Saving Seafood

ASMFC Approves Addenda XXXI and XXXII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan

December 14, 2018 — ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board), at its joint meeting with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), approved Addenda XXXI and XXXII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

Addendum XXXI

Addendum XXXI, coupled with the Council’s complementary Framework Document, adds to the suite of tools available for managing summer flounder, scup and black sea bass, with particular focus on enhancing the compatibility of state and federal regulations.

First, the joint action modifies the Council and Commission FMPs to allow the use of conservation equivalency for black sea bass recreational management, beginning in 2020. Conservation equivalency allows recreational management measures in federal waters measures to be waived, and instead requires recreational anglers to abide by the measures of the state in which they land their catch. As is done in summer flounder recreational management, the Board and Council will annually decide whether to enact conservation equivalency.

Second, the Commission recommended NOAA Fisheries implement transit provisions in Block Island Sound, allowing non-federally permitted recreational and commercial vessels to transit federal waters while in possession of summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass legally harvested from state waters.

Lastly, the Council’s Framework allows for the use of maximum sizes in addition to minimum sizes, commonly referred to as slot limits, to control catch in the summer flounder and black sea bass recreational fisheries. The Commission’s FMP already allows for use of this approach, thereby allowing both management bodies to use this measure in the future.

Addendum XXXII

Addendum XXXII establishes a new process for developing recreational management measures for summer flounder and black sea bass. These measures will be set on an annual basis through a specifications process, rather than addenda. The Board will approve measures in early spring each year, based on technical committee analysis of stock status, resource availability, and harvest estimates. Public input on specifications will be gathered by states through their individual public comment processes.

By removing the need to develop annual addenda to implement recreational measures, the specifications process will provide the Board more flexibility in adjusting measures, if necessary, to constrain harvest to the annual coastwide recreational harvest limit (RHL). Further, the process will enable the Board to consider a host of factors, including: regional equity; regulatory stability; species abundance and distribution; and late-breaking recreational harvest estimates. To further aid in setting specifications, the Addendum establishes standards and guiding principles intended to structure the development of recreational measures on a regional basis.

Addenda XXXI and XXXII will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on each species webpage by the end of December. For more information on summer flounder and scup, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org, and for information on black sea bass, contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org, or 703.842.0740.

Read the release here

 

Maine fisheries groups support DMR Commissioner Keliher

December 10, 2018 — Who says miracles don’t happen?

In what must be a first in modern history, virtually every commercial fishing organization in Maine joined together to urge Governor-elect Janet Mills to keep Patrick Keliher on the job as commissioner of Marine Resources after she takes office in January.

First reported in the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s Landings, shortly after the election, the MLA, Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Maine Aquaculture Association, Alewife Harvesters of Maine, Maine Elver Fishermen Association and the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association signed a letter to Mills voicing the organizations’ unanimous support for the current DMR commissioner.

“Commissioner Keliher has the relationships, knowledge of the industry landscape and major issues to effectively lead Maine’s seafood sector into the future,” the fisheries groups told the governor-elect.

As of late this week, DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols said Keliher had “no comment at this time” regarding the industry’s endorsement.

Governor Paul LePage appointed Keliher to his job in January 2012, some six months after the departure of the Governor’s initial appointee, Norman Olsen, in July 2011.

Over the past seven-plus years, Keliher has overseen the implementation of a number of tough conservation and enforcement programs in several fisheries including the 10-year rotational management plan for scallops, the introduction of magnetic swipe cards to track landings in the elver fishery and federally mandated gear changes by lobstermen for the protection of endangered whales. He also pushed the Legislature for stronger powers to discipline fishermen who violate Maine’s fisheries laws and DMR rules.

His experience with fisheries regulatory groups was a significant factor in the groups’ recommendation.

“Many of the most impactful decisions that affect the Maine commercial fishing industry are made by regulatory agencies outside of Maine through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),” the writers told Mills.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

SAI Global recommends MSC certify the Atlantic menhaden fishery

December 4, 2018 — SAI Global, one of the leading certification bodies for the Marine Stewardship Council, announced on 4 December that it’s recommending the Atlantic menhaden fishery be certified as sustainable.

The recommendation is a key step in the fishery attaining MSC certification. Now, the certification will go to a 30-day public comment period.

Omega Protein, by far the largest fisher of menhaden, has been the company leading the drive for MSC certification.

The recommendation comes amid some rising controversy over the fishery as competing groups – such as recreational fishermen and whale-watchers – claim that the fishery has been negatively impacting the environment. One nonprofit, Gotham Whale, has developed a petition directly targeting Omega Protein called the “Gotham Whale Action Plan.”

The petition calls for the Omega Protein fleet to be forced to fish 20 miles from New York or New Jersey. Currently, the vessels legally fish outside the three-mile limit.

Gotham Whale’s issue with the fishery largely relates to menhaden’s role as food for humpback whales in the region surrounding New York Harbor near New York City.

“Gotham Whale has been documenting humpback feeding in this area since 2011 and we would like it to continue,” the organization’s petition states. “We are also appealing to the owners of Omega Protein to further persuade them to leave the bunker for the whales.”

The conflict has already gained some attention from media. A New York Times article interviewed several recreational fishing and sightseeing boat captains, many of which claimed that the large Omega Protein boats were causing problems.

“We have a major issue with a fishing fleet coming in and taking all the food from the whales,” Tom Paladino, a whale watching boat captain, told the Times.

Omega Protein has also butted heads with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission after the management organization put Virginia on notice for not implementing a reduced menhaden catch limit for Chesapeake Bay. While the overall limit for menhaden was raised for the 2018 and 2019 seasons to 216,000 metric tons (MT), the Chesapeake Bay limit – where Omega Protein does a lot of its fishing – was set for just 51,000 MT.

Chesapeake Bay’s quota was previously 87,216 MT. While the state of Virginia’s total quota was 170,000 MT, that represented little to no increase, something that didn’t add up for Omega Protein.

“We feel that it’s targeting one company, which is what this provision applies to Omega,” Ben Landry, Omega Protein’s director of public affairs, told SeafoodSource in May, noting that there are no caps for the bait fishery. “It’s not in accordance with the best available science. It’s not necessary for the conservation of the species because it’s not overfished.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Good Luck Finding Maine Shrimp This Winter

November 28, 2018 — Shrimp from Maine is certainly less well-known than its crustacean cousin, Maine lobster. One of the primary reasons is that over 80 percent of American lobsters caught in the U.S. are from the state; meanwhile, even in a good year, Maine accounted for just a sliver of U.S. shrimp production, which as a whole only accounts for a sliver of the shrimp consumed in America, most of which comes from Asia. But another reason you may not hear much about shrimp from New England is that, this year, literally none will make it to market at all.

According to the Associated Press, the situation for Northern shrimp, also known as Pandalus borealis, is so dire that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is even shutting down a research program that had previously allowed a limited amount of shrimp from the Gulf of Maine to make it to market.

Though the shutdown should assure that what little supplies of Northern shrimp were being sold will no longer be available, it’s not like the supply has suddenly collapsed. After years of restrictions, the commission shut down all but the “research set aside” program since the 2014 season. Now, even that program for New England shrimp fishing reportedly won’t be allowed until 2021 when the moratorium is set to end. Even then, extensions of the closure are possible as stocks will be reevaluated year by year.

As recently as 2011, ASMFC data shows that landings were near 15 million pounds, the highest they’ve been since 1997. And Northern shrimp stocks have collapsed and rebuilt before: In 1978, the fishery was closed due to a stock collapse, but grew steadily throughout the ‘80s. However, this time around, the ASMFC appears to worry that things are different due to climate change. No previous closure has ever lasted anywhere near this long, and the commission has noted that “long-term trends in environmental conditions have not been favorable for” Northern shrimp. As Portland, Maine’s Press Herald reported last year, waters in the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The gulf already has the warmest waters these cold water-thriving shrimp can survive in; the even warmer winter waters are making it difficult for the species to spawn.

Read the full story at Food & Wine

Shrimp still shuttered: Northern shrimp moratorium extended 3 years

November 28, 2018 — New England’s fishing industry wasn’t expecting a bountiful shrimp harvest this winter, as the fishery has been shuttered since 2014. But the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission went above in beyond in its November meeting, shutting the shrimp fleet down not only for 2019, but for ’20 and ’21 as well.

A 2018 benchmark assessment published in October showed a bleak future for the fishery. The report indicated the northern shrimp population remains severely depleted. Spawning stock biomass remains at the same low levels that have kept the fishery shuttered since the 2013 season.

Commissioners from New Hampshire and Massachusetts supported the closure, while Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, reportedly wanted only a one-year closure.

The closure does not allow for any research quota in the next three years, a deal that has kept a small portion of Gulf of Maine shrimp in the marketplace each year.

“The stock is so low, biomass is so low and recruitment is so down — the 2018 recruitment was 2 billion. And while that sounds like a lot, that’s even below the median,” said Tina Berger, the commission’s director of communications. “Their rationale was, ‘Let’s close the resource for three years, and that way if we have a good year for recruitment, it would give that class time to grow into a fishable resource.’”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New England shrimp won’t be available at all this year

November 26, 2018 — A small amount of New England shrimp has been available to the public despite a fishing shutdown in recent years, but that will not be the case this winter.

The next few years of a shutdown of the New England shrimp industry will extend to a limited, research-based fishery that has helped provide a small amount of the shrimp to retailers in the past, interstate fishing regulators have said. The managers recently decided to extend a moratorium on Northern shrimp fishing until 2021.

In some previous years of the moratorium, New England’s shrimp trawlers and trappers have been able to bring some of the popular winter seafood item to market via a program called the “research set aside.” The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has ruled that the population of the shrimp, which is jeopardized by a warming ocean, is so low that even the research program isn’t going to be implemented this time around.

Canadian fishermen harvest the same species, but their product is difficult to find in the United States, rendering the shrimp essentially off the market for U.S. consumers.

The shutdown has been a pain for consumers and fishermen, said Joe Leask, a shrimper out of Portland who previously participated in the research fishery. Many fishermen harvest different species during different times of the year, and the loss of shrimp has hurt them economically, he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

No research fishery for shrimp this year, either

November 26, 2018 — This winter there will be no Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and other local northern shrimp lovers trooping down to the dock with buckets to try to buy the cold-water delicacies.

This winter will be no little different from the last four years when local shrimp disappeared from seafood retail shops as the shrimp fishery has been closed.

The shutdown of the New England shrimp industry has been extended to a limited, research-based fishery that helped provide a small amount of shrimp to the public in the past, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently decided.

That means Joe Jurek,a Gloucester-based groundfisherman, who held the rarified position as the only Massachusetts fisherman allowed to fish for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine, will likely sticking to his specialization in yellow-tail flounder on most fishing days

The regulators have extended the moratorium on northern shrimp fishing until 2021. In some previous years of the moratorium, shrimp trawlers and trappers had been able to bring some of the popular seafood item to market via a program called the “research set aside.”

Besides Jurek, owner and skipper of the 42-foot FV Mystique Lady, last year’s study also included eight trawlers from Maine and one from New Hampshire.

Each participating boat was allowed to shrimp once a week for eight weeks. Each vessel was allowed to catch and sell up to 1,200 pounds of northern shrimp per week at a price to be determined by the market. There was no other compensation.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Shrimp fishery moratorium extended through 2021

November 20, 2018 — The Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission extended a moratorium on commercial fishing of Gulf of Maine shrimp through 2021.

According to the commission’s news release, the three-year extension was set in response to low shrimp populations and the fact that, even with increasing juvenile populations, it would still take several years for the shrimp to be commercially harvestable.

A 2018 stock assessment update indicates the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population remains depleted. “Spawning stock biomass,” referring to the shrimp that are capable of reproducing, has steadily declined to what the commission said was “extremely low levels.” In 2018, it was estimated at 1.3 million pounds, compared with 2017’s 1.5 million pounds.

“Recruitment,” the number of shrimp surviving to reach spawning status, has also been low in recent years.

The commission said that high levels of natural mortality and low levels of recruitment are hindering recovery of the stock. Natural mortality is caused by predation and unfavorable trends in environmental conditions due to increasing ocean temperatures.

“With ocean temperatures predicted to continue to rise, this suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine,” the release says.

Fishing for shrimp has been banned for the past five years, and yet the stock has not improved, the release says.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Regional Regulators Vote For 3-Year Closure Of Maine Shrimp Fishery

November 19, 2018 — A panel of regulators from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts voted Friday to put a three-year moratorium on the commercial fishery for Northern Shrimp, also known as Maine shrimp. Maine’s representatives at the meeting in Portland wanted some type of season preserved, but they were outnumbered.

The decision came after Katie Drew, a scientist with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, told the panel there was virtually no chance the shrimp would bounce back from depleted levels before 2022 and, in fact, might never recover. Above all, she says, the Gulf of Maine, has warmed to the limits of the shrimp’s reproductive capacity.

“The warmer the waters the less baby shrimp you have the next year,” says Drew. “And so we’ve had a lot of warm waters, and we’re just not getting a enough baby shrimp into the population. And in addition a lot of things like to eat northern shrimp.”

Predators such as red hake, spiny dogfish and squid, which are growing more abundant in some parts of the Gulf. The pressure they are putting on shrimp is a growing problem, even though one top predator, humans, haven’t been in the picture since 2014.

Historically, the commercial shrimp fishery, which traditionally started in December, has been dominated by boats from Maine. But it’s been closed for four consecutive years.

Panel member Mike Armstrong, assistant director in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, says the regulators should bow to reality and proposed the three-year closure.

Read the full story at Maine Public

 

Regulators close Maine’s shrimp fishery for next 3 years

November 19, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — Regulators voted Friday to close the Gulf of Maine winter shrimp season for another three years, raising fears that the fishery decimated by rising water temperatures may never bounce back.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has been taking a year-to-year approach to determining whether to allow a winter season, but the panel decided to shut it down for 2019, 2020 and 2021 after receiving a dismal report on the depleted fishery.

The last time the fishery was open was 2014 in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

“The stock has shown very little signs of recovery. It’s considered a depleted resource,” said Tina Berger, spokeswoman for the agency.

Fishermen, the bulk of them from Maine, used to catch millions of pounds of the shrimp every winter.

But the warming ocean and predation have decimated the shrimp fishery. The shrimp are especially sensitive to changes in water temperature, Berger said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post