Saving Seafood

SARAH CONLEY: Dominion’s approach to offshore wind is cautious

August 12, 2019 — Virginia has a dependence on coal and other fossil fuels that has plagued our state for ages. Dominion Energy has played a role in fostering this damaging relationship, as has an administration that favors the convenience of fossil fuels. So I found the news regarding Dominion Energy’s wind turbines in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area to be striking and refreshing.

Dominion Energy’s decision to build an offshore wind farm near Virginia Beach demonstrates a much-needed normalization of and transition toward renewable energy. This project includes the construction of two turbines capable of producing 12 megawatts total. While some have criticized the project for being too small scale, Dominion has expressed its need to prove the concept before moving forward with a large-scale wind farm. The payoff for this project to move ahead would be immense for the Hampton Roads region and for Virginia’s role as a leader in alternative energy.

The vulnerability of Hampton Roads to the impacts of climate change adds elevated significance to this project, for which Dominion is partnering with Denmark’s wind giant Orsted. I am amazed at how quickly I have seen the severity of storms and sea-level rise in Virginia Beach within my own lifetime. Residents of coastal neighborhoods are seeing more and more flooding of homes and streets. Rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns are leading to record-breaking hurricanes, such as Irma, Harvey and Maria. Hampton Roads has the highest rate of sea-level rise on the East Coast, and in the top three nationally with New Orleans and Miami Beach. Ocean levels along Virginia are expected to rise 1.5 feet by 2050. There is no time to waste in acting against these consequences of fossil fuel dependence.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Study: Maine Fishermen Should Plan For Accelerated Ocean Warming

August 6, 2019 — Climate change is triggering more and more surprise variations in temperatures in the world’s oceans, including off Maine, and those spikes are changing ecosystems in ways that looking at the past wouldn’t predict.

That’s one of the conclusions of a new study out Monday from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, which finds that the bigger-than-expected temperature swings are benefiting some species while hurting others, and that has effects that can be felt up the food chain by the humans that depend on those ecosystems.

Dr. Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at GMRI and the lead author of the study, spoke with All Things Considered Host Nora Flaherty about the changes.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Scientists Say More Right Whales Are Dying Off Canada As Climate Change Disrupts Food Sources

August 6, 2019 — For the past several years, including this one, endangered North Atlantic right whales appear to have been bypassing traditional feeding grounds off Maine’s coast, congregating instead off Canada in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where some are dying.

Scientists are working hard to understand that shift, while lobstermen here in Maine say it shows the whales’ risk of entanglement in their gear is overblown.

For decades, the North Atlantic right whales’ annual migration took them from the Florida coast up past Maine and into the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, where, from midsummer to fall, they would feast together on massive plumes of tiny crustaceans.

But these days, the whales are showing up far from their usual haunts.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Changing climate boosts Maine lobster industry — for now

August 1, 2019 — Maine’s lobster industry has found itself in something of a climate change sweet spot.

The state’s coastal waters are still cold enough for lobster to thrive, but warming ocean temperatures are now encouraging them to settle here, mate and eventually shed their hard shells.

That’s made the past few years some of the best on record for Maine lobstermen.

But those ideal conditions may be short-lived.

As ocean temperatures rise, lobster populations have been moving steadily north, prompting concerns among politicians, scientists and fishermen that Maine lobster will eventually become Canadian lobster.

Read the full story at The Hill

NEW JERSEY: New sharks could be visiting the Jersey Shore thanks to climate change

July 31, 2019 — While sharks off the Jersey Shore are nothing new, experts who study the ocean predators say New Jersey’s waters are becoming an increasingly popular destination for unlikely species of sharks.

Ocean-warming climate change is already bringing sharks typically found in southern waters, like bull sharks and blacktip sharks, to New Jersey on a more frequent basis said Thomas Grothues, an associate research professor at Rutgers who studies sharks (he just happens to be a past Shark Week star.)

As the planet continues to warm, this trend is likely to continue, Grothues said.

Read the full story at NJ.com

In hot water: How warmer years might affect salmon populations

July 29, 2019 — There is a lot of worry and speculation about hot weather affecting sockeye runs on the east side of Bristol Bay this summer. But despite some of the hottest air and water temperatures on record, every district is meeting — or exceeding — expectations, both for escapement and harvest.

As the water temperature trends continue to rise over the years, the question at the fore is how warming water will impact salmon health, and whether it shapes the runs from year to year.

Jerri Bartholomew, Director of the Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at Oregon State University, set the baseline for a discussion on the long-term effects of heat on salmon.

“When you try and predict what’s going to happen in an ecosystem, things just get complicated,” she said.

Trying to peer into the future of Bristol Bay salmon is a bit of a shot in the dark. Without actual data, it’s a lot of guesswork: trying to find places with ecosystems similar to the bay, then extrapolating conclusions based on what we already know.

Still, there are three pressing questions when it comes to salmon in warmer waters.

The first, basic question, is how temperature affects the fish — in both the short and long term.

Read the full story at KTOO

West Coast Salmon Vulnerable to Climate Change, but Some Show Resilience to Shifting Environment

July 26, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Several of the West Coast’s prime salmon runs are highly vulnerable to climate change, but intensified habitat restoration and other measures can help support their natural resilience and adaptability. The new NOAA Fisheries report, published this week in PLOS ONE, is the first comprehensive climate vulnerability assessment for West Coast salmon and steelhead.

Certain Chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon population groups are the most vulnerable to expected environmental shifts with climate change. These include more extreme high and low flows and hotter oceans and rivers. Steelhead, pink and chum salmon face less risk, either because they are more adaptable to varying conditions (steelhead) or spend less time in freshwater (pink and chum).

Species-specific results are available for each population group.

Authors noted that salmon have long thrived in the region, proving themselves resilient to past shifts in climate. However, climate is now changing at an unprecedented rate. Most populations now lack access to habitat that once provided refuge from climate extremes.

“Salmon have always adapted to change, and they have been very successful—otherwise they wouldn’t still be here,” said Lisa Crozier, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the assessment. “What we are trying to understand is which populations may need the most help with anticipated future changes in temperature and water availability, and what steps we can take to support them.”

Read the full release here

California coasts recovering, but more marine heatwaves like ‘The Blob’ expected

July 26, 2019 — The effects of the marine heatwave off the California coast from 2014 to 2016, better known as The Blob, that led to a decrease in Chinook salmon and virtually shut down the Dungeness crab industry are finally starting to wear off.

The heatwave led to major shifts in the marine ecosystem, with species of fish migrating to different regions where the temperature was more favorable. It caused declines in certain species and increases in others. A type of algae that produces the neurotoxin domoic acid also outcompeted other forms of algae, leading to huge blooms that poisoned a variety of sea life, such as Dungeness crab.

“It wasn’t about (a lack of) abundance,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “It was about destabilized ecosystems.”

The ecosystem is still recovering from the marine heatwave, slowly cooling down, but conditions are improving enough to have led to a 12.3% increase in West Coast fishery revenues, primarily “driven by Pacific hake, Dungeness crab and market squid,” according to the 2019 California Current Ecosystem Status Report prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Jennifer Gilden, the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s staff officer for outreach, habitat and legislation, said the ocean conditions are improving, though the Chinook salmon population has yet to fully recover.

“This year won’t be great,” Gilden said, “but conditions will be improving over the next few years.”

Read the full story at Mercury News

$60 Million Loss in Revenue Expected in Pacific Islands Tuna Industry by 2050 Due to Climate Change

July 25, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Revenue from tuna caught within the Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZs) of Pacific Island Countries is expected to decline by 2050, according to Johann Bell, senior director of Pacific tuna fisheries at Conservation International.

He told PACNEWS climate change will affect revenue generated from the industry.

“What we’ve done with the recent modelling is actually look at how the biomass of tuna might change within the EEZ of Pacific Island countries and territories and how it might change in the high seas areas.

“And the modelling that we have now is indicating that by 2050 there is likely to be a 15 percent movement of the amount of tuna in the EEZ onto the high seas. So yes that will affect the revenue of several countries because if you make the assumption that the revenue is proportional to how much tuna we have in our waters, then that is likely to change and countries will get less revenue,” Bell told PACNEWS in Noumea at the end of the Pacific Community workshop for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.

Bell said climate change will continue to increase the surface temperature of the ocean and this will cause skipjack and yellowfin tuna species to shift significantly to the East.

He told PACNEWS regional governments will receive less revenue because foreign fishing fleets will take more of their tuna catch from the high seas where they do not have to pay fishing license fees.

“There are some countries further to the East where the amount of tuna in their EEZ is likely to increase and they might expect to get greater catches.

“So if you look at the numbers at the moment, in 2016 license fees revenue for all the Pacific Island Countries and Territories was about US$465 million with 15 percent of the biomass of tuna moving from the EEZ onto the high seas. So we could be looking at a change in license revenue of about US$60 million, a loss of license revenue collectively across the region by 2050,” said Bell.

He said a promising way to cushion Pacific island economies against a loss of license revenue would be to explore how best to add value to tuna.

Bell said they are also exploring how best to help the region retain the rights to the tuna resources that currently occur within their EEZs, regardless of displacement of the fish by climate change.

This would mean that although some tuna would no longer physically be in the EEZs of a Pacific island nation, these tuna would still belong economically to that country, said Bell.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Pacific bigeye tuna fishery decline expected due to climate change

July 23, 2019 — A decline in Hawaii’s deep-set longline bigeye tuna fishery may be “inevitable” with climate change, according to a study by researchers in Hawaii and Australia.

Changes to bigeye tuna’s food supply, via changes to the plankton community, and temperature, will reduce yields because it will affect tuna’s fitness. This will impact tuna’s aerobic scope and ability to successfully forage, researchers from Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, and the Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania said.

Proactive fisheries management could be an effective tool for mitigating climate change, either by balancing or outweighing climate effects. “However, modeling these [climatic] stressors jointly shows that even large management changes cannot completely offset climate effects.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News