Saving Seafood

As Offshore Wind Ramps Up, Scientists Flag Potential Impacts

August 21, 2023 — Last year, the Biden administration announced an ambitious goal: enough offshore wind to power 10 million homes by 2030. The move would reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, and strengthen energy security. It would also help the United States — which was responsible for just 0.1 percent of the world’s offshore wind capacity last year — catch up with renewable energy leaders like China and Europe.

The plan is already well underway: Massive turbines are rising off the coast of Massachusetts, and more projects are planned up and down the U.S. coastlines. Advocates say these turbines, and other offshore projects around the world, are a crucial tool in minimizing the effects of climate change: The technology is touted as clean, renewable, and plentiful. And, since offshore wind farms aren’t located in anyone’s backyard, they are, at least in theory, less prone to the political pushback onshore wind power has faced.

The fishing industry fears wind farms will affect their ability to yield a profitable catch — especially since the windy, shallow waters that support a rich diversity of sea life also tend to be ideal locations for turbines. Some scientists say these fears have been overblown — a 2022 study, for example, concluded that the Block Island Wind Farm located off the coast of Rhode Island does not appear to negatively impact bottom-dwelling fish. (Coastal regulators in the state of Rhode Island mandated the study be conducted and paid for by wind farm developers.) Others, like [Rutgers University’s Dr. Daphne] Munroe, say specific fisheries such as Atlantic surfclams will be significantly affected.

Surfclam fishing in wind farm areas, said Munroe, is logistically difficult, if not impossible, since vessels use dredges that drag though the sand to collect the clams. The presence of power cables on the ocean floor, she said, would make it too dangerous to use this kind of equipment around wind farms.

Installed boulders surrounding turbine foundations will also create obstacles, according to Munroe. “Each of the foundations is going to have what’s called scour protection,” she said. “So basically, big boulder fields that are going to be placed around the base of the turbine foundation in order to prevent the sand from scouring away.”

Read the full story at Undark

Notice to Fishermen: 2020 Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Cost Recovery Tag Fees

June 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are announcing the 2020 cost recovery per-tag fees for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog individual transferable quota (ITQ) program.

2020 Cost Recovery Cage Tag Fees

Atlantic Surfclam: $0.62 per tag

Ocean Quahog: $0.36 per tag

The fee for each cage tag is calculated based on the number of ITQ cage tags that were used to land surfclams or ocean quahogs during the 2019 fishing year, and the costs associated with operating the program in 2019. The fees are then multiplied by the number of tags used during the 2020 fishing year to determine the final bill amount. These cost recovery fees are separate from, and in addition to, the price ITQ permit holders currently pay to the tag vendor to obtain cage tags each year.

Quota shareholders will soon receive bills based on these tags fees and the number of their cage tags that were used to land surfclams or ocean quahogs during 2020. The initial quota shareholder who first received the allocation of cage tags is responsible for the fee even if the tag is leased, sold, or otherwise used by someone else.

For more information read our bulletin.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2021-2026 Specifications for the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries

May 12, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective June 14

NOAA Fisheries is setting 2021 and projecting 2022-2026 commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs. The final quotas, which have remained unchanged since 2004, are:

  • Atlantic surfclams: 3.4 million bushels
  • Ocean quahogs: 5.36 million bushels
  • Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit will be suspended for the 2021 fishing year, as it has been every year since 2005. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the bulletin.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Laura Hansen, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9225

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

Proposed 2021-2026 Specifications for the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries

February 17, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on a proposed rule that would set the commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs for the 2021 through 2026 fishing years based on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommendation.

The proposed quotas, which have remained unchanged since 2004, are:

  • Atlantic surfclams: 3.4 million bushels
  • Ocean quahogs: 5.36 million bushels
  • Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit would be suspended for 2021, as it has been every year since 2005. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through March 4, 2021.

Questions?

Industry: Contact Laura Hansen, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9225

Media: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175

Atlantic surf clams: With restaurant sales down, processors focus on retail

February 8, 2021 — Consumer demand for Atlantic surf clams and ocean quahogs has shifted in the past six months. Most of the fleet is centered around Point Pleasant Beach and Atlantic City, N.J.; Oceanview, N.Y.; Hyannis, Mass. (surf clams only); and New Bedford and Fairhaven, Mass. There is also a quahog fishery in Maine. 

Chris Shriver, general manager of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, a large processor headquartered in Massachusetts, says covid-19 has affected markets.

“A lot of our product does sell to the restaurant sector, wholesale, and to chains. All were impacted, due to the closures and limited seatings.” Shriver says some states are starting to open up a little, and that clam products from Rhode Island were still able to be sold locally in fry shacks and take-out establishments.

“But we’re all fearful for the next shoe to drop,” Shriver says. While Atlantic Capes does not produce canned products, they have substantial retail and soup manufacturing markets. The upshot is “there has definitely been an uptick in the retail sector.” But, adds Shriver, it is difficult to make up for the lost restaurant markets. 

Landings for surf clams, ocean quahog and Maine quahog are short of what they were at this time last year. By mid-September 2020, 32.5 percent of the surf clam quota (3.4 million bushels) and 25.5 percent of ocean quahog quota (5.33 million bushels) was harvested. Maine’s quahog fishery had harvested 10 percent of the 100,000-bushel quota for the state.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MAFMC Approves Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Excessive Shares Amendment

December 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved the Excessive Shares Amendment to the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan (FMP) during its meeting last week in Annapolis, Maryland. The Excessive Shares Amendment was developed to address the “excessive share” provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The amendment also considered revisions to the multi-year specification setting process and modifications to the FMP goals and objectives. Below are summaries of the issues addressed and the Council’s preferred alternatives.

Excessive Shares Cap and Review Timeframe

National Standard 4 (NS4) of the MSA mandates that allocations of fishing privileges must be “carried out in such manner that no particular individual, corporation, or other entity acquires an excessive share of such privileges.” To be consistent with NS4, the Council was required to develop measures which specifically define what constitutes an excessive share in the surfclam and ocean quahog individual transferable quota (ITQ) program.

The Council considered a wide range of excessive shares cap alternatives, including options that would place limits on quota share ownership and options that would limit annual allocations based on both owned quota share and possession of cage tags. The Council ultimately selected an alternative which would implement a quota share ownership cap of 35% for surfclams and 40% for quahogs and an annual allocation cap (based on the possession of cage tags) of 65% for surfclams and 70% for ocean quahogs. The Council’s preferred alternative represents a compromise on the part of the fishing industry and will allow for some additional efficiencies in the fisheries (through further consolidation). This option will allow a reasonable number of entities to exist if fully consolidated and will bring the FMP in to compliance with NS4. The Council specified that the excessive shares measures should be reviewed at least every 10 years or as needed.

Multi-Year Management Measures

Currently, surfclam and ocean quahog management specifications are set for up to 3 years. Through this amendment, the Council voted to allow specifications to be set for the maximum number of years consistent with the stock assessment schedule. As a result, based on the current stock assessment schedule, surfclam specifications would be set for four years and ocean quahog for six years.

FMP Goals and Objectives

Finally, the Council adopted a suite of revised goals and objectives recommended by the Fishery Management Action Team that better reflect the Council’s long-term intent for these fisheries. These goals and objectives focus on sustainability, a simple and efficient management regime, managing for stability, management that is flexible and adaptive to changes, and the promotion of science and research.

Additional information and background documents related to this amendment are available at http://www.mafmc.org/actions/scoq-excessive-shares-amendment.

Study examines how the Atlantic surfclam is successfully adapting to climate change

July 15, 2019 — Global climate change poses a severe threat to marine life, but scientists have found at least one species that appears to be successfully adapting to warmer ocean waters.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that, even without factoring in the impacts of fishing, global animal biomass in Earth’s oceans is expected to decrease by as much as 17 percent by 2100 under a “high emissions” scenario that leads to 3-4 degrees Celsius of warming. Even under a “low emissions” scenario, in which global warming is limited to just 2 degrees Celsius (the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement), the study found that marine life biomass would drop by 5 percent by 2100.

In addition to warmer waters, ocean acidification and oxygen depletion will take a toll on the wildlife that call Earth’s oceans home. On average, the research determined, we can expect a 5 percent decline in ocean life for every 1 degree Celsius increase in Earth’s average surface temperature.

However, a new study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series shows that, as ocean temperatures rise, Atlantic surfclams, a large saltwater clam found mostly in the western Atlantic Ocean, are capably shifting their range into waters that would have previously been inhospitable to their survival.

According to the study’s authors, Jeremy Timbs and Eric Powell of the University of Southern Mississippi and Roger Mann of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the number of larvae produced by Atlantic surfclams is the key to the species’ adaptability. The clams employ a strategy of producing a massive amount of larvae that are widely distributed throughout the ocean, allowing them to reproduce despite the deleterious effects of predators, lack of food, and inhospitable temperatures on surfclam larvae numbers.

Read the full story at Mongabay

The Economist: Particle biology

October 10, 2015 — Filter-feeding bivalve molluscs, such as mussels, oysters, scallops and clams, are a useful and tasty source of protein. They can, though, also be harbingers of illness. A filter-feeder lives, as the name suggests, by trapping and consuming particles (mostly bacteria and single-celled algae) suspended in water it pumps through its body. If those particles are themselves toxic, they can seriously discomfort, and occasionally kill, a human who eats a mollusc that has been feeding on them.

The most common culprits are algae called dinoflagellates and diatoms, several species of which make potent toxins. These algae often multiply into spectacular blooms along coastlines. Even in the absence of such a bloom, though, they can be abundant enough to cause problems. For this reason, in most places in the rich world at least, bivalves intended for sale have to be tested before they go to market. That involves taking samples to a laboratory, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. What is needed is a simple test that can be carried out on-board a ship. And Waqass Jawaid, of Queen’s University in Belfast, thinks he has one.

One way of screening shellfish is pretty crude. This is to inject a mouse with a sample and see if it gets ill— a procedure no longer used in Europe, but still permitted in parts of America. The alternative, a mix of chromatography and mass spectrometry, is more sensitive, but requires expensive equipment and trained staff. Dr Jawaid’s method, which he and his colleagues report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, employs antibodies to create a system similar to a pregnancy test.

Read the full story at The Economist

 

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2016 Fishing Quotas for Atlantic Surfclams and Ocean Quahogs

September 21, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs for the 2016 fishing year (Jan 1-Dec 31) will remain the same as the 2015 fishing year:

Surfclams: 3.4 million bushels

Ocean quahogs: 5.3 million bushels

Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit will be suspended for 2016, as it has for each of the past 10 years. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details, read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Atlantic surfclams being sorted on deck. Credit: NOAA