April 7, 2021 — Fisheries in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Southeast have experienced success, despite pandemic pressures that began in 2020.
Red snapper are now more plentiful in the Gulf of Mexico, but prices are staying strong as a result of high consumer demand and a let-up in COVID-19 restrictions that slowed sales to restaurants early in 2020.
April 5, 2021 — More than 3,000 crab pots were collected from coastal waters earlier this year during a collaborative effort to address marine debris.
The Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Program provided $115,599 for the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, which was headed up by the North Carolina Coastal Federation, to hire 60 commercial watermen and women to collect lost crab pots in January from the Virginia line to Cape Carteret.
Pots typically end up lost as the result of weather and can become hung in structures such as bridges or drift into channels over time, increasing the likelihood of buoy detachment by vessel traffic.
“We all take great pride in our livelihoods and waterways. In my opinion, this project has been unbelievable in helping keep our waterways clean and to make sure that the crab mortality rates continue to remain low, since removing the gear also frees any fish or crabs left behind,” said Mike Mixon, who has been fishing for 36 years and docks in Wanchese.
March 29, 2021 — A group of Bering Sea crabbers say the pandemic has slowed their fishing season, and they want more time to catch their quota before the state shuts down their season next week.
But the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has denied their request for an extension, citing low population numbers and an upcoming mating season.
For the few boats fishing bairdi crab this year, there could be a lot at stake if they don’t have time to catch their full quota.
“I’m thinking they don’t quite understand what we’re going through out here,” said Oystein Lone, captain of the 98-foot crab boat Pacific Sounder, which is based out of Dutch Harbor.
Until recently, Lone’s been fishing in the Bering Sea for snow crab, also known as opilio. But right now, he and his five-person crew have switched to fishing for a different type of crab called bairdi, which is also known as tanner crab.
Both bairdi and snow crab seasons open in October. But Lone recently switched to fishing for bairdi because that season is nearly over — even though as of Wednesday, only 46% of the total quota had been caught.
March 25, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries has finalized the Atlantic deep-sea red crab quota for the 2021 fishing year. The quota for 2021 is 2,000 metric tons, which is the same quota that was approved for the 2020 fishing year.
For more details, read the rule as filed in the Federal Register.
Questions?
Industry: Contact Allison Murphy, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9122
Media: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175
March 22, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center was able to accomplish a lot in FY 2020 despite the need to cancel some important field research and fish, crab and marine mammal surveys due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was a year of perseverance, creative thinking, and flexibility.
Our scientists took major steps to adjust the way we do business, protecting staff, communities and research partners while delivering critical science to support resource management and conservation efforts in FY20-21.
Some Highlights:
March 18, 2021 — The following was released by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:
U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member and chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today reintroduced legislation to reform the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)’s Fishery Resource Disaster Relief program of the National Marine Fisheries Service. This legislation, the Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act, will make improvements to provide fishermen with disaster relief more quickly.
“I have met with local officials and seen firsthand how extensive flooding in Mississippi has created an economic and environmental emergency for my state and its coastal fisheries,” said Wicker. “Freshwater has devastated our seafood industry and spurred the growth of Harmful Algal Blooms, further hurting our coastal economy. This legislation would expedite the process by which fishermen receive disaster relief. I hope my colleagues will move quickly to pass this bill and help our fishermen.”
“In Washington, fisheries are a cornerstone of our maritime economy. Its related businesses and seafood processors, ship builders, gear manufacturers, support 60 percent of our maritime economy, which is about 146,000 jobs and 30 billion in economic activity,” said Cantwell. “Washington has experienced 17 fishery disasters since 1992, including crab, groundfish, and salmon. There are several pending fishery disaster determinations for my state, and our bipartisan bill includes deadlines to ensure that those fishery disasters are elevated and declared in a reasonable timeframe. Fishermen are tired of waiting.”
The Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act would:
To read the full bill, click here.
March 15, 2021 — True North Seafood is showcasing its new frozen wild-caught red crab product at Seafood Expo North America Reconnect – running from 15 to 19 March – in advance of a planned spring launch in the U.S.
The new product is 10.6 ounces of wild-caught deep-sea red crab sourced from Uruguay and frozen at sea. It contains 100 percent wild-caught crab meat with no additives, True North Seafood Vice President of Public Relations Joel Richardson told SeafoodSource.
March 10, 2021 — The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking comments on proposed new rules regulating crab and lobster management, marine fisheries and fishery management in New Jersey. Written comments can be electronically filed until April 30 or submitted via the regular mail.
“The department is proposing to reduce the number of commercial crab pot/trot line licenses and crab dredge licenses for both the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic coast due to a reduction in the number of actively harvesting license holders,” according to the March 1 DEP bulletin on the proposed rule change.
Under the proposal, a licensee could transfer licenses to any person, based upon the number of available licenses.
March 10, 2021 — An unprecedented marine heat wave that led to a massive harmful algal bloom and a lengthy closure of the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery significantly altered the use of ocean resources across seven California crab-fishing communities.
The delayed opening of the 2015-16 crab-fishing season followed the 2014-16 North Pacific marine heat wave and subsequent algal bloom. The bloom produced high levels of the biotoxin domoic acid, which can accumulate in crabs and render them hazardous for human consumption.
That event, which is considered a “climate shock” because of its severity and impact, tested the resilience of California’s fishing communities, researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Washington, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center found.
The study is the first to examine impacts from such delays across fisheries, providing insight into the response by the affected fishing communities, said James Watson, one of the study’s co-authors and an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.
March 5, 2021 — Domoic acid, price-haggling, and potential whale entanglement held up the Dungeness crab fishing up and down the West Coast this winter, further complicating a fishery already turned upside down by the pandemic.
Fishermen usually drop their pots from California to Washington in December, but did not start until January or February this season, depending on the state.