Saving Seafood

Monkfish Research Awards to Improve Understanding of Monkfish Biology and More

July 31, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NOAA Fisheries and the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils have announced three new cooperative research projects that will improve the understanding of monkfish biology, as well as how to reduce catch of skates in monkfish gillnet gear. 500 days-at-sea have been set aside by the councils to be awarded to projects that address monkfish research priorities.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation was awarded 296 monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) days-at-sea to conduct a 2 years study on determining sex and maturity stage in Southern New England monkfish. Coonamessett Farm Foundation will use ultrasound methods to determine sex and maturity stage. In addition, they will also be conducting hormone analyses to “create a reproductive profile based on sex and maturity stage of monkfish.”

Meanwhile, Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County was awarded 303 monkfish RSA days-at-sea to conduct a 2-year experiment evaluating a modified gillnet designed to reduce skate bycatch. The University of New England was awarded 401 monkfish RSA days-at-sea to conduct a 2-year study on monkfish vertebrae and illicia.

This story originally was originally published in Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

NMFS Weighing Privately Funded Assessment of Summer Flounder Stock

February 23, 2018 — For the first time, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will consider privately funded science in formulating regulations for summer flounder.

Funded by the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund (SSFFF) and its contributing partners, a groundbreaking sex-structured model created by Dr. Patrick Sullivan of Cornell University was presented in January to the NMFS’ Stock Assessment Workshop in the hope of obtaining a clearer picture of the summer flounder population.

The ultimate goal is to improve the accuracy of the next stock assessment and consequent management advice.

The summer flounder fishery is of vital importance to the recreational and commercial fishing sectors along the Atlantic Seaboard and its continued health is a key concern among stakeholders.

Dr. Sullivan, who developed the model with renowned fisheries researcher Dr. Mark Maunder, presented the findings to NMFS staff at the Summer Flounder Stock Assessment Workgroup at Woods Hole, Mass.

During the past 10 years, Dr. Maunder has been working on fluke population research for SSFFF and his work has been highly successful in developing important findings that have helped stave off significant quota reductions.

Based on 10 years of research conducted by the SSFFF team of scientists, the group now believes that the present stock assessment does not represent the best available science. A new and comprehensive stock assessment model which incorporates the latest findings is considered critically important in guaranteeing the survival of this vital fishery.

Read the full story at OnTheWater

 

Reminder: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting December 4-8, 2017 in Atlantic Beach, NC

November 28, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: 

Agenda Highlights  

  • Snapper Grouper Committee

The Committee will address measures to reduce the annual catch limit for red grouper to end overfishing. Members will continue to work on long-term management measures for red snapper, improving recreational data, and the use of powerhead gear through actions currently in draft Amendment 46.  The Committee will also discuss a proposed moratorium on federal For-Hire/Charter permits in the snapper grouper fishery.

  • Citizen Science Committee

Program partner Rick Bonney (Cornell University, Lab of Ornithology) will provide an update on an upcoming pilot project addressing scampgrouper discards and other items of interest. Development of the program continues as the committee receives Action Team progress reports.

  • Data Collection Committee

The committee will receive an update on the status of an amendment approved by the Council in December 2016 to require federally permitted for-hire (6-pack) vessels to provide electronic reports. An update on outreach efforts for the proposed reporting requirement will also be provided.

Workshop: Recreational Reporting

Join Council members Tuesday, December 5th from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon as they receive an update on the 2017 results of the red snapper recreational reporting pilot program MyFishCount.com and receive presentations relative to recreational reporting of red snapper and other reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as big game tagging.

Additional Meeting Information

Can’t attend? Watch the meeting live via webinar at it occurs! Webinar registration is required for each day of the meeting. Registration information – along with meeting materials including committee agendas, overviews, presentations, and documents – is available from the December 2017 Council Meeting page.

Public Comment Session

Wednesday, December 6 – 4:30 PM 

Formal public comment

The Council will be accept comments on meeting agenda items. The Council Chair, based on the number of individuals wishing to comment, will determine the amount of time provided to each commenter.

Learn more about the SAFMC at their site here.

 

High-Tech Satellite Tags Give Unique View into the Behavior of King Salmon

November 28, 2017 — Cornell University, New York Sea Grant, and charter boat captains have teamed up on a high-tech mission to learn more about the behavior of King Salmon in the Lake Ontario ecosystem.  They’re already getting valuable information from pop-off satellite tags attached to the fish.

New York Sea Grant Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist Jesse Lepak narrated a video that shows the tagging process with the help of charter captains.  It took about a month to tag 10 fish starting in early July.

“Once the fish are landed, they’re put in a Styrofoam cradle to help keep them calm, and lake water is pumped across their gills so they can  breathe.  The fish are then tagged with a monofilament harness that connects the tag to the fish.  The harness is crimped, and the excess monofilament is cut off.  The tagged fish is ready to go.”

 Read the full story at WAER

 

Warming Oceans Are Turning Sea Stars to Goo and Killing Lobsters, Scientists Say

February 17, 2016 — Warming waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans have increased the prevalence of diseases that are turning sea stars to mush and killing lobsters by burrowing under their shells and causing lesions, two new studies say. The outbreaks are so lethal, according to a biologist involved in both studies, that at least one species of sea star has vanished off the coasts of Washington and British Columbia and the lobster fishery, already decimated in southern New England, will likely be threatened in Maine.

In the Pacific, a wasting disease is blamed for the disappearance of the technicolor sunflower sea star. It’s also laying waste to the ochre sea star that scientists at Cornell University, the University of Puget Sound and Northeastern University, as well as other institutions, examined for the latest research. Their reports were published this week.

Numerous climate studies have shown that the oceans are warming. In addition, 30 percent of the carbon released into the atmosphere ends up there, leading to acidification that’s further destroying coral, shell life and other organisms.

The sea-star study was led by Morgan E. Eisenlord, an evolutionary biologist at Cornell, and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Both in a laboratory and at 16 sites on the San Juan Islands off Washington’s coast, researchers determined that ochre sea stars gradually became sicker as water temperatures rose slightly. Conditions simulated in the lab confirmed what the scientists observed in the field.  As temperatures rose, the disease became more prevalent, and adult ochres died within days. The disease, plus death, was more prominent in temperatures between 54 degrees and 66 degrees Fahrenheit. For the adults, the risk of death was 18 percent higher at 66 degrees.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Sex leads to better science

October 16, 2015 — The group met on a Friday evening in late September to talk about sex and summer flounder. The topics are closely intertwined.

Interested parties from the commercial and recreational fishing industries, outdoor groups and party boat captains had gathered for an update on a project designed to get a more accurate picture of the summer flounder stock.

Dr. Patrick Sullivan of Cornell University and scientists from Rutgers University would be giving the presentation.

Dr. Sullivan, a highly respected researcher in the dynamics of fish populations, has been working with the Save The Summer Flounder Fishery Fund to create a stock assessment model that includes a very important element that has been left out of prior models – sex.

He was also going to talk about another vital element that’s been missing from the process – cooperation.

In an unprecedented effort, members of the recreational and commercial fishing communities are working together with university scientists and the National Marine Fisheries Service to develop a better way to count summer flounder.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press