Conservation & Environment

January 9, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA:

It's the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and NOAA Fisheries is celebrating 40 years of protection, conservation, and recovery of our nation's living marine resources under the ESA.

Watch the video from NOAA

January 7, 2014 — On October 1, 2013, a female humpback whale washed up dead on a Long Island beach. Its 20-ton body, discovered by an early-morning surfer, bore signs of trauma. The cause of death, although it's being investigated by the federal government, is no great mystery. According to researchers on the scene, the whale's wounds were consistent with injuries from fishing nets.

Every year, 650,000 whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals are killed or injured by fishing operations around the globe. Most of this harm occurs outside U.S. waters. In the United States, fishermen are taking steps to protect marine mammals from harm, but other countries lag far behind in using similar protections. And, as detailed in a new report from NRDC, these countries illegally export millions of tons of seafood — worth billions of dollars — into the United States. American consumers are unknowingly eating the catch — including lobster, tuna, even fish sticks — that is driving some species of whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals toward extinction.

When fishing gear scoops up, hooks, entangles, or otherwise harms another creature not destined for market, it's called bycatch: an innocuous term for a senseless waste of marine life. Bycatch occurs all over the world's oceans on a massive scale. When I spent time with fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, they told me they would toss back 10 pounds of fish, or more, for every pound of shrimp they caught. Most of this fish is dead or dying when it gets back in the water. Bycatch is more than just waste — for some marine mammals, bycatch is the main reason their species is headed toward extinction.

North American right whales, which rank among the most endangered whales on the planet, are prone to getting tangled in the long ropes of crab and lobster pots, or stuck in nets meant to trap fish like hake and halibut in the North Atlantic. With an estimated 500 individuals left, the untimely loss of even a single whale threatens the survival of the species. Every year, one or two right whales die from encounters with fishing gear. In Maine, lobstermen use special breakaway ropes that can help an entangled whale free itself. Canadian lobstermen, however, are not required to do so. The same whale that escapes a Maine lobsterpot might perish in a Canadian trap set just a few miles away.

Read the full story at the Huffington Post

SEATTLE — January 6, 2013 — A satellite tag attached to one endangered Puget Sound killer whale is yielding some valuable information about the migration of orcas in recent days.

Federal biologists tracking a 22-year-old whale, known as L-87, say he and others have moved moving extensively through the Salish Sea, circling an island in the northern Strait of Georgia and making appearances in Puget Sound and the central Strait of Juan de Fuca.

"It's exciting this time of year because of what are we going to learn," said Brad Hanson, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle.

He said each year of satellite tagging is filling in more gaps about the winter movements of southern resident killer whales, while also raising new questions about why some travel as far south as Northern California and others may not.

Read the full story at The Fresno Bee

 

January 7, 2014, Blocking Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes could require an engineering marvel that rivals the reversal of the Chicago River more than a century ago, according to a new federal study that promises to reignite a fierce debate about the region's waterways.

Among the options outlined Monday by the Army Corps of Engineers to thwart the voracious fish and other invasive species from spreading is permanently separating Lake Michigan from the river and its connected waterways. Such a project would restore the once natural divide between the Great Lakes and rivers southwest of Chicago that drain into the Mississippi River.

Chicago blasted through that hydrological barrier when it dug the Sanitary and Ship Canal and Cal-Sag Channel at the turn of the last century to divert the region's sewage away from its source of drinking water. It also created a shipping link between two of the nation's major trade routes.

Separating the lake and the river again could cost more than $18 billion and take up to 25 years, the Corps' study concluded, making that option the most expensive of the eight studied. Another option, carrying a $15 billion price tag, would allow portions of the Chicago River, Sanitary and Ship Canal and Calumet River to flow into Lake Michigan.

Read the fully story at the Chicago Tribune 

December 30, 2013 — Millions of dollars in federal, state and private money have created a small boom in state-of-the-art, fishway construction projects on many Rhode Island rivers and streams.

Fish ladders are being put in, dams are coming down. And on the coast, in the port of Galilee in Narragansett, fishermen are working with scientists in new ways to come up with river-herring-avoidance programs.

River herring were vital to Native Americans and once supported a large commercial fishery. In 1969, East Coast landings reached 140 million pounds. In 2011, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, 2 million pounds were landed by states without moratoriums – Maine in particular. Since 2006 Rhode Island (along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, and North Carolina) has enforced a moratorium on river-herring harvest to help replenish supply after years of over-fishing.

River herring live in the sea but, like salmon, use rivers and streams for spawning. Each spring many people come to enjoy watching the herring run. The fish, which average 10-12 inches long as adults, have become a symbol of conservation after they nearly disappeared from some local runs. In Rhode Island the major river-herring runs are: Gilbert Stuart, in Narragansett, Nonquit in Tiverton and Buckeye Brook and Gorton Pond, in Warwick.

Read the full story at Providence Business News

December 19, 2013 — The Marine Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization, made it official Thursday and certified the scallop fishing industry in the United States as sustainable.

The certification will allow the 14 member companies of the American Scallop Association to be able to display, for a fee, the blue MSC label on scallops from this fishery and to continue to sell to global customers who require proof of sustainability, according to an association news release.

"This is an American fisheries success story," New Bedford fishing industry attorney John Whiteside said in the release. "This certification is further validation for the efforts of an industry which worked together to progress from the brink of oblivion to prosperity."

Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, chairman of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology and who served as the industry's lead consultant through the three-year review process, said, also in the release, that "The industry deserves this. It's a well-managed fishery. It has come back to sustainable levels. The sort of cooperation offered by the scallop industry doesn't come along every day."

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times 

 

 

December 20, 2013 — The US Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fishery has been certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for sustainable, well-managed fisheries following an independent assessment conducted by Intertek Moody Marine.

The 14 member companies of the American Scallop Association (ASA) participating in the client group are now eligible to display the blue MSC ecolabel on catch from this fishery.

The MSC certificate covers Atlantic sea scallops fished along the US Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina by limited entry federal permits. The fleet comprises all vessels with limited entry permits that direct their fishery for scallops and accounts for 95 per cent of the total US catch of this species.

Scallop fishing in US east coast waters dates back 120 years. Placopecten magellanicus is a large scallop that often reaches 100-150 mm in shell height and is treasured by seafood lovers as one of the tastiest delicacies from the ocean. According to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) data, the US Atlantic sea scallop fishery landed more than 50 million pounds of scallops in 2012 making it the highest value fishery in the United States.

The primary commercial markets are restaurants and retail outlets across the United States and European Union. Scallops are sold as meats either fresh or frozen and are available in many prepared foods. The commercial fishery is conducted year round under National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) management and all vessels shuck the scallops on board.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

December 18, 2013 — The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) representing nine states (including RI) has submitted comments on proposed carbon pollution rules for existing power plants to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of the regional program. Janet Coit, director of the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Marion Gold, commissioner of the RI Office of Energy serve as directors on the regional panel.

The RGGI states have successfully cut carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent since 2005. "RGGI's regional approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important to Rhode Island… We know that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face when it comes to ensuring the health and resilience of our regional waters…" said Janet Coit, DEM Director. The RGGI states are encouraging EPA to view their success as a benchmark for national action.

How GHG emissions and global warming impact our fish

GHG emissions create global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

GHG emissions and the climate change they create can a positive, negative or neutral effect on fish species with different tolerances.

URI Bay temperature studies confirm that the Bay has warmed 2 to 3 degrees depending on time of year in past 45 years, and the effects of climate change can be seen with storms such as hurricane Sandy.

In 2009 professor Jeremy Collie of URI's Graduate School of Oceanography said that the increase in Bay temperature has created "big changes in the food web…" of the Bay. A delay in spring algae bloom that normally occurs in late winter and early spring has been delayed into the summer. As algae starts to die it uses oxygen in the water. Algae blooms combined with poor dissolved oxygen in portions of the Bay from heavy spring rains and in particular in areas that do not get flushed regularly, has led to hypoxia (low water oxygen). Low or no oxygen has led to fewer fish in the area and/or fish kills which have occurred several times in the Bay.

A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) related that rising water temperatures are also helping to drive many of New England's fish populations farther from shore and into deeper water.

In this study NOAA biologists analyzed water temperature trends from North Carolina to the Canadian border off Maine from 1968 to 2007. They then looked at fish survey data collected each spring and assessed where the fish were caught and how abundant they were.

Some fish species experienced a lot of movement while other species exhibited little movement to the north, but rather they moved to deeper waters where temperatures are lower.

Read the full story at the Cranston Herald

December 1, 2013 — Three colors — red, yellow and green — safely direct traffic to prevent car crashes. But for the seafood industry, those colors always seem to clash.

The familiar hues represent the buy or avoid recommendations from Seafood Watch, a consumer-facing sustainable seafood program founded by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The power those colors represent, particularly when they change for a given species or fishery, can create ripples wherever that seafood is sold while invoking emotional responses along the nation’s coastlines where it is harvested.

The latest news from Monterey, Calif., was mostly good: In October, Seafood Watch gave solid marks to a vast majority of the 242 U.S. fishery species it assesses — 95 percent earned either a green (best choice) or yellow (good alternative) rating. Ratings changes for two iconic fisheries, one that went up and one that went down, have suppliers experiencing a range of reactions, from incensed to indifferent.

When asked about any sales bumps due to the upgrade for American red snapper (from red, or avoid, to yellow), Steven Rash says, “Not that I’m aware of.”

The owner of Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, Fla., says the work of state and federal regulators, charged with “maintaining stability and sustainability” in the fishery, means more to him and his business than anything the aquarium could say. American red snapper has long born Seafood Watch’s scarlet letter because of reports of dwindling stocks and ineffective management. However, an individual fishing quota (IFQ) system implemented in 2007 has benefited the Gulf of Mexico population, according to Seafood Watch.

But Rash, like many fishermen and seafood dealers, is skeptical of that assessment, non-governmental agendas and  tactics that “shame” consumers into not buying fish like red snapper.

“U.S. fishermen are probably the most managed in the world,” he adds. While Rash doesn’t gush over IFQs nor the derby-style system that preceded it, he admits regulation is strong and necessary but that compliance often goes unrecognized. Fishermen from other countries, on the other hand, are “fishing Atlantic stocks unregulated. And the one group getting managed [properly] always gets punished.”

Water Street does a brisk red snapper business, selling the fish direct to restaurants and wholesalers across the country; yet none have brought up the new rating. As fishermen tell him and as he tells his customers, “There’s lots and lots of snappers out there.”

Read the full story at Seafood Business

December 19, 2013 — The following was released by the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association:

In an attempt to close a management loophole that threatens the viability of the Northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery, Togue Brawn of Maine Dayboat Scallops, Inc. with the support of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, filed an objection to the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) proposed certification of sustainability for the US Atlantic scallop fishery.  The certification was sought by the American Scallop Association which represents companies and individuals involved with the Limited Access scallop fleet. The Limited Access scallop fleet is responsible for over 95% of northeastern US federal scallop landings, a lucrative fishery worth over $550 million in 2012.

The objection by Brawn, a longtime advocate for the sustainable harvest of Gulf of Maine scallops, was in response to a management loophole which exempts Limited Access permit holders from regulations aimed at rebuilding and protecting the scallop resource in the Gulf of Maine.  Currently the Northern Gulf of Maine scallop management area is governed by a Total Allowable Catch set by a survey of the area, a 200 pound daily possession limit, and a 10.5’ maximum dredge size. Limited Access permit holders are not bound by any of these regulations which could allow for excessive harvest to a slowly rebuilding resource.

The regulations in the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area were established to preserve opportunities for small vessels that would have otherwise lost access to the scallop resource. The conservative possession limit and dredge size restriction are designed to prevent overfishing on the scallop resource as it rebuilds.

An Independent Adjudicator, assigned by the Marine Stewardship Council, dismissed the objection brought by Brawn, citing the fact that Limited Access vessels’ fishing activity in the NGOM is controlled by a limited number of days they can fish, and that the overfishing scenario predicted by Brawn is yet to take place.

“I am very disappointed that the Marine Stewardship Council would certify a fishery that contains no real measures to prevent overfishing in the Northern Gulf of Maine” said Togue Brawn. “This decision deals a significant blow to the integrity and validity of the MSC eco-label.”

“The Gulf of Maine scallop fishery is important to me and to of a lot of Maine fishermen” said Alex Todd, a scallop fishermen from Chebeague Island, Maine, “This decision by the Marine Stewardship Council is putting the future of the scallop fishery in Maine at risk and is incredibly shortsighted.”

This decision is a lost opportunity to enhance the sustainability of the economically important NGOM scallop fishery.

Read the release from the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association here