Saving Seafood

NOAA Annual Report Shows U.S. Fish Stocks At Sustainable Levels For 2018

August 5, 2019 — The vast majority of U.S. fish stocks were at sustainable levels in 2018, and the number of U.S. fish stocks subject to overfishing remains at a near-all time low.

That’s according to NOAA fisheries in an annual report released Friday on the status of 479 federally managed species. Officials say Atlantic mackerel and big-eye tuna are now considered overfished and Smooth Skate is listed as having been rebuilt.

NOAA Sustainable Fisheries Director Alan Risenhoover says the North Atlantic fishery is fairly stable right now. He says the goal of management is to get optimum yield.

Read the full story at Maine Public

US fisheries report reveals all-time-low numbers of overfishing, overfished stocks

May 21, 2018 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2017 Status of Stocks report, released on 17 May, indicates that the number of stocks facing overfishing or that are overfished is at an all-time-low since reports began in 2000.

Just 30 of the 317 stocks with known overfishing status were subject to overfishing, representing nine percent of the total stocks. Of the 235 stocks with known overfished status, just 35, or 15 percent, were considered overfished.

“Over 90 percent of our stocks are not subject to overfishing,” said Alan Risenhoover, director of NOAA”s Office of Sustainable Fisheries during a press conference. “This progress, outlined in the report, is the result of shared efforts of many partners.”

NOAA considered the report to also show a boon for the economy. Nationwide, the seafood industry represented USD 208 billion (EUR 176 billion) in value for the U.S. economy, and accounted for roughly 1.6 million jobs.

Risenhoover reported three previously overfished stocks are now considered to have been rebuilt: bocaccio, darkblotched rockfish, and Pacific ocean perch. All three were rebuilt ahead of schedule. The addition of those three species now makes 44 stocks that have been rebuilt since 2000. NOAA tracks 474 stocks in total, in 46 different fishery management plans.

Conservation organizations welcomed the news that stocks that are overfished or subject to overfishing has reached new lows.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

SSA Member to House Subcommittee: Sustainable Shark Bill Recognizes Sacrifices of U.S. Fishermen, Fin Ban Undermines Them

SSA member John Polston testifies before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans today. (Photo: House Natural Resources Committee/YouTube)

April 17, 2018 — The following was released by the Sustainable Shark Alliance:   

At a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing today, John Polston, a fisherman and member of the Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA), testified in support of legislation that would promote shark conservation by incentivizing other nations to meet the same high standards of sustainability as U.S. shark fishermen.

In testimony before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, Mr. Polston, owner of King’s Seafood in Port Orange, Florida, praised the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (SSFTA) as a “proactive bill that levels the playing field for American fishermen.” The bipartisan legislation, introduced last month by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and a group of six Democrats and Republicans, would create a formal and transparent certification program for countries importing shark products into the United States. Nations would be required to prove that they have an effective prohibition on shark finning, and management policies comparable to those in the United States.

“The SSFTA creates an incentive for other nations to end shark finning and meet the same high standards for marine conservation to which the United States holds its fishermen,” Mr. Polston said. “This bill recognizes the sacrifices our fishermen have made, and continue to make, to rebuild domestic shark populations by leveling the playing field with our foreign competitors.”

Mr. Polston was joined in his support for the SSFTA by Dr. Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, who served as a scientific reviewer for the legislation.

“The SSFTA will give the American people an effective tool to say, ‘No longer will we allow the import and consumption of unsustainably fished shark and ray products on American soil. Our participation as consumers in this practice ends now,’” Dr. Hueter said. “The bill does this without punishing American fishers who are conducting legal and sustainable shark fishing, providing a model of responsible management and conservation for the rest of the world.”

Mr. Polston and Dr. Hueter also expressed their opposition to another shark bill discussed at the hearing, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA). This legislation would ban the domestic sale of all shark fins, including responsibly and sustainably caught American shark fins.

“This bill punishes me and others in the shark fishery by taking away an important income source, undoubtedly pushing some small businesses into unprofitability,” Mr. Polston said. “It is an insult to American fishermen who have been required to give so much for decades to create a sustainable fishery.”

Alan Risenhoover, director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Sustainable Fisheries, voiced similar criticisms of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.

“This bill does not meet its intent to improve the conservation and management of domestically harvested sharks,” Mr. Risenhoover said. “It prohibits the possession and sale of shark fins. This would hurt U.S. fishermen who currently harvest and sell sharks and shark fins in a sustainable manner under strict federal management.”

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance
The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation. The SSA is a member of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities.

 

Shark Week Comes Early This Year

April 17, 2018 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources: 

Today at 1:00pm the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will hold a legislative hearing on three bills including H.R. 5248, the bipartisan Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, (Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla.), and H.R. 1456, the bipartisan Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017, (Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif.).

Debunking the Shark Finning Myth:

Shark finning is the brutal practice of removing a shark’s fin(s) at sea and returning the carcass, dead or alive, to the ocean. Despite what you may believe, shark finning in the United States is illegal. Today’s debate isn’t whether the act of shark finning is heinous or reprehensible… it is, and members of both parties and industry agree.

After the enactment of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 and the Shark Conservation Act in 2010, shark fisheries in U.S. waters have been successfully and sustainably managed. In fact, according to NOAA, there has been a dramatic increase in shark population over the past decade. With that said, as with any other industry, there comes the need for balance. Shark fisheries are valuable contributors to the U.S. economy. Due to the success of the nation’s fisheries management and conservation, the U.S. ranks as one of the top-ten shark fishing nations in the world.

So What’s the Issue? And What’s the Solution?

While shark finning is almost universally banned, some countries still do not have or effectively enforce shark finning bans. While all can agree that this is unacceptable, there are two different approaches to fixing the problem: imposing additional regulations on U.S. fishermen to stem the tide of trade of inhumanely obtained shark fins (H.R. 1456) or to leverage access to U.S. markets to encourage foreign nations to adopt strong shark conservation measures (H.R. 5248).

Unintentional Consequences of Overregulating *Already Regulated* Fisheries:

While we all agree that the illegal trade of inhumanely obtained shark fins needs to be address, it must be done in a way that doesn’t penalize those that follow the rules.

One of today’s witnesses Alan Risenhoover, Director of the Office of Sustainable Fishers under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, lays it on the table: “We cannot support the Shark Fin Sale Elimination Act (H.R. 1456) because the bill’s negative impact on U.S. fishermen would outweigh its minimal benefit to shark conservation.  The United States currently has effective laws and associated regulations that prevent shark finning and sustainably manages its fisheries.  As written, this bill does not meet its intent to improve the conservation and management of domestically harvested sharks.  It prohibits the possession and sale of shark fins.  This would hurt  U.S. fishermen who currently harvest and sell sharks and shark fins in a sustainable manner under strict federal management.  Furthermore, the bill does not significantly curb international trade in shark fins where the majority of trade in shark fins occurs.”

Imposing stricter regulations or removing sustainably sourced U.S. shark fins off the market could shift demand to bad actors and pave the way for a black market, unregulated supply. Nobody wants that.

Learn more at their website here.

 

Reports Show Positive Trend for U.S. Fishing Industry

May 11, 2016 — Two reports released this week show the nation’s continued progress in managing marine resources.

NOAA’s Fisheries Economics of the United States report shows that commercial and recreational fishing generated $208 billion in sales in 2015 and supported 1.6 million full- and part-time jobs, along with contributing $97 billion to the gross domestic product. The figures were all above the country’s five-year average.

“These 2015 figures are very close to the record setting year the U.S. had in 2014 and reflect an overall positive trend in economic impacts between 2011 and 2015,” said Alan Risenhoover, NOAA’s deputy assistant administrator.

Including imports, commercial fishing in the U.S. and the seafood industry generated $144 billion in sales in 2015, which was a 6 percent decline from 2014. Commercial fishing supported 1.2 million jobs, a 15 percent decline from the previous year.

“It’s important to remember these figures are still above the five-year average,” Risenhoover said. “In fact, 2015 represents the second highest level during that period.”

Recreational fishing generated a 5 percent increase in sales to $63 billion. Jobs resulting from recreational fishing remained steady at 439,000 jobs.

“Saltwater recreational angling remains a substantial contributor to tourism and the economy,” Risenhoover said.

Risenhoover said there are some challenges in New England with stocks overfished or subject to overfishing.

Read the full story at Cape Cod 

US fishing industry retracted a bit in 2015; $208B in sales

May 11, 2016 — America’s fishing industry declined slightly in 2015 as fishermen contended with environmental and market forces, the federal government says.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released its “Fisheries Economics of the United States” report for 2015, the most recent year for which statistics are available. The report says U.S. fisheries contributed a little less than $208 billion in sales, a decline from nearly $214 billion in 2014, which the government stressed was a “banner year.”

The number of fisheries jobs was also down 12 percent, to 1.6 million. But the NOAA noted the 2015 totals were better than they were four years earlier and were the second best year in the period from 2011 to 2015.

The NOAA said environmental factors included marine toxins; El Nino, a naturally occurring worldwide climate phenomenon that starts with unusually warm water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and then changes weather worldwide; and the Pacific Ocean’s “warm blob,” an area of relatively warm water off the West Coast. Those factors drove down the value of crab, squid, hake and salmon, the agency said.

Environmental factors have also been felt on the East Coast, where warming ocean waters are among the factors blamed for the collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery.

“In New England in particular, we’re seeing some of these environmental changes,” said Alan Risenhoover, an administrator with NOAA. “That affects some stocks.”

The NOAA’s report mentioned one of the strongest fisheries in the country was the Maine lobster fishery. The value of all the lobster caught in Maine has climbed from $237 million in 2009 to more than $500 million in 2015.

Read the full story from The Associated Press at The Gloucester Times 

10 fish stocks added to NOAA’s overfishing list in US

April 22, 2016 — Three stocks of Chinook salmon, one of Coho salmon and two flounder stocks have been added to the overfishing list produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the organization that regulates U.S. fishing reported in its 2015 Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries.

Still, the number of fish stocks in U.S. waters subject to overfishing is near an all-time low, according to Alan Risenhoover, director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

“The partnerships forged over past 40 years under the Magnuson-Stevens Act have resulted in the number of overfished stocks remaining near all-time lows and additional stocks are rebuilding,” Risenhoover said. “Through its stakeholder-driven process, the U.S. will continue to be a global leader in managing its stocks sustainably.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source