Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Portia Sapp of FDACS details impact of recent storms on Florida’s aquaculture industry

November 16, 2023 — Florida’s farmland is central to the state’s identity, but Florida’s waters are home to a growing farming industry as well.

Portia Sapp is the Director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Aquaculture and Chairwoman of the FDACS Science Advisory Workgroup. She spoke to Senators about the state’s aquaculture industry, explaining its impact as well as several hurdles the still-developing sector is facing.

According to Sapp, there are about 1,000 aquaculture producers in Florida raising more than 1,500 species. Of licensed operators, 40% produce shellfish, 28% grow ornamental fish or tropical fish, and 17% focus on food fish, such as tilapia and shrimp.

The fish and other organisms grown in Florida can serve as food and bait, help conservation efforts and aid in research, among other uses.

Sapp said the aquaculture industry has grown 50-fold since 1990 and now represents about 52% of global fisheries production for protein. While growing for protein is an obvious benefit, Sapp told the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday that there are environmental benefits as well.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

US lawmakers introduce bill to ban most single-use plastics, with exception for seafood

November 9, 2023 — U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would ban most single-use plastic products and pause plastic production as part of a growing movement to tackle plastic pollution.

“Plastic pollution isn’t just a problem for our oceans and climate – it’s a massive environmental injustice,” U.S. Representative Jared Huffman said. “Communities are overburdened with plastics’ toxic air and water emissions and the false promises of so-called chemical recycling.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Sharks might be ferocious predators, but they’re no match for warming oceans, studies say

November 9, 2023 — The ocean’s most feared but fascinating predators face increasing dangers from the world’s warming oceans, scientists found in two international studies released this week.

Both studies revealed new information about sharks that surprised scientists and added to a growing body of research raising concerns about warming oceans and the effects of human activities on ocean ecosystems.

Large sharks, tunas and other predators make far more deep dives into the ocean than previously understood, concluded a study led by Camrin Braun, an assistant scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The study also found that disruptions to ocean ecosystems from climate change and mining – without careful consideration of the risks and benefits – could threaten species at the top of the ocean food chain, harming conservation efforts and commercial fishing.

Read the full article at USA Today

Assessing Vulnerability of Fish and Invertebrates to Climate Change in the Southeast

November 6, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries published two new assessments of climate vulnerability for fish and invertebrates in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Large Marine Ecosystems. While all of the species assessed are projected to face significant exposure to climate-driven changes, some are expected to be much more susceptible than others.

Climate change is significantly impacting our global ocean ecosystems. Warming seas and changing ocean chemistry are driving changes in the distribution, abundance, life cycles, and population dynamics of marine life. These changes are already impacting businesses and communities that depend on marine resources and are expected to increase with continued changes in the planet’s climate and ocean systems.

To understand how climate change is anticipated to affect important fishery species, we initiated a series of Climate Vulnerability Assessments. Most recently, the Southeast Fisheries Science Center led assessments for both the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Large Marine Ecosystems. The reports identify fish and invertebrates that are most vulnerable to projected climate impacts, the primary drivers of these vulnerabilities, and which species are expected to be more resilient.

RHODE ISLAND: NOAA Updates Recreational Fishing Policy to Reflect Climate Crisis, Increase Diversity

November 6, 2023 — Recreational fishing is an important economic driver for the Ocean State, bringing in as much as $160 million annually when you include hotel stays and restaurant, bait shop, and marina spending by visitors.

More than 80,000 Rhode Islanders fish recreationally, with an equal number of out-of-staters coming here to fish, according to the Rhode Island Environmental Monitoring Collaborative.

Warming seas, habitat loss, and changes in the movement of bait fish are impacting the state’s recreational and commercial fisheries. Atlantic bluefin tuna, a popular species commonly fished off the Ocean State coast, is one of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean species projected to be impacted by warmer waters and habitat loss.

Other iconic Rhode Island species, such as cod and lobster, have been moving north for a while. Once-abundant winter flounder is now difficult to find.

Read the full article at EcoRi News

Global blue food production at risk from human-caused environmental changes, study finds

November 3, 2023 — Over 90 percent of global blue food production faces substantial risks from environmental changes, with leading seafood-producing countries – including China, Norway, and the U.S. – running the highest risks, according to a new study.

Published in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, the study, “Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change,” included a global analysis assessing the vulnerability of countries’ fisheries and aquaculture production in the face of anthropogenic impacts, or environmental changes directly caused by human activities. Specifically, anthropogenic threats can reduce the amount of high-quality blue food countries can produce by altering water quality and habitats, causing shifts or declines in stocks, and compromising food safety by contaminating fish with pathogens or pollutants that are toxic for human consumption.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Alaska’s snow crabs suddenly vanished. Will history repeat itself as waters warm?

October 31, 2023 — Garrett Kavanaugh grabs a fistful of freshly cooked crab and stuffs it into his mouth, a giant smile on his face, as his feet brace against the rolling sea beneath the deck of his boat.

“Oh yeah,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about.”

As the deck of his 58-foot-long boat rolls on the swells of the Gulf of Alaska, Kavanaugh, 24, cracks another crab leg between his tattooed fingers.

Long months of preparation and anticipation have led to this moment, as Kavanaugh and his three-man crew celebrate the first taste of the Dungeness crabs they’ve hauled up about 50 feet from the sandy ocean bottom off Kodiak Island.

In Alaska, last fall’s shocking collapse of the snow crab fishery shows that conditions for sea life can and are rapidly changing, even in ecosystems that have fed Indigenous people for thousands of years.

So far, this Alaska Dungeness crabbing season is off to a good start. But nothing is certain in these warming waters, where a new study concluded the snow crabs died out because the unusually warm water made their metabolisms run faster, causing them to starve. The study also found that many cod, which traditionally prey on young crabs, had left the area for the colder waters of the northern Bering Sea, “which rarely occurs.”

Read the full article at USA Today

A ‘whole way of life’ at risk as warming waters change Maine’s lobster fishing

October 30, 2023 — Lobsterwoman Krista Tripp doesn’t need a scientist to tell her the normally cold waters off the coast of Maine are warming. The submersible thermometer she takes on every fishing trip proves that.

But it’s not just the warmer water that’s changing fishing here on the rocky coast of northern New England. Heavy rains are lowering the ocean’s salinity. And warm-water fish that don’t belong keep showing up.

“You can tell the water’s changing, and we’re getting new species,” says Tripp, 38. “People are posting fish they catch on Facebook and asking ‘What’s this?’ And they’re tropical fish.'”

Tripp started lobstering at her grandfather’s knee, where she learned to bait traps. She still tries to fish some of his old favorite spots near to shore, but increasingly she’s plumbing the waters right at the edge of where her permit allows, three miles offshore.

Her grandfather trapped lobster his whole life, and now Tripp, like her father before her, carries on that legacy. For generations, lobstering has helped define this slice of northern New England, where the cold Atlantic waters have been home to the species that helped build a young United States: cod, whales, lobster.

But what Tripp sees from the Shearwater’s wheelhouse is just one part of a larger problem facing the United States, as climate change warms the world’s oceans and transforms the creatures that live in them. As the oceans get hotter, sea life adapts, and many species that used to be easily fished close to land are fleeing to colder, deeper waters.

Read the full article at USA Today

Atlantic Sturgeon and Climate Change: Warming Water Impacts Spawning and Development

October 28, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Atlantic sturgeon inhabit rivers and coastal waters from Canada to Florida and can live for 30-60 years. The sturgeon family is the most primitive of all bony fish, with ancestors dating back to the Cretaceous period more than 120 million years ago. Atlantic sturgeon are particularly sensitive to high water temperatures, especially their eggs and juveniles. This sensitivity makes them vulnerable to warming water temperatures associated with climate change.

Beginning in the late 1800s, commercial fisheries began to harvest valuable caviar from Atlantic sturgeon. By the early 1900s, their populations had declined drastically. Recovering Atlantic sturgeon is challenged by their long generational cycles and late age of sexual maturity for reproduction. In response to historic and current challenges, NOAA Fisheries listed four distinct population segments of Atlantic sturgeon as endangered and one as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2012.

In 2023, NOAA Fisheries celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Since it was enacted, no listed marine or anadromous species have gone extinct. However, as climate change intensifies, the recovery of listed species, like the Atlantic sturgeon and its relatives, may become more challenging. Through climate-focused research and management, NOAA Fisheries aims to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change on listed species to foster their continued recovery.

Impacts of Warming Water Temperatures

Atlantic sturgeon migrate from freshwater rivers and estuaries to the ocean as sub-adults, then return to spawn in the same rivers where they were born. Spring spawning adults move inland when temperatures warm and days are longer. Fall spawning adults move upriver in the heat of the summer to spawn as water temperatures cool in the fall. Due to climate change, the rivers and bays of the U.S. East Coast are warming earlier in the spring, and experiencing hotter peaks during the summer.

Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon prefer water temperatures between 65–72°F to develop, and they will be healthiest during years with that temperature range. Inland waters that warm faster and stay warm for longer due to climate change may limit successful spawning and threaten the survival of eggs and juveniles.

Biden-Harris Administration announces $60 million for Columbia River Basin hatcheries as part of Investing in America agenda

October 28, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Biden-Harris Administration is investing $60 million for NOAA Fisheries to address tribal priorities and tackle the impacts of climate change on Pacific salmon, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act — the largest climate investment in history — these funds are available for upgrades identified as tribal priorities for Columbia River Basin hatchery facilities that produce Pacific salmon through the Mitchell Act. 

These funds are part of the historic $3.3 billion provided to NOAA under the Inflation Reduction Act to focus on ensuring America’s communities and economies are ready for and resilient to climate change, and build on President Biden’s Presidential Memorandum to prioritize the restoration of healthy and abundant salmon, steelhead and other native fish populations to the Columbia River Basin.

“This historic investment by the Biden-Harris Administration furthers NOAA’s efforts to help Americans — including tribes and vulnerable populations — prepare, adapt and build resilience to weather and climate events,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This new funding that was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, a key pillar of Bidenomics, is critically important because it will update hatchery facilities to continue to provide the fishing opportunities guaranteed by treaties.”

Investments will be responsive to tribal priorities, which were identified in an Inflation Reduction Act-focused tribal consultation conducted by NOAA. Since 2019, NOAA Fisheries has been working with hatchery operators in the Columbia River Basin to develop a comprehensive list of deferred maintenance and needed upgrades. The investments to advance President Biden’s ambitious conservation agenda outlined in the America the Beautiful initiative, which calls for a decade-long effort to support locally led and voluntary conservation and restoration efforts across public, private and Tribal lands and waters in order to create jobs and strengthen local economies while tackling the climate crises. 

The funding will focus on shovel-ready and high-priority hatcheries that are funded with Mitchell Act grants — which include the Yakama Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho — are eligible. NOAA Fisheries will distribute these hatchery funds to operators in the Columbia River Basin for deferred maintenance and repairs of hatchery facilities.

The Mitchell Act was passed by Congress in 1938 for the conservation of salmon and steelhead fishery resources in the Columbia River Basin in light of hydroelectric, irrigation and flood control development projects. It supported the establishment, operation and maintenance of hatchery facilities in the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as other fishery conservation activities. Since 1946, Congress has continued to appropriate Mitchell Act funds on an annual basis, and NOAA Fisheries has administered the Mitchell Act since 1970. 

Please visit the Inflation Reduction Act website to learn about current and future funding opportunities.