Saving Seafood

State and Local

Federal Disaster Relief Funds to Help Maine Groundfish Fleet with Landings Fees

April 30, 2015 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher today announced plans to distribute $640,005 to Maine’s groundfish fleet.  This is the second of three allocations from federal disaster relief money appropriated in response to significant cuts in Gulf of Maine cod quota that led to the declaration of a fishery failure in 2013.
The money will be held by the Department and distributed to Maine groundfish dealers to recover the cost of landings and/or handling fees that will be waived for groundfish vessels.
“We arrived at this approach after extensive input from industry over the past year,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “I have determined that these limited funds are best utilized to ensure that the shoreside infrastructure needed to sustain Maine’s fishing industry now and into the future will see fish coming over the dock, and that Maine fishermen who land their fish in the state are rewarded for helping support that infrastructure.
“When we met with members of the groundfish industry, one of the things they emphasized was the impact of the current quota reductions on the captains and crew, as well as potential impact to parts of the supply chain once the product is landed,” said Commissioner Keliher. “By providing funds that allow dealers to waive these fees, we’re eliminating an expense for Maine’s groundfish vessels which will provide immediate benefit to owners and their crew members who are paid after expenses. Our hope is that this will help to help mitigate revenue losses from further quota reductions set to take effect May 1st.”
The funds are a portion of the $2.3 million allocated to Maine so far from the $75 million allocated by U.S. Congress to help with six fishery disasters, including the disaster declared in 2012 by the Secretary of Commerce declared as a result of significant quota cuts for key New England groundfish stocks.
Of the $75 million, $32.8 million was allocated to the Northeast groundfish industry. The allocation of those funds was negotiated among the state fisheries agency directors and announced in June, 2014.
The agreement split the $32.8 million evenly, allocating a third of the funds to each of three areas. $11 million was paid out as direct aid to permit holders in the northeast who have landed a minimum of 5000 lbs of groundfish stocks in any one fishing year since 2010. In October, 2014, Maine’s fifty-two federal groundfish permit holders received $32,500 each.
Under an agreed-to formula that considered groundfish revenue losses affecting each state in recent years, Maine received approximately $640,005 of the second $11 million. These funds are being used to support the dealer fee rebate program.
“We sincerely appreciate the hard work put in by the states to reach out to fishing families and communities to understand their needs. The state spending plans reflect this outreach and are tailored to stretch limited federal dollars to have maximum local impact,” said John Bullard, Regional Administrator for NOAA.
Another $11 million has been held in reserve as negotiations about its use continue.  The funds were originally considered for seed money for a federal permit buyback or buyout.

Keating, Guinta reintroduce fisheries investment & regulatory relief act

April 29, 2015 — The following was released by the office of Congressman William Keating (MA-9):

Today, Rep. Bill Keating and Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) reintroduced the Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act, a bipartisan bill that would redirect more than $100 million that has already been collected from duties on imported fish products. This legislation would ensure that these existing funds go directly toward research, monitoring and management of our fisheries, while incorporating input from the stakeholders who know this resource best.

“I am proud to join Rep. Guinta in reintroducing this important piece of legislation,” said Rep. Bill Keating, who represents the fishing communities of Southeastern Massachusetts. “Our bill, as we have supported in previous Congresses, is a simple, common-sense step to ensure that fishermen from New Bedford to Provincetown receive the full balance of funds available to them under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act grant program. Just today, I met with fishermen from my district to discuss their priorities for fisheries management. Again and again, I hear that there remains a need for better data. Increased resources invested in scientific research – with direct input from our fishermen – is necessary throughout the industry. As we move forward with this bill and other legislative efforts to support the needs of our fishing industry, I will continue to identify additional opportunities for our fishermen to have a seat at the table.”

“The bipartisan Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act is a crucial step in strengthening New Hampshire’s historical fishing industry during this difficult period in the industry,” said Rep. Guinta. “Granite State fishermen deserve the resources necessary to assist with their jobs, cope with government mandates and increase their revenue. This is one of many of my bipartisan solutions to help alleviate the challenges our state’s fishermen face.”

 

The inexorable rise of the fish farm

April 29, 2015 — In 2050, there will be two billion additional people living on Earth. India will be the largest country in the world, and more people will call Nigeria home than the United States. The average life expectancy for developed nations will be 89, developing nations 81.

These predictions from a 2012 United Nations demographic report on world population growth raise some big questions that could eventually cut across economies, borders, and national politics. But for researchers looking at the world’s food supply, a spike in world population prompts the most essential question of all: How will all these people find enough to eat?

That answer is complicated, said Christophe Béné, who studies food security at CGIAR, an international think tank. It involves much more than simply nutrition and access, touching on everything from climate change to economic demand to pressure on shrinking resources. Traditionally, food policymakers have looked to agriculture and proteins like chicken and beef as solutions, he said.

But earlier this year he compiled research that pointed to another food source that hasn’t been considered as widely: fish.

Read the full story from The Week

Decision reached on closures

April 30, 2015 — Eastern Maine lobstermen and scallopers were relieved to hear that the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) voted last week not to designate a habitat management area in Machias Bay and to close a smaller area off Hancock County than previously had been proposed.

The vote was on Amendment 2 to its Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat document aimed at rebuilding groundfish stocks in federal waters. Maine fishing industry representatives had been concerned that scallop dragging and lobster fishing would be impacted by rules in the amendment.

Read the full story from the Mount Desert Islander

 

State and Federal Agencies Halt Commercial Sardine Fishing off California

April 29, 2015 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

All large-volume commercial sardine fishing in state and federal waters off California has been prohibited as of Tuesday, April 28, 2015. The closing will remain in effect until at least July 2016.

“This may be an end of an era, but fortunately, the tough management decisions were made several years ago,” noted Marci Yaremko, CDFW’s representative to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), and fishery manager for coastal pelagic species, including sardines.

At its April 12 meeting, the Council recommended regulations that prohibit directed commercial fishing for Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) in California, Oregon and Washington for the upcoming fishing season, which would have begun July 1, 2015, and run through June 30, 2016. In light of revised stock biomass information and landings data for the current season, the Council also requested the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) close the fishery in the current season as quickly as possible. This closure takes effect today.

“The stock is in a state of decline, and now is too low to support large-scale fishing,” Yaremko explained. “Industry, government agencies and those looking out for non-consumptive interests have all worked together over the years to develop the harvest control rule we are using today, which defines when enough is enough.”

The Pacific sardine fishery in California was actively managed by the CDFW until 2000, when it was incorporated into the Council’s Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan. Since then, the fishery has been actively co-managed by the Council, NMFS, CDFW and Oregon and Washington’s Fish and Wildlife agencies.

California’s historic sardine fishery began in the early 1900s, peaked in the late 1930s and then declined rapidly in the 1940s. A 20-year moratorium on the directed fishery was implemented in the late 1960s. In the 1990s, increased landings signaled the population’s recovery. Numbers have since dropped again, significantly.

The Pacific sardine fishery continues to be a significant part of California’s economy at times. At the recent fishery’s peak in 2007, 80,000 metric tons (mt) of Pacific sardine was landed resulting in an export value of more than $40 million. The majority of California commercial sardine landings occur in the ports of San Pedro/Terminal Island and Monterey/Moss Landing.

The Pacific sardine resource is assessed annually, and the status information is used by the Council during its annual management and quota setting process. The Council adopted the 2015 stock assessment, including the biomass projection of 96,688 mt, as the best available science. Current harvest control rules prohibit large-volume sardine fishing when the biomass falls below 150,000 mt. The Council recommended a seasonal catch limit that allows for only incidental commercial landings and fish caught as live bait or recreationally during the 2015-16 season.

The decrease in biomass has been attributed, in part, to changes in ocean temperatures, which has been negatively impacting the species’ production. While the estimated population size is relatively low, the stock is not considered to be overfished. The early closure of the 2014-15 fishing season and the prohibition of directed fishing during the 2015-16 season are intended to help prevent the stock from entering an overfished state.

“Hard-working fishermen take pride in the precautionary fishery management that’s been in place for more than a decade,” said Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. “Thankfully the Pacific Fishery Management Council recognized the need to maintain a small harvest of sardines caught incidentally in other coastal pelagic fisheries. A total prohibition on sardine fishing would curtail California’s wetfish industry and seriously harm numerous harbors as well as the state’s fishing economy.”

Pacific sardine is considered to be an important forage fish in the Pacific Ocean ecosystem and is also utilized recreationally and for live bait in small volumes. CDFW protects this resource by being an active participant in this co-management process. CDFW has representatives on the Council’s advisory bodies, works closely with the industry to track Pacific sardine landings in California and runs a sampling program that collects biological information, such as size, sex and age of Pacific sardine and other coastal pelagic species that are landed in California’s ports. These landings and biological data are used by CDFW in monitoring efforts and are also used by NMFS in annual stock assessments.

For more information about Pacific sardine history, research and management in California, please visit CDFW’s Pacific sardine webpage at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/cpshms/.

 

Commercial Fishermen Throughout the US Oppose Gulf States Red Snapper Takeover

April 28, 2015 — The following was released by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance:

Commercial fishermen throughout the United States have stood up and opposed the plan by the Gulf of Mexico state managers to take over red snapper management and eliminate the commercial quota system.

“It’s incredible the response we’ve gotten,” said Buddy Guindon, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance based in Galveston, TX. “From Alaska to Maine, California to South Carolina, our brother and sister commercial fishermen have united around this issue and see it for what it is – a precedent-setting backdoor means by the recreational lobby to reallocate this fishery, undermine federal laws, and take fish away from seafood consumers.”

Red Snapper. Photo courtesy of NOAA

Forty two commercial fishing organizations, representing thousands of commercial fishermen and tens of millions of pounds of commercially important seafood, signed onto a letter drafted by the Shareholders’ Alliance which states “The implications of such a takeover are far-reaching and set a dangerous precedent for our region and others – over 97% of the more than 300,000 million Americans get their access to fish and shellfish by purchasing it in restaurants, grocery stores, and fish markets that we supply. We cannot support this plan in the Gulf because we would not support it at home.”

“This isn’t just a Gulf issue, it has national implications,” said John Pappalardo, CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance based in Chatham, MA. “We stand with the Gulf fishermen and oppose this dangerous plan that will destroy small American ‘mom and pop’ businesses.”

According to an announcement, representatives from the five Gulf States met in a closed-door off-the-books meeting in New Orleans where they developed a plan to take over management of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and eliminate the commercial individual fishing quota (IFQ) system. The management responsibility, currently held by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service, would be turned over to a yet-to-be-developed group called the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority, and would consist of 5 individuals, one from each Gulf State, that propose to operate outside of U.S. federal fisheries laws and sustainability policies. Each Gulf State would be responsible for management of their own waters out to 200 nautical miles, and would be in charge of creating the science and data to use for their management. Funding for this program would be siphoned from existing federal programs.

Read a letter from a group of commercial fishermen who oppose the gulf states red snapper takeover

ASMFC 2015 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 29, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental meeting materials for the Commission’s Spring Meeting have been posted at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2015-spring-meeting for the following Boards (click on “Supplemental Material” following each relevant board header to access information).

Atlantic Herring Section – FMP Review and State Compliance

American Lobster Management Board – Draft Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan for Public Comment

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – FMP Review and State Compliance; Public Comment

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Implementation Status of Addendum IV to Amendment 6

Executive Committee – Consideration of Changes to the Appeal Criteria

ISFMP Policy Board – Commissioner Survey Results and ACFHP Update

ACCSP Executive Committee – Recommendation from ACCSP Operations and Advisory Committees

ACCSP Coordinating Council – Recommendation from ACCSP Operations and Advisory Committees

Tautog Management Board – Public Comment

For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials (with the exception of ACCSP materials) have combined into one PDF –http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/Spring2015/SupplementalCombined.pdf.

As a reminder, Board/Section meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning at 12:45 PM on May 4th, continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be Noon) on May 7th. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast, the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible.

To register for the webinar, please go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4690404819785364481.

 

Cabral seeks $450,000 for SMAST project

DARTMOUTH, Mass. — April 28, 2015 — UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman and officials from the University’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) praised legislators in the House of Representatives Tuesday for their continued commitment to invest in fisheries research to pursue accurate data.

An amendment, filed by Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, would provide $450,000 for the Division of Marine Fisheries in collaboration with UMass Dartmouth to assess the biomass of fish.

“I want to thank Chairman Cabral and his House colleagues who have demonstrated how valuable this funding is to the important collaborative research at SMAST,” said Grossman in a news release. “UMass Dartmouth is fully committed to research that strengthens the scientific basis for fisheries management, which is critical to the social and economic development of the region.”

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times