March 27, 2020 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance noted this week that Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings in February 2020 were 36.1% above historical averages.
The National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Center released February Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings earlier this week.
March 12, 2020 — As the 10th anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill approaches, state and federal agencies should consider nine strategies aimed at advancing ecosystem restoration, maximizing use of fine and settlement money stemming from the spill, and ensuring that local communities are involved in decisions affecting their future, according to a report released by a coalition of environmental groups Wednesday.
The report, “A Decade After Disaster,” was developed by the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition, which was created in 2008 to support coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana. It includes the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, and two Louisiana-based groups, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
While the BP spill was an unprecedented catastrophe, it provided an equally unprecedented opportunity to Louisiana and other coastal states in the form of more than $16 billion in settlement money for coastal restoration efforts, said Steve Cochran, campaign director for the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition and a vice president with the Environmental Defense Fund.
“Louisiana has made significant progress since the Gulf oil disaster, and we can honor these losses by continuing to act with urgency on ongoing recovery and in the face of land loss and climate change,” Cochran said.
February 6, 2020 — States on the Gulf of Mexico can keep setting seasons and bag limits for anglers going after red snapper in federal waters when a two-year experiment becomes permanent Thursday.
The rule will take effect with publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Commerce Department said.
The Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group, said Wednesday that it was cautiously optimistic about the rule for the popular sport and table fish, which is recovering from nearly disastrous overfishing.
“There’s still some kinks to be worked out with the data collection” in some states, said Sepp Haukebo, the group’s manager for private angler management reform. For instance, he said, in some years before the experimental program started, Alabama’s estimates of the amount taken were as low as 30% of the federal estimates for that state.
“They’ve gotten a lot closer in the last couple of years,” he said, adding that Alabama has announced improvements that should make its tallies more accurate.
February 6, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):
On Thursday, January 30, Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, traveled to the Gulf Coast region as part of his nationwide listening tour on federal fisheries policy. This was the first listening session of 2020 and the fifth session overall. The Gulf of Mexico fishery management region includes the federal waters off of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and the west coast of Florida.
January 17, 2020 — Lars Vinjerud II can’t stop growing his fisheries and seafood business.
“I’m lucky,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of good people working for me.”
Vinjerud’s company, Fleet Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has 14 boats in the scallop, lobster, and longline fisheries, and branches in seafood marketing, a machine shop, and more boats scheduled for construction.
Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source
November 27, 2019 — Recreational and commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico may soon have to have on board their boats devices that could help ensure the population of reef fish remain healthy for generations to come, thanks to a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Doug Jones, D-Ala.
Jones and cosponsor Sen. Bill Cassidey, R-La., introduced a bill that would require boats to carry on board venting tools and descending devices, which reduce barotrauma in reef fish, such as red snapper, a condition that kills fish when their brought to the surface rapidly from deep water. If a fish is too small, nor the correct species or over a fisherman’s limit, they release them back into the water, but without the use of these devices many of these fish die, unable to return to the deep water where they thrive.
The Direct Enhancement of Snapper Conservation and the Economy through Novel Devices (DESCEND) Act has a companion bill a companion bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressmen Garrett Graves, R-La., and Jared Huffman, D-Calif.
November 25, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced a bill earlier this week that aims to improve the health of reef fish (red snapper) populations in the Gulf of Mexico.
A common issue when catching red snapper is barotrauma, a condition that kills fish if they are caught and rapidly rough to the surface from deep water. Barotrauma kills fish because they cannot readjust to deep water upon release. Fishermen can venting tools and descending devices to reduce the impact and save fish harvested for both commercial and recreational uses.
NOAA and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council are prepping an eight-year, $30 million project to further reduce barotrauma. However, current regulations prevent the Council from both requiring fishermen to use venting tools and other methods to return fish and providing federal dollars to study the issue, Senator Cassidy’s office said in a press release.
“I’ve been fishing all my life, so I know how important it is to protect Gulf species like red snapper,” Jones said. “The use of descending devices and venting tools is one way we can help maintain healthy populations of reef fish, which is crucial for the economy of Alabama and for ensuring that future generations can continue to enjoy red snapper season.”
The Direct Enhancement of Snapper Conservation and the Economy through Novel Devices (DESCEND) Act would force commercial and recreational fishermen to keep descending devices onboard vessels. It would also allow the study to continue after new regulations are implemented to comply if the DESCEND Act were to become law.
“Louisiana loves to fish. We’re at risk of there not being enough red snapper for recreational and commercial fishing to continue,” Dr. Cassidy said. “This increases the number of red snapper for now and for future generations.”
This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
November 15, 2019 — A plan to protect corals in the Gulf of Mexico is close to becoming a law, drawing cheers from environmental groups who believe leaving the corals alone would help vulnerable ocean ecosystems to grow.
The plan would create 21 protected areas off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Thirteen of the areas would carry new commercial fishing restrictions, and that has attracted the attention of fishing groups, who want the government to take a cautious approach.
Pew Charitable Trusts has characterized the plan as a way to protect nearly 500 square miles of slow-growing coral “hot spots,” and is championing the protection plan as a way to spare vulnerable corals from fishing gear. The proposal would prohibit gear such as bottom trawls and dredges that can disrupt the corals.
Sandra Brooke, an oceanographer and coral ecology expert at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory, said it’s important to spare the corals because of their importance to the marine environment and because they can have value for the development of new medicines.
November 14, 2019 — For the people who harvest, sell, shuck and serve the bivalves, that’s a worrisome prospect: Oysters, traditionally cheap and plentiful, are more central to the restaurant and cooking culture of the Gulf Coast than to that of any other region.
“Oysters are part of who we are,” said Mr. Sunseri, whose ancestors founded P & J in 1876. His family is hoping to rent part of its production house here to a restaurant in an effort to stay afloat. If not for his good health and lack of debt, Mr. Sunseri said, “We’d be closed.”
In September, the United States Department of Commerce determined that Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were suffering “a catastrophic regional fishery disaster,” making businesses in those states eligible for federal assistance.
Louisiana normally accounts for a third of the nation’s annual oyster harvest. The current season isn’t over, but losses reported so far are so severe “that we’re likely to not remain the largest oyster producer in the United States,” said Patrick Banks, an assistant secretary in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Heavy rain and snow in the Midwest caused the Army Corps of Engineers to open the Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 33 miles northwest of New Orleans, for a record 118 days last winter and spring. The spillway protects communities near the Mississippi’s mouth from flooding by releasing water from the river and reducing pressure on the flood-control system.
But it also reduces the salinity of surrounding waters, endangering oysters, which can tolerate brackish water but can die if the salt content is too low.
The river was so high that even areas unaffected by the openings were flushed with freshwater.
September 26, 2019 — U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has declared fishing disasters for seven states on three coasts.
“Fishing is the cornerstone of countless coastal economies and has been a way of life for generations of Americans,” he said in a brief news release Wednesday. “This determination acknowledges the critical role fisheries play in our communities, and the risks they face from natural disasters and other causes beyond their control.”
Ross’ action makes people and businesses eligible for NOAA fisheries disaster assistance. Congress has appropriated $165 million for such help for fiscal 2019 and the Commerce Department decides allocations to eligible fisheries, the statement said.
The statement said a regional disaster occurred for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama because of “extreme flooding events in the Gulf of Mexico.” Alaska and California each had multiple requests approved; one for both Georgia and South Carolina will help shrimpers and shrimp processors. An unusually cold spell in January 2018 killed the vast majority of shrimp overwintering in estuaries, Erin Weeks, spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said in an email.