Saving Seafood

Researchers test ropeless fishing

August 5, 2021 — To cut down the chances of whale entanglement with fishing gear, researchers and developers are testing technology that would eliminate the need for the vertical lines that run between lobster traps on the seafloor and buoys bobbing on the surface.

Lobstermen are facing tighter restrictions to help with the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whales and so-called “ropeless” fishing is seen as one of the potential ways to ease that burden.

Traditionally, lobstermen have a buoy on the surface to mark their string of traps on the ocean floor, and they are connected by a vertical line. Ropeless fishing would ditch the persistent vertical line that sits in the water.

“We’re in a place where we’re still testing and doing research to see how much this can be part of the solution,” said Zack Klyver, the science director at Blue Planet Strategies. With his company, Klyver is working with gillnet fishermen and is looking for Maine lobstermen who might be interested in testing out the technology. “We’re actively looking for lobster fishermen that want to be pioneers, that want to see if this can be part of the solution.”

There are currently two main types of ropeless fishing. One is a trap-like cage that has a rope stowed inside. A lobsterman can trigger the release of the buoy, bringing the rope to the surface. The second type includes a lift bag in the trap. It blows up like a balloon on demand, bringing the trap along with it.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

A Ropeless Future for Lobster Fishing

August 4, 2021 — Motoring out of Bar Harbor recently, a small boat slowly navigated a field of colorful buoys before hitting the open water. It hooked around Bar Island, passed the Porcupines and slowed up on the leeward side of Ironbound, a mostly undeveloped private island. Had a person been standing on the rocky cliffs then, they would have seen the crew on the boat dump a lobster trap into the water and watch it sink, then motor off to a short distance away, from which the dozen people aboard watched the spot where the trap went down. Some time later, a bundle of floats would appear at the surface and the boat would circle back and snag it with a boat hook. By now the observer would have pulled out some binoculars to get a better view, and would see that the float was attached to the lid of the lobster trap, and that from the lid, a rope disappeared into the water, by which the rest of the trap was soon retrieved.

The object thrown overboard was not in fact a trap but a ropeless fishing system deployed in a demonstration for passengers on the boat, including a film crew, a reporter and three people who study or advocate for right whales.

Zack Klyver chartered the boat and arranged the demonstration. Through his consultancy, Blue Planet Strategy, he has been working as an intermediary between manufacturers, whale advocates and lobstermen, who find themselves on various sides of a regulatory survival equation as the federal government moves to protect endangered right whales.

In ropeless fishing, Klyver sees a potential win for everyone involved, but getting there may take time and a fair amount of persuasion.

Ropeless fishing is still in its infancy. Only a handful of companies make the gear, and as Maine law requires lobster traps to be marked with a buoy, it’s not even legal to use here yet.

Read the full story at The Free Press

ALASKA: Kuskokwim Fishermen Appeal To Gov. Dunleavy To Investigate Commercial Bycatch Impact On Subsistence

August 3, 2021 — Kuskokwim River fishermen want information on how commercial bycatch could be affecting Kuskokwim subsistence salmon runs, and they’re asking Gov. Dunleavy for help.

The Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group is a group of local subsistence fishermen who advise state fishery managers. On July 28, the group unanimously voted to send a letter to the governor asking him to direct the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to provide the group information on how chum and king salmon bycatch in state commercial fisheries along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands could be affecting Kuskokwim salmon returns. This is the area commonly referred to as Management Area M.

It also asks for information on chum and king salmon bycatch in the federally-managed Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery.

Read the full story at KYUK

Saving the Seas: Smarter Hooks and Nets

July 15, 2021 — Last year, fish consumption reached a global annual average of 37.5 pounds per person. Meanwhile, cod and bluefin-tuna populations have collapsed, and animals ranging from whales to turtles have been added to the Endangered Species Act. Our voracious appetite isn’t the only problem. Fishermen catch a lot of things unintentionally, in what Tim Werner, director of the New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Engineering program, calls the “collateral damage” of commercial fishing: bycatch.

Compared with the more intractable problem of overfishing, technological solutions to bycatch abound. Bycatch ensnares coral, sponges, starfish, sharks, whales, turtles and even birds. It is “one of the more immediate threats that marine diversity faces,” Werner says. It has led to the assumed extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, has nearly wiped out the Gulf of California’s vaquita porpoise (fewer than 200 remain), and threatens the survival of the North American right whale (400 remain) and the short-tailed albatross. A United Nations report estimates bycatch at 7.5 million tons a year, or 5 percent of the total commercial-fishing haul. Because most available data is self-reported, Werner says that the U.N.’s numbers “woefully underestimate” the problem. A more representative statistic, he says, comes from Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisheries, some of which dredge up to five pounds of bycatch for every pound of shrimp.

The good news is that compared with the more intractable problem of overfishing, technological solutions to reduce bycatch abound. Shrimp companies, for example, have begun using “turtle-excluding devices,” metal grates at the front of a trawl net that let the shrimp in and keep the turtles out. Fishermen who use long subsurface “gillnets” have begun to deter porpoises by equipping these nets with battery-powered acoustic “pingers.” In the best cases, pingers have reduced casualties from 25 porpoises per net to one. At Florida Atlantic University, associate professor Stephen Kajiura is trying to protect sharks by affixing rare-earth elements to the lines that fishermen use to catch tuna. The metals react with seawater to create an electromagnetic field that repels sharks (as well as skates and rays).

Read the full story at Popular Science

From Jaws to Shark Week: How Much Do You Know About Sharks? On Shark Awareness Day, Learn Why We Need to Protect Them

July 13, 2021 — The following was released by Friend of the Sea:

No other species from the animal kingdom has starred in so many Hollywood films, such as sharks (more than 180, to be precise). From Jaws to Megalodon and Sharknado, most of them picture sharks as brutal creatures. However, over the past decades, it’s humans who have cornered sharks, putting them under the threat of extinction.

Overfishing, shark finning, and bycatch are responsible for killing more than 100 million sharks a year. An alarming figure, especially considering some shark species have a slow reproduction cycle, taking a very long time for them to recover. According to the IUCN Red List, more than 300 shark and ray species are classified as endangered, including the famous white shark, the whale shark, and the hammerhead.

For this reason, on this year’s Shark Awareness Day, Friend of the Sea invites everyone to join the efforts to protect them, starting with getting the facts right.

DIVERSE AND INDISPENSABLE
There are more than 500 species of sharks in the ocean. They come in all sizes and colors. For example, a great white shark can reach up to 6 meters long. However, half of all shark species measure less than one-meter long. Some feed on plankton and tiny fish, while others prefer bigger prey, such as seals or sea lions.

Apex predator sharks play a crucial role in the ecosystem, helping maintain the balance in many ways. But, as much as we like to imagine, they’re not fond of hunting humans. Instead, sharks tend to attack people out of curiosity or because they feel threatened. In 2020, there were 57 confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide, resulting in 10 deaths, according to an international database.

WHO’S THE PREDATOR?
It’s rather humans who have hunted down shark sin an unsustainable way, bringing the species to a critical point. A recent study showed that oceanic populations of sharks and rays have shrunk by 71%, mainly because of overfishing.

Fisheries target sharks especially for their fins which are considered a delicacy in certain countries. The practice of shark finning is particularly cruel, and though it has been banned in several countries, it persists. It implies cutting fins off live sharks and then throwing them wounded to the ocean, where they die painfully from suffocation, blood loss, or eaten by other predators.

There is also a market for shark meat, with European countries representing the most significant share. In addition to being targeted for their fins and meat, sharks often end up in fishing nets as incidental bycatch.

BE A FRIEND OF THE SHARKS
So, on this 14th of July, instead of playing a shark film, learn with Friend of the Sea how we can protect sharks.

Friend of the Sea, a project from the World Sustainability Organization, promotes fisheries practices responsible with sharks, necessary trade regulations for vulnerable shark species, responsible consumption, and the creation of protected areas.

Additionally, Friend of the Sea has instated several initiatives to support shark conservation efforts, such as:

On Shark Awareness Day, become a friend of the sharks and help us save these magnificent creatures.

The marine ecosystem will thank you.

CALIFORNIA: Monterey Bay fishermen work to reduce chances of whale entanglements

July 13, 2021 — On a cool Thursday morning this week, Calder Deyerle powered up his Boston Whaler and headed out of Moss Landing Harbor in search of the catch of the day. But this catch had no fins or tails or claws. Deyerle was hunting crab gear.

Five or six years ago, more than 70 whales — mostly fin, blue and humpbacks — became caught in the lines that connect a surface buoy to the crab trap resting on the ocean floor. Because of a crash in the krill population, the whales came in closer to shore to feed on alternative food sources and right into the crab lines.

Lines and traps meant for Dungeness crabs can be deadly to whales that become ensnared in the equipment, often causing dehydration, infected wounds, breathing or reproduction problems and even starvation.

But efforts by Dungeness crab fishermen have dramatically reduced the number of whale entanglements. There have been none this year. The far greater threat to whales today is not from crab gear, rather from ship strikes.

Deyerle is one of nine Monterey Bay commercial fishermen who are contributing to a project called the Lost Gear Recovery Project that is coordinated by the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, which in turn is permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald

California puts up $1.3 million to phase out swordfish nets that can kill sea turtles and whales

July 8, 2021 — Conservationists are applauding the inclusion of $1.3 million in the new state budget that is designed to protect sea turtles and marine mammals from being killed by swordfish fishing gear.

The funds will be used in a voluntary buyback program to get California’s swordfish fleet to switch from drift gill nets — nylon nets up to a mile long that can catch and kill dolphins, sea lions and whales as well as the occasional endangered leatherback sea turtle — to what’s called deep-set buoy gear, which is designed to prevent entanglements. But some say the move will put fishermen out of business and limit Californians’ access to a local fish in good supply.

Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the funding last week as part of the $262.6 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle

Hook to plate: how blockchain tech could turn the tide for sustainable fishing

June 9, 2021 — In recent weeks, a new $50m (£35m) hybrid vessel set sail from Mauritius and headed out into the Southern Ocean where the crew will spend three months longline fishing for the Patagonian toothfish. By the time the fish are brought back, processed and sent to customers, consumers will know where and when that specific fish was caught, which boat landed it, who processed it and which certifications have been met. The technology enabling this is blockchain.

“From the day it’s landed to when it ends up on someone’s plate, blockchain gives toothfish traceability right from the start,” says Steve Paku, captain of the Cape Arkona. “People can just scan the barcode and the whole story is right there in front of them.”

Blockchain is just one way that fisheries are trying to ensure better traceability from hook to plate but it is garnering a lot of interest. Blockchain cannot be tampered with and the data can be accessed by everyone along the supply chain, from certification schemes to the final consumer. Because it is digital, decentralised and updated in real time, a blockchain tag contains valuable information that a physical label never could. In combination with DNA testing to prove the specific species of fish, blockchain could play a role in reducing fraud in the seafood industry.

This also matters from a conservation perspective. More than a third of fish populations are overfished, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO). Guaranteeing where and how a fish has been caught can help ensure that the catch has been made in an area with sustainable fish populations. It can also help tackle the problem of bycatch. In degrading marine ecosystems, bycatch is detrimental to biodiversity and puts additional, unnecessary strain on marine wildlife. Young fish get caught up in nets with too small a mesh, turtles and dolphins can get entangled in gillnets, and seabirds, including endangered albatross, get injured by hooks unless deterrents are put in place.

Read the full story at The Guardian

New Web Tool Aims to Reduce Whale Entanglements on the U.S. West Coast

May 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA scientists have combined the latest data on ocean conditions and marine life off the West Coast on a new data tool. It gives fishermen and fishery managers up-to-date ecosystem information that may help reduce the risk of whale entanglements. They hope it will also help the public understand how environmental factors influence the marine food web in a time of climate change.

“Resource managers and stakeholders can refer to the page for the latest information like prey abundance or sea surface temperatures before considering a season delay or other management options,” said Jarrod Santora, a research biologist at the NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center who helped develop the new system.

Increase in Whale Entanglements

Between 2014 and 2019, NOAA Fisheries confirmed 163 large whale entanglements off Washington, Oregon, and California. By comparison, 64 whale entanglements were confirmed in the same region from 2008 to 2013. Humpback whales are the most common species entangled, but NOAA also confirmed gray, blue, fin, and minke whales entanglements. NOAA is responsible for recovering and protecting these whales under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Commercial and subsistence harvesters speak out against trawler bycatch of Chinook salmon

April 22, 2021 — Alaska’s commercial fishermen have been speaking out against big trawlers for years, complaining that the large vessels in federal waters are scooping up mature and juvenile fish. The regional council that manages federal fisheries recently heard from hundreds concerned about the number of salmon and other species that end up as bycatch in trawl nets.

For Alaska’s troll fleet, king salmon is their money fish. In state waters, small crews on these 40 to 50-foot boats — or even small skiffs — will catch a fish at a time, and it’s worth it: Chinook salmon can fetch $6 a pound from a processor.

But there’s another big-money fish in Alaska: Pollock. It’s the white fish found in a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish® or an imitation crab stick. And the factory trawlers that ply the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska in search of pollock and other groundfish scoop up Chinook salmon and other species in their wide nets.

Federal fisheries data show trawlers in the North Pacific took about a tenth of the Chinook — or king salmon — caught by Alaska’s commercial salmon fleet last year. And those numbers are tracking the same this year. But none of that catch happens on purpose.

Preliminary ADF&G data show about 263,000 kings were commercially harvested last year statewide. As of last week (April 15), bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska areas for 2021 was around 16,000 fish, over six percent of last year’s statewide commercial harvest. Last year’s trawler bycatch was 26,000 kings, or about a tenth of the 2020 commercial Chinook harvest in-state.

Read the full story at KSTK