Saving Seafood

Demand for groundfish data continues to increase

September 6, 2017 — The Sentinel Survey, now in its eighth year of research, collects data on the status of groundfish populations in Eastern Maine. The survey is conducted by Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, in collaboration with the University of Maine. Fishermen visit a total of 84 survey stations from June to October, along with researchers who study the population, distribution, and most important, the genetic makeup of groundfish in each location, according to a news release from MCCF.

The Sentinel Survey has become the leading source of information on groundfish in Eastern Maine, the release states. The unique summer sampling season and localized-scale produces heavily sought after data. The survey design also uses a combination of gear types, longline and jig hooks, to sample areas where larger, more traditional trawling methods struggle—areas with rocky bottoms and an abundance of lobster traps. Since 2010, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries has collected data on more than 20 groundfish species, most notably cod, halibut, mackerel, cusk, haddock, pollock and hake.

Increasingly, scientists are requesting access to survey samples of stomach content, heart, otolith (or ear bone), fin clip, gonad, and muscle tissue, as they seek to understand the status of depleted groundfish populations. According to lead researcher on the Sentinel Survey, Mattie Rodrigue, “data from even a single fish is crucial. Biological analysis can unlock a picture of where that species has been, the distinct sub-populations it’s related to, what it’s been eating, its reproductive patterns, and more.”

Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries has led a collaborative effort to distribute Sentinel Survey data to organizations up and down the coast, from Massachusetts to Canada. Scientists want access to specific data, and the survey can provide that information. Institutions, including the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, rely on the survey.

Read the full story at Island Ad-Vantages

Maine center to study impact of climate change on cod, sole

September 6, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government is giving a Maine science center more than $1 million to investigate the impacts of climate change on important commercial fish species such as cod and sole.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute says it’s getting $1.1 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Portland-based center says researchers will also try to learn more about how fisheries management can be improved in the era of climate change.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Times

 

Climate Change May Shrink the World’s Fish

A new study suggests warming sea temperatures could result in smaller fish sizes.

August 22, 2017 — Warming temperatures and loss of oxygen in the sea will shrink hundreds of fish species—from tunas and groupers to salmon, thresher sharks, haddock and cod—even more than previously thought, a new study concludes.

Because warmer seas speed up their metabolisms, fish, squid and other water-breathing creatures will need to draw more oxygen from the ocean. At the same time, warming seas are already reducing the availability of oxygen in many parts of the sea.

A pair of University of British Columbia scientists argue that since the bodies of fish grow faster than their gills, these animals eventually will reach a point where they can’t get enough oxygen to sustain normal growth.

“What we found was that the body size of fish decreases by 20 to 30 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase in water temperature,” says author William Cheung, director of science for the university’s Nippon Foundation—Nereus Program.

These changes, the scientists say, will have a profound impact on many marine food webs, upending predator-prey relationships in ways that are hard to predict.

“Lab experiments have shown that it’s always the large species that will become stressed first,” says lead author Daniel Pauly, a professor at the university’s Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, and principal investigator for the Sea Around Us. “Small species have an advantage, respiration-wise.”

Still, while many scientists applaud the discovery, not all agree that Pauly’s and Cheung’s work supports their dramatic findings. The study was published today in the journal Global Change Biology.

Read the full story at National Geographic

NOAA Endorses Eating Small Haddock — But What About Cod?

August 17, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are giving their stamp of approval to eat small haddock.

In the July issue of the NOAA Fisheries Navigator, the government agency reports that smaller haddock does not necessarily mean an unhealthy stock. Looking at stats dating back to 1995, the size of the fish has been decreasing — but the population has been growing.

This trend is something that the organization has seen in the past. “A decline in the average size of Georges Bank haddock also happened in the mid-1960s when a larger number of haddock were born in 1963 and grew into the population,” the report reads. And according to their research, the size of the stock is large simply because the fish are “generally able to spawn before being harvested.” Data collected from Georges Bank haddock in 2015 revealed that 90% of the fish mature at age three. Commercial minimum size is 16 inches, which is generally a two to five year old fish. That means that most fish are able to spawn once or twice before being caught.

But the endorsement from NOAA still comes as a surprise to some. As Navigator magazine editor Kerry Hann notes in the September 2017 issue, the thumbs up to eat small haddock is a “somewhat peculiar statement from the U.S.-based organization tasked with providing science-based conservation and management for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, marine mammals, endangered species and their habitats.”

For Hann, it all goes back to 1992 when the cod industry was faced with a similar situation.

“Fewer larger, spawning-aged fish were being caught, leaving the dwindling cod populations made up of primarily small, juvenile fish,” Hann writes. “Many at the time concluded that a healthy cod population could not be made up of only small fish.”

So, what about cod today? That’s an upcoming discussion for “Cod — Building the Fishery of the Future,” a conference being held by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation in November.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Electrofishing: Saviour of the sea or fracking of the oceans?

August 17, 2017 — The Netherlands is testing a new technique to fish – using electric currents. Electrofishing is controversial and is banned by the EU, but can be used on an experimental basis. Critics argue it is cruel because it breaks the backs of some larger cod. But advocates say it is less damaging for the environment than traditional beam trawling. James Clayton reports for BBC Newsnight.

Watch the video from BBC Newsnight on YouTube

Scientists to Meet Fishers of Cod, Sole About Future of Fish

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishery regulators are meeting with commercial and recreational fishermen around New England and New York to talk about upcoming assessments of key fish stocks.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has scheduled the “port outreach meetings” to talk about the assessments of 20 groundfish stocks. Groundfish are commercially significant fish species such as cod, haddock and sole that live near the ocean floor.

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

Charter boat owners see jump in cancellations as cod ban takes effect

August 14, 2017 — A new rule that recreational anglers in the Gulf of Maine can’t keep cod they catch is putting the squeeze on the charter boat industry, business owners say.

Capt. Don Taylor runs a six-person charter boat out of Rye Harbor. He said he can see the scientific reasoning behind imposing the restriction, but says it is causing people to cancel their reservations — even though they can still keep haddock, cusk and hake.

“I don’t think not allowing us to have one cod per person on a boat is going to make any difference at all. That’s my opinion on it,” Taylor said. “I think they’re going a little overboard, myself, and it’s hurting the charter boat industry.”

Allison Ferreira, who is in charge of communications for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Mass., said the reason for the restriction is that recreational fishermen exceeded their cod catch limit by 92 percent last year.

Federal officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use estimates from the Marine Recreational Information Program to determine if a population is being overfished. In addition to getting reports from charter boat captains, they survey individuals who go out on their own boats.

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader

Using Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge to map Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank

August 11, 2017 — The following abstract is from a research paper on Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank. It was written by Gregory R. DeCelles, David Martins, Douglas R. Zemeckis, and Steven X. Cadrin, all from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was published in the July-August 2017 issue of ICES Journal of Marine Science:

The spawning dynamics of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) on Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals are not well understood. To address this uncertainty, we combined Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge (FEK) with traditional scientific data to develop a more holistic understanding of cod spawning on Georges Bank. Data from historical reports, trawl surveys, fisheries observers, and ichthyoplankton surveys were used to describe the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning activity. We also collected FEK regarding cod spawning dynamics through semi-structured interviews (n = 40). The fishermen had detailed knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning, and identified persistent fine-scale (i.e. <50 km2) spawning grounds that were often associated with specific habitat features, including spawning grounds that were previously unreported in the scientific literature. The spawning seasons and locations identified by fishermen generally agreed with information from traditional scientific data, but it was evident that seasonal scientific surveys lack the spatial and temporal resolution needed to fully characterize the distribution of cod spawning activity. Our results will help inform management measures designed to promote the rebuilding of Georges Bank cod, and also provide a basis for further investigations of cod spawning dynamics and stock structure.

Read the full paper at ICES Journal of Marine Science

NOAA Fisheries Announces Catch Limits for 4 Groundfish Stocks and Windowpane Flounder Accountability Measures in Framework 56

August 1, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announces the implementation of Framework 56 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

Framework 56 sets catch limits for four groundfish stocks for the 2017 fishing year (through April 30, 2018). The changes in these catch limits relative to fishing year 2016 are as follows:

  • Georges Bank cod quota will decrease by 13%;
  • Georges Bank haddock quota will increase by 2%;
  • Georges Bank yellowtail flounder will decrease 23%; and
  • Witch flounder quota will increase 91%.

We set catch limits for the 2017 fishing year for the remaining 16 groundfish stocks last year in Framework 55. The 2017 catch limits for these 16 stocks remain the same as or similar to 2016 limits.

The action sets sector allocations and common pool trip limits based on the 2017 limits and finalized 2017 sector rosters.

Framework 56 also:

  • Creates an allocation of northern windowpane flounder for the scallop fishery;
  • Revises the trigger for implementing the scallop fishery’s accountability measures for both its GB yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder allocation; and
  • Increases the GB haddock allocation for the midwater trawl fishery.

Read the Framework 56 permit holder letter posted on our website.

Finally, this action implements the accountability measures for the 2017 fishing year for the northern and southern windowpane flounder.

Read the permit holder letter for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass vessels regarding the southern windowpane flounder accountability measures posted on our website.

Fishing Partnership Support Services: Pass a price on carbon to protect fisheries and livelihoods

July 31, 2017 — A few years ago, scientists, fishermen and fishing managers concluded that cod stocks were rebuilding off the coast of Massachusetts. This understanding led ground fishermen (those who catch cod and other groundfish) spanning coastal New England to invest their life savings into their fishing businesses.

Soon after, industry experts changed their tune, reporting that drastic changes were underway. With livelihoods and families on the line, cod stocks began collapsing, leaving thousands devastated both financially and mentally. Today, an astounding 87 percent of Massachusetts ground fishermen suffer from mild to severe PTSD after experiencing the financial consequences of the crash, according to a Northeastern University study.

The situation only worsens as fishermen resort to unsafe practices — going farther out to sea in subpar boats, downsizing crews, and working longer hours on insufficient sleep. It is no surprise that New England ground fisherman are 200 times more likely to die on the job than the average worker, and that fishermen have the highest suicide rates among U.S. workers.

With ocean temperatures in the Northeast increasing more rapidly than global averages, sea animal populations are already noticeably shifting. Populations of cod, lobster, sea bass, and many others are decreasing in size or migrating farther north. And in turn, food chains are altered and fishermen struggle to pay the bills.

From cod to fishermen to families, climate change has the power and potential to cause true devastation, and the time to act is now. In Massachusetts, we have the opportunity to confront this issue head-on and cut greenhouse gas emissions through carbon pricing legislation H.1726 and S.1821.

Read the full option piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times