Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Waters close to gill nets

November 5, 2015 — Waters in the Pamlico Sound and the northern portion of Core Sound will close to anchored, large-mesh gill nets starting this morning due to interactions with sea turtles.

The closure impacts Management Unit B under the state’s Sea Turtle Incidental Take Permit, which includes all of Pamlico Sound and the northern portion of Core Sound down to a line from Club House on Core Banks to a point on the shore at Davis near Marker 1, according to a North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries news release.

The closure took effect beginning one hour after sunrise.

DMF staff have observed numerous interactions with sea turtles in the management unit since it reopened Nov. 2. The closure is meant to avoid exceeding the allowed number of sea turtle interactions for the management unit.

Read the full story at Jacksonville Daily News

 

NEW YORK: Tappan Zee Bridge Construction Killing Endangered Fish In Alarming Numbers

October 16, 2015 — SOUTH NYACK, N.Y. — The new Tappan Zee Bridge may be costing us more than originally thought.

Environmentalists are blaming the construction project for killing endangered fish in the Hudson River.

As CBS2’s Lou Young reported, its been around since pre-history, but some are wondering if the Atlantic Sturgeon has finally met its match where the new Tappan Zee Bridge is being built.

The animals, which live an average of 60 years and can grow up to 15 feet in length, spawn in the river and have been turning up dead in what the environmentalists at Riverkeeper say are alarming numbers.

“This is an endangered species. The last published study on Atlantic Sturgeon had a total of 860 mature sturgeon in the Hudson River population,” said Leah Rae, with Riverkeeper.

In all cases, motorboats are being blamed, but the fish float far from the scene of the impact so solving the case is not likely an episode of CSI, Young reported.

Read the full story at CBS New York

 

NORTH CAROLINA: Pamlico, Pungo, Neuse and Bay rivers to close to anchored, large-mesh gill nets

September 22, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

Some rivers and creeks in the central coastal area of North Carolina will close to anchored, large-mesh gill nets at 5 p.m. Thursday due to interactions with Atlantic sturgeon.

The action closes Management Unit C under the state’s Atlantic Sturgeon Incidental Take Permit, which includes the Pamlico, Pungo, Neuse and Bay rivers and their tributaries. The closure impacts all anchored, large-mesh gill nets, including those set under a Recreational Commercial Gear License.

The closure will remain in effect until Dec. 1.

This marks the first management unit closure in North Carolina resulting from interactions with Atlantic sturgeon under the incidental take permit since July 2014.

The action is required by the incidental take permit, which allows for anchored, large-mesh gill net interactions with six Atlantic sturgeon, only two of which can be dead, in Management Unit C during the fall season (Sept. 1- Nov. 30). Once the allowed interactions are approached or met, the waters must close for the remainder of the season.

As of today, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ staff have observed four live and one dead Atlantic sturgeon interactions with anchored, large-mesh gill nets in Management Unit C. The figures that state officials have observed are approaching the legal limit for these kinds of interactions in Management Unit C.

For details of the closure, see Proclamation M-15-2015 at http://www.ncmarinefisheries.net/proclamations.

North Carolina’s estuarine gill net fishery is managed under incidental take permits for sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon. The permits are issued to the state by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The permits authorize limited takes of these species, listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, as part of conservation plans that divide the state’s internal coastal waters into management units. The permits require observer coverage, so that the management units are closely monitored for interactions with sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon. An annual number of allowed interactions with each species is assigned to each gear type in each management unit. If the number of interactions is approached or met, the management unit must close for the remainder of the season or year.

For more information, contact Chris Batsavage, the division’s Protected Resources Section chief, at 252-808-8009 or 252-241-2995, or via email at Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.

 

What To Do If You Catch a Sturgeon

September 10, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons are protected species. If you accidentally catch a sturgeon, keep the fish in the water and remove the hooks. If the hooks are in too deep, cut the line. If you need to remove the fish from the water in order to do this, use wet hands or a wet rag to support the belly. Always support the fish in the water until it is able to swim away on its own. 

To receive a free sturgeon tackle box sticker that tells you what to do if you catch a sturgeon or for other questions about these fish, please call 978-281-9328 or email Edith Carson at edith.carson@noaa.gov. Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons are protected species. If you accidentally catch a sturgeon, keep the fish in the water and remove the hooks. If the hooks are in too deep, cut the line. If you need to remove the fish from the water in order to do this, use wet hands or a wet rag to support the belly. Always support the fish in the water until it is able to swim away on its own. 

For commercial fishermen, we have a downloadable page on Atlantic sturgeon resuscitation.

Find out more about these ancient fish on our Atlantic Sturgeon Recovery Plan web pages.

Group Petitions to Save a Prehistoric Fish From Modern Construction

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — July 21, 2015 — The Atlantic sturgeon is among the oldest of fish species, dating from the time of the dinosaurs. It is the longest-living fish in the Hudson (up to 60 years), the largest (up to 14 feet) and the strangest-looking, with bony plates that make it look armored.

But looks can be deceiving, and the sturgeon is also endangered. Now, environmentalists say construction of the $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge here is killing scores of the fish. Most of them — both Atlantic sturgeons and the smaller shortnose sturgeons, also endangered but more plentiful — have been found dead along the shore, with injuries like long gashes and severed heads, suggesting impacts from boat propellers.

“They call them living fossils,” said Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, the environmental group devoted to the Hudson, “and we can’t be the generation that does them in.”

This month, the group, which is represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service, a federal agency responsible for offshore living marine animals and habitats, asking it to study the problem and take immediate action.

Read the full story from The New York Times