November 22, 2022 — Millions of sharks, rays, and skates are accidentally killed every year as bycatch within the global fishing industry—an especially staggering number when considering that a quarter of all those species are currently considered endangered. Previously, fishers could do very little to discourage the predators from going after the longline bait meant for intended targets like tuna, but a simple and ingenious new technology is showing huge promise in finally changing course. Highlighted via a study published earlier today in Current Biology, a small device dubbed SharkGuard recently decreased the number of unintended shark catches by as much as 90 percent through exploiting one of the animals’ most impressive senses.
OREGON: Crab quality delays season open
November 22, 2022 — Along Oregon’s coast, commercial crabbers will wait a few weeks longer than expected to make their first catch of the season.
It has to do with crab quality.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced Friday that commercial crabbers could expect a delay to the December 1 open of Dungeness crab season.
The projected opening date, December 16, could also be delayed if crab quality hasn’t improved.
ODFW says the crabs have not yet reached meat fill and meat quality standards.
Caren Braby Marine Resources Program Manager for ODFW also stressed product safety.
“We test for biotoxins that come just naturally from plankton that grow in the ocean, and if there’s any sign of those biotoxins, we delay the season for that as well.”
Domoic acid found in crab guts during this year’s testing is harmful to marine life, but close monitoring by ODFW prevents the toxin from impacting people with potentially fatal symptoms.
Whole Foods to ‘pause’ sales of Maine lobster after sustainable label downgrades
November 22, 2022 — The grocery chain Whole Foods will stop purchasing Gulf of Maine lobster after the Marine Stewardship Council suspended the fishery’s certification last week.
The Marine Stewardship Council suspended the fishery’s certification last week, only months after the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program red-listed the lobster because of risks to endangered North Atlantic right whales. The MSC says its decision was based on an independent audit of the fishery’s risk to the whales.
NOAA Fisheries Announces Final Rule to Implement the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Excessive Shares Amendment (Amendment 20)
November 22, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA Fisheries filed a final rule (Amendment 20) to establish limits on how much quota share or annual cage tags an individual or business can hold or control over the course of a fishing year. Amendment 20 was formally approved on November 10, 2022, and this rule implements all measures in the amendment.
This action establishes:
- Caps on quota share of 35 percent for surfclam and 40 percent for ocean quahog.
- Caps on annual cage tags of 65 percent for surfclam and 70 percent for ocean quahog over the course of the fishing year.
- These caps would be monitored based on the total amount of “potential control” an individual or business has over the course of the fishing year. Potential control refers to any allocation held directly or held by all owners (in the case of businesses) or all immediate family members (in the case of individuals).
- The maximum duration of multi-year specifications actions to match the stock assessment schedule (four years for Atlantic surfclam and six years for ocean quahog).
For more information, read the final rule in the Federal Register or our bulletinposted on the web. The new measures become effective December 23, 2022. We will begin monitoring and enforcing the new caps when 2023 allocations are issued.
Today, NOAA Fisheries filed a final rule (Amendment 20) to establish limits on how much quota share or annual cage tags an individual or business can hold or control over the course of a fishing year. Amendment 20 was formally approved on November 10, 2022, and this rule implements all measures in the amendment.
This action establishes:
- Caps on quota share of 35 percent for surfclam and 40 percent for ocean quahog.
- Caps on annual cage tags of 65 percent for surfclam and 70 percent for ocean quahog over the course of the fishing year.
- These caps would be monitored based on the total amount of “potential control” an individual or business has over the course of the fishing year. Potential control refers to any allocation held directly or held by all owners (in the case of businesses) or all immediate family members (in the case of individuals).
- The maximum duration of multi-year specifications actions to match the stock assessment schedule (four years for Atlantic surfclam and six years for ocean quahog).
For more information, read the final rule in the Federal Register or our bulletinposted on the web. The new measures become effective December 23, 2022. We will begin monitoring and enforcing the new caps when 2023 allocations are issued.
Looming railroad strike, barge back-up straining US supply chains
November 22, 2022 — An impending rail strike in the U.S. could further entangle supply chains and drive up inflation.
Four major railroad labor unions have rejected a tentative agreement with freight railroad companies brokered by the administration of U.S. Joe Biden over the summer. Even though eight of the 12 major railroad worker unions have ratified the agreement, several have pledged solidarity with those that have not.
Lawmakers push for federal assistance for fishermen following crab harvest cancelations
November 21, 2022 — U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell joined her Washington and Alaska colleagues urging Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to declare a federal fishery disaster for certain Alaska crab harvests.
The fishing industry is expected to take a tremendous hit next year following the cancelation of the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay snow and red king crab harvests.
This, as a result, will cause an estimated $287.7 million in economic losses for fisheries, according to a release from Sen. Cantwell.
ALASKA: Bristol Bay’s boom year
November 21, 2022 — The 2022 sockeye salmon harvest from Bristol Bay broke all records, a flood of fish that far surpassed the last record season in 1995.
“There’s been a lot of good years, but nothing like 2022,” said Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, said at the Washington Maritime Economic Forecast Breakfast session Friday at the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.
ALASKA: Disaster requests for Bering Sea crabbers highlight difficulty of getting financial relief to fishermen
November 21, 2022 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy requested $287 million from the federal government last month for fishermen impacted by the Bering Sea snow crab and Bristol Bay red king crab fisheries closures. The current process of getting financial relief to fishermen is cumbersome and takes a long time, but Bering Sea crabbers are hoping the plight of the snow crab population might change the way financial relief is delivered to fishermen.
Gabriel Prout is a second generation Bering Sea crab fisherman from Kodiak; he owns the F/V Silver Spray with his dad and brothers. He said there’s one big problem with the current process for handing out fishery disaster funding.
“If you’re going to have a fishery disaster request program, you should be able to make it so the money is getting into the hands of those affected very quickly,” said Prout.
Right now, it takes years for money to reach skippers and their crews.
After a governor requests a disaster declaration, it needs to be approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce – and Congress needs to appropriate funding. The money goes through several agencies on its way to fishermen, who have to apply for a slice of it. And most fishermen have to figure out how to stay in business years before the money hits their bank accounts.
NORTH CAROLINA: Will North Carolina get offshore wind farms? Right now it’s up to one state commission
November 21, 2022 — There’s a swath of ocean just over the horizon off Oak Island, in the southeast corner of North Carolina, that one day could be home to hundreds of towering offshore wind turbines. The project, federal regulators say, could produce as much power as Duke Energy’s nearby Brunswick Nuclear plant.
Duke Energy won the rights to build a wind farm in one of two leases off the coast of Brunswick County and Myrtle Beach, called the Carolina Long Bay area. The company said that lease is not part of the sale it announced recently of its renewable energy business.
BOEM adapts Gulf of Mexico wind planning to central Atlantic
November 21, 2022 — Eight proposed wind energy areas off the U.S. central Atlantic coast announced Wednesday total about 1.7 million acres, reduced from 3.9 million in the original call area outlined by the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management.
Ranging in distance 19 to 77 miles from the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, the WEAs could be the first to venture to the edge of the East Coast outer continental shelf – potentially requiring use of floating turbines, if wind choose to bid on the most distant, deepest areas.
BOEM officials say they have been gathering information since the call area was released in April, from sources including the Central Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force; other federal agencies and the four states; and input from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina State agencies; input from Federal agencies; and “comments from stakeholders and ocean users, including the maritime community, offshore wind developers, and the commercial fishing industry.”
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