Saving Seafood

Seasonal Prohibition on All Fishing (Commercial and Recreational) for or Possession of Queen Conch in Federal Waters off St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

May 24, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What Is Happening And When:

NOAA Fisheries reminds the public of the upcoming seasonal prohibition on fishing for or possession of queen conch on board a fishing vessel.

  • This annually recurring prohibition will take effect at 12:01 a.m., local time, on June 1, 2021.
  • The queen conch harvest season will reopen at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 1, 2021.
  • The closure applies in federal waters east of 64°34′ W longitude, including that portion of the Lang Bank area falling within those federal waters (see map below).
  • Remaining federal waters are closed year-round to all fishing for queen conch.
  • Possession of queen conch in U.S. Virgin Island jurisdictional waters (0-3 nautical miles) is prohibited June 1 through October 31.
  • Possession of queen conch in Puerto Rico jurisdictional waters (0-9 nautical miles) is prohibited August 1 through October 31.

Why This Closure Is Happening:

This seasonal closure protects queen conch when they are spawning (reproducing) and therefore more vulnerable to fishing pressure.

During the open season (November 1 – May 31), fishing for queen conch in U.S. Caribbean federal waters is only allowed in waters east of 64°34′ W longitude.

Read the full release here

New York advancing new rules for whelk harvesting; fishermen say slow down

May 20, 2021 — New York State is advancing a set of rules to limit the annual harvest off Long Island of sea snails known as whelk, but some fishermen say the restrictions aren’t needed.

Whelk, also known as conch, have become a vital species for Long Island fishermen who traditionally harvested lobsters, particularly in the Sound. But the lobster population has sharply dwindled in recent years, and fishing for them is banned for several months of the year.

Conch, which are harvested in traps that use the same hauling gear as lobster pots, are popular in ethnic food markets, including for scungilli and Asian specialty foods.

Read the full story at Newsday

They filleted their fish at sea. That’s against the law, Coast Guard says

February 7, 2020 — The U.S. Coast Guard stopped a sport fishing boat off Key Largo Monday and found several conservation violations, including the importation of queen conch, the harvest of which has been illegal in Florida since the 1980s, according to the agency.

A boarding party from the Cutter Charles David, Jr. pulled over the vessel, the Salt Shaker II, about 13 miles southeast of Key Largo and found 10 fillets of snapper and grouper, and 26 fillets of wahoo “in illegal carcass condition,” according to the Coast Guard, meaning the fish were filleted at sea.

Officer Bobby Dube, a spokesman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said any fish that has a legal bag limit, meaning anglers can only keep a certain amount, must be brought back to shore whole.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

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

DON CUDDY: An independent fisherman struggles to hang on in an uncertain fishery

July 24, 2017 — It was 4 a.m. as I crossed a deserted Sagamore bridge but the night sky was already beginning to lighten.

When I turned into the lot on School St. in Hyannis I could see the boat, its white hull splashed with green from the glow of the starboard running light. I clambered aboard.

On the Angenette, a 40-foot wooden dragger built in 1946, Captain Ron Borjeson waited along with his grandson Trent Garzoni. Lost amongst the tourist hordes and tricked-out sportfishing boats crowding the Hyannis docks these are guys you don’t notice anymore — independent commercial fishermen, struggling to pursue their traditional livelihood. Reductions in the catch limits and rising expenses are constant worries. The fluke quota was cut by 30 percent last year and again this year, while just to tie up in Hyannis for the season costs eleven grand.

We headed out to Nantucket Sound just as dawn broke. The inshore squid season ended on June 1. Ron got eighty-six days out of that and now he is into fluke. In state waters, he can take three hundred pounds daily though no fishing is permitted on Fridays or Saturdays.

After steaming for about an hour to the chosen ground we made the first tow. It was quiet except for the throb of the diesel. The sky was clear, the sea sparkled and the breeze was like a caress. On such a morning it was easy to feel the tug of the seafaring life. We hauled back and a representative cross-section of our multispecies New England fishery spilled from the dripping net.

We easily filled two totes with fluke, white side up to keep them pristine. There were baskets for keeping sea bass, conch and scup. There is no limit on scup but if Angenette lands 500 pounds the price is 65 cents per pound and if they bring in 1400 pounds it drops to 50 cents so there you go.

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