December 1, 2020 — The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) should consider a model measure dedicated to fisheries observers that ensures it complies with accepted international core human and labor rights standards, the U.K. NGO Human Rights at Sea recommended in its latest report.
The proposed model measure was submitted to WCPFC Secretariat for consideration in the upcoming virtual meeting of members, taking place early next month.
October 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The information collected by observers and at-sea monitors is essential to successful science-based fisheries management. Gathering and recording accurate data while aboard a vessel is challenging work. It’s the first step in a much longer process of validating and integrating the data for use by scientists and managers.
Historically, observers have collected data on paper forms for manual processing, but many programs are moving the entire data collection process to a paperless system. This improves cost and timing efficiencies while reducing potential errors in the data itself. Our Northwest Fisheries Science Center has put a new paperless system to the test, and the lessons learned can inform other projects across the country.
The program has traditionally used paper-based data collection and documentation of fishery catch weights (e.g., groundfish, shrimp, midwater species) for trawl and fixed-gear, rod and reel, longline, and other gear types.
In the paper-based process, the information is calculated, entered into an offline database while at sea, and then synced to an online database once on land. Then, observer program staff review the data, consider edits or corrections, and if necessary, require resubmissions before the data becomes available to end-users.
To address their goals to streamline the traditional workflow, the observer program has been developing a system that includes data entry into a handheld device. This eliminates error-prone processes like transcription and calculation, and enables electronic data archiving.
“Improvements to our data collection process resulted in faster data turnaround and catch quota updates for vessels that participated in our program,” says Jason Eibner, a former observer who has worked for 12 years at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, part of our Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
“We realized that a paperless electronic data collection system would help us work even more efficiently by removing the most tedious and time-consuming steps. At the same time, we’re increasing data accuracy and providing our observers with some deserved down time in the field,” added Eibner.
October 5, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic does not appear to have hindered the distant-water fleets of China and other major fishing nations, but it has largely sidelined the fishery observers and port officials who monitor illegal fishing.
“In most of the South Pacific, fishery inspectors cannot come onboard the vessel to do inspections before authorising” the transfer of catch, known as transshipment, says Francisco Blaha, a New Zealand-based fisheries adviser.
The presence of independent observers on trawlers is a frontline deterrent to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A 2016 study found that a third of the world’s fish catch is not reported.
“The absence of observers will bring a level of uncertainly on reporting” catch, adds Blaha. “The biggest issue we have in the South Pacific is misreporting and underreporting by the licensed fleet.”
This absence comes as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) resumes negotiations in Geneva this month in the latest attempt to reach a consensus on a long-delayed agreement to eliminate harmful subsidies. These promote the IUU and over-fishing that is decimating global fish stocks.
August 21, 2020 — Senators Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren are adding their names to the list of politicians questioning NOAA over their decision to reinstate at-sea monitors and observer coverage in the Northeast.
Observers and at-sea monitors for those in the Northeast were reinstated this past Friday, August 14. The requirement to carry observers on board had been waived for months due to health and safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus. However, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver announced last month that the waiver would be lifted because “observers create no more risk than crew members.”
August 18, 2020 — At-sea observers in the Northeast were reinstated by NOAA on August 14— but multiple groups and politicians are urging the government agency to reconsider their decision.
Observer coverage has been waived for months due to health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. However, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver announced late last month that observer coverage in the Northeast would resume on August 14.
August 17, 2020 — Commercial fishermen have long had their gripes about the government-trained observers required by regulators to monitor their catch.
When the pandemic began sweeping across the nation in March, federal officials halted their work, which involves long hours at sea, often in close quarters with fishermen. But with many captains and deckhands still hauling in their prey, observers resumed their duties in early May in nearly every major port around the country — except those in the Northeast.
The region’s mighty fleet has since received seven exemptions from observer requirements, which the federal government subsidizes at an annual cost of more than $50 million to prevent overfishing.
Now, with observers resuming their work this weekend in ports from North Carolina to Maine, fishermen and their representatives are urging the agency to halt the program again, saying it could have an adverse impact on an industry that lands about $2 billion worth of seafood a year.
August 4, 2020 — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: NOAA Fisheries, persisting in an increasingly bad optic and potentially dangerous policy, last week said it will begin redeploying at-sea monitors aboard Northeast groundfish vessels on Aug. 14 despite the continuing national surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. It extends the previous waiver period by two weeks.
“NOAA Fisheries has been working with the regional observer and monitor providers to enact safety protocols that match those that are in effect for vessel operators and crew during this continually evolving situation,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver said in a statement announcing the extension.
Oliver said the agency has developed national criteria for vessels to be released from monitor and observer coverage on a trip-by-trip basis. Waivers may be granted if observers or at-sea monitors are not available for the trip or the observer providers “cannot meet the safety protocols imposed by a state on commercial fishing crew or by the vessel or vessel company on the crew.”
And now the lawyers weigh in: “Within our limited authority, our efforts are intended to ensure observers and monitors are following the same safety protocols that fishermen are following,” Oliver stated.
We’re sure that makes everybody feels way safer.
July 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:
Providing seafood to the country remains an essential function even in these extraordinary times, and adequately monitoring United States fisheries remains an essential part of that process.
To improve transparency in our approach to observer deployment, we have established national-level criteria for vessels to be waived (released) from observer or at-sea monitor coverage. Going forward, observer or monitor coverage may be waived, for both full and partial-coverage fisheries, on a trip-specific basis if one of the following two criteria are met:
(1) Observers or at-sea monitors are not available for deployment; or
(2) The observer providers cannot meet the safety protocols imposed by a state on commercial fishing crew or by the vessel or vessel company on its crew. Within our limited authority, our efforts are intended to ensure observers and monitors are following the same safety protocols that fishermen are following.
We recognize that there are differences for observer and at-sea monitor deployment across fisheries, and have heard the concerns expressed about how observer coverage varies regionally, and even within regions. Given the diversity in our fisheries, from the composition of the fleets to how the fisheries are prosecuted, regional flexibility will continue in the detailed implementation of the two waiver criteria. We believe this adaptable approach will allow us to be transparent with stakeholders as well as responsive to ever-evolving changes on the ground. We also continue to encourage the use of electronic monitoring, as appropriate, as an additional option.
On August 14, we will resume deployment of observers and at-sea monitors in the Northeast partial-coverage fisheries. We are maintaining existing observer and monitor, both at-sea and shoreside, coverage throughout our other regions. Vessels should continue to seek observer and monitor coverage waivers through their regular regional process.
NOAA Fisheries has been working with the regional observer and monitor providers to enact safety protocols that match those that are in effect for vessel operators and crew, during this continually evolving situation. The contractual relationships between industry, NOAA Fisheries, and observer providers vary by region and sometimes within a region.
Observers and monitors, at-sea and shoreside, are an essential component of commercial fishing operations and provide critical information that is necessary to keep fisheries open and to provide sustainable seafood to our nation during this time. We will continue to monitor all local public health notifications, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for updates. We are committed to the health and safety of fishermen, observers, and others while fulfilling our mission to maintain our nation’s seafood supply and conserving marine life.
Chris Oliver
NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator
July 27, 2020 — The non-governmental organization Human Rights At Sea earlier this month published a report with numerous recommendations to better protect fisheries observers who monitor fish catches by tuna vessels in the Pacific.
The report, Fisheries Observer Deaths at Sea, Human Rights and the Role and Responsibilities of Fisheries Organisations, highlights “the often challenging and solitary working conditions for observers who are away at sea without any immediate physical support,” according to the group – a registered charity in England and Wales that promotes the development and enforcement of human rights at sea.
July 24, 2020 — The following is an excerpt from a letter addressed to NOAA Administrators from Massachusetts Legislators. Lawmakers in Massachusetts have requested the extending of At-Sea Monitoring Waivers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dear Under Secretary Jacobs, Mr. Oliver, Mr. Pentony, and Dr. Hare:
Thank you for extending the waiver for the requirement of At-Sea Monitoring (ASM) in the Northeast groundfishery through July 31, 2020. This action was critical to protecting the health and safety of the men and women in the Massachusetts commercial fishing industry,
While COVID-19 trends in the Northeast have been generally positive, many coastal areas continue to see cases rising, including Suffolk, Bristol, and Barnstable counties here in Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island, and Virginia Beach County, Virginia. As Senator Tarr’s June 30, 2020 letter to you, the commercial fishing industry remains among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 due to the inherent conditions of their working environment at sea. Furthermore, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned that this fall and winter will likely see a secondary outbreak of COVID-19.