December 22, 2020 — The European Union is making a “final push” to strike a Brexit trade deal with Britain, although there are still deep rifts over fishing rights, the bloc’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday.
NEFMC December 2020 Meeting Highlights – EBFM, Habitat, SBRM, Whiting, and More
December 22, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council met December 1-3, 2020 by webinar and covered a wide range of issues. In addition to its actions on scallops, groundfish, and skates, here are a few highlights.
EBFM: The Council reviewed the history of its work on ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) and thoroughly debated its next steps. Following this discussion, the Council voted to keep EBFM on its 2021 list of priorities and to:
- Maintain its current approach toward EBFM; and
- Conduct educational workshops to solicit stakeholder comments, recognizing that the workshops will not be scheduled until in-person gatherings can be held. These workshops will focus on the potential application of EBFM to a Georges Bank Ecosystem Production Unit. The Council has been referring to this as an example Fishery Management Plan for Georges Bank (eFEP).
Seafood groups praise passage of COVID-19 relief package
December 22, 2020 — U.S. seafood organizations are praising Congress’s passage of its Omnibus/COVID-19 relief package. The bill has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and has been sent to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The USD 900 billion (EUR 740 billion) stimulus package includes USD 300 million (EUR 247 million) in additional fisheries assistance and the inclusion of seafood as an eligible use for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food purchases, along with additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Pacific Island Nations Wary of Chinese Fishing Fleets
December 21, 2020 — Long a topic discussed in connection with the South China Sea, illegal Chinese fishing vessels are of increasing concern for Pacific Island nations.
As recently as early this week, the archipelago nation of Palau, east of the Philippines and north of New Guinea, announced that it had intercepted and detained a Chinese fishing vessel and six smaller boats in its territorial waters after it was confirmed the vessel had entered unlawfully and was illegally fishing sea cucumber.
The fishing vessel was apprehended in Helen Reef, Palau’s most southernmost region, by a Guardian-class patrol boat that Australia had delivered to Palau in September.
“They did have sea cucumber on there… it’s estimated about 500 pounds (225 kilograms),” Victor Remengesau, director of Palau’s division of marine law and enforcement, told reporters. “It’s unlawful entry. We may care about COVID and the spread of COVID, but we can’t just let people do whatever they want, and disguise [illegal activity].”
MASSACHUSETTS: Seasonal Ban on Lobstering Aims to Protect Right Whales
December 21, 2020 — With the North Atlantic right whale population at a dangerously low ebb, the state Division of Marine Fisheries is proposing a statewide seasonal ban on lobstering in a last-chance effort to save the critically endangered species from extinction.
Floated by the DMF during public hearings on Dec. 8 and 9, the proposed regulations come in the wake of a report that estimated right whale populations at only 366 marine mammals — down from the 481 estimated in 2011 — and a continued “unusual mortality event” that has seen more than 30 right whale deaths in the past three years.
The dramatic rule changes propose extending the state’s existing Feb. 1 through April 30 lobster trap closure in Cape Cod Bay to all waters under the jurisdiction of the commonwealth, including the Vineyard and Nantucket Sound. Buoyed recreational lobster and crab trap fishing would also be closed. The recreational closure would run from the Tuesday after Columbus Day through the Friday preceding Memorial Day.
MASSACHUSETTS: With sale of Legal Sea Foods, another Boston institution changes hands
December 21, 2020 — If it’s not Roger, is it Legal?
That’s the question as Roger Berkowitz, the chief executive and public face of Legal Sea Foods, is poised to sign off as soon as Monday on the the sale of the restaurant business his family started in 1968 to PPX Hospitality Group, owner of Smith & Wollensky steakhouses and three Boston-area Strega restaurants.
The pending deal is the latest chapter in Legal’s local lore: Roger’s family opening the first Legal Sea Foods restaurant in Cambridge, next to the fish market of the same name his father had opened in 1950. The expansion into Boston, the suburbs, and down the Eastern Seaboard to Florida. The feud between Roger and his brother Marc, after Roger took over as CEO. And the comical ads — some groan-inducing, some not-quite suitable for a family restaurant — with the tagline, “If it isn’t fresh, it isn’t Legal!”
Mine developer to appeal US decision to reject Alaska permit
December 21, 2020 — A mine developer says it will appeal a Trump administration decision denying a permit to build a copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska.
Northern Dynasty Minerals President and CEO Ron Thiessen said in a statement Thursday that the government’s rejection was “without precedent in the long history of responsible resource development in Alaska,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the company a permit in November, saying its plans to develop the mine were against the public’s interest and did not adhere to the Clean Water Act.
The proposed mine would have been built on state-owned land in the Bristol Bay region, near the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery.
Western Pacific leatherback turtle population dwindling
December 21, 2020 — The number of leatherback turtles that feed in Central California waters has declined by 80% during the last two decades, according to new research out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.
“They’re at risk of extinction in the Pacific Ocean,” said Scott Benson, lead study author and marine ecologist with NOAA.
Benson and his coauthors tracked Pacific leatherback turtles using video cameras, satellite and aerial survey data from 1990 through 2017.
Extended: Slow Speed Zone Southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey to Protect Right Whales
December 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
In Effect through January 4
NOAA Fisheries is extending a Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
On December 20, 2020, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s acoustic array noted the presence of right whales southeast of Atlantic City.
Mariners, please go around this area or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.
The SE Atlantic City Slow Zone is in effect through January 4 for waters bounded by:
39 25 N
38 44 N
073 44 W
074 36 W
See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.
ASMFC 2021 Winter Meeting Webinar Preliminary Agenda and Public Comment Guidelines
December 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter Meeting Webinar will be held February 1-4, 2021. Please find attached and below the preliminary agenda and public comment guidelines The preliminary agenda is also available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).
- Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (January 11) will be included in the briefing materials.
- Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, January 26 will be included in the supplemental materials.
- Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, January 29 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.
Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.