September 11, 2015 — NEW YORK — Horseshoe crabs are harvested as bait for channeled whelk (conch) and eels, as well as for their blood, which contains a compound considered invaluable for the pharmaceutical industry.
NOAA grants aid programs for two Cape agencies
September 11, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries announced Thursday its annual award of $2.75 million in grants to organizations that respond to and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals and collect data on their health. Two organizations in Massachusetts — both of them on Cape Cod— received grants: the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port and the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay. The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program provides aid to organizations, academic institutions and state agencies in in 16 states that are members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The grants fund recovery and treatment of stranded marine mammals, data collection from living or dead stranded marine mammals and facility upgrades, operational costs and staffing related to those activities.
IFAW received a grant of $97,542 for pinniped entanglement investigation and response in the northeastern United States. The National Marine Life Center received $51,734 to continue a marine mammal parasite lab and $70,041 to support pinniped rehabilitation in northern New England, and enhance data collection and preparedness for emergency events. Pinnipeds include seals, sea lions and walruses.
MASSACHUSETTS: Interim director to lead state’s marine fisheries
September 11, 2015 — The state Marine Fisheries Commission in July rejected the candidate Fish & Game Commissioner George Peterson had put forward to replace Paul Diodati as the director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, but on Thursday, Peterson shifted gears to give the commission what it wanted.
He provided an internal candidate from the current pool of DMF senior staff and the commission gave Peterson a new DMF director to succeed the retired Diodati.
The commission, in a process that required almost no comment and took about five minutes, voted unanimously to appoint longtime DMF staffer David Pierce as the agency’s new director, effective immediately.
Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times
Pew Circulates Cashes Ledge Monument Petition
September 10, 2015 — The Pew Charitable Trusts is circulating a petition calling for President Obama to designate Cashes Ledge and areas of the New England Canyons and Seamounts as National Monuments. Such as designation would permanently close these areas to fishing and other commercial activity, but would also remove them from the current public management process. Several of the areas, most notably Cashes Ledge, are already off-limits to fishermen under existing habitat protections.
The text of the petition is below:
MAKE HISTORY BY ASKING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO CREATE THE FIRST MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!
The “Grand Canyons,” sea mountains, and Cashes Ledge off New England’s coast are national treasures. These precious ecosystems provide refuge for hundreds of species of rare and unique marine wildlife, including whales, seabirds, and long-living cold-water corals. These remote areas are also critical to the health of our ocean fish, which are the lifeblood of Atlantic coastal communities.
Unfortunately, these fragile undersea places are under growing threat of destruction from overfishing and industrial exploitation as the deep ocean becomes more accessible to extraction. Now is the most crucial time to protect New England’s Grand Canyons, sea mountains, and Cashes Ledge—and we need your help!
SEND A MESSAGE. OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT IS NEEDED TO CONVINCE THE ADMINISTRATION TO FULLY PROTEC THESE SPECIAL PLACES FOREVER!
Read Saving Seafood’s previous coverage of the issue:
A Simple Map Shows Cashes Ledge Habitat is Already Protected
MASSACHUSETTS: Whale Advocates Seek Commercial Fishing Gear Ban
September 10, 2015 — Environmental activists want voters to ban commercial fishing nets and gear in state waters to prevent entanglements of whales and turtles, but fishermen and even some animal welfare groups say the move would be ineffective while devastating the struggling fishing industry.
The effort is being led by Max Strahan, an activist known in environmental circles as the “Prince of Whales” for sometimes radical campaigns to protect the North Atlantic right whale, one of the planet’s most endangered species.
Strahan’s proposal, which cleared an initial hurdle two weeks ago when it was certified for the fall 2016 ballot by Attorney General Maura Healey, seeks to create a committee to implement a ban on commercial fishing nets and gear known to hurt or kill whales, turtles and other marine life.
Industry Looks to Future on Final Day of World Seafood Congress
September 10, 2015 — On its final day, the congress’ program focused on the future, with keynote speaker Chris Grieve, executive director at Meridian Prime, opening the session by looking closely at the opportunities and challenges facing the industry in the 21st century. Chris also examined the need for skills and training to help ensure sustainable practices are implemented as the industry moves forward.
This forward-looking theme was continued throughout the day, with a number of sessions on sustainability, future product opportunities and the developments taking place among international fisheries.
Read the full story at The Fish Site
By the numbers: Sandy sunk New Jersey fishing
September 6, 2015 — The fishing sector in New Jersey suffered nearly $300 million in estimated damages and lost earnings as a result of superstorm Sandy, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The report — Social and Economic Impacts of Hurricane/Post Tropical Cyclone Sandy on the Commercial and Recreational Fishing Industries: New York and New Jersey One Year Later — shows that the 3,100 fishing-related businesses in New Jersey provided 21,900 jobs and generated $342 million in 2014, with most of that labor and economic impact emanating from the Jersey Shore.
What To Do If You Catch a Sturgeon
September 10, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons are protected species. If you accidentally catch a sturgeon, keep the fish in the water and remove the hooks. If the hooks are in too deep, cut the line. If you need to remove the fish from the water in order to do this, use wet hands or a wet rag to support the belly. Always support the fish in the water until it is able to swim away on its own.
To receive a free sturgeon tackle box sticker that tells you what to do if you catch a sturgeon or for other questions about these fish, please call 978-281-9328 or email Edith Carson at edith.carson@noaa.gov. Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons are protected species. If you accidentally catch a sturgeon, keep the fish in the water and remove the hooks. If the hooks are in too deep, cut the line. If you need to remove the fish from the water in order to do this, use wet hands or a wet rag to support the belly. Always support the fish in the water until it is able to swim away on its own.
For commercial fishermen, we have a downloadable page on Atlantic sturgeon resuscitation.
Find out more about these ancient fish on our Atlantic Sturgeon Recovery Plan web pages.
MASSACHUSETTS: Warring plans delay awarding of fish aid
September 10, 2015 — The consensus toward developing a plan to distribute the approximately $6 million remaining in federal groundfish disaster aid seems to have degenerated into a contentious melee and now local stakeholders anxiously await the decision by the state Division of Marine Fisheries on which Massachusetts fishermen will qualify for assistance.
“I think we should hear something pretty soon,” Jackie Odell, the executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said Wednesday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s as soon as the end of this week.”
The process for formulating a distribution plan turned ugly at a two-hour Friday afternoon meeting in New Bedford, according to several people who participated, with different Bay State fishing regions — and fishermen of different species — pitted against each other in their respective efforts to influence DMF’s final spending plan. The meeting had been expected to end with a decision on what plan to forward to DMF.
“When I left that call, I was feeling very frustrated and very upset,” said Gloucester Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano, who participated via conference call. “It was very unfortunate. We shouldn’t be pitting one fisherman against another. It shouldn’t be Gloucester versus the Cape or the Cape versus New Bedford. That doesn’t move the industry forward at all.”
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times
The Aging Oyster And Clam Hatchery That’s Behind A Multimillion-Dollar Industry
September 7, 2015 — As traditional fish stocks in New England continue to decline and the industry endures greater restrictions, fishermen have been creating a new line of work: They are becoming farmers — shellfish farmers.
The cultivation of oysters and clams has become big business in Massachusetts, especially on Cape Cod, but the one source for the state’s $25 million aquaculture industry almost shut its doors.
From Oyster Seeds The Size Of ‘Pepper,’ A Family Business Grew
Myron Taylor is out on Wellfleet Harbor. He’s 74 and has been been raising clams and oysters here since he was a kid.
“And back in the old time when we had to pick up all the oysters seeds on the beach, in order to get them to grow, and it took about four years to get an oyster to grow,” he says.
Those wild oyster seeds Taylor picked up off the beach years ago were juvenile oysters and clams that he would plant in nearby waters. But that traditional method for growing shellfish was very slow and often did not yield much product. So like most fishermen on the Cape, Taylor caught cod, flounder and other groundfish to earn a living.
In the late 1980s, when those stocks became scarce, Taylor turned to lobstering. It was around that time he heard about some scientists in Dennis who were harvesting tiny clam seeds and selling them to fishermen to grow.
Read the full story and listen to the audio at WBUR