Saving Seafood

MAFMC Meeting April 7-9 in Galloway, NJ

March 10, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold its next meeting April 7-9, 2020 at Seaview, a Dolce Hotel (401 S. New York Rd, Galloway, NJ 08205, Telephone: 609-652-1800).

Agenda: A detailed meeting agenda is available here. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include:

  • Golden Tilefish 2021 – 2022 Specifications
  • Blueline Tilefish 2021 Specifications Review
  • Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment
  • 2020 Mid-Atlantic State of the Ecosystem Report
  • Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) Updates
  • Climate Change Scenario Planning
  • South Atlantic Electronic Reporting
  • Ocean Data Portals Commercial Fisheries Data Project
  • Offshore Wind Updates
  • SAFMC Citizen Science Program
  • GARFO/NEFSC Joint Strategic Plan

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted at http://www.mafmc.org/briefing/april-2020 as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on March 25, 2020 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on April 2, 2020 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using the online comment form linked below.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/april2020.

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

West Coast Waters Shift Toward Productive Conditions, But Lingering Heat May “Tilt” Marine Ecosystem

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Burgeoning populations of anchovy and a healthy crop of California sea lion pups reflected improved productivity off parts of the West Coast in 2019. However, lingering offshore heat worked against recovery of salmon stocks and reduced fishing success, a new analysis reports.

The California Current Ecosystem Status Report explains that ocean conditions off the West Coast remain unusually variable. This has been the case since the arrival of a major marine heatwave in 2014 known as “The Blob.” NOAA Fisheries’ two West Coast laboratories, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center, issue the report each year to the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“There is not a real clear picture here,” said Chris Harvey, co-editor of the report developed by the two laboratories’ Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach. The approach integrates physical, biological, economic, and importantly social conditions of the California Current marine ecosystem into the decision-making process. “On the one hand, we have a lot of anchovy out there. On the other hand, we also have a lot of warm water. That is not usually a sign of improved productivity.”

Read the full release here

What the History of Salmon Can Tell Us About the Future of the Planet

March 5, 2020 — Mark Kurlansky has been telling the story of how humans eat, one food at a time over the last 20 years. He has published popular books including Cod, Salt, and Milk, but his 33rd book is written with a new sense of urgency.

“Of all the things that I’ve looked at over the years, I’ve never run across anything that I found scarier than the fact that the oceans are losing their carrying capacity, that the ocean is losing its ability to feed fish. That’s another way of saying that the planet is losing its ability to sustain itself,” he said. “Salmon is one avenue to talk about that.

Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate, released this week, includes a fascinating account of how these unique creatures live, sometimes navigating hundreds of miles back to their place of birth to spawn while leaping waterfalls and actively changing the color of their bodies.

“It’s just one of the most incredible animals in the animal kingdom. It’s extremely beautiful and has this incredible lifecycle that sounds like it was written by a Greek tragedy writer,” he said.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

The Ocean’s Swirling Currents Are Migrating Poleward

March 2, 2020 — Enormous, swirling gyres compose some of the world’s biggest and most important ocean currents. Found in the North and South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean, these massive, rotating currents help transport heat and nutrients around the globe.

Now, new research suggests, they seem to be on the move.

A recent study, conducted by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany and the Ocean University of China, finds major ocean gyres are steadily creeping toward the poles. Since the 1980s, they’ve been migrating by about a half mile each year.

It’s already causing noticeable consequences, the researchers suggest.

For one thing, ocean gyres tend to alter the sea levels around them. Scientists have already observed a distinct band of higher-than-average sea levels in the midlatitudes, including along much of the U.S. East Coast—a phenomenon some experts have chalked up to regional warming patterns and related changes in the structure of the ocean. But the new study suggests the movement of ocean gyres may also be playing a role.

Gyres also help control the flow of heat and nutrients through the ocean. As they move, they can alter ocean ecosystems, affect certain fisheries and influence weather patterns. The study suggests the movement of gyres may already be linked to recent observed changes in the movement of hurricanes and the behavior of major atmospheric currents, like the jet streams.

Read the full story from E&E News at Scientific American

Can kelp help protect shellfish from ocean acidification?

February 27, 2020 — Marine scientist Susie Arnold of the Island Institute will discuss research about kelp farming and ocean acidification Monday, March 9 at 5 p.m. at the MDI Biological Laboratory, as part of the laboratory’s Science Café series.

Maine’s scenic coastlines and long-established fisheries contribute to the state’s economy, making Maine vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification from both an environmental and socio-economic perspective.

To address this vulnerability, Maine was the first East Coast state to convene a legislatively established commission, tasked with understanding increased ocean acidification and the potential impacts on commercially important species.

Arnold has been part of a joint research effort, undertaken by Island Institute, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and aquaculture industry collaborators, to better understand the role of growing and harvesting macroalgae in capturing carbon, and to determine potential benefits of co-cultivating kelp or other macrophytes alongside farmed shellfish.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Abnormally Warm Years Caused a Sea Change in Coastal Alaska Ecosystems

February 27, 2020 — Rapidly warming Alaska is already a poster child for climate change, from its vanishing sea ice to its thawing permafrost. But over the last three years, the state’s northwestern coast has experienced a series of unusual climate-related changes—remarkable even for the long-altered Pacific Arctic.

Beginning in 2017, a combination of abnormally high temperatures and unusually strong, southerly winds swept the Bering and Chukchi seas. An alarming cascade of ecological consequences ensued—record-low sea ice, shifting algae blooms, migrating fish populations and sudden seabird die-offs were just a few.

“Most of my own research is with people living in the coastal communities, so talking to them and hearing about what they’re seeing,” said Henry Huntington, an independent Alaskan researcher and consultant. “And they saw some very unusual things, and things that struck them.”

“Ridiculous” water temperatures and unstable sea ice were among the most common complaints raised in interviews with coastal residents, Huntington noted.

“Adding to that, what we’re hearing from folks on the research cruises, it just became apparent that things were really a lot different from what any of us expected,” he said.

Read the full story at Scientific American

Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team to hold a webinar on March 20, 2020

February 26, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team (CCCT) will hold a webinar, which is open to the public. The webinar will be held Friday, March 20, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or when business for the day has been completed.

Please see the CCCT webinar notice on the Council’s website for participation details and the purpose of the webinar.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Dr. Kit Dahl  at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

‘Grand Challenge’ review stresses global impact of microplastics

February 25, 2020 — Professor Rob Hale of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science is lead author of a new “Grand Challenges” paper commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the American Geophysical Union, the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists with more than 60,000 members in 137 countries.

The paper, “A Global Perspective on Microplastics,” is co-authored by VIMS doctoral student Meredith Seeley and senior research scientist Dr. Mark LaGuardia, along with Drs. Lei Mai and Eddy Zeng of Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.

“Microplastics” are  fabricated for products like facial scrubs, or produced when physical, chemical, and biological forces break down larger pieces of plastic debris. There has been widespread concern among scientists and the public that these minute synthetic fragments are impacting .

AGU Executive Director/CEO Chris McEntee says the Grand Challenges “represent a special collection of open-access review papers with the shared goal of transforming Earth and space science to meet the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow. They explore where major research and discovery are needed to address fundamental questions in our understanding of Earth and the solar system.”

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Researchers examine nations losing fish species due to climate change

February 25, 2020 — As ocean warming causes fish stocks to migrate toward cooler waters to maintain their preferred thermal environment, many of the nations that rely on commercial fish species as an integral part of their economy could suffer.

A new study published in Nature Sustainability from the University of Delaware, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Hokkaido University, shows that nations in the tropics—especially Northwest African nations—are especially vulnerable to this potential species loss due to . Not only are  at risk for the loss of  stocks, the study found there are not currently any adequate policy interventions to help mitigate affected countries’ potential losses.

Kimberly Oremus, assistant professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, explained that when the researchers looked at , including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they found no specific text for what happens when fish leave a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a zone established to give a country national jurisdiction over a fishery resource.

That means countries could be vulnerable to economic losses, and those potential losses could make the fish populations themselves vulnerable as well.

“We realized there was an incentive for countries when they lose a fish or anticipate that loss to go ahead and overfish before it leaves because otherwise, they don’t get the monetary benefits of the resource,” said Oremus.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

New Study Shows Pacific Cod Eggs are Highly Vulnerable to Changes in Bottom Temperature

February 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The 2013 to 2016 marine heatwave—known as “The Blob”—is the largest warm anomaly ever recorded in the North Pacific. In the Gulf of Alaska, scientists have connected low numbers of Pacific cod larvae, juveniles, and adults to loss of spawning habitat. This occured during and immediately following the heatwave. Compounding the ecological loss is the significant economic impact on the second most valuable commercial fishery in Alaska. The fishery experienced large reductions in their annual catch limits in 2018 (a 58 percent cut) and a fishery closure in 2020.

“We combined results of laboratory studies, stock assessment model output and survey data to help us better understand what happens to Pacific cod in warm and cold years,” said Benjamin Laurel, NOAA Fisheries biologist and lead researcher for this new study. “We found that the recent three-year heatwave and return to similar conditions in 2019 potentially had the greatest effect on spawning habitat for the years we had available data (1994 to 2019).”

Water temperature is an important component of fish habitat. Temperature influences every stage of a fish’s life. During the first year of life, fish eggs are particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions.

Laurel and colleague Lauren Rogers determined that Pacific cod eggs have a narrow optimal range for hatching success, only 3-6º C. This is much narrower than other related species like walleye pollock and Atlantic cod.

“Early life stage distribution and survival may set biogeographic boundaries and limit productive capacity for fish stocks,” added Rogers. “Pacific cod are unique among cod species; they only spawn once in a season and have eggs that adhere to the seafloor. Pacific cod females can actually place their eggs in habitats with temperatures that optimize hatch success. However, during these warm years, it may have been more challenging to find suitable habitat because the warmer water temperatures extended into the ocean depths.”

Read the full release here