Saving Seafood

Council Actions

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting Scheduled for April 24, 1 – 2:30 PM

April 4, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on April 24, 2024 from 1 to 2:30 p.m., to discuss days out measures for the 2024 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season. Days out measures can include specification of the number of consecutive landings days, weekly landings limits, and restrictions on at-sea transfers. The webinar and call information is included below:
 
Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
Wednesday, April 24
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
 
You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://meet.goto.com/405812685. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (571) 317-3112 and enter access code 405-812-685 when prompted. The webinar will start at 12:45 p.m., 15 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.
 
Federally-permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery at least 45 days prior to the start of the fishing season. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2024. Vessels should check with each state of landing regarding their notification procedures.
 
The 2024 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 5,504 metric tons (mt). The initial specification for the 2024 Area 1A sub-ACL of 5,546 mt was decreased by 42 mt due to the catch overage in Area 1A in 2022. After adjusting for the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the Area 1A sub-ACL is 5,036 mt. There is no research-set-aside for 2024.
 
In November 2023, the Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2024 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2024.
 

NEW JERSEY: Research Funding Addresses Offshore Wind Impact on Marine Ecosystems

April 4, 2024 — State environmental officials and utility regulators announced plans last week for their coordinated Offshore Wind Research and Monitoring Initiative, earmarking nearly $3.7 million in funding for research projects that will help ensure ecologically responsible development of offshore wind.

“As we continue to pursue a 100% clean energy economy by 2035, it’s imperative that we not only protect the interests of our ratepayers but safeguard the vitality of our marine ecosystems as well,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “The Research Monitoring Initiative is a crucial piece of our comprehensive efforts to responsibly develop New Jersey’s nation-leading offshore wind industry.”

The bulk of the monies awarded is to expand the bat and bird tracking system, according to N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Public Utilities officials. The collaborative effort is being led by the American Bird Conservancy with $1.3 million to grow the existing regional network, which tracks radio-tagged birds and bats, officials said.

“This funding will result in the deployment and maintenance of 10 new land based Motus receiver stations and 10 ocean buoy stations as part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System in strategic locations throughout New Jersey and offshore,” state officials said. “The expansion will improve regional network coverage and provide baseline data to aid researchers in assessing species migration routes to and through New Jersey airspace and offshore wind lease areas.”

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

BOEM Approves Eighth Offshore Wind Farm Surpassing Third of U.S. Goal

April 3, 2024 — Regulatory efforts continue to accelerate pushing forward with the plans to develop the U.S. offshore wind energy sector. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the eighth large offshore wind farm for the U.S. surpassing 10 GW of approved capacity and the ability to power nearly 4 million homes.

The federal Record of Decision was issued to Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, for its two-phase New England Wind project. The decision comes a little over a month after BOEM completed the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The final step in the federal process is anticipated for July 2024 with the approval of its Construction and Operations Plan.

The proposal calls for the development of a project comprising 129 wind turbines, with up to five offshore export cables. They are proposing to bring the power ashore in Barnstable and Bristol County, Massachusetts. Last week, Avangrid submitted proposals in the coordinated wind solicitation between Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The states plan to announce the selected projects in August with Avangrid highlighting that New England Wind is an advanced project and “shovel-ready” set to proceed quickly once the approvals are in place

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Petition to open California MPAs for swordfishing

April 3, 2024 — Blake Herman harpoons swordfish off the coast of southern California and hopes to gain access to the state’s Marine Protected Areas off Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara Islands. When the California Fish & Game Department offered stakeholders the opportunity to petition for regulatory changes, Herman submitted a petition to open three MPAs for pelagic fishing.

“If you read the original statements from back in the early 2000s when these MPAs were established, it says very clearly that the MPAs are intended to protect groundfish, and rockfish,” said Herman. “They said back then that these would not affect pelagics.”

While Herman believes the rationale for protecting rockfish is sound, he hopes his 36-page petition will convince state regulators that it is equally sensible to allow fishing for pelagic species such as swordfish and bluefin tuna. “A rockfish lives on the bottom and can spend its life in a small area, but swordfish come from Hawaii to here and go back again,” he said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Right whale found dead off Virginia coast recently gave birth to calf, experts say

April 3, 2024 — A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was found dead off the coast of Virginia on Saturday, and her calf is missing, unlikely to survive without her, officials said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday confirmed the identity of the dead whale, female #1950, which was found floating approximately 50 miles offshore Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. The whale has been known to researchers since 1989, and gave birth to her sixth calf during the 2024 calving season.

NOAA Fisheries said the whale was towed to shore for a necropsy, which will be led by scientists at the University of North Carolina Wilmington alongside other organizations, to determine her cause of death. The carcass showed signs of shark scavenging.

According to NOAA Fisheries, female #1950 is the 40th mortality in the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event impacting North Atlantic right whales. the UME was declared in 2017, and includes 40 dead, 34 seriously injured, and 51 sublethally injured or ill whales. The agency said most were killed or injured by entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters.

Read the full article at WIFR

CALIFORNIA: California closing Dungeness crab season to protect humpback whales

April 3, 2024 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is closing most of the U.S. state’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery on Monday, 8 April.

California’s zones 3, 4, 5, and 6, stretching from the Sonoma-Mendocino county line to the U.S.-Mexico border, will be closed at 6 p.m. on 8 April due to the presence of humpback whales in the area, with a 30-fathom depth constraint on traps going into effect in zones 1 and 2, which encompasses the rest of the state’s coastline north to the Oregon border.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Toxic Dust Threatens California Salmon Population, Lawmaker Seeks Solution

April 2, 2024 — For the first time in more than three decades of fishing for salmon near Bodega Bay, Dick Ogg will motor his white and navy boat, Karen Jeanne, north this summer past his typical fisheries in hopes of finding the multicolored species along the Oregon coast.

There aren’t enough salmon left off the California coast for Ogg to sell on Bodega Bay’s historic docks.

Fishery managers are signaling they may cancel California’s commercial salmon season for the second year in a row, which means the 71-year-old has two options: temporarily traveling to Oregon to catch salmon or barely making ends meet luring in rockfish and sablefish.

Ogg, often in a gray hoodie and wiry sunglasses, wishes there was a solution for boosting California’s salmon schools. He describes the species as “having one of the greatest spirits” an ocean-fairing creature can have.

“They can take a hook and bend it straight to get away,” he said, remembering countless salmon that escaped. “Maybe that’s what they were supposed to do, having the chance to go up the river to spawn.”

Read the full article at KQED

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford State Pier redevelopment proposals to be subject of May public meeting

April 2, 2024 — A public meeting to review proposals for the State Pier’s redevelopment is being planned for May.

MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, manages the eight-acre pier property, which is owned by the state.

MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera stated in a communication to New Bedford legislators, “We are planning a public meeting in New Bedford at which all respondents will have an equal opportunity to make a public presentation explaining their respective proposals.”

He said they were trying to finalize a date in May.

Read the full article at the Standard-Times