Caribbean Archives - Saving Seafood

Shipwrecks may help tropical fish adapt to climate change

May 10, 2019 — When Chris Taylor presses play, footage of blue wrasse and greater amberjack fills the screen. The fish whirl and spin against a vivid backdrop of corals, sponges, and algae. When Taylor, an ecologist at NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in Beaufort, North Carolina, asks visitors to the Centers where they think the video was taken, he’s not surprised to hear the Florida Keys or the Caribbean. But the guesses are invariably wrong.

“These highly structured reefs are right off our coast,” Taylor says. “There are all of these brightly colored fishes that defy expectations.”

A new study in Nature Communications Biology by Taylor and Avery Paxton, a marine ecologist who divides her time between NOAA and the Duke University Marine Laboratory, shows artificial deepwater reefs off the coast of North Carolina increased the number of tropical and subtropical fishes at the northern edge of their ranges. These findings have important implications for fishes in warming waters. As ocean temperatures rise, artificial reefs may facilitate the movement of these species towards the poles, where they may be able to find a habitat that is more suitable in the future.

Read the full story at National Geographic

Announcing the 2019 Marine Resource Education (MREP) Program Southeast

March 12, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute is pleased to announce the Marine Resources Education Program (MREP) in the Southeast fishery region.

MREP provides fishermen and others with an interest in federal fisheries with an opportunity to gain insight into how fisheries data are collected and how those data lead to regulations.

MREP brings together commercial, charter, and recreational fishermen with scientists, managers, and other marine resource professionals from the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to learn, share insights, and network in a neutral and professional setting. Participants leave the program empowered and better prepared to be a voice in federal fisheries management.

The two-part workshop series is free to selected participants and includes meals, travel, and accommodation. Seats are limited.

MREP Southeast Fishery Science Workshop
May 7-9, 2019
Hollander Hotel
St. Petersburg, FL

MREP Southeast Fishery Management Workshop
November 19-21, 2019
Westin Tampa Bay
Tampa, FL

Applications to participate can be found at: gmri.org/mrepsoutheast
The program principals are available to respond to inquiries about the workshop:

* Bob Gill, Commercial Fisherman and Seafood Retailer, at (888) 833-1844
* Dave Webb, Recreational Angler, at (901) 606-1886

General questions about the program should be directed to Alexa Dayton, MREP Senior Program Manager, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, (207) 228-1645 or adayton@gmri.org.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce allocates $200 million fishery disaster funding following 2017 hurricanes

June 20, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross allocated $200 million in disaster funding appropriated by Congress to help fishermen and the businesses and communities that rely upon them to recover and rebuild following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017. Funding has also been appropriated and allocated for the disasters that devastated the West Coast and Alaska fishermen from 2014 to 2017.

“Last year, American fishing communities across the Gulf and Caribbean were devastated by some of the most destructive hurricanes in recent memory, while Pacific fisheries have suffered from years of hardship,” said Secretary Ross. “This Administration stands shoulder to shoulder with these communities as they prove their strength and resilience in the face of adversity.”

NOAA Fisheries used commercial fishery revenue loss as the common metric to allocate funding among eligible disasters. In addition to revenue loss, the agency also took subsistence uses and long-term impacts to the fishery into account to further ensure an equitable distribution of funds. The funds can help commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter businesses, shore-side infrastructure, subsistence users, and the fishing ecosystem and environment. Activities that can be considered for funding include infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and permit buybacks, job retraining, and other activities, as specified by the law and limits of the request.

Following this announcement, NOAA will contact the eligible applicants for both hurricane affected states and territories and for states and tribes affected by fishery disasters on the West Coast and in Alaska.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and our other social media channels.

Caribbean looks to add climate change adaptation protocol into fisheries policy

March 20, 2018 — The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is seeking to put in place a protocol for climate change adaption in fisheries and aquaculture before the start of this year’s hurricane season.

Under an agreement signed with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the CRFM will oversee the development of a regional protocol that will integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk management into the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

The development of the protocol forms part of the FAO-led Climate Change Adaptation in the Eastern Caribbean Fisheries Sector (CC4FISH) Project, which is being funded by the Global Environment Facility.

The focus of the Caribbean Community fisheries policy is to integrate “environmental, coastal and marine management considerations, in a way that safeguards fisheries and associated ecosystems from human-induced threats and to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.” The purpose of the CC4FISH Project is to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts in the eastern Caribbean fisheries sector.

To develop the protocol, the CRFM has retained the services of Leslie John Walling, a Caribbean consultant with expertise in coastal resources assessment and management, disaster risk-reduction planning, and climate change adaptation planning. Walling, will “be consulting with government and non-government stakeholders in fisheries/aquaculture, climate change, and disaster risk management, including the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency as he puts together the draft document,” the CRFM said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Caribbean fishers count the cost in wake of Irma

September 27, 2017 — Several Caribbean island nations unfortunate enough to find themselves in the path of Hurricane Irma in early September are now assessing the vast toll the storm took on their economies, with Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos reporting severe damage to their fishing industries.

The hurricane is estimated to have cost the Caribbean more than EUR 8.4 billion (USD10 billion) in damage overall, along with dozens of lives.

Barbuda recorded the first three fatalities of Hurricane Irma, including a two-year-old boy. The island also suffered most severely in regard to its fishing fleet, with at least 44 percent of its fishing vessels suffering serious damage when the hurricane made landfall on the island on 6 September. Of those vessels, only about 10 percent were insured, according to information shared with SeafoodSource by Antigua and Barbuda Senior Fisheries Officer Ian Horsford. He cited a 2005 survey that indicated just 9.6 percent of Barbuda’s fishing vessels were insured up to then.

Prior to Hurricane Irma, which resulted in the total evacuation of this island’s inhabitants to neighboring Antigua, there were 96 active fishers operating there on 54 vessels – mainly modern fibreglass pirogues powered by outboard engines, most of which were less than 10 meters long.

Horsford estimated 26 percent of Barbuda’s population of 1,600 were dependent on the fishing industry for a living, including dependants of the fishermen. The fishing industry on that island targets mainly spiny lobster and conch, with production of lobster over the past five years ranging from 12 to 35 metric tons and bringing in revenue to the island ranging from approximately EUR 125,000 to 312,000 (USD USD148,000 to 370,000).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Handling and Release of Prohibited Atlantic Sharks

June 21, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries has released a new video to help anglers identify dusky and other prohibited shark species. Focused on safe handling and release of sharks and current fishing regulations, the video accompanies a suite of educational materials. We have updated our Recreational Shark Identification and Regulations Placard, added a new Prohibited Shark Identification Placard, and updated our handling and release brochure. All of these materials are available for download.

New Regulations

Beginning January 1, 2018, recreational fishermen, including charter/headboat fishermen that fish for, retain, posses, or land sharks in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean must have a valid “shark endorsement” added to their HMS permit. Atlantic tunas General category and Swordfish General Commercial permit holders must also have a shark endorsement for registered tournaments. The video is required viewing for permit holders requesting the shark endorsement, and will be followed by a brief, educational quiz.

We Need You

Help us ensure the recovery of dusky and long-term sustainability of all Atlantic sharks. Please share this video and related materials to spread the word and educate fellow recreational fishermen. For further information, contact Cliff Hutt (Cliff.Hutt@noaa.gov) or Karyl Brewster-Geisz (Karyl.Brewster-Geisz@noaa.gov) or visit our website.

Tropical Fish in Cape Cod Waters: “The More You Look, the More You See.”

October 24th, 2016 — Gulf Stream Orphans are appearing in our region. That’s not the name of a rock band, and they’re not unaccompanied children. Gulf Stream Orphans is the research term for Caribbean fish that show up in our Cape Cod waters, and scientists are looking to see if their numbers are increasing.

Owen Nichols, Director of Marine Fisheries Research at the Center for Coastal Studies, joins us to talk about these fish, what types they represent, and new efforts to understand whether they’re appearing more often, or simply being noticed more now that researchers are looking for them.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at Cape and Islands

Stopping the world’s most rapacious invasive species, one fillet at a time

August 18, 2016 — Since Pacific lionfish were first detected off the coast of Florida three decades ago, they have spread around the Caribbean, gobbling up everything that fits in their mouths and reproducing at a phenomenal rate. Scientists have shown that soon after they descend upon a reef, there is a sharp fall in the number of small fish, notably the herbivores on which coral depends for survival.

“They’re eating their way through the reefs like a plague of locusts,” said Mark Hixon, a lionfish specialist at the University of Hawaii.

It is by far the most destructive invasive species ever recorded at sea, and the blight is believed to have started with aquarium fish released off the Florida Atlantic coast in the mid-1980s.

However, in the last few months, a set of unrelated trends has resulted in two U.S. supermarket chains, Whole Foods and Wegmans, offering Florida lionfish, which has a white, delicate flesh, to consumers with much fanfare. Early signs suggest that the state’s fishery might just be big enough to protect the native denizens of at least some reefs from being decimated.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News

NOAA Fisheries Announces New Text Message Alert Program

August 2, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries Southeast is pleased to announce the introduction of our new text message alert program. The program will allow you to sign up to receive important fishery related alerts via text message.

Text alerts you may receive include:Immediate fishery openings and closuresAny significant changes to fishing regulations that happen quickly

How to opt-in

Gulf of Mexico Recreational Fisheries Related Alerts

Text GULFRECFISH to 888777

Gulf of Mexico Commercial Fisheries Related Alerts

Text GULFCOMMFISH to 888777

South Atlantic Recreational Fisheries Related Alerts

Text SATLRECFISH to 888777

South Atlantic Commercial Fisheries Related Alerts

Text SATLCOMMFISH to 888777

Caribbean Fisheries Related Alerts

Text CARIBFISH to 888777

Standard message & data rates may apply. You may opt-out at any time.

See the full release here.

NOAA Fisheries Lists Nassau Grouper as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act

June 30, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries has listed Nassau grouper as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to a decline in its population. The species is in need of more conservation efforts given its population has not yet recovered. A final rule was published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2016 (81 FR 42268) and will become effective on July 29, 2016.

This listing does not change current fishing regulations in the U.S. (including federal waters in U.S. Caribbean territories), as harvest of this species is already prohibited in state, territorial, and federal waters. Commercial and recreational fishing for this species was first prohibited in U.S. federal waters in 1990 when it was listed as a Species of Concern.

Prior to 1990, historical harvest greatly diminished the population of Nassau grouper and eliminated many spawning groups. Because Nassau grouper is a slow growing, late maturing fish, the population has yet to recover despite conservation efforts. In addition, Nassau grouper is still harvested in several Caribbean countries and fishing pressure on the remaining spawning groups continues to threaten the species.

While a threatened listing status does not afford the same strict prohibitions on import, export, and incidental catch that an endangered status does, NOAA fisheries will assess whether to add additional regulatory measures in future rule makings. NOAA fisheries will also organize a recovery team to begin development of a plan to guide the conservation and recovery of the species. The plan will lay out the criteria and actions necessary to ensure species recovery. It will also be used to ensure recovery efforts are on target and being met effectively and efficiently.