Saving Seafood

State and Local

LOUISIANA: Blue crab bait could improve crab, shrimp industries, LSU researchers say

BATON ROUGE, La. — February 20, 2014 — A new gelatin-like bait using shrimp waste could improve the way blue crabs are caught along the coast of Louisiana and add value to the state’s shrimp processing industry, an LSU researcher says.

Julie Anderson, a crustacean specialist with the LSU AgCenter, is working on a crab bait that could replace Atlantic menhaden, the current bait used.

The menhaden, also known as pogy, is shipped from the East Coast, Anderson said, but stocks are declining. The Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission put a limit on how much menhaden can be caught. Anderson said this is driving up the price of Atlantic menhaden.

Menhaden also is caught in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is rarely used for bait.

“Gulf-caught menhaden is valuable as its own separate fishery,” she said. “There are some fishermen that used to sell it as bait, but it is more valuable to use as Omega-3 oils – fish oils – that it is just not worthwhile to sell as bait."


Read the full story from the Daily Comet

MASSACHUSETTS: Stellwagen alarm premature, says NOAA

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., — February 20, 2014 — Recreational and charter boat owners are up in arms over a NOAA proposal to establish a research "reference area" that includes a slice of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

The Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association said in emails this week that the restrictions would cause sweeping losses to the regional fishing economy and are ill-considered.

The 55-square-mile area is a narrow strip north of Provincetown, which would be closed to groundfishing by the recreational and charter boats, but not other types of fish, according to Dr. Craig MacDonald, superintendent of the sanctuary.

The goal is to establish an area where the impacts of non-fishing events can be observed and measured.

Pat Fiorelli, spokeswoman for the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (formerly the Northeast Regional Office) said that contrary to the fears of the fishermen, no vote is likely at next week's meeting of the New England Fisheries Management Council.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times 

 

MAINE: Panel endorses changes to tribal elver bill, deal ‘pretty much gone,’ says tribe

AUGUSTA, Maine — February 19, 2014 — Changes that a legislative panel made Wednesday to a tentative agreement state fisheries officials had made with the Passamaquoddy Tribe over elver fishing mean that the agreement is “pretty much gone,” according to a tribal official.

Newell Lewey, a Passamaquoddy tribal councilor at Pleasant Point, said Wednesday evening that the decision by the Legislature’s marine resources committee to require the tribe to impose individual quotas on its licensed elver fishermen made tribal officials “quite upset.”

In trying to negotiate an agreement with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Passamaquoddy Tribe had indicated it did not want to limit the number of elver licenses it can issue to its members or to set individual limits on how much each fisherman could catch. The tribe had agreed that it would limit its overall catch quota to 1,650 pounds, which is the same amount it caught in 2013.

What Wednesday’s move by the marine resources committee might mean for the upcoming elver season, which is scheduled to start on March 22, remains to be seen, Lewey said.

The committee made the change to proposed legislation that would set management measures for the 2014 elver season in response to concerns raised by the state attorney general’s office. State attorneys had told legislators that provisions that were included in a tentative agreement between DMR and the tribe might not be considered legal under the equal protection clause of the state constitution.

The proposals that concerned state attorneys would have barred Passamaquoddys from using large, funnel-shaped fyke nets — a ban that tribal officials said they would not object to — and would have allowed the tribe to avoid individual catch quotas for its members. The committee voted Wednesday to allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe to issue up to six fyke net licenses for the upcoming elver season.


Read the full story from The Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Mercury contamination in Penobscot River lobsters was known for 8 years

February 20, 2014 — Researchers who conducted tests have known for at least eight years that lobsters at the mouth of the Penobscot River contained “hazardous” levels of mercury, but consumers were not told until the state announced it this week.

The long-term study that led the Department of Marine Resources to declare Tuesday that it will close down lobster and crab harvesting in a 7-square-mile area shows that lobsters in the area have had mercury levels, year-to-year since 2006, that are higher than the state deems safe to consume.

The banks downriver from the former HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. plant in Orrington still contain mercury, decades after the company stopped dumping chemicals into the waterway leading to the bay, according to the study.

The study, first ordered by a federal judge in 2003 and completed by a team of three scientists in 2013, says that mercury contamination in the sediment and wetlands has been declining slowly since HoltraChem began discharging mercury waste directly into the river in 1967, but is “still high enough to be hazardous” to plants and animals and the people who eat them.

The revelation about contaminated lobsters is a black eye to the state’s most valuable fishery, which has endured low prices in recent years. But the closure of the area where the river empties into Penobscot Bay applies to only a small fraction of the more than 14,000 square miles in the Gulf of Maine where lobsters are harvested.

State Toxicologist Andrew Smith, who was called in to analyze the study’s findings after they were first shared with the Department of Marine Resources in November, said lobsters from that small area had high mercury levels, but most lobsters caught along Maine’s coast have less than half the amount of mercury contained in canned chunk light tuna, and less than one-sixth the mercury of canned white tuna.

“Really, people should have no worries about eating lobster,” Smith said. “They should be looking at it as a seafood (with mercury levels) well below what they typically consume.”

Mercury is toxic to humans and, in high doses, can attack organs and neurological systems such as the brain, peripheral nerves, the pancreas, the immune system and kidneys. Unborn children are especially sensitive to mercury’s toxic effects, and excessive exposure can lead to mental disabilities, cerebral palsy and nervous system damage.


Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MSA Reauthorization National Workshops: Seattle Kickoff Great Success

SEATTLE — February 18, 2014 — The following was released by the Center for Sustainable Fisheries:

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Center for Sustainable Fisheries and National Fisherman magazine kicked off their National MSA Reauthorization tour in Seattle.  Representatives from CSF included President and CEO, Brian J. Rothschild, and Chief Operating Officer, Kate Kramer.  Jessica Hathaway, Editor-in-Chief, took part in the workshop on behalf of National Fisherman.

Many highly respected fisheries experts represented North Pacific fisheries management, including federal and local public office holders, NOAA representatives, members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, members of the fishing industry, and marine scientists and attorneys.  As attendees filed in and the event became standing room only, the MSA Reauthorization proved to be a key issue for North Pacific fisheries experts.

Hathaway discussed the need to find a balance between conservation and economic needs of fishing communities.  She noted that improving on scientific data collection through cooperative research and assessment methods is a necessary step and means to achieve this goal.  Fishermen are environmentalists who want healthy resources to pass onto future generations.

Rothschild discussed the scientific reasoning behind the organization’s proposed rewritten National Standards.  As he explained, the National Standards are the backbone of the MSA and fisheries management. As a result, the standards are a key component to gaining balance and flexibility to fisheries management programs. The interaction among the National Standards must be discussed during this Reauthorization.  The House of Representatives’ Discussion Draft was also a prominent topic at the workshop.  

Attendees inquired about how some proposals may affect the successes the North Pacific has achieved in management, such as minimal stocks that are classified as overfished and thriving economic communities.  There was concern about scientific research, the effects of the natural environment and natural mortality on fish stocks, the use of the term “overfishing,” and an increase in national dialogue between the councils.

As Mayor Stanley Mack of the Aleutians East recalled, when he moved to Alaska as a young boy in the early 1930s, his father, who was a cod fisherman, woke up one day and found there were no cod to catch.  He attributed this to increased natural mortality, not fishing because the fishing gear at the time was not capable of diminishing the stock.  If the MSA, as it is written today, was in existence in the 1930s, the cod fishermen would have been said to be “overfishing.”  The overfished classification would have been an inaccurate classification.  More research into natural mortality, population mobility and identification of the correct cause of a stock decrease is necessary.

A high expectation and standard of transparency and collaboration should be a high priority goal of the MSA.  A national dialogue among regions is necessary to ensure best practices are being shared and issues that all regions are having are resolved together. There has been improvement over the last five years, with national SSC and Council meetings, but sharing of information, advances in management, and struggles in management are important and should increase.

CSF and National Fisherman are pleased at the success of the workshop.  The workshop was a positive start to a comprehensive national discussion on the MSA Reauthorization among fishing regions.  Attendees left the workshop thinking even more strategically than before about the Reauthorization.

CSF is compiling an overview of the meeting, which will be made available to attendees for review, and then posted on CSF’s website for public viewing.

CSF and National Fisherman will also be hosting workshops in Boston, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. CSF and National Fisherman look forward to continuing the conversation across the country in the coming months.

View a PDF of the press release here

 

Boston MSA Public Workshop – Former Congressman Barney Frank to discuss MSA Reauthorization

February 18, 2014 — The following was released by the Center for Sustainable Fisheries:

CSF and National Fisherman magazine will be hosting our next MSA Reauthorization Public Workshop in Boston in conjunction with the Boston Seafood Show. We are excited to announce that former Congressman and CSF Chairman Barney Frank will be speaking at and attending the event.

Date: Monday, March 17th
Time: 8am
Location: Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Room 254B

View a PDF of the invitation for more details, including directions and parking

 

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Charter fishermen express concern about proposed regulation’s effect on cod fishing tours

February 18, 2014 — Local charter fishermen are criticizing proposed federal regulations that they fear could curtail their efforts to land cod in the Stellwagen Bank area of Massachusetts Bay, officials said.

Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association President Charlie Wade said the regulations could completely close a 73-square-mile area of the ocean to the hook-and-line groundfishing that “defines this area.”

Closing the area is one possible option being considered by the New England Fisheries Management Council, a spokeswoman said.

“What people don’t seem to understand is that we are in a very, very preliminary stage,” spokeswoman Patricia Fiorelli said in a telephone interview today. “These are only some of many options.”

The regulation is one part of a broader package of fishing regulations that the council is slated to vote on at a meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday in Danvers before taking the regulations on a tour of New England ports, seeking public input.

Wade said charter fishermen make money by taking customers out into the bay on their 25- to 30-foot boats, where the anglers can try to catch groundfish like cod and haddock.

Currently, cod fishing is banned in the 73-square-mile zone for 5 1/2 months a year, from Nov. 1 to mid-April. When the spring cod season kicks off, fishermen rush to fish there, said Wade.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Lawsuits could lead to changes at fish hatcheries

PARKDALE, Ore. (AP) — February 18, 2014 — People on the West Coast have counted on fish hatcheries for more than a century to help rebuild populations of salmon and steelhead decimated by overfishing, logging, mining, agriculture and hydroelectric dams, and bring them to a level where government would no longer need to regulate fisheries.

But hatcheries have thus far failed to resurrect wild fish runs. Evidence showing artificial breeding makes for weaker fish has mounted. And despite billions spent on significant habitat improvements for wild fish in recent decades, hatchery fish have come to dominate rivers.

Critics say over-reliance on costly breeding programs has led to a massive influx of artificially hatched salmon, masking the fact that wild populations are barely hanging on and nowhere close to being recovered. Recently touted record runs were made up mostly of hatchery fish, and scientists are concerned that hatchery fish could completely replace wild fish —though state and federal officials say they are working to address the problem.

Now, the practice of populating rivers with hatchery fish rather than making greater efforts to restore wild runs is facing a battery of court challenges in Oregon, California and Washington state.

The disputes illustrate a crucial tension in the Pacific Northwest, where salmon and steelhead are iconic fish — of enormous cultural and nutritional significance to tribes, job creators for commercial fishermen and big draws for recreational anglers. Hatcheries also help meet legal obligations to provide fish while dams are in place and fulfill Native American treaty rights.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

Limited Closure for Crab and Lobster Harvesters at the mouth of the Penobscot River to Take Effect February 22

February 18, 2014 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources: In order to protect public health and consumer confidence while building on recently received data, the Maine Department of Marine Resources will close a small area at the mouth of the Penobscot River to harvesting of crabs and lobsters for a minimum of two years.

The closure of an area that extends from Wilson Point across to Fort Point and north into the river, will take effect February 22, 2014.

“This closure is being taken as a precautionary measure in response to information the Department of Marine Resources recently received about mercury contamination in muscle tissue from lobsters found in this area,” said Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

The information, which came to DMR’s attention in November 2013, is contained in a federal court-ordered study. After being notified of the study’s findings, the DMR asked State Toxicologist Andrew Smith from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze the study’s data.   The DMR took the original study and Smith’s analysis under advisement and ultimately opted to implement a discrete closure to ensure that no lobsters from this area make it into the marketplace.

closure5 .jpgThe area within the closure where lobsters are harvested is approximately 7 square miles out of more than 14,000 square miles in the Gulf of Maine where lobsters are harvested. “We chose to close this small area to harvesting for both commercial and recreational fishermen as a precautionary approach that protects public health and ensures consumer confidence that eating Maine lobster is safe and healthy while we conduct our own monitoring effort that will build on these new data,” said Commissioner Keliher.

Maine Marine Patrol will be working with harvesters to ensure all gear is removed from the affected area as soon as possible. Currently, there is very limited commercial harvesting of any species in the mouth of the Penobscot River, as most local commercial harvesters have either stopped for the season or moved their operations down the bay. The Department has begun to reach out to harvesters and dealers to discuss the closure and plans for on-going monitoring.

DMR, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services will be working together over the next two years to conduct seasonal monitoring of mercury levels in marine organisms of commercial and food web significance in and near the closed area. “The monitoring will be conducted in and adjacent to the closed area and will evaluate the accumulation of contaminants by marine species,” said Commissioner Keliher. “We will decide, after two years, whether or not to re-open the area or to continue the closure.”  

“Maine lobster is the best in the world and we’re taking very precautious steps to protect this valuable, unique resource and to assure consumers that they can continue to be confident that our lobsters are safe and healthy to eat,” said Commissioner Keliher.

More information about the closure can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/news/2014/PenobscotClosure.htm.

Groups file new suit claiming NOAA favors Gulf shrimp industry and is lax in turtle protections

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — February 2014 — A consortium of environmental groups has notified NOAA Fisheries today of its intent to sue over the agency’s alleged  failure to complete a long-overdue analysis of the impacts of shrimp trawling on threatened and endangered sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Southeast Atlantic Ocean.

The groups allege that shrimp trawlers operating in the southeast United States capture and kill over 53,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles each year.

This new legal action comes just two years after the conservation groups settled another lawsuit, one that sought to address more than 3,500 sea turtles that stranded dead or injured on beaches in the same areas in 2011.

“We had high hopes that we were moving toward a solution for sea turtles, but once again the Fisheries Service has failed to actually implement the protective measures,” said Jaclyn Lopez, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The agency has gotten into a disturbing habit of initiating protections and then stalling them. Every day protections are delayed is another day that these sea turtles face the very real risk of drowning in shrimp nets.”

The group says, “Turtle excluder devices,” known as TEDs, prevent turtles from drowning in nets, but limited use and lax enforcement have led to thousands of sea turtle deaths. Making matters worse, shallow-water shrimp vessels using skimmer trawls are permitted to simply self-enforce time limits on their tows in water instead of using TEDs. Enforcement records have shown that only 35 percent actually comply with these regulations. There is also mounting evidence from federal fishery observers suggesting that even when these restrictions are followed, skimmers drown turtles. Shrimp trawling is one of the most significant threats facing sea turtles in U.S. coastal waters."

“These fisheries should not be permitted to operate without any protective measures in place,” said Amanda Keledjian, marine scientist at Oceana.

The groups filing today’s notice include the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Sea Turtle Conservancy and Oceana.

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