January 9, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA:
It's the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and NOAA Fisheries is celebrating 40 years of protection, conservation, and recovery of our nation's living marine resources under the ESA.
Greenpeace in New Feud With Russia Over a Ship Seized by Senegal
MOSCOW — January 8, 2014 — Having just quieted the furor over its seizure of a Greenpeace International ship in the Arctic, Russia is embroiled in a new dispute with the environmental organization, this time over a Russian fishing trawler accused of poaching in coastal waters off Senegal.
The Oleg Naydenov, a Russian-owned fishing boat, was seized by the Senegalese military on Saturday and taken to the port of Dakar, accused of trawling in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
Senegal’s Fishing Ministry has demanded more than $800,000 in fines, while the Russian government has called for a diplomatic resolution to the standoff.
With talks repeatedly delayed in Senegal through Wednesday evening, the Russian government has blamed Greenpeace for the troubles. Officials in Moscow say the group encouraged Senegal to detain the boat and forced “Senegal to act according to Greenpeace press releases.”
Just three weeks ago, Russia amnestied 30 crew members aboard the Greenpeace ship the Arctic Sunrise who had been detained for more than three months after staging a maritime protest against Russia’s first offshore oil rig in the Arctic.
Read the full story at the New York Times
Study shows US share of North American lobster landings growing steadily
January 7, 2014 — The gap in lobster landings between Canada and the United States has been closing steadily over the last five years, an economic summary prepared by Fisheries and Oceans Canada shows.
The North American neighbours are the only two countries in the world that harvest American lobster. The combined landings have been increasing steadily over the past several years. Back in 2003, Canada landed 49,837 metric tonnes of lobsters and the US had 32,515 for a combined catch of 82,352. However, by 2012, (last year’s figures were not available when the summary was prepared) Canada landed 71,528 metric tonnes with the US close behind at 67,829 for a record high total of 139,357.
The 10-year average in terms of the national breakdown has seen 56% of the landings come from Canada and 44% from the United States. However, the US has been gaining rapidly and by 2012, the gap had closed to 51 percent for this country and 49 per cent for our neighbours.
The document indicates the 130 ports in the Gulf Region accounted for 23,315 tonnes, or 34% of the Canadian volume, in 2012.
Read the full story at the Yourmouth County Vanguard
Fish Landings January 9, 2014
January 9, 2014 — The Buyers And Sellers Exchange (BASE), an electronic auctioning company that sells landings at owner Whaling City Seafood Display Auction in New Bedford, Boston’s Whaling City Auction, and Gloucester’s Whaling City Auction, handled 84,900 pounds of fish and 9,400 pounds of scallops Tuesday.
Top species landed and average prices were:
Skate wings: 11,400 pounds ($1.04)
Medium pollock: 11,100 pounds ($1.34)
Market cod: 8,000 pounds ($3.73)
Small yellowtail: 6,300 pounds ($2.09)
Scrod haddock: 5.300 pounds ($3.12)
Hainan’s New Fishing Rules: A Preliminary Analysis
January 10, 2014 — Hainan’s provincial government has become an increasingly prominent and active player in the South China Sea disputes. In November 2012, Hainan’s People’s Congress issued new regulations on coastal border security that raised questions about freedom for navigation in the South China Sea.
In November 2013, the same legislative body issued “measures” (banfa, 办法) or rules for the province’s implementation of China’s 2004 fisheries law. These new rules, which took effect on January 1, raise questions about China’s efforts to exercise jurisdiction over all fishing activities in the disputed South China Sea.
Current concerns focus on Article 35 of Hainan’s new fishing rules. This article states that “foreigners or foreign fishing ships entering sea areas administered by Hainan and engaged in fishery production or fishery resource surveys should receive approval from relevant departments of the State Council.” As the news report announcing the new rules indicated, the “sea areas administered by Hainan” constitute 2,000,000 square kilometers, more than half of the South China Sea. If implemented, the measures would constitute an effort to control fishing in the entire region in a manner that is clearly inconsistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In assessing the potential implications of these measures for the disputes in the South China Sea, several points bear consideration. All told, the new measures reflect part of a continuing effort to affirm and reaffirm China’s claims in the South China Sea, but are unlikely in the short to medium term to result in a sustained Chinese effort to control fishing in these vast waters.
Read the full post at The Diplomat
Proposed Rule for 2014 Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Specifications
January 9, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA:
Based on Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council recommendations, NOAA Fisheries today announced a proposed 24% increase in 2014 to the butterfish landings quota compared to 2013 (from 5.7 million lb to 7 million lb). Among other measures, we are also proposing to establish a 236-metric ton cap on river herring (blueback and alewife) and shad (American and hickory) catch in the mackerel fishery. Once this cap is projected to be reached, the directed mackerel fishery would be closed. Click here for more information and details on how to provide public comments on these proposed measures.
WWF Canada says National Resources Defense Council’s report on marine mammal abuse in Canadian fisheries is misguided
January 8, 2014 — Lobster and crab fisheries on Canada’s East Coast are unfairly maligned in an American report condemning them for endangering the North Atlantic right whale, some industry observers in Halifax said Wednesday.
“A call for a boycott of Canadian seafood is misplaced and would be ineffective if ever implemented,” said Robert Rangeley, a marine expert for the Atlantic region with World Wildlife Federation Canada.
The Los Angeles advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council has called for an American boycott of Canadian seafood producers who ignore United States regulations aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Lobster and crab fisheries on the East Coast threaten to push the species to near extinction due to negligent fishing methods and regulations, the council said Tuesday at a news conference.
It was part of a council call for boycotts of a range of seafood products that threaten endangered marine mammals around the world.
Rangeley said targeting the East Coast lobster and crab fisheries is a misguided move because there are so many other factors affecting the right whale’s plight.
‘Polar vortex’ chills supply lines for Texas restaurants, groceries
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — January 7, 2014 — The subzero temperatures and arctic blast hitting the Northeast have crippled supply lines for restaurants, grocery stores and food suppliers in San Antonio.
While holiday travelers hoping to return to the Alamo City remain stranded in airports, trucks and airplanes also have been unable to find a way to the area, leaving local businesses scrambling to find different avenues to satisfy their customers.
Groomer Seafood, which delivers fresh fish to clients across the city, has struggled to adjust to a shortage in shellfish, particularly live lobsters, black mussels and clams from Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and even Canada.
“In a general week, we ship anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 pounds of East Coast product to San Antonio. Now, we're getting about 10 percent of that,” said Rick Groomer, president of Groomer Seafood.
Read the full story at My San Antonio
Imported Seafood Comes With a Price: Dead Whales and Dolphins
January 7, 2014 — On October 1, 2013, a female humpback whale washed up dead on a Long Island beach. Its 20-ton body, discovered by an early-morning surfer, bore signs of trauma. The cause of death, although it's being investigated by the federal government, is no great mystery. According to researchers on the scene, the whale's wounds were consistent with injuries from fishing nets.
Every year, 650,000 whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals are killed or injured by fishing operations around the globe. Most of this harm occurs outside U.S. waters. In the United States, fishermen are taking steps to protect marine mammals from harm, but other countries lag far behind in using similar protections. And, as detailed in a new report from NRDC, these countries illegally export millions of tons of seafood — worth billions of dollars — into the United States. American consumers are unknowingly eating the catch — including lobster, tuna, even fish sticks — that is driving some species of whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals toward extinction.
When fishing gear scoops up, hooks, entangles, or otherwise harms another creature not destined for market, it's called bycatch: an innocuous term for a senseless waste of marine life. Bycatch occurs all over the world's oceans on a massive scale. When I spent time with fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, they told me they would toss back 10 pounds of fish, or more, for every pound of shrimp they caught. Most of this fish is dead or dying when it gets back in the water. Bycatch is more than just waste — for some marine mammals, bycatch is the main reason their species is headed toward extinction.
North American right whales, which rank among the most endangered whales on the planet, are prone to getting tangled in the long ropes of crab and lobster pots, or stuck in nets meant to trap fish like hake and halibut in the North Atlantic. With an estimated 500 individuals left, the untimely loss of even a single whale threatens the survival of the species. Every year, one or two right whales die from encounters with fishing gear. In Maine, lobstermen use special breakaway ropes that can help an entangled whale free itself. Canadian lobstermen, however, are not required to do so. The same whale that escapes a Maine lobsterpot might perish in a Canadian trap set just a few miles away.
Read the full story at the Huffington Post
Fish Landings January 8, 2014
January 8, 2014 — The Buyers And Sellers Exchange (BASE), an electronic auctioning company that sells landings at owner Whaling City Seafood Display Auction in New Bedford, Boston’s Whaling City Auction, and Gloucester’s Whaling City Auction, handled 32,100 pounds of fish and 1,400 pounds of scallops Dec. 30.
Top species landed and average prices were:
Skate wings: 11,400 pounds ($1.11)
Large hake: 3,500 pounds ($2.03)
Large monktail: 3,400 pounds ($4.36)
Small dab: 1,700 pounds ($3.15)
Large yellowtail: 1,600 pounds ($3.35)