Saving Seafood

Enforcement

Protect the North Atlantic right whales: are you ready for the deadline?

April 22, 2022 — Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishermen have until May 1, 2022, to make the necessary gear modifications to help protect North Atlantic right whales. Are you ready?

Announced last fall, the final rule to implement new measures to protect North Atlantic right whales is fast approaching. As compliance assistance is in place to support fishermen changing gear to protect right whales, the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic regional administrator Michael Pentony says “these regulations are critical to protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale and keeping this valuable and important fishery open for business.”

In a “leadership message” April 20, Michael Pentony said “most participants in the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishery are nearly finished with the needed gear modifications and ready for the deadline. However, unanticipated supply chain delays are preventing some of the fleet from fully coming into compliance.”

“I want to assure fishermen who are making good faith efforts to comply with these new measures but are not able to procure compliant gear that we understand the difficulty of their situation,” Pentony added. “We are working closely with our state and federal enforcement partners to implement a graduated enforcement effort that will focus on compliance assistance rather than civil penalties until we have determined that localized supply chain issues have been sufficiently resolved.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA acknowledges shortage of gear to protect whales

April 22, 2022 — The federal government is acknowledging that supply chain issues will prevent all lobstermen from having gear needed to protect North Atlantic right whales before a May 1 deadline.

The rules will still go into effect on that date, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” until supply problems are resolved.

“I want to assure fishermen who are making good faith efforts to comply with these new measures but are not able to procure compliant gear that we understand the difficulty of their situation,” wrote Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries’ Gloucester-based Greater Atlantic regional administrator, in a letter.

“We are working closely with our state and federal enforcement partners to implement a graduated enforcement effort that will focus on compliance assistance rather than civil penalties until we have determined that localized supply chain issues have been sufficiently resolved,” he continued.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA delays enforcement of new lobster gear rules aimed at protecting right whales

April 21, 2022 — Enforcement of the new lobster gear regulations aimed at protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale will be delayed because supply chain issues have made it too difficult for lobstermen to comply.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday that it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” from when the rules take effect on May 1 until the supply issues have been resolved.

The regulations require lobstermen to splice NOAA-approved weak rope or weak plastic links into the lines they use to connect buoys to traps on the ocean floor. But the approved gear has been in short supply as manufacturers struggle to produce enough to outfit the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishing fleets. The regulations are intended to prevent whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear, which can result in injuries and death. There are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales, according to NOAA.

“MLA is relieved that NOAA has finally listened to lobstermen, the state, and our congressional delegation, that despite lobstermen’s best efforts, lobstermen are unable to meet the deadline,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “Some have complied and had products recalled, others have complied and had devices fail, and many more have not been able to secure the materials they need.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA agrees to ‘graduated enforcement’ of new lobster gear rules

April 20, 2022 — Federal officials are giving Maine lobster fisheries more time to purchase new, environmentally friendly fishing gear, after hearing from Gov. Janet Mills and Maine’s congressional delegation.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday it would still require lobstermen and women to upgrade their gear, but would “implement a graduated enforcement effort” for those who can show they are genuinely trying to meet the May 1 deadline.

The new requirements call for gear with weaker rope lines, which are less likely to entangle whales. Mills, together with U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, petitioned NOAA to recognize that supply chain delays are making it difficult for Maine’s lobster fishing fleets to meet the deadline.

Read the full story at Spectrum News

US files 1st USMCA environment case on Mexico over porpoise

February 11, 2022 — The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed the first environmental complaint against Mexico Thursday for failing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.

The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.

Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that “USTR is committed to protecting the environment and is requesting this consultation to ensure Mexico lives up to its USMCA environment commitments,” adding “We look forward to working with Mexico to address these issues.”

Read the full story at AP News

U.S. blocks Mexican fishermen from ports, cites years of illegal fishing in U.S. waters

February 9, 2022 — Along the U.S.-Mexico maritime border, the incursions occur almost daily. The boats are outfitted with small outboard motors, powerful enough to flee pursuing Border Patrol and Coast Guard vessels.

The Mexican skiffs are loaded not with drugs or migrants, but with red snapper, sea turtles and sharks.

U.S. officials say the threat posed by Mexican fishermen casting their nets illegally in U.S. waters has grown so acute that for the first time in years, they’ve banned Mexican fishing vessels from entering U.S. ports.

“These vessels … will be denied port access and services,” said Lauren Gaches, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She said the sanction was being applied in response to Mexico’s “continued failure to combat unauthorized fishing activities by small hulled vessels in U.S. waters.” It took effect Monday.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Maine fishermen charged with not reporting Atlantic herring catch to feds

January 31, 2022 — Five Maine fishermen and one fisherman from New Hampshire have been charged by federal investigators with catching and selling millions of pounds of unreported Atlantic herring.

Glenn Robbins, 75, of Eliot; Neil Herrick, 46, of Rockland; Andrew Banow, 35, of Rockport; Stephen Little, 56, of Warren; Jason Parent, 49, of Owls Head; Ethan Chase, 44, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were indicted Thursday on 35 counts of conspiracy, fraud and falsifying fishing records, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. Also indicted was Western Sea, Inc., the business that owns the Rockland-based vessel used to catch the fish.

The six men are accused of making more than 80 fishing trips for herring in the Gulf of Maine on the vessel Western Sea between June of 2016 and September of 2019, and not reporting their catch to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is tasked with maintaining accurate fishing records in order to set policies to sustain fisheries.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

USCG, Canadian Coast Guard Target IUU Fishing in North Pacific

November 5, 2021 — The U.S. Coast Guard has wrapped up a joint patrol with Canadian, South Korean and Japanese fisheries officials to target illegal fishing operations in the North Pacific. The operation was hosted by the US Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, and it included the deployment of a Fisheries and Oceans Canada aircraft patrol based in Japan.

The boarding and inspections teams found prohibited fishing gear; failure to maintain records of catch; improper vessel markings; and illegal retention of salmon. Overall, the operation detected 42 violations of regional fisheries management organization rules, including 25 serious violations. These will be reported to the vessels’ flag states, which could potentially choose to exercise the option to take enforcement action.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive