Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: Gov. Ralph Northam calls for freeze on menhaden fishing after company broke Bay catch limit

November 21, 2019 — With a tough letter accusing a Canadian-owned firm of stealing Virginia fish, Gov. Ralph Northam asked for a federal freeze on catching menhaden.

Northam said the freeze was needed because Reedville-based Omega Protein had exceeded a cap set on the menhaden catch in Chesapeake Bay earlier this year. Omega is owned by Cook Aquaculture Inc., of New Brunswick.

The governor’s request to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross came in the wake of a finding by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that Virginia had violated the cap because of Omega’s operation.

The commission cut the Bay cap by 41% in 2017, in what it described as a precautionary measure, but without a finding of overfishing.

“Despite direct appeals by Virginia’s Marine Resources Commissioner and myself that Omega abide by the 51,000 metric ton limit, the company has continued over-harvesting menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay even after exceeding the cap,” Northam wrote in his request to Ross.

Read the full story at The Daily Press

Warming waters spell more bad news for Maine’s shrimpers

November 21, 2019 — New England shrimp are still in bad shape despite a fishing shutdown that is unlikely to end soon, new data show.

The region’s shrimp fishing industry, long based mostly in Maine, has been shut down since 2013 because of concerns about the health of the population. Recent surveys off Maine and New Hampshire say signs are still poor, scientists with the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said.

A big part of the problem is that the shrimp thrive in cold water and the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans. The mean average summer sea bottom temperature was about 42 degrees Fahrenheit from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, and it rose to 45 degrees this year, said Dustin Colson Leaning, a fishery management plan coordinator for the Atlantic States.

That small difference makes it harder for young shrimp to thrive and join the population, he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA to implement new regs on Jonah crab fishery

November 14, 2019 — The profile of the humble Jonah crab, once considered mere bycatch in the lobster fishery, continues to rise.

On Dec. 19, NOAA Fisheries will implement new regulations that will sharpen the scope and definition of the Jonah crab fishery in federal waters by establishing permitting requirements and setting size and possession limits.

The new federal measures closely replicate Jonah crab fishery management plans already enacted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates Jonah crabs on an interstate level, and many East Coast states — including Massachusetts.

“The federal regulations that are being issued mirror those set in place by ASMFC when they released the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan in 2015,” said Derek Perry, a crab biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “More than 99% of Jonah crabs are caught in federal waters, so this is mostly a federal waters fishery.”

So, beginning on Dec. 12, only vessels with a federal American lobster trap or non-trap permit may retain Jonah crab in federal waters. The minimum size will be the same as set by Massachusetts for state waters — 4.75 inches across the carapace.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Striped bass fishers in New Jersey eyeing new regulations with caution

November 12, 2019 — George Bucci has been fishing the waters off New Jersey’s coast for about 30 years, and says the striped bass population has taken a sharp dive in recent years.

He remembers boom times after a moratorium on the fish ended in the late 1990s.

“I would go in the ocean in ’98 and just see miles and miles of striped bass,” Bucci said.

But overfishing has brought it back to critical levels.

“I almost strictly target striped bass,” said Bucci, 52, of Northfield. “In the last five years, I’ve seen the decline in the population. I wouldn’t call it a steady decline, I would call it a sharp decline. … The biomass has shrunk to the point where the juice isn’t worth the squeeze almost.”

The dwindling population led the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board in October to amend the rules for commercial and recreational fishers alike.

The commission, in amending the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic striped bass, is aiming for an 18% reduction in commercial removal of the popular fish from 2017 levels, according to a release from the organization.

Read the full story at The Press of Atlantic City

NOAA Fisheries Sets Management Measures for the Jonah Crab Fishery

November 12, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has approved federal measures for the Jonah crab fishery that complement the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Jonah Crab.

Approved measures include:

Sector

Management Measure

Requirement

Commercial

Vessel permitting

Landing requires a federal lobster permit

Minimum size

4.75-inch (12.065-cm) carapace width

Broodstock protection

Prohibit retention of egg-bearing females

Incidental limit

Up to 1,000 crabs per trip

Incidental latch definition

Up to 50 percent of weight onboard

Dealer permitting and reporting

Federal dealer permit required and mandatory Federal dealer reporting

Recreational

Broodstock protection

Prohibit retention of egg-bearing females

Catch limit

50 crabs per day

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Meeting Scheduled

November 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Friday December 6, 2019
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The times listed are approximate; the order in which these items will be taken is subject to change; other items

may be added as necessary.

Webinar URL: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/651526893

Join the conference call:

Phone: 1-888-585-9008 followed by the Passcode: 635-498-111

  1. Welcome/Call to Order (S. Train) 1:00 p.m.
  2. Section Consent 1:00 p.m.
    1. Approval of Agenda
  3. Public Comment 1:05 p.m.
  4. Review 2019 Stock Assessment Update Report (M. Hunter) 1:15 p.m.
  5. Northern Shrimp Summer Survey Work Group Update 2:25 p.m.
  6. Other Business/Adjourn 3:00 p.m.

Atlantic Herring Spawning Re-Closure for Western Maine in Effect November 6 through November 19, 2019

November 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic Herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Commission’s 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. A spawning closure can be extended for two additional weeks if one sample taken from within a spawning closure area indicates a significant number of spawn herring.

The Western Maine spawning area will be re-closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on November 6 extending through 11:59 p.m. on November 19, 2019. One sample of herring was collected and analysis of the sample indicated 20% mature herring had yet to spawn.

Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught in the Western Maine spawning area during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Western Maine spawning area. Information on the location of the spawning area is included in the below coordinates and the figure on the next page.

Read the full release here

East Coast fishery managers order 18% cut in striped bass harvest

November 4, 2019 — Acting to stem serious declines in the striped bass population, East Coast fishery managers have ordered an 18% harvest reduction for the coming year. How that will be done in the Chesapeake Bay remains to be seen.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass management board on Wednesday agreed to the reduction after an extended debate over how to respond to a scientific assessment earlier this year that found the commercially and recreationally valuable species has been overfished for some time.

The board ordered an 18% cut in commercial harvest quotas in all East Coast states. It also called for comparable recreational catch restrictions. In coastal waters, anglers would be limited to just one fish per day between 28 and 35 inches in length, while in the Bay it would be just one fish per day at least 18 inches long. Anglers are allowed to keep two fish a day now in Maryland; Virginia has already reduced its limit from two to one.

Because the assessment found that many fish were dying after being caught and released, the board also ordered states to require that recreational anglers use circle hooks, which are less likely to injure the fish, beginning in 2021.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

ASMFC 78th Annual Meeting Press Releases, Summaries and Motions Now Available

November 4, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Press releases, meeting summaries and motions from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 78th Annual Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/78AnnualMeeting/78thAnnualMeetingSummary.pdf.  The document can also be obtained on the Commission website on the Meeting Archives page athttp://www.asmfc.org/home/meeting-archive.  Presentations and audio files from this week’s meetings will be posted to the 78th Annual Meeting page (http://www.asmfc.org/home/2019-annual-meeting) next week.

Weakfish Assessment Update Indicates Stock is Depleted

November 4, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The 2019 Weakfish Assessment Update indicates weakfish continues to be depleted and has been since 2003. Under the reference points, the stock is considered depleted when the stock is below a spawning stock biomass (SSB) threshold of 30% (13.6 million pounds). In 2017, SSB was 4.24 million pounds.  While the assessment indicates some positive signs in the weakfish stock in the most recent years, with a slight increase in SSB and total abundance, the stock is still well below the SSB threshold. Given the weakfish management program is already highly restrictive with a one fish recreational creel limit, a 100-pound commercial trip limit, and a 100-pound commercial bycatch limit, the Board took no management action at this time.

The assessment indicates natural mortality (e.g., the rate at which fish die because of natural causes such as predation, disease, and starvation) has been increasing since the early 2000s. Fishing mortality was also high during the mid-to-late 2000s. Therefore, even though harvest has been at low levels in recent years, the weakfish population has been experiencing very high levels of total mortality (which includes fishing mortality and natural mortality), preventing the stock from recovering.

To better address the issues impacting the weakfish resource, the Technical Committee recommends the use of total mortality (Z) benchmarks to prevent an increase in fishing pressure when natural mortality is high. The assessment proposes a total mortality target of 1.03 and a threshold of 1.43. Total mortality in 2017 was 1.45, which is above both the threshold and target, indicating that total mortality is too high. Fishing mortality has increased in recent years but was below the threshold in 2017.

Weakfish commercial landings have dramatically declined since the early 1980s, dropping from over 19 million pounds landed in 1982 to roughly 180,560 pounds landed in 2017. The majority of landings occur in North Carolina and Virginia and, since the early 1990s, the primary gear used has been gillnets. Discarding of weakfish by commercial fishermen is known to occur, especially in the northern trawl fishery, and the discard mortality is assumed to be 100%. Discards peaked in the 1990s but have since declined as the result of management measures and a decline in stock abundance.

Like the commercial fishery, recreational landings and live releases have declined over time. It is assumed that 10% of weakfish released alive die so that total recreational removals are equal to the number of weakfish landed plus 10% of the weakfish released alive. The assessment update used the new time-series of calibrated estimates of landings and live releases from the Marine Recreational Information Program. These estimates were higher than the values used in the 2016 benchmark assessment but showed the same overall trend. Total recreational removals peaked in 1987 at 20.4 million pounds and have declined since then to slightly less than 500,000 pounds in 2017. The proportion of fish released alive has increased over time; over the past 10 years, 88% of weakfish were released alive. Most of the recreational catch occurs in the Mid-Atlantic between North Carolina and New Jersey.

The Assessment Update and a stock assessment overview will be available on the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, on the Weakfish page under Stock Assessment Reports. For more information on the stock assessment, please contact Katie Drew, Stock Assessment Team Leader, at kdrew@asmfc.org; and for more information on weakfish management, please contact Dr. Mike Schmidtke, FMP Coordinator, at mschmidtke@asmfc.org.