Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Study eyes fish freed from hooks

December 24, 2015 — Researchers at the New England Aquarium, in conjunction with those from state agencies, are getting closer to releasing study results on the collateral impact of recreational haddock discards on the overall mortality rate of the species.

Dr. John Mandelman, director of research at the Boston-based aquarium, said the the field work for the study was completed in early November. He expects the New England Fishery Management Council, which helped fund the study, to complete vetting the analysis sometime early next spring.

The field work was performed with significant assistance from recreational fishing operators such as Gloucester-based Yankee Fleet and Seabrook, New Hampshire-based Eastman’s Docks Fishing Fleet.

“As with all studies, what we very much tried to do was to work as much as possible as part of a legitimate fishing effort, or what we call a fishery-dependent exercise” Mandelman said. “This was a really nice partnership.”

Mandelman said project researchers made about eight trips last spring aboard some of the Yankee Fleet’s larger party boats, focusing on observing how a full range of anglers — from novice to veteran — performed catch-and-release of haddock discards, while also charting catch gear, catch conditions, injuries to the fish, time out of water and sea temperatures.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Fish food for thought: New research affects catch limits

December 21, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — What happens when a fisherman tosses a fish back overboard?

It’s not a frivolous question. The government bases catch quotas and other rules in part on the mortality of tossed fish, and there isn’t always accurate data available about how many fish survive the fling. Now, a group of New England scientists says it’s finding that a surprisingly high percentage of the lucky fish might live to swim another day.

Scientists with the New England Aquarium and other institutions want to help the fishing managers get a better handle on what happens when cod, haddock and cusk get thrown from a fisherman’s line back into the sea. The first round of their research, on the imperiled Gulf of Maine cod, found that 9 to 21 percent of the fish died, better than the 30 percent estimate regulators had been using.

That data could help change quotas for recreational fishermen, who like their commercial counterparts must abide by strict limits on some species.

“We found that mortality rates are pretty low,” Dr. John Mandelman, the New England Aquarium’s director of research and a co-leader of the study. “Generally, in the past, they’ve used really conservative estimates.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The News Tribune

 

NOAA Fisheries releases draft science plan for addressing release and discard mortality

November 19, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we released a draft Action Plan for Fish Discard and Release Mortality Science. In it, we identified 10 actions we can take to better inform our science, reduce uncertainty, and ultimately explore opportunities for increased fishing opportunities.

Fishermen sometimes catch fish they do not want, cannot sell, or are not allowed to keep; a problem known as bycatch. This bycatch is discarded or released overboard. But how many of these fish survive?

The Action Plan will help us fill this important data gap.

NOAA Fisheries worked in consultation with outside experts to identify gaps in our understanding of how to estimate and reduce fish discard and release mortality. These gaps formed the basis for our action plan, which should help guide our scientific research to reduce fish discard and release mortality, improve our estimates of it, and incorporate those improved estimates into our stock assessments and management actions.

Improving our scientific understanding is one way we’re working to address bycatch. NOAA Fisheries is committed to finding cooperative solutions to reduce bycatch and ensure our fisheries remain sustainable.

Your feedback can help with this effort. Please take a few minutes to review the draft and share your comments with us by Friday, December 18.