

You’re one of the reasons this world is going to shi*

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pab_guy t1_ixj9e34 wrote

Unfortunately they are using an axe rather than scalpel here. There are plenty of areas that practically never see right whales, like Penobscot bay, and no distinction is being made.

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eLearningChris t1_ixm5qpm wrote

And of course, once the lobstermen have been cleared out the construction begins on the offshore wind in the very areas they are saying need to be free of human activity in the water column. Now don't get me wrong I want both lobster and offshore wind but I'm finding it all curiously convenient time-wise. I suspect there is something fishy going on.

0

King_O_Walpole t1_ixi34jl wrote

Your opinion is bullshit.

The lobsterman are scapegoats/low hanging fruit so the government can “appear” to actually be doing something.

Where are all the new regulations on cargo/oil ships that strike and kill the most whales?

Lobstering has minimal impact on right whales, that is a proven fact.

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Bywater t1_ixi7dg5 wrote

You can find countless pictures of them swimming around covered in gear, all most all of those they track show injury's from entanglement, so your "low hanging fruit" is clearly more than just a scapegoat. The regulations to protect them from strikes is right here, but hey, don't let what is actually going on get in the way of your "Proven fact" provided by the lobster industry...

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Engineering_is_life t1_ixifprh wrote

Whenever I see a picture of a tangled up whale it's never Maine lobster gear, it's usually Canadian crab fishing gear.

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Bywater t1_ixigeup wrote

>Where are all the new regulations on cargo/oil ships that strike and kill the most whales?

I was answering the question King asked. I agree, it does look like snow crab gear, which is why I suggested a more joint approach to solve the problem. Instead the fuckwits went with "Fixed lines don't drown whales in Maine!" which is clearly some bullshit. They get bound up and either tear themselves up breaking free or end up a whalefall.

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Engineering_is_life t1_ixijqwe wrote

Then why are Maine lobstermen supposed to take the fall on this?

Maine lobstermen operate in the Gulf of Maine, not Georges Bank. Right whales migrate through Georges Bank and not the Gulf of Maine. There's little to no interaction between them.

Only the fishing gear that's present in Georges Bank is harming the whales, and it's all Canadian. Give them shit, not Mainers.

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Bywater t1_iximoyd wrote

They absolutely migrate through the Gulf, how much is still in question but back before they were hunted almost to extinction they were present.

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Engineering_is_life t1_ixiou0u wrote

That paper you linked doesn't say anything about finding right whales in the Gulf. It just says they're going to use passive acoustic sensors to listen for them. If anything it'll probably prove how rare it is.

You can look at the interactive map on whalemap.orgwhalemap.org and see just how uncommon it is for Right whales to enter the Gulf.

And why would they? It's far out of their way to come out of the Gulf of st Lawrence, loop around nova Scotia and come back up into the Gulf of Maine, then swim down and around to Nantucket sound. Georges Bank on the other hand is directly along their route. So that's where the damage is done

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Bywater t1_ixjnbk1 wrote

>That paper you linked doesn't say anything about finding right whales in the Gulf.

The literal title of the link was "Listening for Right Whales in the Gulf of Maine" so if you are not even going to question your own bullshit enough to even read the title, I will just leave you to it. Also they follow food as they migrate, not a GPS for fucks sakes.

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ServiceMX t1_ixjsgpx wrote

"Listening for Right Whales in the Gulf of Maine" is not the same as "Hearing Right Whales in the Gulf of Maine"

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eLearningChris t1_ixm6x1r wrote

I hate to be a conspiracy guy but I wonder how much of this is a distraction from the damage about to be done by the offshore wind. Now don't get me wrong I think we need offshore wind and think the environmental damage is a reasonable price to pay. But I'm frustrated by the lack of honesty with the whole situation.

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eLearningChris t1_ixm77si wrote

And Maine lobster gear needs to be marked with identification that can trace it back to the lobster boat. So if there were ever a whale that was killed by Maine lobster gear they would be able to ID the boat in question. This is why when anyone says they have evidence I tend to want to ask for the identification details on the recovered gear.

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West_Ad_8279 t1_ixlhz9i wrote

You were wrong seconds into your post. Entanglements drown them? Do you realize the whales got their name “Right Whale” because they were the right ones to hunt as they would float when dead?

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Bywater t1_ixmi23e wrote

One more fucking time, as this is clearly hard for some of you to understand. When a whale dies of entanglement it is because it is usually because drowns, as I am sure you know they do have to surface to breathe. As they accumulate more and more fixed lines the weight of it makes it impossible to surface as they grow more and more exhausted. When they finally give up the ghost, the weight of all that tac keeps them under. If that whale, with all it's strength and endurance can no manage to surface then the natural tendency for them to "float" on death is sure as fuck not going to be able to. The other way entanglements can kill them is if the wounds caused by the lines become infected.

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svengoalie t1_ixi2opy wrote

So you are enjoying seeing your neighbors get screwed over because some vote Republican. Got it.

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Bywater t1_ixi6cna wrote

Ya, that is just what I said. Hell, even as strawmen go, that shit weak Bub. It's also not what I am putting down, most of my kin is republican as fuck. They don't vote for the GoP anymore for the most part but that whole scene is a shitshow at this point. What I do not enjoy is something as broad as "lets not kill all the whales" lumped in with "lets not frack until the water catches on fire" getting lumped into politics. Straight up as soon as someone labels me a something I am not or uses a popular talking head phrase or better yet a word like communism or socialism incorrectly I have a natural reaction to no longer give a fuck what you have to say.

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bostondotcom OP t1_ixho4ew wrote

From reporter Clara McCourt:

Whole Foods locations will temporarily stop selling Gulf of Maine lobster after the fishery’s certification was suspended last week.

The Marine Stewardship Council says its decision was based on an independent audit of the fishery’s risk to North Atlantic right whales.

“These third-party verifications and ratings are critical to maintaining the integrity of our standards for all wild-caught seafood found in our seafood department,” a Whole Foods spokesperson told NECN. The chain will continue to sell lobster which was bought before the suspension.

“We are closely monitoring this situation and are committed to working with suppliers, fisheries, and environmental advocacy groups as it develops,” the grocery chain said.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/food/2022/11/22/whole-foods-pause-sales-gulf-of-maine-lobster/

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freeportme t1_ixjr5mc wrote

Whole Foods sucks and no Mainers buy lobster there!

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixi3hfi wrote

I am interested to know what the financial impact of this is, can’t be good from a marketing aspect.

Edit: I’m talking about the financial impact on the New England seafood industry, not Whole Foods.

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Wizard_with_a_Pipe t1_ixiadej wrote

There are times when money is not the most important consideration. Capitalism has no conscience.

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixibu4u wrote

Yeah, but this is definitely a case where money is an important consideration lol.

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Bywater t1_ixicv2y wrote

Nah, their whole "brand" is to try and be as environmentally guilt free as possible, that's why folks that shop there don't mind paying more for things.

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixidt2y wrote

I think maybe people are missing what I am saying. WF is doing this to maintain an image, which is, ultimately, about money. All of this is about money and capitalism. I’m interested in what financial impact this has one the New England seafood market. Was WF a large supplier of their product? Does this have minimal impact on the seafood market? What does WF publicly dropping Maine Lobster do for the image and brand of Maine Lobster? What kind of negative impact could it have?

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Bywater t1_ixif2x3 wrote

I agree, whole foods is about money but they market food that is sourced from less fucked up places. Pure speculation, but I don't imagine that it will do shit to the industry on the whole, there will be a market for the stuff abroad if nothing else. However it will absolutely impact the local eateries and pounds as the folks that "summer in Maine" have enough money to give a shit about environmentally sound sourced foods and if they hear about WH not carrying it then they are likely to skip it when they up in summer. And locals either cant afford it, are sick of it or only buy a roll or two a year anyway.

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FreedomXFromme t1_ixil6v1 wrote

They can afford to lose money. Besides…fuck Jeff Bezos. You want to REALLY have a feel good shopping experience that is great for the planet and sticks it to the capitalist pigs? Shop LOCAL. Farmers markets, butchers, your local Maine fish market, etc, etc.

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixipn1l wrote

I’m not talking about WF losing money. I’m talking about the impact on the New England seafood industry.

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[deleted] t1_ixk1cts wrote

People’s reading comprehension goes out the window anytime they get a chance to bash the one percent.

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FreedomXFromme t1_ixlkm1r wrote

My reading comprehension is just fine.

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[deleted] t1_ixmelwa wrote

Obviously it isn’t. Your response of Fuck Bezos demonstrates that.

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FreedomXFromme t1_ixr0tu2 wrote

Obviously you don’t know me, but your vague intentions of trying to insult my intelligence by interpreting what I wrote and didn’t write is mildly entertaining.

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BOOSH207 t1_ixluz7p wrote

Whole Foods is owned by Amazon. So I refuse to shop there. Once Bezos owned it he started cutting everything for employee benefits. Changed the whole culture of it. I know a couple people that use to work there and left before it got really bad. 10 out of 10 would not recommend to

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Born_in_Maine t1_ixi3a38 wrote

Who shops at Whole Foods? Do they even exist in Maine?

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixi4g1z wrote

There is Whole Foods in Portland, but this isn’t just local. Any product that contains New England seafood, which would include anything frozen and shipped, anything prepackaged, etc. I don’t know how many products Whole Foods carries that contains New England seafood, but I would imagine there’s a supply chain of seafood products that ships around the nation. It’d be interesting to know what proportion of that seafood is going to Whole Foods.

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pleatedmeat t1_ixknhqx wrote

Just lobster (specifically Homarus americanus). Not all seafood. Seafood is certified by fishery, not by processing location.

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lucidlilacdream t1_ixln0za wrote

The article says New England seafood.

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pleatedmeat t1_ixlv3ul wrote

It says "this New England-based seafood"... they were just using fancy wording to describe lobster in another line. This only applies to lobster.

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RealMainer t1_ixn8ryr wrote

Oh no! Now where am I going to pay $30 a pound for frozen lobster!?

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Doc_coletti t1_ixhrse3 wrote

Whole Foods has had dumb rules forever. They stopped selling Campari after they replaced beetle juice with artificial dye

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raynedanser t1_ixhy7hc wrote

...... That makes sense. WHOLE foods vs. artificial dye? Seems like a no brainer.

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Doc_coletti t1_ixi78bg wrote

I wasn’t a fan of artifício dye either, but I was also not a fan of cochineal beetle coloring. I was just pisssed they had no suitable substitutes 7 years ago when I needed a Negroni on the fly,

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Soccermom233 t1_ixm009y wrote

This is like when the mayonnaise jar says "gluten free." Seems like a strange marketing grab to me.

Aren't most Maine lobsters exported to China anyway?

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wegerchris t1_ixjjvua wrote

So they will switch to Canadian distributors???

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SnooCats7847 t1_ixkcgc1 wrote

As if the lobstermen didn’t bitch enough<===== spoken by a lobsterman

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Hefty_Musician2402 t1_ixsfljc wrote

I was glad to see Jared golden voting record. I’m a rare blue collar liberal (less rare in Maine I suppose) and I was torn bc the lobstermen all seemed to say liberals are the enemy of lobstering. I noted that Golden and Pingree both voted against the environmentalists trying to infringe on fishing rights. I have to say I would’ve had to vote blue anyways for my own well-being (mom works alongside abortion doctors and I’m a racial minority) but it took the sting away knowing I ain’t hurting the lobstermen as bad as they make it out to be

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respaaaaaj t1_ixi8w2g wrote

That's fucking idiotic. There has never been a Maine lobstering related whale death.

This is just window dressing, taking it out on a small part of the market, a luxury good in most of the world, instead of targeting large scale fishing and transportation that actually is killing whales.

And celebrating this because some lobstermen are Republicans is literally the kind of elitist bullshit that people like Trump and LePage cash in on to play grievance politics when they can't get votes on issues.

−1

Bywater t1_ixieel7 wrote

>That's fucking idiotic.

Look out before that moment of critical thought catches up to you. You do know what happens when a whale dies of entanglement right? It drowns and gets dragged down to the bottom. Lobsterman know this, scientists know this, most people with half a clue know this. The talking point that "there has never been a Maine related death" is so fucking stupid that only the worst of us repeat it. The only time you get entanglement kills washing up is when infection from the horrific line wounds kills them, the rest of them just end up as whalefalls on the bottom somewhere feeding crabs. They track it by how many of those they study are entangled or show wounds from it (80%) and how many go missing every year.

Fixed line traps kill wales, arguing against that in this day and age? Ya, good luck with that Bub.

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respaaaaaj t1_ixim6yc wrote

There is lots of evidence that Maine lobstermen, unlike Canadian ones, have adopted safer gear in large part because Maine has stricter regulations on it than Canada or other US states (looking at you Massholes). This is punishing Mainers for Massholes and Canadians recklessness

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West_Ad_8279 t1_ixlif9r wrote

savemainelobstermen.org here is a site that’ll help straighten out some of your facts

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Bywater t1_ixmhj7s wrote

> savemainelobstermen.org

Because they clearly would have no bias...

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FreedomXFromme t1_ixilzwo wrote

Can you prove that?

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respaaaaaj t1_ixinabu wrote

There's no evidence of a Maine lobster trap ever killing a whale, and the most recent evidence of one injuring a whale is more than a decade ago. Canadian (and for that matter other states with weaker regulations on traps) traps on the other hand there is plenty of evidence of injured and dead whales. You're right of course, you can't prove a negative, but when there isn't evidence of Maine lobster traps harming whales but there is evidence of other states and countries traps doing it, the solution isn't to assume Maine is just as bad as the others and getting lucky, but to look at what Maine is doing that they aren't.

Maine has far stronger whale safety regulations than other states and especially fucking Canada, which are widely if not universally observed, because even if lobstermen don't give a shit about whales, they want the industry to be sustainable.

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eLearningChris t1_ixjxdzu wrote

Yes. Right whales are all tracked. And the council admits their concern is a “potential” risk to the whales. They are also advocating a 10 mile per hour limit on all boats in East Coast waters.

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West_Ad_8279 t1_ixliggx wrote

Right whales are not tracked

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eLearningChris t1_ixm4f2y wrote

http://rwcatalog.neaq.org/#/

Did not mean that they all have radio trackers on them. They are closely monitored as an endangered species. With all of this they have still never actually found a single right whale that has been killed by Maine lobster gear. The actual danger these days is a combination of pollution and ship strikes from larger ships that often go 30+ knots when offshore and actually are tracked via AIS. It will be interesting to see what happens when the 10-knot speed limit eventually passes for most of the US East Coast out to 10 miles.

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SockMan77 t1_ixilfho wrote

The undeline key here is to push out lobsterman and then build giant eyesore windmills! This is a smoke screen and all the baahh baahh sheepal are eating it up. Oh those awful lobster...we should only buy lobster from China because they really care!

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bogberry_pi t1_iximiys wrote

Oh gosh, I forgot about those dang lobster powered power generating plants that will go out of business and leave the windmills to sweep in.

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Zyra00 t1_ixj1jt0 wrote

You didn’t even think of all the sea bald eagles that will die from the windmills you stupid lib

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bogberry_pi t1_ixjxhea wrote

Ah yes, how could I forget about the sea-faring bald eagles, the well-known sign of land for ships heading to the Maine coast... No gulls here, no sir.

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