Saving Seafood

Blue Crab Numbers Down From Last Year, Multi-Year Analysis To Begin

May 28, 2024 — The Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population is holding steady but remains below average, new data show, easing but not completely dispelling worries about the long-term viability of the region’s most important commercial and popular recreational fishery.

The recent winter dredge survey, conducted each year by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, found about 317 million crabs in the Bay and its tributaries, the two agencies announced. That is down slightly from last year’s estimate of 323 million crabs, though well above the all-time low of 227 million crabs in 2022.

The tally of spawning-age female crabs—a critical indicator of the overall crab stock’s health—decreased by 12.5 percent. But that number is still well above the threshold that biologists say is the minimum needed to sustain the population.

The abundance of juvenile crabs continued to recover from an all-time low in 2021 but remained well below average for the fifth year in a row. The survey found 138 million young crustaceans this year, a nearly 20% increase over the 2023 survey.

Read the full article at the Bay Journal

Blue crabs are showing up more often in the warming Gulf of Maine

October 17, 2023 — Laura Crane winds her way around a maze of shallow pools at the Webhannet Marsh near Wells. She stops at one pool with a small blue flag poking through the tall grass at the water’s edge, grabs the rope lying nearby, and pulls.

“OK, first trap we already have two blue crabs, said Crane, as she hauls up a small, wire mesh trap from the muck.

And with metal kitchen tongs in hand, Crane attempts to pry away one of the crabs that’s clutching one side. It’s small, with a greenish gray shell and bright blue claws. She measures its size and determines that it’s a male.

Crabs that have been caught before have a small notch clipped from their swimmer paddle. And after a lengthy battle with the kitchen tongs, Crane confirms that this crab has not been tagged.

Read the full article at Maine Public

MAINE: Have you seen a blue crab in Maine? Researchers want to know where

August 17, 2023 — The reports have come from up and down the coast of Maine: Blue crabs have been spotted around dock pilings, pulled up in lobster traps and found washed up on beaches.

The crabs, usually associated with coastal Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, have been showing up more often and in larger numbers in the Gulf of Maine over the past few years. To better understand the shifting population, scientists are now asking fishermen and members of the public to report their sightings through an online survey.

Jessie Batchelder, a fisheries project manager with Manomet, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on conservation and science education that has been studying blue crabs in Maine, said the information submitted by lobstermen, clam harvesters and others who are frequently on the water is key to getting a better picture of the blue crab population.

“They have a vast knowledge of what’s going on and what they’re seeing,” she said.

In the past, researchers would occasionally hear about stray blue crabs being found in lobster traps or by clam harvesters, but the reports started to become more frequent in 2021. That got researchers thinking about studying how blue crabs are moving into the Gulf of Maine as waters warm because of climate change, Batchelder said.

Last year was the second warmest on record in the Gulf of Maine, with an average surface water temperature of 53.66 degrees Fahrenheit. While that temperature fell just short of the 2021 record, it continued the Gulf’s historic trend as one of the fastest-warming ocean areas on the planet.

The Gulf of Maine, 36,000 sprawling square miles stretching from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, is home to rare whales and seabirds, valuable fish such as cod and haddock, and the $1.5 billion U.S. lobster industry, all of which are affected by warming waters.

Read the full article at Spectrum News

MAINE: Scientists call on fishermen to report blue crab sightings, which are becoming more common in Maine

August 12, 2023 — Stray blue crabs have been known to show up in a Maine lobster trap here and there. But scientists say the species, which is common in the mid-Atlantic, is showing up more frequently in the Gulf of Maine as waters warm.

Manomet and the Maine Department of Marine Fisheries are calling on fishermen to track and report their sightings and observations through an online survey.

Fishermen and members of the public have reported 24 blue crab sightings so far this year, and that’s on top of the blue crabs that are routinely found in researchers’ traps placed around the Casco and Damariscotta estuaries.

Juvenile blue crabs and females carrying eggs are among those spotted in Maine, said Jessie Batchelder, a project manager for Manomet’s fisheries team. They’ve also been seen during the winter.

Read the full article at Maine Public

Fishermen face shutdowns as warming hurts species

October 28, 2022 — Fishing regulators and the seafood industry are grappling with the possibility that some once-profitable species that have declined with climate change might not come back.

Several marketable species harvested by U.S. fishermen are the subject of quota cuts, seasonal closures and other restrictions as populations have fallen and waters have warmed. In some instances, such as the groundfishing industry for species like flounder in the Northeast, the changing environment has made it harder for fish to recover from years of overfishing that already taxed the population.

Officials in Alaska have canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest and winter snow crab harvest, dealing a blow to the Bering Sea crab industry that is sometimes worth more than $200 million a year, as populations have declined in the face of warming waters. The Atlantic cod fishery, once the lifeblood industry of New England, is now essentially shuttered. But even with depleted populations imperiled by climate change, it’s rare for regulators to completely shut down a fishery, as they’re considering doing for New England shrimp.

The Northern shrimp, once a seafood delicacy, has been subject to a fishing moratorium since 2014. Scientists believe warming waters are wiping out their populations and they won’t be coming back. So the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is now considering making that moratorium permanent, essentially ending the centuries-old harvest of the shrimp.

It’s a stark siren for several species caught by U.S. fishermen that regulators say are on the brink. Others include softshell clams, winter flounder, Alaskan snow crabs and Chinook salmon.

Read the full article at ABC News

US anti-IUU bill would expand SIMP to cover all imported seafood

August 9, 2021 — A recent committee meeting started the discussions on a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and slave labor in the seafood supply chain.

The bill, H.R. 3075, was covered during a recent meeting of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. It would enact the expansion of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to cover all seafood and seafood products – the program, initiated in 2016, originally included tuna, king crab, blue crab, red snapper, Pacific and Atlantic cod, dolphinfish, grouper, sea cucumber, swordfish, and sharks in its coverage requirements, with shrimp added in 2019.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NORTH CAROLINA: Division of Marine Fisheries publishes annual stock overview/ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries today released its annual Stock Overview of state managed marine fisheries species.
The 2021 North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Stock Overview reviews available information, such as long-term trends in catch, biological data and management, through 2020 to determine the overall condition of North Carolina’s state-managed species. It also provides links to information on federally-managed and interstate-managed species important to North Carolina.

Highlights of this year’s stock overview for state managed species include:

  • Estuarine Striped Bass –A 2020 peer-reviewed benchmark stock assessment using data through 2017 found that the Albemarle-Roanoke estuarine striped bass stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring. This triggered stricter harvest restrictions in the Albemarle Sound Management Area that took effect Jan. 1, 2021. Amendment 2 to the N. C. Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan is being jointly developed with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
  • Shrimp ­– In February 2020, the Marine Fisheries Commission approved proposed rule language to reclassify special secondary nursery areas that have not been opened to trawling in years to permanent secondary nursery areas. The commission adopted the reclassification of nine areas in February 2021 through a revision to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1. The rules became effective in May 2021. Development of the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 is underway and focuses on further reducing bycatch of non-target species and minimizing ecosystem impacts.
  • Blue Crab ­– Amendment 3 to the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan was approved in February 2020, and management measures were implemented to address the overfished and overfishing status of the stock based on results from the peer-reviewed 2018 benchmark stock assessment. Amendment 3 also contained the framework for establishing criteria for Diamondback Terrapin Management Areas (DTMA) where terrapin excluder devices are required. Two DTMAs were established in May 2020 in Masonboro Sound and the lower Cape Fear River, and beginning in March 2021, all pots used in these areas are required to have an approved excluder device in each funnel from March 1 to Oct. 31.
  • Southern Flounder – Commercial and recreational seasons implemented in 2020 reduced landings but did not fully meet reductions required by the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2. Development of the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 is under way. Amendment 3 will examine more robust management strategies, such as quotas, slot limits, size limit changes, gear changes, and species-specific management for the recreational fishery.

For more information, contact Lee Paramore at 252-473-5734.

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-summer-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2021SummerMeeting/2021SummerMtgSupplementalCombined.pdf.

Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials.

American Lobster Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview and Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft FMP Review; Technical Committee Memo on Review of Juvenile Abundance Index for the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River; Staff Memo on Potential Options and Timelines to Address Commercial Quota Allocation; Advisory Panel Nominations; and Public Comment

Tautog Management Board – Industry feedback on Tautog Commercial Harvest Tagging Program

Sciaenids Management Board – Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum FMP Reviews; and Florida FWC Commercial Atlantic Croaker Implementation Plan

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Concurrent with Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass; and Policy Board Directive to Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

Business Session – Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment Summary, and Draft Amendment for Public Comment

Webinar Information
Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at 1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1268548762865393678 (Webinar ID: 606-517-315).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).

Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the 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).

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (July 12) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

No crabs, no scallops: Seafood is vanishing from menus in U.S.

July 27, 2021 — At the Clam, there are no scallops.

Prices went “crazy,” says Mike Price, who co-owns the Greenwich Village restaurant, and so he yanked them off the menu. Over in Napa Valley, Phil Tessier, the executive chef at a popular spot called PRESS, did the same. And in Atlanta, at the tapas joint the Iberian Pig, chef Josue Pena didn’t stop at scallops. The Alaskan halibut and blue crab are gone, too.

That last one was a killer, Pena says. Crab croquettes had become a signature dish. “People were like, ‘What’s up?’” But, he says, with wholesale costs soaring like they are, “the price we had to charge to be profitable was almost insulting.”

For restaurants across the U.S., the reopening from COVID lockdown has been anything but easy. They’ve struggled to hire back enough waiters and chefs, often being forced to dangle double-digit pay hikes, and have been rocked by cost increases and shortages on all kinds of items — from condiment packets to takeout packaging and chicken wings. So this jump in seafood prices, part of the broader inflationary surge working its way through the U.S. economy, is only further squeezing restaurateurs just when they were supposed to be raking in cash as they recover from all those months lost to the pandemic.

Seafood prices rose about 11% in the 12 months through early July from the previous period, according to NielsenIQ. Stretch out the time horizon a little, Pena says, and the increases on certain hard-to-find products are much starker yet. A pound of halibut, he says, goes for $28 from the local seafood distributor he buys from in Atlanta. Before the pandemic, it was $16 at most. And blue crab has gone from $18 a pound to $44. But at least he can find crab. In Orlando, Brennan Heretick, co-owner of High Tide Harry’s, had to stop selling crab fingers because wholesalers in the region stopped offering them.

Just like in dozens of other overwhelmed industries in the booming economy, there are any number of factors causing the shortages and price spikes: The ports are congested; there aren’t enough fishermen; there aren’t enough truck drivers; and demand for seafood at restaurants is soaring.

“Distributors used to hustle and bustle to get your business,” says Jay Herrington, who owns Fish On Fire, a restaurant that’s a 10-minute drive from Heretick’s place. Now, “you don’t get a delivery, or it’s a late delivery. Sometimes we have to go and pick it up.” That’s something he’d never seen before. Herrington recently raised entree prices, which range from $10 to $20, by as much as $3 to offset the higher costs. “There’s just no stopping it,” he says.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Mysterious blue crab shortage spawns big-time sticker shock

July 22, 2021 — Crab cakes were the top seller for Clyde’s Restaurant Group, but the chain decided this summer to yank them off the menu after crab prices tripled.

Bart Farrell, the vice president of food and beverage for the company, said jumbo lump crabmeat that normally would have cost his company about $18 to $22 at this time of year is now selling for $60 a pound.

“We couldn’t justify the price that we would have had to charge. … We’re already absorbing high prices across the board on all food items, but when you’re talking about a 300% increase on your No. 1 item, there’s just no way that that has any sustainability,” said Farrell, whose company operates about a dozen restaurants in the Washington region.

While the coronavirus pandemic shuttered restaurants and battered the blue crab industry last year, 2021 has brought more bad news: Prices skyrocketed due to a shortage of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, long a top producer of the “beautiful swimmer,” a species distinguished by its bright blue claws (Greenwire, April 22, 2020).

The cause of the shortage is something of a mystery.

A winter dredge survey showed the overall population fell from 405 million in 2020 to 282 million in 2021, driven largely by a sharp drop in the number of juvenile crabs, which hit their lowest level since 1990. While it’s normal for the blue crab population to fluctuate from year to year, no one’s certain what caused this year’s steep decline.

Read the full story at E&E News

MARYLAND: Crab Population Is Not Being Overfished According To Blue Crab Report Released By Chesapeake Bay Program

July 1, 2021 — The Chesapeake Bay Program released the 2021 Blue Crab Advisory Report and it found that the blue crab population is not being overfished and is not depleted. The numbers may be down, but the population remains healthy.

“All of us who love blue crabs benefit from the science-based analysis and discussion in the Blue Crab Advisory Report. The report helps state resource managers set limits that leave enough crabs in the Bay to ensure healthy harvests for years to come,” said Sean Corson, Director, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and Chair, Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team.

The Winter Dredge Survey found that the blue cran population in the bay decreased from 405 million in 2020 to 282 million in 2021. Experts said this decline can be attributed to the juvenile crab population — crabs that will grow to harvestable size next year. That number is estimated to be 86 million, down from 185 million in 2020.

Read the full story at CBS Baltimore