Saving Seafood

Climate change: 5 signs it’s already begun in New Jersey

August 11, 2017 — By now, most are aware of the dire warnings: Climate change is coming and its effects are going to be especially painful for residents of the Jersey Shore.

While the timing of the truly catastrophic predictions remains fuzzy — Will the barrier islands be lost in 2050? 2100? Later? Sooner? — there are signs that irreversible change has already begun.

From economic and public health challenges to the more obvious outcomes of heat waves and rising seas, climate change has a foothold in New Jersey.

1. Migrating fish

There are about 3,000 commercial fishermen in New Jersey and thousands more who work at processing plants, wholesalers or in shellfishing.

“Fishermen knew about climate change a long time ago,” said Tom Fote, an officer with the Jersey Coast Anglers Association. “We started seeing stocks of fish moving farther north.”

As water temperatures rise, fish move northward, seeking deeper, cooler waters. Higher acidity in the ocean damages crabs, scallops, clams and other shellfish, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

The Unexpected Tastiness of the Green Crab

August 10, 2017 — Maine’s problem with the invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is not a new one, nor is the idea of finding a commercial use for them. It’s been a tough go for a long time; mostly because it has not been easy to find a market that will pay enough to make it worthwhile for a fisherman to gear up and fish a gang of traps. Recently though, there is a push to make green crabs attractive as a menu item, and I am glad to write that that there is a beam of light sneaking in through that cloudy scenario. The reason? Green crabs can be downright delicious.

To be more specific, we’re talking about soft-shelled green crab, similar to what you’d find with blue crabs down in the mid-Atlantic. Work led by Marissa McMahan, a Georgetown, Maine native and a PhD. candidate at Northeastern University, has taken this product further than anyone else in the state. Since she comes from a fishing family, her scientific and industry connections have been helpful, and the results to date have been quite tasty.

Her own introduction into the topic came courtesy of Jonathan Taggart, also a Georgetown citizen. He discovered fried green crabs at a restaurant in Venice, Italy, and brought the idea to Marissa. Venice is the center of the Italian soft-shell crab trade, and they have a very closely-related species of green crab, Carcinus estuarii. A key in the Italian industry is that Venetian fishermen have identified visible indicators that precede shedding – a fisherman can look at an individual crab and know to a fine degree how soon that crab will molt. This key step has been known for blue crabs in the U.S. for many years, but is only now being understood for green crabs.

Read the full story at NOAA Sea Grant

Sen. Cantwell Secures Major Win for Washington Crab Fishermen

Legislation makes cooperative management of Dungeness fisheries permanent

August 4, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the office of Senator Maria Cantwell:

A bill led by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) strengthening Washington’s crab fishery has passed the United States Senate and will now head to the president’s desk for signature into law. The bill permanently extends a decades-long fishery management agreement that has been vital to Washington state’s Dungeness crab fishery.

Without Cantwell’s legislation, crab fisheries in the Pacific Northwest faced an uncertain future without an approved fishery management plan.

“The Dungeness crab fishery is an economic pillar of our coastal communities, supporting thousands of fishing and processing jobs,” Cantwell said. “By preserving the Tri-State Agreement, we can sustainably manage our crab fisheries for many years.”

The states of Washington, Oregon, and California cooperatively manage the West Coast crab fishery in federal waters under a tri-state agreement that Congress first authorized in 1998. The act would make that authority permanent. The agreement expired without a replacement in 2016. The Cantwell bill will help reintroduce much-needed stability to the industry, and preserve a sustainable, science-based fishery management program that keeps fishermen fishing and crab stocks thriving.

“The future of West Coast Commercial Fishing is anchored by Dungeness crab, which has added stability and vitality to coastal fish-dependent communities in the face of other struggling fisheries.  The crab fleet was happy to work with Senator Maria Cantwell and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler on this legislation making the Tri-State Agreement permanent,” said Dale Beasley, president of the Columbia River Crab Fisherman’s Association.

Crab populations vary greatly by year, depending on food availability and ocean conditions. The Dungeness crab catch tends to peak every 10 years and can fluctuate by tens of millions of pounds between years. In order to manage the fishery appropriately, managers must coordinate between states to ensure management and conservation goals are achieved. 

Washington state’s Dungeness crab industry brings $61 million into the state’s economy annually. Crab fishermen in the state harvest an average of 9.5 million pounds of crab per year, supporting more than 60,000 maritime jobs. 

“Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission applauds the success of Senator Cantwell and Rep. Hererra-Beutler in preserving this valuable conservation and management program.  Our West Coast states have a long history of successfully managing the West Coast’s most valuable fishery,”said Randy Fisher, Executive Director of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) are cosponsors of the bill. Representatives Jamie Herrera-Beutler (R-WA-3) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6) co-sponsored companion legislation in the House.

Virginia Marine Resources Commission cuts crab season, scales back bushel limits

June 29, 2017 — Virginia crabbers will come up a bit short this fall after state fisheries managers opted Tuesday to close the season earlier than last year and scale back bushel limits to address an alarming drop in juvenile crab numbers in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 6-1 in a public hearing to close the crab pot season on Nov. 30 and re-open it March 17 next year. This timeline aligns with a typical crabbing season, but will add up to 16 fewer crabbing days for watermen who’ve been working an extended season because of last year’s ideal stock numbers. Commissioners closed the season on Dec. 15 last year and opened it March 1 this year.

The commission also voted to reduce bushel limits for the entire month of November. Those reductions usually don’t begin until mid-November.

The move comes after a Blue Crab Advisory Report released Monday by the Chesapeake Bay Program showed that juvenile crab numbers had plummeted 54 percent over last year, dragging down the overall blue crab population by almost 18 percent, from 553 million to 455 million. That drop is despite surging numbers in spawning females.

Robert O’Reilly, chief of VMRC’s fisheries division, urged the commission to act to help the stock rebuild.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

VIRGINIA: Crabbers could see harvest limits as blue crab numbers drop

June 27, 2017 — A 54 percent drop in juvenile crab numbers over last year means Virginia watermen could soon see tighter harvest limits for the commercial fishery.

In a Blue Crab Advisory Report released Monday, the Chesapeake Bay Program is encouraging jurisdictions to take a “risk-averse” approach and consider scaling back the fall fishery so young crabs have a chance to grow and spawn next year.

The recommendation comes as the estimate for adult female crabs this year actually increased by 30 percent over last year, to 254 million. That’s higher than the target of 215 million considered a healthy female population.

But plummeting juvenile numbers dragged down the overall blue crab population by almost 18 percent, from 553 million last year to 455 million this year.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission could make a decision on the matter as early as Tuesday afternoon at a public hearing at its offices in Newport News. VMRC manages all commercial fisheries for the state except for Atlantic menhaden, which is managed by the General Assembly.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

NPFMC April Newsletter

April 19, 2017 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Appointments

The Council appointed Davin Holen to the newly formed Bering Sea Ecosystem Plan Team. Holen is currently the Coastal Community Resilience Specialist at Alaska Sea Grant. Tyson Fick was appointed to the Pacific Northwest Crab Industry Advisory Committee (PNCIAC) as a non-voting member. Fick is based out of Juneau, and is currently the executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. We welcome them both to their new roles.

C1 Scallop SAFE and Plan Team Report

The Council reviewed the 2017 SAFE report for Alaska weathervane scallops. The Council’s SSC set the ABC at 1.161 million pounds of shucked scallops, a level equivalent to 90% of the OFL, and consistent with the ABC control rule for scallops. While the ABC is specified federally for the entire stock, guideline harvest levels (GHLs) are established by ADF&G for the State’s scallop registration areas and districts. Constraining harvest to the GHLs is facilitated by State monitoring of fishery CPUE, and districts are closed to scallop harvest when catch rates fall below established minimum performance standards.

More than 85% of the total Alaska scallop harvest occurs in the Yakutat and Kodiak registration areas. Catch rates have been variable among those areas with increases occurring in Yakutat, but decreases in Kodiak. Declines have been strongest in the Shelikof District of Kodiak and the State lowered GHLs there by about 30% (105k lbs to 75k lbs) in the 2015/16 season. While overall declines have occurred in statewide scallop harvest over the past seven years, revenue has been stable. The stock status of Alaska weathervane scallops is not viewed as a conservation concern since scallops are distributed in many areas that have been closed to fishing to protect crab populations and in areas not defined as commercial beds. Staff contact is Jim Armstrong.

Read the full newsletter here

Maryland’s veteran crab manager fired after watermen complain to Governor Hogan

February 23, 2017 — Maryland’s veteran manager of the state’s blue crab fishery was fired this week after a group of watermen complained to Gov. Larry Hogan about a catch regulation that they contend hurts their livelihood — but that scientists say is needed to ensure a sustainable harvest.

Brenda Davis, crab program manager for the Department of Natural Resources and a 28-year state employee, said she was informed Tuesday that her services were no longer needed.

In an interview Wednesday, Davis said Fisheries Director Dave Blazer gave no reason for her summary dismissal. But it came after Hogan met last week with about a dozen Dorchester County watermen who had been pressing Davis and the DNR for a change in a long-time regulation setting the minimum catchable size for crabs.

“I was totally shocked. It was totally unexpected,” Davis said yesterday. “I was really surprised and a bit disappointed given my time there that re-assignment wasn’t an option, because I think I’m going to be short on being able to do full retirement.”

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Derelict pots killing 3.3 million crabs annually in the Bay

January 3, 2017 — When Virginia closed its winter dredge fishery in 2008, waterman Clay Justis turned his attention from catching crabs that season to collecting the gear that captures them.

He was one of several watermen hired under a program that taught them to use sonar to find and remove lost and abandoned fishing gear, primarily crab pots, littering the bottom of the Bay.

“As a waterman, I knew there was stuff on the bottom, but when I turned the machine on, I was like, ‘Wow!’” said Justis, who fishes out of Accomack on the Eastern Shore.

Out of sight in the Bay’s often murky water, crab pots lay scattered all over the bottom, the sonar showed — along with other fishing gear such as gill nets, and all manner of trash, even a laundry machine.

But the so-called “ghost pots” are a special concern because the wire mesh cages with openings to draw crabs in but not let them out can continue to catch — and kill — crabs and fish for years. They are taking a bite out of both the crab populations and the wallets of watermen. More often than not, Justis noted, the derelict pots he pulled up had something in them. “You’ve got fish, you’ve got crabs, you’ve got ducks. All kinds of things,” he said. But, he added, “most of the time, they are dead.”

Concern about delict crab pots in the Bay has been growing for a decade, and a new report for the first time attempts to estimate their Baywide impact. It found that more than 145,000 pots litter the bottom of the Bay — a number the report authors consider to be conservative.

Each year, the report estimated that those pots kill about 3.3 million crabs, 3.5 million white perch, 3.6 million Atlantic croaker, and smaller numbers of other species, including ducks, diamondback terrapins and striped bass.

The number of crabs killed amounts to 4.5 percent of the 2014 Baywide harvest, the report said. Nor is the problem limited to the Bay. Studies have found similar problems with fisheries that use “trap” devices to catch crabs and lobsters globally.

“It’s an issue that, around the country, folks may not be aware of unless you live close to an area where commercial fishing is a way of life,” said Amy Uhrin, senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, which funded the study. “It is one of those ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ issues.”

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

GEORGE LAPOINTE and TOM TIETENBERG: Reducing Maine’s carbon footprint

September 8, 2016 — We know the threat of climate disruption to Maine is real in part because we are experiencing early warning signs. The science is also clear that the problems will escalate if we do not act to further reduce carbon pollution.

There are now many important examples of how a warming climate threatens Maine, and here is one that strikes close to home for many Mainers: our changing marine environment could spell serious trouble for commercial fishing and all those who rely on it for a living. Consider the following:

• The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of world’s oceans.

• Maine’s shrimp fishery has been closed for several years now, attributed in part to warmer waters.

• Lobstermen and other fishermen are bringing up in new species from warming waters with their catch — presence of new species is not usually a good sign. For example, warming weather contributes to large increases in green crab populations, which ravages Maine clam flats and eelgrass beds.

• Clams and other shellfish face an existential threat: the same carbon pollution that is warming the globe is making ocean water more acidic and that makes it more and more difficult to build a shell.

These problems affect many Mainers, from commercial fishermen to all the households and businesses that they interact with. Commercial fishing is a $2 billion part of Maine’s economy, employing roughly 39,000 people.

Read the full opinion piece at Central Maine

ALASKA: Crashing Bering Sea crab numbers have fishermen on edge

September 6, 2016 — Bering Sea crabbers were stunned last week when outlooks for the upcoming fall and winter fisheries were revealed.

Results of the annual summer surveys by state and federal scientists showed numbers of mature male and females dropped sharply across the board for the big three:  opilio (snow crab), their larger cousins, bairdi Tanners, and red king crab.

“I don’t think anybody was expecting the numbers to be as low as they ended up. That was a shock,” said Ruth Christiansen, science adviser and policy analyst for the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.

Managers use different criteria for setting quotas for the three crab species. For snow crab, the state chooses from what it believe is the most reliable of three data sets. Christiansen said she expects that fishery to be a go, albeit with a smaller catch quota.

“I’m not worried about that one not opening. But given the information we have and the state’s tendency to always be cautious, the catch will be lower than the 40.6 million pounds from last year,” Christiansen said.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News