Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

Alaskan Cod Successfully Passes Third Annual Audit Against RFM Standard

October 12th, 2016 — The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) announced that the Alaska cod fishery successfully completed its third annual surveillance audit against the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification.

Each year, an RFM certified fishery is audited against the standard.  The audit reviews any changes to the fishery’s management structure that occurred since the last time the fishery was audited. The Alaskan cod fishery was originally certified against the RFM standard in April 2013.

These audits verify that any changes to an RFM certified fishery fall within the scheme’s criteria. The surveillance assessment was conducted according to the Global Trust Certification procedures for Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management Certification using the Alaska RFM Standard V1.2 fundamental clauses as the assessment framework.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on a Notice of Availability for Hogfish in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Region

October 11th, 2016 — The following was released by South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: 

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 37).

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to manage hogfish in the South Atlantic as two populations: Georgia through North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida. A population assessment determined that the Florida Keys/East Florida population is undergoing overfishing (rate of removal is too high) and is overfished (population abundance is too low) and, therefore, in need of a rebuilding plan. The overfishing and overfished status of the Georgia/North Carolina population is unknown.

 Actions in Amendment 37 would

  • Modify the management unit for hogfish.
  • Establish a rebuilding plan for the Florida Keys/East Florida population to increase hogfish biomass to sustainable levels.
  • Specify commercial and recreational annual catch limits and accountability measures for the Georgia/North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida populations of hogfish.
  • Modify or establish minimum size limits, commercial trip limits, and recreational bag limits for both populations of hogfish; and establish a recreational fishing season for the Florida Keys/East Florida population.For more information, please see the frequently asked questions section at:
    http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.htmlRequest for Comments
    The comment period on Amendment 37 ends on December 6, 2016. You may obtain electronic copies of Amendment 37 from the NOAA Fisheries web site at
    http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.html or the e-Rulemaking Portal (see Addresses section).

    Addresses
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068, by either of the following methods:

    ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

    1. Go to: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068.
    2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
    3. Enter or attach your comments.

    MAIL: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

    INSTRUCTIONS: Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

    All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on  http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Fishery council says no to river herring and shad plan

October 7, 2016 — A call to put river herring and shad in the same fishery management plan as mackerel, squid and butterfish was voted down by the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council.

Incidental bycatches in ocean trawl fisheries was a main reason behind the consideration, but the council will stick with a plan already in place for dealing with it.

American shad, hickory shad, alewife and blueback herring — a quartet of anadromous fish that are at historic low population levels — often mix with mackerel in the ocean.

They get scooped up incidentally in commercial trawl nets meant for mackerel. The MAMFC said the amount may be substantial enough to negatively impact their populations.

The plan had the support of many sport fishermen, environmental and conservation groups on the Eastern seaboard who said the it would’ve led to more aggressive stewardship on the species.

US Wants to Strengthen Agreement to Ban Arctic Ocean Fishing

October 7, 2016 — The United States is trying to broker an agreement between a host of nations to prohibit unregulated fishing in the international waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Such an agreement would be binding and include more countries than a non-binding agreement that the U.S. entered into with Norway, Denmark, Russia and Canada last year to avoid fishing in the area.

Adm. Robert Papp, the U.S. special representative for the Arctic, said a binding, multinational agreement would prevent fishing in the Arctic high seas before scientists can determine what is sustainable. He said the issue is especially important as Arctic ice melts, making the area more open to potential commercial fishing.

“We don’t want people fishing in there until we have the science of what’s happening,” Papp said. “It’s a pre-emptive effort to be able to sustain fisheries into the future.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

Now that the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii has taken place, what happens next?

October 6th, 2016 — “If all we do is host people from around the world and have a really great conference, then we have missed the opportunity.” So said Charles “Chipper” Wichman, addressing attendees of the Hawaii Conservation Conference at UH-Hilo in August of 2015.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), founded in 1948, has a mission to, “Influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.” Every four years they convene members, delegates and guests to the World Conservation Congress (WCC), most recently held in Jeju, Korea (2012) and Barcelona, Spain (2008). Never before had the United States been a venue for the Congress.

Wichman, National Tropical Botanical Garden President and CEO, curator of the 989-acre Limahuli Preserve on Kauai, not only served on the Host and Program Committees of the WCC, but was largely responsible for the idea of holding the event in Hawaii, where threats to unique eco-systems and biodiversity are on center stage.  Back in 2008, after attending the Barcelona WCC, Maui kalo farmer and educator Penny Levin suggested that the only way to get suitable attention and funding for local conservation needs would be to bring an event of this stature to Hawaii. Dr. Christopher Dunn, then-director of Lyon Arboretum, and Wichman agreed, and began an eight-year odyssey of making the dream a reality.

By all accounts, the 2016 IUCN-WCC, held Sept. 1-10 at Honolulu’s Hawaii Convention Center, was an unprecedented success. More that 10,000 people attended, from more than 190 nations. The extravaganza showcased Hawaii, Pacific and global eco-issues and challenges with dozens of displays, presentations, forums and discussions over the first five days. Then the Congress shifted gears, with five days of deliberations and voting on 85 proposals, from closing domestic markets for elephant ivory trade to securing our future by developing a post-2020 strategy.

A Who’s Who list of conservation luminaries and leaders highlighted the event–Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, Jean Michel Cousteau, E.O. Wilson and more—with President Barack Obama a late no-show after a brief welcome to the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders in a small, private event at the UH East-West Center on Manoa on the eve of the WCC. Expected to address the general assembly at an opening reception at Neal Blaisdell Center the next morning, Obama instead flew to Midway, in the center of the Paphanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) that he expanded just a week earlier by presidential order, making it the world’s largest marine protected area.

Read the full story at Mauitime

How Many Fish Are in the Sea?

October 5, 2016 — A few miles off the coast of Massachusetts, aboard the fishing boat the Miss Emily, chains groaned as they lifted the sodden net out of the water. The multi-hued strands opened, spilling their meager contents onto the deck. “This is definitely a small catch,” said William Hoffman, senior marine biologist with the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries. The scientists and fishermen aboard the boat splashed through the flopping fish, shoveling them onto a conveyor belt and then quickly sorted the catch by species: flounder, hake, sea herring, haddock, lobster.

After sorting the fish, the team tossed them back onto the conveyor belt by species. Hoffman caught each fish as it came off the belt and slid it down the table to his colleague Nick Buchan. Hands protected by thick blue gloves, Buchan grabbed hold of a slippery flounder. He lined its nose up at the end of the electronic measuring board and stamped a small magnet onto the board just where the fish’s tail fin forked. The computer wired to the board blared as it recorded where the magnet landed, locking in the length of the flounder. Buchan seized the fish around its mid-section and tossed it into a nearby orange bucket to be weighed. The whole process took only a few seconds, and Hoffman and Buchan were on to the next fish. 32cm, BEEP. 28cm, BEEP.

The team worked quickly and efficiently, identifying, sexing, sizing, and weighing hundreds upon hundreds of fish. They would repeat this day’s activity multiple times over eight months, in a carefully plotted program to count the diversity of fish in Massachusetts state waters.

Read the full story at The Atlantic

NOAA proposes rule to protect deep sea coral off U.S. Atlantic coast

October 4th, 2016 — The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a new proposed rule last week that would create a new protected area in the Mid-Atlantic region in order to conserve deep-sea coral.

The proposed rule, if finalized, would create the first protected area at the national level under the new deep sea coral provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the primary law governing marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters, first passed in 1976. When the law was reauthorized by Congress in 2006, it was amended to allow for the designation of zones to protect deep-sea corals from damage caused by bottom-tending commercial fishing gear.

The area proposed for protection by NOAA stretches along the continental shelf off the Mid-Atlantic coastline between New York and North Carolina and encompasses all of the area out to the boundary of the U.S.’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (about 230 miles) out to sea. The proposed rule includes an exemption for American lobster and deep-sea red crab pots and traps from the gear prohibition.

John Bullard, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region, said in a statement that 15 deep-sea canyons with a total area of about 24 million acres, which is about the size of Virginia or 20 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park, would be protected by the rule.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which worked with NOAA on the proposed rule, recommended the new protected area be called the “Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection Area” in honor of the late U.S. Senator’s contributions to the development and implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act’s coral protection provision.

The public comment period for the proposed rule lasts until November 1, 2016. Members of the American public can comment online or by mail.

Read the full story at Mongabay 

Will Obama look north for his legacy?

October 3, 2016 — These are the days when a president turns to thoughts of legacy.

As the months tick down on this administration, President Barack Obama has created a marine national monument off New England and last month vastly expanded one near Hawaii.

Alaska interest groups are working to get his attention, too.

Some want him to take bold action in the 49th State before he leaves office, and others are urging him to resist those calls.

A TV ad ran in Washington, D.C., this month that flashed footage of oil tankers bathed in the golden light of a Valdez sunset, an offshore drill rig and Alaska Natives on the tundra.

Its call to action: “Tell the White House to keep the Arctic in the next off shore leasing program. It’s the right thing for Alaska. It’s the right for our nation.”

That’s part of a six-figure ad campaign by a coalition that includes the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, unions and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

They took out a full page ad in the Washington Post, too.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are working just as hard to make sure Obama knows how much they want the Arctic ocean tracts removed from the off-shore leasing plan, due out this fall.

That’s one way the president might choose to leave his mark on the 49th state.

Or he could do something really dramatic, like use his powers under the Antiquities Act to declare a national monument in Alaska, or off its shores.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski dreads a White House announcement like that, which she believes would diminish Alaska’s opportunities.

“We’ve seen some indication that he doesn’t plan on any ocean protection designation,” she said. “But until we’re on the last day of the administration, I’m not going to rest and believe that’s the case.”

Read the full story at KTOO

Lobster fishermen face a monumental problem

October 3, 2016 — NEWPORT, R.I. — The Newport-based fishing vessel Freedom has been Marc Ducharme’s home away from home since it was built in 1984.

And for the better part of those 32 years, Ducharme, the boat’s captain, and his crews of four to five men have spent their time pulling lobster traps from the waters around three underwater canyons near the edge of the continental shelf, about 125 miles southeast of Nantucket. The crew makes 25-30 runs a year — each lasting about a week — to the lucrative lobster grounds formally referred to as the Northeast Canyons on George’s Bank.

Each trip nets them about 6,000 pounds of lobster, Ducharme said Wednesday, standing in the cockpit of the 72-foot-long vessel docked at the Newport state fishing pier.

“I’ve probably spent more time out there in those canyons than I have on land,” Ducharme said, pointing to the fishing area on a nautical chart.

The time he spends in the 25-mile area where his 1,800 lobster pots are located is growing short, and not just because, at 58 years old, Ducharme is nearing retirement from his sea-faring livelihood.

Using executive authority established by the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Barrack Obama on Sept. 15 designated a 4,900-square- mile area the Northeast Canyons and Seamount Marine National Monument. That area includes the sea canyons, where Ducharme plies his trade. The designation will eventually prohibit all commercial fishing there.

In a last-minute compromise, the Obama administration reduced the proposed size of the monument site and granted a seven-year exemption for lobster and red crab fishermen in the monument area.

Even though he is likely to retire before then, Ducharme is not happy about the eventual ban.

“This is exclusively where I fish, because it’s good,” said Ducharme, who added he catches more than 150,000 lobsters a year. “This (area) has been my life. It’s how I earned my living, how I supported my family. I’m more against the way they went about this.”

Read the full story at the Newport Daily News

Changes could come to East Coast monkfish business

September 30, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Interstate fishing regulators are working on a new plan to manage the monkfish fishery on the East Coast.

Monkfish are bottom-dwelling fish that are fished commercially and are a popular menu item in seafood restaurants. The New England Fishery Management Council has initiated a plan to create new fishing specifications for the fish for the next three years.

A spokeswoman says the council’s monkfish committee will work this fall on specifications for the fishery. Rules will be approved in November. The rules could also remain status quo.

Fishermen catch monkfish from Maine to North Carolina, though most are brought ashore in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Journal