Saving Seafood

California State Senate votes to ban driftnets for swordfishing

June 8, 2018 — California has taken a key step in its effort to ban the use of drift gillnets and transition to a swordfish and thresher shark fishery that conservation groups claim would reduce the amount of bycatch.

Last week, the California State Senate voted 32-0 to prohibit the use of the large nets by 2023. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), also would compensate fishermen for their nets and provide incentives for them to purchase gear that is less likely to ensnare turtles, dolphins, and other marine life.

California is currently the only state in the country that allows driftnets for swordfish and thresher shark fishing off its coast.

“I am pleased the approach taken in SB 1017 to phase out the use of this damaging equipment earned broad bipartisan support in the Senate today,” Allen said. “I look forward to continuing to work with stakeholders on a plan that protects marine life while being fair to everyone involved.”

According to conservation groups, driftnets can kill or injure up to 70 different species. Fishermen deploy the mile-long nets overnight.

“We have been working to reduce the devastating and cruel impact of this driftnet fishery on whales, dolphins, and sea turtles for 20 years, and passage of this legislation will go a long way toward making the Pacific Ocean safer for endangered marine wildlife,” said Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Government subsidies serving to prop up destructive high-seas fishing: study

June 8, 2018 — Much of the fishing that takes place in international waters would be unprofitable without the billions of dollars in subsidies pumped in by governments to sustain the ecologically destructive industry, a recent study has found.

International waters, or the high seas, are not governed by any one international body or agency, and account for nearly two-thirds of the ocean’s surface. There is currently no comprehensive management structure in place to protect the marine life that relies on them.

Researchers poring over information for fishing in these zones in 2014, the most recent year for which complete datasets are available, concluded that 54 percent of high-seas fishing would be in the red if not for governments covering some of the industry’s costs.

In their study published June 6 in the journal Science Advances, the researchers noted that labor exploitation and underreported catches could also explain how some operators could afford to keep fishing in the high seas, where species like tuna are often overfished, and migratory sharks — 44 percent of which are threatened species — are often killed as bycatch.

“While our analysis is for a single year, the slight increase in high seas catch and revenue, coupled with the high and constant price of fuel between 2010-2014, suggest that our estimate of profits is likely to be representative of, or slightly higher than, the average state during the first half of this decade,” the researchers wrote.

Read the full story at Mongabay News

Smart Software Helps Fishermen Catch the Fish They Want, Not Endangered Species

June 6, 2018 — In the ocean, everything moves. Waves push around vast swaths of saltwater, tides ebb and flow, and over time tectonic rumblings transform the seafloor. With all that movement, marine life travels as well—making the oceans one of the most dynamic ecosystems on Earth. This constant shuffling can make it hard to predict where a particular marine species might be on any given day. But that is exactly what Elliott Hazen, a fisheries scientist from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA), is trying to do through new modeling software.

Hazen and a team of other fisheries scientists developed EcoCast in an effort to reduce the unintended bycatch of protected marine species while supporting sustainable fisheries; their results were published last week in Science Advances. EcoCast is already being used to allow fishermen exemptions to fish in certain protected areas in California, and NOAA is working on a smartphone app that will give fishermen this dynamic data in real-time.

The team focused on the California Drift Gillnet (DGN) fishery, which targets broadbill swordfish along the U.S. West Coast. The fishery, which has declined in recent years, only brought in 176 metric tons of swordfish in 2017—down from a historical high of 2,198 metric tons in 1985. DGN fishermen use mesh nets that float vertically in the water to catch the swordfish, but the nets often trap additional species—a phenomenon known as bycatch—including the critically endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle, blue sharks, and California sea lions.

It’s not just an issue of protecting endangered species, explains Gary Burke, a fisherman in California and a member of the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara. “Fishermen don’t want bycatch. It breaks our gear and it’s expensive. So, we like to avoid it.”

EcoCast takes an array of oceanographic variables into account to generate a fluid map that highlights areas where fishermen are likely to find high concentrations of their target species and not the protected species they don’t want to catch.

Read the full story at Smithsonian.com

Southeast Alaska Longliners Become Bathymetric Cartographers to Avoid Bycatch

March 12, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A desire by Southeast Alaska longliners to avoid rockfish bycatch in 2009 evolved into a high-tech effort to collect bathymetric data for use in detailed seafloor maps. The maps would ultimately help fishermen avoid bycatch and sensitive habitats like coral and sponge areas. Next week, these detailed and data-rich maps will be available to the fishermen who helped make them.

For the last decade, members of the Fisheries Conservation Network (FCN) used scanning software to map the halibut and sablefish grounds. At the end of each fishing season, FCN members shared the data with ALFA, where it was combined into one database, then used to create the enhanced maps and sent back to the fishermen to continue adding data to.

ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken, in an interview with KCAW radio in Sitka, said the result is one of the most complex bathymetric databases on the eastern side of the Gulf of Alaska.

“One hundred and forty million data points have been contributed,” she said. “It’s been a lot of years getting to this point. We’re really excited about the level of detail we have now and the quality of the maps.”

Read the full story with a subscription at Seafood News

 

Feds make more than $2M available to reduce fishing bycatch

January 22, 2018 — Federal ocean managers are making more than $2 million available to try to help fishermen catch less of the wrong fish.

“Bycatch” is a longstanding issue in commercial fisheries, and fishermen have long sought solutions to the problem of catching rare species when seeking exploitable ones. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it is providing about $2.4 million for “projects that increase collaborative research and partnerships for innovation” in reducing bycatch.

The agency says it is prioritizing projects such as gear modifications, avoidance programs and improved fishing practices. NOAA also says it wants to learn more about possible reduction of mortality of fish that are released.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Raleigh News & Observer

 

Spanish Tuna Fishers Embrace Best Practices to Mitigate Bycatch, Report Reveals

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has conducted 10 Skippers Workshops in Spain since 2009, and will hold the 11th October 16-20 in Sukarrieta

664 Spanish fleet professionals have been reached by ISSF Skippers Workshops, representing 25% of the2,736 tuna fleet professionals trained worldwide

October 16, 2017 — MADRID — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation and the Organization of Associated Producers of Large Tuna Freezers (OPAGAC):

The Spanish tuna fishing fleet remains one of the most receptive and active worldwide in adopting International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) best practices for mitigating bycatch — a commitment reflected in the fleet’s high attendance at ISSF Skippers Workshops each year and as revealed in ISSF Technical Report 2017-03: ISSF Skippers’ Workshops Round 6.

ISSF’s recommended best practices include using non-entangling Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and following handling-and-release techniques for non-target species (e.g., turtles and sharks) to maximize their survival. The Spanish fleet has consequently increased the number of its vessels with specific tools for bycatch mitigation, such as stretchers or loading nets.

Since 2011, the Spanish fleet also has been instrumental, together with the French, in contributing to ISSF’s non-entangling FADs research and development — an example followed by additional fleets more recently in the development and testing of biodegradable FADs.

From training to practice

The Spanish fleet’s acceptance and application of key ISSF best practices is directly related to ISSF vessel outreach, specifically via its Skippers Workshops. According to ISSF Technical Report 2017-03 — co-authored by ISSF staff and consulting scientists, including those from AZTI, which has facilitated these workshops since 2009 — nearly 25% of all persons who have participated in ISSF workshops since they began are affiliated with the Spanish fleet.

At an August 2016 workshop in Spain, at the headquarters of the Port of Vigo Shipowners Cooperative (ARVI), more than 90 professionals participated. That year, ISSF conducted 14 workshops in seven countries, including Spain, with the participation of 343 skippers from 12 purse-seine fleets and another 216 people, including crew members and other professionals from the fishing sector.

Of the 2,736 tuna fleet professionals in the world trained at ISSF workshops to date, 664 — 63% are skippers and 19% are crew members — have participated in one of the 10 workshops that ISSF has given in Spain. The rest of the professionals affiliated with Spanish vessels participated in workshops held in countries where the fleet has a presence, such as Ecuador and Panama.

The next Skippers Workshops will be held on October 16-20 in Sukarrieta (Vizcaya), the site of the one of the earliest ISSF workshops. More than 50 participants are expected, and one of the event’s key topics will be biodegradable FADs — on which ISSF works in collaboration with the tuna fishing industry and other strategic partners.

According to Julio Morón, Managing Director of OPAGAC, “ISSF engagement is essential so that our crew members and, specifically, skippers of vessels are familiar with and can carry out activities ranging from the use of non-entangling FADs to the release of bycatch, which are part of the foundation of fishing that respects the marine environment and resources.

Further, all Spanish tuna purse-seine vessels are on the ISSF’s ProActive Vessel Register (PVR), which audits vessels to show how they are meeting specific measures for sustainable fishing.”

According to Víctor Restrepo, ISSF Vice President, Science and Chair, ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee, “Close collaboration between scientists and skippers has made it possible to conduct significant research projects, such as those on the Albatún 3 and Mar de Sergio purse-seine vessels in the Western Pacific and the Atlantic, respectively, and which will be key to the BIOFAD project in testing new biodegradable FADs in the Indian Ocean.”

Read more about ISSF Skippers Workshop outcomes in the ISSF report, “ISSF 2017-03: ISSF Skippers’ Workshops Round 6,” co-authored by ISSF staff and consulting scientists.

A US ban on shark fins is a bad idea, say researchers

September 22, 2017 — Earlier this year, United States senators put forth S.793, a bill they’ve named the “Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act”. With the noble goal of protecting shark populations, which are in decline all over the globe, the document proposes a total ban on the buying or selling of shark fins in the US. Sounds like an unambiguously good thing, right? Well, the straightforward answer to a problem is not always the best one – and some shark researchers worry that this approach could do more harm than good.

In a recently published paper, shark researchers David Shiffman and Robert Hueter argue that banning trade in fins would not prevent many shark deaths at all – but it might hinder successful conservation practices, and sow confusion by misrepresenting the true threats to these animals. What they recommend instead is prioritising the continued sustainable management of shark fishing.

The finning issue

Let’s start with the broad problem: sharks are in trouble. And losing them is a threat not only for the ecosystems in which they serve important roles, but also for economies all over the globe that rely on them for food, including the United States. Worldwide, many populations are dwindling, their decline driven largely by overfishing, including hunting for meat, bycatch, as well as the lucrative fin trade, which supplies demand in some countries for a delicacy known as shark-fin soup.

This fin trade has led to a phenomenon called shark finning. As the bill describes, “Shark finning is the cruel practice in which the fins of a shark are cut off on board a fishing vessel at sea. The remainder of the animal is then thrown back into the water to drown, starve, or die a slow death.” This practice is not only cruel, but also wasteful – in contrast with conservative shark-fishing practices that make use of meat and parts from the entire body.

Shark finning has actually been banned in the US since the 1990s, but as long as the animal’s body is not discarded at sea, fishers are generally free to do what they will with the fins; indeed, these are typically harvested along with the meat. The new bill, however, presented by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, proposes a total ban on possessing, transporting, selling or purchasing shark fins, under threat of a fine of up to $100,000 or more.

Read the full story at Earth Touch News

Oceana Loses Court Battle on Mid-Atlantic & New England Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology

August 28, 2017 — WASHINGTON — As part of its efforts to prevent overfishing, Congress has directed the National Marine Fisheries Service and regional councils to establish methodologies for collecting and reporting data on fish that are caught but subsequently discarded. Such discards are known as bycatch. In response to the congressional directive, the Northeast region adopted its Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology in 2015. Oceana, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on protecting the oceans, filed suit, claiming that the adoption of this methodology violates the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

In March 2015, the National Marine Fisheries Service approved a new version of the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology, which is set forth in Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology: An Omnibus Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the Mid-Atlantic and New England Regional Fishery Management Councils, AR 6438-7511. NMFS then promulgated a final rule implementing the amendment in June 2015. United States District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle has ruled that Oceana has not identified any feature of the 2015 SBRM that violates the MSA, APA, or NEPA.

The following is excerpted from an article published Friday by Courthouse News Service:

Federal regulators ducked a conservation-minded challenge Thursday concerning rules meant to minimize fishing bycatch.

The National Marine Fisheries Service adopted the rules in question two years ago, with approval from the D.C. Circuit.

Though the rules requires fishing vessels to occasionally have a biologist document the amount of fish caught and discarded, the group Oceana complained in a federal complaint that the infrequency of such observation undermines its efficacy as a serious check on fishing abuses.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle sided with the agency Thursday at summary judgment, saying the issue comes down to how the Fisheries Service allocates its funding for NMFS, short for standardized bycatch reporting methodology.

“There is no funding trigger that needs to be adequately defined, nor a discretionary procedure for which the agency must set out an identifiable standard,” the ruling states. “Since there is no impermissibly vague funding trigger, the agency’s funding allocations to the SBRM are not reviewable.”

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

NMFS Institutes More Swordfish Research Off Florida, Praised by EDF

August 16, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Dr. David Kerstetter of Nova Southeastern University will receive an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to conduct research in the East Florida Coast Pelagic Longline Closed Area. Dr. Kerstetter will be working alongside Atlantic swordfish fishermen in an effort to “improve understanding of encounter rates of juvenile swordfish and species like sharks, bullfishes and sea turtles in order to find the best ways to reduce their mortality.”

According to Katie Westfall, senior manager of highly migratory species advocacy for EDF’s Oceans Program, fishermen have already made sacrifices to help the Atlantic swordfish population rebound. However, this project will help by collecting data from fisheries that “interact with imperiled highly migratory species.”

“The project will also pioneer an approach to link catch data with oceanographic data, allowing researchers to learn over time where and when species will occur in order to help fishermen avoid bycatch of sharks, billfishes, and sea turtles,” Westfall added. “This has the potential to be transformative by dramatically minimizing unnecessary deaths of protected species while improving the catch of healthy target species like swordfish.”

Westfall is hopeful that the research will help “pave the way to responsibly increasing yield in domestic fisheries and strengthening revenues for American seafood businesses.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Stony Brook University Wins NOAA Research Grant

August 8, 2017 — Stony Brook University has received a nearly $170,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support marine science and fisheries research. The money will be used to improve management of protected species of fish and marine mammals within what is called the Northeast United States Large Marine Ecosystem.

The grant will support the use of state-of-the-art climate models to develop tools to assist the commercial fishing industry in reducing bycatch of marine mammals and fish in long-line and midwater trawl fisheries, according to a statement by Lesley Thorne, a Stony Brook University assistant professor. This, Dr. Thorne said, will increase the efficiency and profitability of marine resources.

Read the full story at the East Hampton Star