Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Right Whales Seen in High Numbers in Cape Cod Bay

May 19, 2019 — Whale researchers at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center are observing large numbers of North Atlantic right whales and other whale species in Northeast waters.

An aerial team flying for the Center out of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station at Joint Base Cape Cod and from Hyannis, are continuing their long-term survey for right whales.

The effort supports a range of research and is part of an annual seasonal distribution and abundance survey of protected marine animals along the East Coast.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod Bay fishing gear restriction lifted

May 13, 2019 — The director of the Division of Marine Fisheries has rescinded the Cape Cod Bay gear restriction for fishermen and speed limit restrictions intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, according to a statement released Thursday night.

The restrictions originally were set to end May 14, but a recent aerial survey by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies showed that right whales have migrated out of state waters adjacent to Cape Cod.

Commercial and recreational fishermen are now allowed to set their trap gear in the waters north and east of Cape Cod, the statement says. Boaters operating vessels smaller than 65 feet in length may now operate at a speed greater than 10 knots.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Buyer Be Aware: Dogfish Is Every Bit as Good as Cod and Far More Plentiful

May 13, 2019 — Dogfish doesn’t have an appetizing ring to it. The name for this member of the shark family has kept it off dinner plates, at least in the United States. In Britain, dogfish is often the key ingredient in fish and chips.

A few years ago, in an attempt to make the fish sound more appealing, the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, New England fishermen, and conservationists tried to rebrand it as “Cape shark.” The effort to create local demand for this plentiful regional species, which grew in number with the collapse of the cod fishery, hasn’t yet taken hold.

With its mild white boneless flesh, Kate Masury, program director for Eating with the Ecosystem, said dogfish is less flaky than cod but just as delicious.

Eating with the Ecosystem, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit that promotes a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood, is working with consumers, chefs, suppliers, processors, and fishermen to build a market for dogfish and the many other lower-valued species swimming off New England’s coast.

Read the full story at EcoRI News

Lobstering industry objecting to ‘unfair closure’

May 9, 2019 — Lobstering industry members plan to gather in Plymouth on Thursday to speak out against what they see as the unfair closure of lobstering in the waters south of Scituate.

Industry representatives on the South Shore say they have worked to implement fishing techniques to protect right whales but say their efforts have been ignored by regulators in favor of blanket policies. They plan to make the case that there have been no whale entanglements in certain parts of Cape Cod Bay.

In late April, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team recommended measures that could protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobstermen to rally in Plymouth over Cape Cod Bay closures

May 9, 2019 — After a period of bad weather, surveyors of North Atlantic right whales were able to fly on Tuesday over Cape Cod Bay, where the continuing presence of the animals has led state officials to extend seasonal bans on high boating speeds and lobstering through May 14.

But commercial lobstermen are beginning to bristle at the closures, citing the impact on their livelihood. South Shore lobstermen are planning a rally Thursday morning in Plymouth to protest the extended ban.

“There’s a lot of people that are suffering with this closure,” said rally organizer Sheryl Holmes, whose husband, Roscoe “Stoney” Holmes, is a commercial lobsterman who owns the F/V Haley’s Comet out of Plymouth.

The seasonal speed reductions and trap-gear bans imposed by the state Division of Marine Fisheries to protect right whales typically end May 1, but have been extended first to May 8, and now to May 14.

The Plymouth rally will be the first time commercial lobstermen in the region have come out as a group to protest against the closure extensions due to the ongoing presence of right whales, Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Moulton’s right whale bill sailing toward House

May 3, 2019 — Last week, a federal panel drafted a slew of conservation recommendations to help the imperiled and declining North Atlantic right whale population. Now Congress may enter the fray.

A House bill to create a decade-long, $50 million grant program to help protect the North Atlantic right whales was approved Wednesday by the National Resource Committee and is heading to a vote by the full House membership.

The bill, with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton — now announced as a presidential candidate — as the primary sponsor, would require the Commerce secretary to provide $5 million annually for 10 years to fund competitive grants for projects related to the conservation of the whales, whose declining population is estimated to hover under 450.

“The health of the right whales is directly tied to the health of our region’s economy and identity,” Moulton said in a statement. “The whales play a key role in an ecosystem that supports thousands of jobs in commercial fishing and tourism, and it’s up to us to do everything we can to save this species.”

The bill is supported by the New England Aquarium in Boston and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.

A similar bill, with Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey as a co-sponsor, has been filed in the Senate.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New England Is Not Prepared For The World’s Largest Offshore Windfarm

May 2, 2019 –Commercial fishing families, as stewards of the ocean, are concerned that a new industry is developing at a rapid pace without adequate science and risk management. By the end of the year, Vineyard Wind intends to begin construction on its 84-turbine offshore wind farm south of Cape Cod. It will be one of the largest wind farms in the world and it will be built on essential marine habitat.

By the end 2025, Vineyard Wind and other foreign-owned wind energy companies, plan to build over 1,000 turbines in a 1,400 square mile lease area. Combined, they will dwarf other wind farms around the world. And they will build it without adequate scientific understanding of the harm they could cause to the migratory route for millions of marine animals, the feeding grounds for right whales, and the traditional fishing grounds of thousands of fishermen and recreational boaters.

Read the full release here

Seven right whale calves seen this season

April 17, 2019 — There were no known births in the 2017-2018 calving season for the North Atlantic right whale, so each new calf spotted with its mother so far in 2019 has been greeted with extra enthusiasm.

On Thursday, April 11 the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) right whale aerial survey team spotted two right whale mother/calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay, bringing the number of calves observed off Cape Cod this season to three. In all, seven calves have been seen swimming off the coast.

The mothers have been identified as EgNo 4180 and EgNo 3317.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Endangered right whale experiencing mini-baby boom off New England

April 15, 2019 — The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.

The right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only about 411.

But the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass., said Friday its aerial survey team spotted two mom-and-calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay a day earlier. That brings the number seen in New England waters alone this year to three.

That’s big news because the right whale population has been falling, and no calves were seen last year. In all, seven right whale calves have been seen so far this year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CBC

Rare Baby Whale Seen in Cape Cod Bay for First Time in ’19

April 11, 2019 — Surveyors say a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf have been spotted in Cape Cod Bay for the first time this season.

The whales are the focus of conservation efforts because of their declining population. There are only about 411 of the marine mammals, and they’ve suffered high mortality and poor reproduction in recent years.

The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown says the mother and calf were seen Saturday by surveyors from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Surveyors in an airplane saw them again Sunday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News