Saving Seafood

US bill would mandate report on NOAA, council efforts to address climate change

October 17, 2019 — A bill introduced Tuesday by US representative Joe Cunningham, a Democrat from South Carolina, would make sure climate change’s impact on fish stocks is a focal point for the Donald Trump administration and the regional fishery management councils.

HR 4679, The Climate-Ready Fisheries Act of 2019, would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to submit a report to Congress examining efforts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the councils and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to “prepare and adapt US fishery management for the impacts of climate change”.

The bill, introduced in the House Committee on Natural Resources, already has three cosponsors, including Florida Republicans Francis Rooney and Brian Mast. Representative Jared Huffman, chair of the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans & Wildlife, also is a cosponsor.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ASMFC 78th Annual Meeting Final Agenda and Meeting Materials Now Available

October 17, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 78th Annual Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2019-annual-meeting; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee. For ease of access, all Board meeting documents (including the Executive Committee and ACCSP Coordinating Council) have been combined into one document – Main Meeting Materials. Supplemental materials will be posted to http://www.asmfc.org/home/2019-annual-meeting on October 23rd.

The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of meetings. Interested parties should anticipate meetings starting earlier or later than indicated herein.

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 28th at 8:30 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 12:15 p.m.) on Thursday, October 31st. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2059114101381638411 to register.

As a reminder, the guidelines for submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action) are as follows:

1.   Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of a meeting week will be included with the main meeting materials.

2.   Comments received by 5:00 PM on October 22, 2019 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting and a limited number of copies will be provided at the meeting.

3.   Following the October 22, 2019 5:00 PM deadline, the commenter will be responsible for distributing the information to the management board prior to the board meeting or providing enough copies for the management board consideration at the meeting (a minimum of 50 copies).

The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.  As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.

ASMFC & MAFMC Set Specifications for Jointly Managed Species and Initiate a Joint Action on Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocations; and ASMFC Initiates Addendum on Black Sea Bass State-by-State Commercial Allocations

October 11, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) and Bluefish Board met jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) to adopt 2020-2021 specifications for scup, black sea bass, and bluefish and review previously-implemented 2020 specifications for summer flounder. During the meeting, the Boards and Council reviewed the results of operational stock assessments for black sea bass, scup, and bluefish, which were peer-reviewed and accepted for management use in August 2019. The assessments incorporated fishery catch and fisheryindependent survey data through 2018, including revised recreational catch data from the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). The revised MRIP data are based on a new estimation methodology accounting for changes to the angler intercept survey and the recent transition to a mail based effort survey. For these four species, the revised estimates of catch and landings are several times higher than the previous estimates for shore and private boat modes, substantially raising the overall catch and harvest estimates.

Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Specifications

The following table summarizes commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits (RHL) for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. In setting catch and harvest limits for scup, black sea bass, and bluefish, the Boards and Council also took into account recommendations from the Council’s Statistical and Science Committee (SSC), Monitoring Committee, and Advisory Panels (APs) for each species. The summer flounder limits, which were previously approved by the Board and Council in March 2019, were maintained. No changes were made to the commercial management measures for the four species. For scup, black sea bass, and bluefish, the Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore); the Council will forward its recommendations for federal waters (3 – 200 miles from shore) to the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.

Read the full release here

URI researchers awarded multiple grants to study aspects of aquaculture industry

October 10, 2019 — Several scientists at the University of Rhode Island have been awarded grants to study oyster genetics, breeding and diseases as part of a region-wide effort to support the growing oyster aquaculture industry in the Northeast and assist efforts to restore wild oyster populations.

“Wild and farmed oysters are facing major threats from water quality and disease,” said Marta Gomez-Chiarri, a URI professor of animal science who has studied oyster diseases in Narragansett Bay for more than 20 years. “Even though local water quality has improved in Rhode Island, oysters across the United States face localized threats from pollution and eutrophication while at the same time dealing with multiple factors of global ocean change, like ocean acidification, as well as changes in salinity and dissolved oxygen. We are only beginning to understand the effects of these multiple stressors.”

Gomez-Chiarri — along with URI Assistant Professor Jonathan Puritz and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist Dina Proestou — have teamed with shellfish geneticists and breeders from 10 other East Coast universities to form the Eastern Oyster Genome Consortium to develop genetic tools to accelerate selective breeding efforts. The consortium, in a proposal led by Rutgers University, has been awarded a $4.4 million grant from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to accelerate the pace of identifying the genes responsible for desirable traits like disease resistance.

Read the full story at The Westerly Sun

ASMFC American Shad Stock Assessment Workshop Scheduled for November 18-22, in Charleston, SC

October 10, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the American Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop at the Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston, SC.  The stock assessment, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2020, will evaluate the health of stocks along the Atlantic coast and inform management of this species.  The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*, when the public will be asked to leave the room.

The Commission welcomes the submission of alternate analyses or assessment models.  For alternate models to be considered, the model description, model input, final model estimates, and complete source code must be provided to Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org by October 18, 2019. Any models submitted without complete, editable source code and input files will not be considered.

For more information about the assessment or attending the upcoming workshop (space is limited), please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

* Each state and federal agency is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of its data and deciding who has access to its confidential data. In the case of our stock assessments and peer reviews, all analysts and, if necessary, reviewers, have been granted permission by the appropriate agency to use and view confidential data. When the assessment team needs to show and discuss these data, observers to our stock assessment process are asked to leave the room to preserve confidentiality.

Overfishing of Atlantic Striped Bass Prompts Action

October 7, 2019 — A new assessment has revealed that striped bass off the Atlantic Coast are being depleted faster than they can replenish, and have been since 2013.

In response, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in August issued a collection of possible management options for recreational and commercial fishing, with the goal of reducing the rate of Atlantic striped bass killed by fishing to 18 percent less than the 2017 rate by 2020.

This isn’t the first time striped bass have stared the Grim Reaper in his piscine eyes. Back in the 1980s, the population of striped bass that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manages — which ply the coastal waters between North Carolina and Maine in search of menhaden, a type of herring — declined so drastically that the commission called a complete moratorium on striped bass fishing.

It worked. By 1995, the population had climbed to record levels. That year 540,000 fish were caught commercially, a sharp increase from the 272,000 caught in 1983. A New York Times article from June of that year jubilantly announced the fish’s “comeback.” With the population restored, restrictions were lifted, and the fish’s numbers remained relatively stable.

Read the full story at ecoRI

Local News Consortium earns funding to enhance oyster breeding

September 23, 2019 — A consortium of 14 shellfish geneticists from 12 East Coast universities and government agencies has won a 5-year, $4.4 million grant from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to develop new tools to accelerate and localize selective breeding in support of oyster aquaculture.

The project team was assembled by Stan Allen, professor and director of the Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Center at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Ximing Guo, distinguished professor and shellfish geneticist at Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory; and Dina Proestou, a scientist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Guo will serve as the consortium’s principal investigator.

Allen says, “Our respective breeding programs at Rutgers and VIMS are at the core of the new consortium approach. The project is a terrific opportunity to develop further ground-breaking approaches with Ximing’s team and our other East Coast collaborators, and will hopefully deliver all the more results for industry.” Guo and Allen previously partnered to create the world’s first tetraploid oysters at Rutgers in 1994.

Read the full story at the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

August/September Issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus Now Available

September 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

August/September 2019 issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available here

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ASMFC 78th Annual Meeting Preliminary Agenda
page 1

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

From the Executive Director’s Desk
ACCSP: Transitions in Leadership
page 3

Species Profile
Summer Flounder
page 4

Fishery Management Actions
Atlantic Cobia
Atlantic Menhaden
page 8

Proposed Management Actions
Atlantic Striped Bass
Spiny Dogfish
page 9

Science Highlight
Where Have All the Weakfish Gone?
page 10

SAFIS eTRIPS/mobile Migrates to Version 2
page 11

In Memoriam
Joseph Desfosse
page 14

Past issues of Fisheries Focus can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/search/%20/%20/Fishery-Focus

MAINE: NOAA grant will fund certificate program at UMaine aquaculture institute

September 19, 2019 — The University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute has been selected to receive a $123,735 workforce development grant.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant will fund a pilot project creating an aquaculture certificate program, which will be open to all applicants with at least a high school degree, according to a news release. The grant is administered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

UMaine’s project, “Aquaculture Workforce Development: Certificate in Applied Sustainable Aquaculture,” is designed to address aquaculture industry workforce needs in Maine by facilitating alternative career opportunities for traditional fishing communities.

The project also will incorporate the institute’s internship program, which pilots new internship models to meet hiring needs through industry and academic partnerships.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Atlantic Herring Days Out Call Information and Notice of Spawning Closures for Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire in Effect September 23 through November 3, 2019

September 18, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set effort control measures for the Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery via Days Out meetings/calls. These members are scheduled to convene via conference call on October 2nd from 9:30 to 11:30 AM to consider fishery specifications for Quota Period 4. The details of the call are as follows:

Meeting webinar: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/239062933

Join the conference call:

Phone: 1.888.585.9008

Passcode: 853-657-937

Spawning Closures

The Atlantic Herring Area 1A fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic Herring Management Board approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. However, if sufficient samples are not available then closures will begin on predetermined dates.

Read the full release here