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CANADA: Ice expected to delay start to Prince Edward Island, Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishing until at least Sunday

April 29, 2014 — It will likely be at least Sunday before crab boats in Prince Edward Island and around the Gulf get out to set their gear, the president of the P.E.I. Snow Crab Association suggested Monday.

Carter Hutt said fisherman representatives from around the gulf will participate in another conference call with Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials on Wednesday to further evaluate ice and weather conditions.

Hutt said fishermen need at least 72 hours' notice before the season can get underway, but he added participants from the latest conference call are already considering May 4 as the earliest date the season will get underway.

While Hutt is confident all 28 members of the Island snow crab fleet are ready and able to go, he indicated ice in the Shippagan and Caraquet areas of New Brunswick is proving problematic for crab boats there.

The next conference call will evaluate changes in ice conditions.

“Everybody goes or nobody goes,” Hutt said in stressing the fleet will head out when everyone is able to go.

Read the full story at The Guardian

NOAA Economic report shows Commercial Fishery Values dwarf that of recreational sector

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton — April 30, 2014 — NOAA has released ‘Fisheries Economics of the US’ covering the year 2012, and it should be required reading for all in Congress involved in reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act.

The report shows once and for all that in terms of economic value, employment, sales and income, there is simply no comparison between the recreational and commercial sectors.

This fact is particularly important as lobbyists for the recreational sector call for reallocation of US fisheries resources, which would mean taking a broad economically productive asset and putting it in fewer and more private hands.

There is a wealth of specific information in the economic report, but we want to highlight a few facts to put to rest the myth about the value of recreational fisheries.

In terms of sales, the Commercial sector in 2012 represented $140 billion, the recreational sector $58 billion. In terms of value added to the national economy, the commercial sector added nearly $60 billion, vs. about 30 billion for the recreational sector.

In terms of jobs, the commercial industry (producers, processors, distributors, wholesalers and seafood retailers) employed 1.27 million people, while the recreational sector employed 380,000.

But the most striking difference is in where these people are employed. For the recreational fishing impacts, it was building boats and engines that drove the value. This kind of durable equipment represented 82% of employment impacts, 82% of total sales and impacts, and 81% of value added impacts.

This economic power is represented in the funding of the commercial lobby as well. They are primarily funded from engine makers like Evinrude and Yamaha, and from recreational boat manufacturers like Grady White, Mako and others.

To put this another way, the value of the power boat yacht industry is the primary “value” of recreational fishing. It takes just a simple statement on a form to say a $300,000 power boat – used for cruising, parties, and fishing is part of the recreational fishing industry.’

According to NOAA, less than 20% of the jobs in the industry come from guides, boat operators, tackle shops, motel owners etc.

The picture NOAA paints of the commercial sector is totally different. Here, Seafood Retailers generated the largest number of job and value impacts, accounting for 610,000 jobs, and $32 billion in sales. They were followed by the import sector (207,000 jobs), and wholesalers and distributors (57,000 jobs). The remaining jobs were in harvesting and processing.

In short, the economic benefits of the commercial seafood sector penetrate all parts of the US, throughout the entire economy. It is true that a fishermen in Alaska is in fact supporting the jobs of dozens of people throughout the rest of the country.

The other striking thing about recreational employment was how much of it was concentrated in Florida. For example, out of 380,000 jobs in 2012, fully 30% of them are in Florida alone.

If you add the rest of the Gulf States and North Carolina, the proportion of recreational jobs is around 45%, or nearly half the national total.

This report negates the argument that the recreational fishery has a greater or more direct economic impact than the commercial fishery.

The recreational fishery’s value is primarily concentrated in boat manufacturers and equipment makers and it is highly regionally concentrated.

For the commercial industry, the value and jobs created spread throughout the entire country, while for the recreational sector, the jobs and value are concentrated in a few states and industries. Florida is the only state in the country with more jobs attributable to recreational fishing than commercial. In the rest of the 49 states, the commercial industry provides more jobs and value by a wide margin.

This analysis fully supports the purposes of the Magnuson Stevens Act, which is that if the marine resources of the US are to be used to benefit the entire country, than the commercial seafood industry is by far the most effective and democratic way to accomplish that goal.

Notes for Chart: The Value and Sales figures are in 100,000's, ie. the sales is $1.4 billion, while the jobs figures are in thousands; i.e. 1.4 million. Source NOAA Fisheries Economics of the US.

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

In runup to Brussels Show, supply swings influencing EU imports of traditional US seafood items

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS — April 30, 2014 –In the runup to the Brussels Seafood show (now Seafood Expo Global) next week, we looked at what changes were occuring in US seafood exports to Europe this year. Although year to date date is only available through February, it appears that the major driver for changes in US seafood exports has been supply availability.

Through February of this year US salmon, lobster and monkfish exports to the EU market are all up from last year, while scallops, cod and pollock have fallen.

Total salmon shipments have benefited from an improved supply situation and are up 31 percent through February. With the figure also up over 17 percent from 2012 levels, US salmon continues to be an attractive item in the EU market.

Monkfish shipments, another popular item in the EU market have steadily increased since 2012. As of February this year the EU has imported nearly 21 percent more monkfish compared with 2013. This past year, the New England Fishery Management council expanded the trip limits for monkfish, based on improving stocks.

Likewise EU imports of US lobster have grown along with the heavy domestic landings. This year EU imports are up 27 percent from last year and 40 percent from 2012 as prices have come down.

Conversely lower landings and record high prices for US scallops have driven down imports for what is a typically popular item in the EU market. This year US scallop shipments are down over 15 percent from 2013 and 18 percent from two years ago.

And with Barents Sea cod quotas soaring to nearly 1 million tons over the last two years, an EU market flush with supply has moved away from US product. Cod shipments to the EU are down about 18 percent so far this year and 25 percent from two years ago.

As for pollock, EU imports from the US are down about 14.5 percent from last February. The drop this year is in contrast to 2013 where EU imports ticked up 3.6 percent year-over-year through February.

Overall, major US seafood shipments to the EU are trending upwards on improved supplies, namely for lobster and salmon. At the same time, when inventories and prices for other traditional items, like scallops, are unfavorable for EU buyers, US shipments have declined.

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

West Coast plankton being destroyed by ocean acidification ‘decades early’ say scientists

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [SCOM] — April 30, 2014 — The problems of ocean acidity harming the marine food chain and ultimately upending West coast fishery produdtion could be coming much sooner than expected. In a new paper published this week, NOAA scientists have found large scale evidence of severe dissolution of the shells of a major oceanic plankton, called a pteropod.

A NOAA-led research team has found the first evidence that acidity of continental shelf waters off the West Coast is dissolving the shells of tiny free-swimming marine snails, called pteropods, which provide food for pink salmon, mackerel and herring, according to a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Researchers estimate that the percentage of pteropods in this region with dissolving shells due to ocean acidification has doubled in the nearshore habitat since the pre-industrial era and is on track to triple by 2050.

"Our findings are the first evidence that a large fraction of the West Coast pteropod population is being affected by ocean acidification," said Nina Bednarsek, Ph.D., of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, the lead author of the paper.
The research team, which also included scientists from NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Oregon State University, found that the highest percentage of sampled pteropods with dissolving shells were from northern Washington to central California, where 53 percent of pteropods sampled had severely dissolved shells. The ocean's absorption of carbon dioxide emissions is also increasing the level of corrosive waters near the ocean's surface where pteropods live.

"We did not expect to see pteropods being affected to this extent in our coastal region for several decades," said William Peterson, Ph.D., an oceanographer at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and one of the paper's co-authors.

The research documents the movement of corrosive waters onto the continental shelf from April to September during the upwelling season, when winds bring water rich in carbon dioxide up from depths of about 400-600 feet to the surface and onto the continental shelf.

"Acidification of our oceans may impact marine ecosystems in a way that threatens the sustainability of the marine resources we depend on," said Libby Jewett, Director of the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program. "Research on the progression and impacts of ocean acidification is vital to understanding the consequences of using fossil fuels."

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

LOUISIANA: Licensing Bill Moves Forward in State Legislature

April 29, 2014 — A bill that would raise saltwater fees by 136-percent for Louisiana residents overwhelmingly passed the full Louisiana House of Representatives today and is now headed for the Senate Natural Resources Committee, according to the bill’s author.

Rep. Stuart Bishop (R-Lafayette) said House Bill 1082, which would raise the saltwater license fee for Louisiana residents from $5.50 to $13, passed by a vote of 74-17.

“I had no questions on the bill. I didn’t really have any opposition that I had heard of,” Bishop said. “The 17 that voted against it really are generally the people that vote against any fee increase whatsoever.

“That’s just their political ideology, and I completely understand that.”

From here, the bill now heads to the Senate Natural Resources Committee, where it will probably be heard sometime in the next two weeks, he said.

“I still need to go over to the Senate side and visit with the senators and check and see who would like to carry it, but it shouldn’t be an issue,” Bishop said.

Read the full story at the Louisiana Sportsman

NOAA-led researchers discover ocean acidity is dissolving shells of tiny snails off West Coast

April 30, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Researchers estimate that the percentage of pteropods in this region with dissolving shells due to ocean acidification has doubled in the nearshore habitat since the pre-industrial era and is on track to triple by 2050 when coastal waters become 70 percent more corrosive than in the pre-industrial era due to human-caused ocean acidification.

The new research documents the movement of corrosive waters onto the continental shelf from April to September during the upwelling season, when winds bring water rich in carbon dioxide up from depths of about 400-600 feet to the surface and onto the continental shelf.

"Our findings are the first evidence that a large fraction of the West Coast pteropod population is being affected by ocean acidification," said Nina Bednarsek, Ph.D., of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, the lead author of the paper. "Dissolving coastal pteropod shells point to the need to study how acidification may be affecting the larger marine ecosystem. These nearshore waters provide essential habitat to a great diversity of marine species, including many economically important fish that support coastal economies and provide us with food.

The term "ocean acidification" describes the process of ocean water becoming corrosive as a result of absorbing nearly a third of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from human sources. This change in ocean chemistry is affecting marine life, particularly organisms with calcium carbonate skeletons or shells, such as corals, oysters, mussels, and small creatures in the early stages of the food chain such as pteropods. The pteropod is a free-swimming snail found in oceans around the world that grows to a size of about one-eighth to one-half inch.

Read the full press release at NOAA

MASSACHUSETTS: Environmental Police donate confiscated fish to hungry

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — April 29, 2014 — They were "beautiful fish." One hundred pounds of fluke fillets — enough to make 250 meals — donated to the Veterans Transition House on Friday with a surprising but welcome knock at the door.

It was the Massachusetts Environmental Police donating fillets of fish the agency had confiscated earlier in the week.

"They just showed up with it, knocked at the door," Veterans Transition House Chef Melissa Mann said. "They were beautiful fish, those flounder. They are very kind to come here."

Veterans Transition House was just one of four city shelters and food kitchens to receive a donation Friday. The Salvation Army, Missionaries of Charity and Market Ministries also received 100 pounds of fillets.

Such donations are not everyday occurrences. In fact, Environmental Police Captain Patrick Moran said that though he knows donations like this have been given by the agency before, he couldn't remember the last time.

The story of these fillets' "unusual circumstances" began on April 22. That's when the fluke fishery's usual 500-pound trip limit decreased to 100 pounds.

The decrease is meant to ensure fluke don't get caught in smaller nets used in the squid fishery, which opened on April 22.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

Proposal targets herring trawlers

April 29, 2014 — Herring trawlers will have to stop fishing and end the fishing trip if they lower their nets and dump bycatch, such as a haddock and alewife, according to new rules being recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council.

The proposal should “greatly improve accountability” in the Atlantic herring fishery and provide more protection for river herring, shad and haddock, which are sometimes caught accidentally by herring trawlers, said Terry Stockwell, director of external affairs for the Maine Department of Marine Resources and chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council.

Alewife, blue back herring and shad spawn in freshwater streams but spend most of their adult lives in the ocean and occasionally are found in the same fishing grounds as Atlantic herring.

At a meeting last week in Mystic, Conn., the council voted 15-1 to endorse the proposal.

Read the full story from The Portland Press Herald

Maryland investigates fish kill in harbor

April 28, 2014 — State officials are investigating a wide-ranging fish kill spotted Monday, stretching from Fells Point in Baltimore harbor out into the Chesapeake Bay. Authorities have yet to pinpoint a cause, though warm weather tends to bring a die-off in local waters almost every year.

If spring is here, dead fish can't be far behind.

State officials are investigating a wide-ranging fish kill spotted Monday, stretching from Fells Point in Baltimore harbor out into the Chesapeake Bay. Authorities have yet to pinpoint a cause, though warm weather tends to bring a die-off in local waters almost every year.

Dead fish were seen floating off Fells Point in the city and beyond the Patapsco's mouth at Cox's Point in Essex and near Bodkin Point in northern Anne Arundel County, according to Jay Apperson, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment.

State investigators estimated the kill at "up to 1,000" fish, mainly Atlantic menhaden, said Apperson. But others said the number seemed higher. Educators with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Living Classrooms Foundation also reported seeing dead or dying shad in Baltimore harbor.

"There are fish spread for miles across the river — from the Key Bridge to the Inner Harbor," reported John Tapscott, an educator for the Annapolis-based bay foundation. He was aboard the Snow Goose, the group's workboat, which takes schoolchildren on educational cruises from Baltimore harbor.

Read the full story from The Baltimore Sun

Apalachicola Bay Oyster Communities Receive Disaster Assistance Funds

April 28, 2014 — Four funds aimed at helping Apalachicola Bay communities that produce 85% of Florida oysters recover from the collapse of the oyster harvesting industry have been announced.

Florida Governor Rick Scott announced the projects that he is recommending to receive disaster assistance funding. Last month the governor announced the awarded $6.3 million in disaster assistance funding following his request for a commercial fishery failure.

“I am excited to recommend these projects that will share $6.3 million to help restore economic vitality and provide relief to the oystermen and their families who have endured such hardship in the Apalachicola Bay area,” said Scott. “ In addition to bolstering their industry, this funding will be used to provide vocational and educational training for oystermen and their families so they are able to support their families for generations to come.”

According to Bob Jones, chairman of Florida based Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation; the federal aid needs to be supplement with more fresh water from Florida’s rivers.

Read the full story from the Gulf Seafood Institute

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