Saving Seafood

Fishing crew charged with shark fin trafficking

December 12, 2018 — The owner and officers of a Japanese-flagged fishing vessel were charged in federal court Tuesday with aiding and abetting the trafficking and smuggling of nearly 1,000 shark fins into and out of Hawaii last month.

During a year-long tuna-fishing expedition, the crew of a Japanese fishing boat —the M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20 — allegedly harvested fins from about 300 sharks, at least some species of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

One of those species, the oceanic white tip shark, has declined in population by about 80-95 percent across the Pacific Ocean since the mid-1990s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release, the crew cut the shark fins off, “in some instances while the sharks were stunned but still alive, and discarded the finless carcasses into the ocean,” all under the supervision of the captain and at the direction of the ship’s officers.

The illegally-harvested fins were discovered in the luggage of 10 Indonesian nationals, who had been employed as fishermen on the boat. The Indonesian fishermen had been dropped off from the fishing boat at a port in Honolulu and were intending to catch a flight to Jakarta.

Read the full story at The Garden Island

Bipartisan Bill to Protect Endangered Fish Species in Pacific Northwest Heads to President Trump for Signature

December 12, 2018 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 3119, the Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act. This bipartisan bill provides states and tribes with the necessary tools to humanely manage sea lions that have migrated outside their historic range and pose an imminent threat to fish species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“The habitual Washington D.C. knee-jerk defense of the status quo is harming endangered species instead of protecting them. Existing regulations are leading to the decline in endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest, a key source of ecological vibrancy in the region. This bipartisan bill corrects the problem by giving states and tribes the tools to humanely manage sea lions and prevent further destruction of endangered fish and the region’s economy.” — Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah)

“Today’s passage of our bill to control sea lions was a hard-fought victory – it’s a personal victory for each of us who treasure our Northwest salmon runs and want to see them preserved for generations to come. I’m grateful for the partnership of my colleague Kurt Schrader, and for Senators Risch and Cantwell for shepherding this through the Senate. I’m so pleased we are able to give Northwest fish managers this critical tool to help save our salmon and steelhead runs.” — U.S. Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.)

“This has been an issue that I have worked on since first coming to Congress nine years ago. I want to thank everyone – Rep. Herrera Beutler, Senators Risch and Cantwell, and our states, tribes, and local communities – for the exceptional work to get this bill over the finish line this year. In the last few years especially, we’ve seen a record number of sea lions in the Columbia River from Astoria to Bonneville Dam. Ratepayers and my constituents are paying hundreds of millions of dollars annually towards the largest mitigation program in the country for threatened and endangered salmon. These sea lions, whose population has become totally inconsistent with their historic range, have been undoing all of that work by feasting on the endangered species. Our legislation will provide a great step forward in eliminating this threat to our iconic Oregon salmon that are struggling to survive once and for all.” – U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)

“Eastern Washington believes in both supporting clean, renewable hydropower and protecting our endangered salmon, a species so unique to the history of our region. Over the past 80 years, we’ve seen steady increases in salmon recovery rates on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, largely due to increased technology and innovation at our dams. This bill is another important step in protecting our endangered salmon. By mitigating sea lion predation we can increase fish recovery without costing Washingtonians hundreds of millions of dollars.” – U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)

“Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest only to see invasive sea lions take a bite out of the population. I applaud colleagues in the House and Senate who have worked together in our bipartisan effort to improve management of pinnipeds threatening our salmon with this legislation.” –U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)

Read the full release here

NOAA says watching for right whales during migrating season is more important than ever

November 19, 2018 — North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S.

20 right whale deaths were documented in 2017 and 2018. The NOAA is asking boaters to be cautious as the endangered whales migrate south.

Right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and scientists estimate there are just over 400 remaining.

Officials are reminding boaters and coastal residents, right whale calving season begins in mid-November and runs through mid-April.

Every winter, many right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding grounds off Canada and New England to the warm coastal waters of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida’s east coast.

To reduce the risk of collisions between right whales and boats, federal law requires ships and aircraft to stay at least 500 yards away from right whales.

Vessels 65 feet and longer are also required to slow to speeds of 10 knots or less in Seasonal Management Areas along the East Coast, including the calving and nursery area.

“Right whales often swim and rest just below the surface, and are invisible to approaching boats and ships,” said wildlife biologist Clay George of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “It’s important for ship operators to follow vessel speed rules, and for boaters to slow down whenever possible.”

NOAA and its partners conduct aerial and vessel surveys off the coast of Florida and Georgia throughout the calving season.

Read the full story at WTKR

 

Maine program aims to help recovery of endangered Atlantic salmon

It will be funded by fees on infrastructure projects paid in lieu of required environmental mitigation efforts.

October 29, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine is launching a new program to help pay for conservation work that benefits Atlantic salmon. The money will come from fees for road and bridge projects.

Salmon were once abundant in the rivers of New England, but they are now listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act after years of habitat loss and overfishing. The Atlantic Salmon Restoration and Conservation Program can help support the fish’s recovery, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said.

The program will allow public and private organizations working on road and bridge projects to pay a fee in lieu of environmental mitigation efforts that are required by law, the department said. Sean Ledwin, director of the sea-run fisheries division at the marine department, said the money will be used to “restore and enhance salmon habitat in Maine.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

 

RAMONA DENIES: Should Oregon Kill Sea Lions to Save the Salmon?

October 18, 2018 — Used to be, they’d show up at Willamette Falls around late November—beefy males here to bulk up and loll on the docks. Call it sea lion winter break; time off from California’s Channel Islands rookeries, beaucoup steelhead to eat, zero problems. (No pups, no ladies, no predators.) When it was time to head back south, a 400-pound sea lion might have doubled in size, having chowed down on, at minimum, three 15-pound Pacific Northwest salmonids a day.

Nowadays, these party boys are arriving earlier and staying later. And they’re not just loitering in Oregon City. They also mob the Columbia River, particularly around January, for chinook on their way to spawning grounds—eating, by one report, as much as 45 percent of some salmon runs, a feast season that now draws out through June.

“They’ve learned that in April and May there’s a pretty good buffet,” says Robert Anderson, a fishery biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Particularly over the past four to five years, there’s been a good uptick in the California sea lions that go to Willamette Falls.”

The result, warned Oregon’s Department of Fish & Wildlife in a 2017 study, is a 90 percent chance some of the Columbia River’s already struggling salmon populations will soon go extinct. And that’s causing some Northwest legislators to take aim at sea lions.

The irony here? Both species are protected by federal law—salmon (steelhead, chinook) by the 1973 Endangered Species Act and sea lions (California and Steller’s) by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. That means state, federal, and tribal agencies’ hands are tied when it comes to lethally removing hungry sea lions from river systems—like the mid-Columbia—where historically they’ve never been. According to Charles Hudson of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, that’s the choice we have to make: do we kill one species to save another?

Read the full opinion piece at Portland Monthly

Cauliflower Coral Could Be Listed as Endangered

September 25, 2018 — Officials say endangered or threatened species protection may be warranted for cauliflower coral across its entire range — not just Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports the National Marine Fisheries Service issued last week its 90-day finding on a March petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the coral.

The coral, Pocillpora meandrina, is found in Hawaii and on most shallow reefs in the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Pacific. It has been devastated by habitat changes, disease and predation, lack of protection and other natural man-made factors.

The Center for Biological Diversity, which raised the petition, says in Hawaii alone, there was a 36.1 percent drop in coverage from 1999-2012.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

NOAA marks second annual whale count

September 21, 2018 — Citizen scientists of all ages turned out on Sept. 15 to help NOAA Fisheries count endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales and learn more about the importance of healthy marine habitat.

The second annual beluga whales count drew over 2,000 people to 14 scientist-manned viewing stations along Cook Inlet from Homer to the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in the morning and the afternoon beluga festival at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.

Both events were free and open to the public as part of NOAA Fisheries’ effort to increase public awareness and stewardship of Cook Inlet belugas, who were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2008.

Participating educators at the zoo included Rick Rowland, land and natural resources manager for the Tyonek Native Corp., who said the corporation’s presence there was to remind people that there is still an interest in subsistence hunting, but that won’t happen again until the beluga population increases. The tribe decided 14 years ago to cease those subsistence hunts because of the low population of whales, Rowland said. More research is needed to determine why the population is so low and what needs to be done to assure recovery, he said.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

 

Hawaiian Coral is considered for federal protection

September 20, 2018 — Hawaiian cauliflower coral is one step closer to federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, according to the first review released on Wednesday by the National Marine Fisheries Service of a manufacturing sponsor of the Center for Biodiversity.

Nickname cauliflower, Pocillopora meandrina is often pink, green or cream-colored and is characterized by its branching colonies. Called Ko? A on Hawaiian, the coral is rich in rocky reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific and East Pacific.

“Information presented in the production and other readily available information in our files shows that the most important threat to P. meandrina throughout its assortment at present and in the future, and to the coral columns in the Indo-Pacific region, such as P. meandrina is a part off, marine warming and subsequent warming-induced coral bleeding and mortality, says the report.

Between 2014 and 2015, cauliflower coral was one of many species affected by severe bleeding events, in which single-cell organisms called zooxanthellae that live inside the coral structure and give that pigment expelled. Zooxanthellae can resettle in the coral, other times the organism dies.

Subsequent investigations of Hanauma Bay on Oahu in 2016 recorded evidence of bleeding in 64 percent of P. meandrina colonies, while 1.3 percent were “affected by total post bleaching mortality”. On the western coast of Big Island, 49.6 percent of all living corals were leaks lost.

“Corrosion protection ultimately needs to reduce global temperature increases by drastically reducing fossil fuels. Cauliflower coral is also threatened locally through land-based contamination, sedimentation and physical disturbance caused by human activities, “says the Center for Biological Diversity in a Press Release.

Read the full story at Vaaju

After year in DC, Oliver reflects on fisheries progress

September 6, 2018 — Chris Oliver has had a busy year since he made the leap from Anchorage to Washington, D.C. to take the lead job at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

As soon as he arrived, there was an annual priorities document to review, he said at a recent roundtable discussion event hosted by the Kenai River Sportfishing Association in Soldotna. The document is both internally-facing and public to help guide NMFS’ decisions.

There were three goals listed in that document, the first of which was to ensure the sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities. He changed it to read “maximize fishing opportunities while ensuring the sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities.”

“There are a number of fisheries around the country where we’re not fully utilizing the available harvest whether it’s choke species or bycatch constraints or outdated regulations,” he said. “We’ve been approaching that pretty aggressively in that form. There’s not a huge amount of headroom in our wild stock harvest fisheries, but there’s some.”

The second was to manage protected species, including those under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Under that, he added language to manage those species while supporting responsible fishing and resource development.

Read the full at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

NMFS, ENGOs Agree to Deadlines for Humpback Whale Habitat Designations off West Coast

August 29, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Wishtoyo Foundation reached a settlement with the National Marine Fisheries Service last week to protect humpback whale habitat in the Pacific Ocean. the Center said the whales face threats from fisheries, ship strikes and oil spills.

The agreement, filed in federal district court in San Francisco, requires the National Marine Fisheries Service to follow the Endangered Species Act’s requirement to designate critical habitat by June 28, 2019, and finalize those boundaries a year later. Two Pacific Ocean humpback populations were listed as endangered, and a third as threatened, in September 2016.

“Today’s victory means Pacific humpback whales will be safer in their ocean home,” Center Attorney Catherine Kilduff said in a press release. “While delaying these protections, the Trump administration proposed opening the Pacific up to offshore oil drilling and let fishing gear tangle up dozens of humpbacks. This agreement ensures the whales will finally get the protections they need.”

One population of endangered humpback whales that feeds off California’s coast numbers around 400 individuals, meaning any death or injury from entanglement could hurt their recovery the Center said in the statement. Several whales were tangled in fishing lines from fixed gear fisheries in recent years, but many were also the victims of ship strikes.

Ship strikes and oil spills are the other major threats to West Coast humpback whales, according to the Center’s statement. A study found that an estimated 22 humpbacks off California, Oregon and Washington die each year after being hit by ships. That number could increase if additional offshore oil and gas drilling were allowed, as proposed by the Trump administration earlier this year. Additionally, potential oil spills increase the risk to whales and other marine life.

The three plaintiffs filed the suit in March.

The potential critical habitat areas will raise public awareness about what areas are essential for conservation, and provides substantive protections for the habitat from adverse modification by federal government activities, Kilduff said in an email. The habitat protections also will help safeguard ocean areas essential for migrating and feeding. Evidence shows that endangered or threatened species that have protected critical habitat are twice as likely to show signs of recovery as those without it, according to the three groups.

NMFS identified humpback whale populations that needed critical habitat designations in 2016. Those included the three that are, at times, in U.S. waters: the threatened Mexico population that feeds off the U.S. West Coast and Alaska and the endangered Central America population that feeds almost exclusively off California and Oregon. The agency revised the listing status of the humpback whale from a global population to 14 distinct population segments (DPS). However, NMFS also found that critical habitat for these three populations were not determinable when it identified the 14 humpback DPS.

According to the settlement, NMFS must pay $10,000 in attorney fees to the Center and the two other plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, the seafood industry remains concerned, awaiting the details. Fishermen and processors also are concerned about the Center’s lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, filed late last year, regarding whale entanglements.

Kilduff said this settlement will have no effect on the lawsuit against the state.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.