More than 3,000 skinny sea lion pups have stranded on California beaches this year – apparently starving, according to experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, because coastal waters are unusually warm.
NOAA Fisheries Announces 2015-2017 Small-Mesh Multispecies Catch Limits
May 28, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:
We are implementing the New England Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch limits for northern and southern red hake, northern silver hake, and southern whiting.
This action also:
- Adjusts the northern red hake possession limit downward from 5,000 lb to 3,000 lb at the beginning of the season, and then to 1,500 lb when the fishery reaches 45% of total allowable landings, to prevent overfishing, and
- Corrects the northern red hake accountability measure to address a mathematical error in the previous 2012-2014 specifications.
For more complete information, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register.
Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or email Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.
Ak Sen Murkowski Writes NOAA over recusals of Alaskan delegates on halibut bycatch vote
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton — May 28, 2015 — Sen. Lisa Murkowski sent a letter to NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck protesting the decision to recuse two Alaskan Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
“The recent Recusal Examination for the June 2015 NPFMC decision is particularly troubling. Of the eleven voting members of the NPFMC and the seven members who have been determined to be affected by the decision on BSAI halibut PSC limits, the only two required to recuse themselves from the vote are Mr. David Long and Mr. Simon Kinneen, two Alaskan members. With such an important final decision on the table, this creates an inequity and lack of representation of Alaskan interests. The Council, by nature, is comprised of many stakeholders in the fishery. The recusal of two Alaskans before such an important vote seems to damage the core structure of the process.”
Murkowski then went on to say that under Magnuson national standards, it was important to protect fishing communities, especially a community like St. Paul which has been exclusively dependent on fisheries since the federal government ended the fur seal harvest in the 1970’s.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
Florida fisherman catches 552-pound grouper on kayak
Next time he should bring a bigger boat
A Florida man made a once in a lifetime catch when he reeled in a 552-pound grouper fish May 20 while sitting on a kayak in Sanibel, Fla.
Jon Black, owner of Crazy Lure Bait & Tackle shop in Cape Coral, and Capt. Ben Chancey were filming a spot for the online fishing show “Chew On This”and were trying to land a big catch while on the tiny one person kayak.
Alaska members of council appeal recusals
ALASKA: May 27, 2015 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will spend the first four days of its weeklong meeting in Sitka beginning June 3 deciding on a series of deep cuts in the halibut bycatch allocation for the Bering Sea groundfish bottom-trawl fleet, but it may do so without a majority of the votes on the final decision coming from the Alaska delegation.
The council, which has 11 members with six appointed from Alaska, could hold a final vote without two Alaska members, David Long and Simon Kinneen, unless the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, reconsiders its decision to recommend them for recusal.
The council is considering cuts of up to 50 percent to the current annual bycatch allocation of 7.8 million pounds to the Amendment 80 fleet, a group of about 18 catcher-processor trawlers that harvest flatfish species.
Kinneen and Long were both recommended for recusal from the final vote on May 12 by the council’s designated NOAA General Counsels, Lauren Smoker and John Lepore, in consultation with the Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel, Ethics Law and Programs Division.
Kinneen was recused from the June meeting based on the fishing interests employer, the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp., or NSEDC.
NSEDC is one of six Community Development Quota groups made up of 65 Western Alaska villages that collectively receive 10 percent of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands harvest.
NSEDC also owns subsidiaries that collectively harvest more than 435.6 million pounds, or 10 percent of the groundfish harvest. NSEDC wholly owns Siu Alaska Corp., which partially owns Glacier Fish Co., BSAI Partners LLC, and Glacier Bay Fisheries LLC. Glacier Fish is part owner of Iquique U.S. LLC.
Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce
Vietnamese immigrant raises fresh shrimp in Boston — one indoor vat at a time
BOSTON, Mass. — May 26, 2015 — You might not think of an industrial strip mall in the suburbs of Boston as the place for a shrimp farm. But then you probably haven’t met James Tran, the founder of Sky8 Shrimp Farm in Stoughton, Massachusetts.
In his day job, he designs semiconductors for the technology industry. On nights and weekends, he works on turning out some of the cleanest, freshest, sustainable seafood in Boston.
There’s definitely a market for it. Americans eat more than 500,000 tons of shrimp a year. It’s now the most consumed seafood in America, though the shrimp industry has been plagued by reports of slave labor abroad and the environmental impact of shrimp farming at home and abroad.
I met Tran at his “farm.” It’s a 7,200-square-foot space, about the size of three tennis courts, with a series of aboveground tanks. They’re covered in bright blue tarps that hold filtered seawater and shrimp in different life stages. The tarps keep the water from evaporating, and the translucent shrimp from jumping out.
The Ice Fishermen of Schroon Lake, New York
I know that everyone is getting ready to slip into their flip flops and sandals, but let us all not forget that less than a few months ago, the east coast, New York in particular, was experiencing a pretty brutal winter. I decided that instead of fighting the cold harshness of mother nature, embracing it might be a better approach! That is when I decided to travel up to the beautiful town of Schroon Lake, NY to photograph the annual ice fishing derby.
Changes to halibut sharing a ‘callous, desperate’ ploy for votes, says FFAW
A decision by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to deviate from an established halibut quota sharing arrangement will have a deep impact on fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador, and greatly benefit harvesters in Prince Edward Island, the home province of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, a union leader says.
Keith Sullivan, president of the St. John’s-based Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ union, described the decision as a “callous, calculated and desperate” move by the federal Conservatives to win votes in the Maritime provinces.
“It’s like taking bread from the table of hard-working Newfoundlanders and Labradorians just to buy votes in other parts of Canada,” Sullivan said.
DFO has announced that the total allowable catch (TAC) for Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, known as NAFO Division 4RST, will increase by 20 per cent.
Scientists and NGOs advocate for fisheries management plan in the Strait of Sicily
May 26, 2015 — The conservation organization Oceana and more than 50 scientists have urged the Mediterranean States to establish a management plan in the Strait of Sicily for demersal fisheries, which should be based on the best scientific advice available to help recover overexploited hake and deepwater rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) stocks.
The letter signed by scientists will be released at the 39th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), which began on Monday in Milan.
The contracting parties of the Commission have met throughout the week to identify management measures for the Mediterranean stocks given a complicated picture: 91 per cent of the stocks for which they are responsible are overexploited.
Within the agenda there is a plan for hake and deepwater rose shrimp demersal fisheries in the Strait of Sicily, which are severely overfished. In the case of hake, GFCM scientists have spent almost 30 years warning about the alarming situation of the stock. To this day no measures have been implemented to recover this fishery.
NEW YORK: New fishing regulation questioned
May 26, 2015 — Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. Sort of.
The new fishing regulation that makes it seemingly illegal to so much as take a photo of an out-of-season, out-of-water fish was questioned a couple of weeks ago by Syracuse Post-Standard outdoors writer Dave Figura.
The new regulation, which took effect April 1, is listed on page 52 in the new DEC fishing guide that comes with a fishing license:
“A person may not fish for a species (even if immediately released) during the closed season for that species on a given water. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose, including taking a picture.
“Such action can result in a ticket from an environmental conservation officer and a resulting penalty of a fine of up to $250, and/or 15 days in jail.”
DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino was quoted in Figura’s column: “It’s a ticketable offense. It’s all because of the social media thing and people posing with the fish for pictures. They often spend too much time dilly-dallying and don’t return the fish immediately to the water. This was designed to protect the fish species.”
Read the full story at Press and Sun-Bulletin