Saving Seafood

Louisiana gets involved in federal red snapper lawsuit

October 2, 2017 — A federal court has ruled that the US state of Louisiana can intervene in a lawsuit on the federal government’s behalf as environmental groups seek the scrapping of a rule benefitting recreational red snapper fishers.

Two advocacy groups — New York City’s Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Washington D.C.’s Ocean Conservancy — had sued the federal government in August alleging that the way the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) managed the red snapper fishery violated federal law.

The challenge, the fourth of its kind in recent years, argued that a NOAA temporary rule extending chronically short recreational red snapper seasons for recreational fishers  — from three days to 42 — violated the fishery’s management plan.

The suit wants the temporary rule set aside as the action could greatly diminish red snapper populations, the groups claim.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Jim Kendall: Plenty of guilt to go around on Carlos Rafael

September 18, 2017 — OK, OK, I get it! Carlos Rafael, aka, “The Codfather,” has done some pretty reprehensible things while amassing what seemingly is the largest percentage of ownership of the US multispecies groundfish fleet.

I am not going to try to defend his actions, or his reasoning, but I would like to point out that there is plenty of guilt to go around and some people should not be so quick to point their finger at him alone. What is it that they say about casting the first stone?

Apparently, among his sins is his aforementioned ownership of the largest fleet of multi-species groundfish vessels, as well as some scallop vessels. While this may be true, let us ponder what enabled, abetted, and allowed him to gain such an advantage over everyone else. At this point, he wasn’t breaking the law, he was only taking advantage of it, and of those who most fervently wanted it!

It should be remembered, that the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), as well as the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), were several of the earliest, most emphatic, and dedicated supporters for the development, adoption, and implementation of the “Catch Share” program.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Robert Jones: Red snapper anglers need real and lasting change

August 22, 2017 — The way recreational anglers’ share of Gulf red snapper is converted into fixed seasons clearly isn’t working and I believe we can do better! However, I think we can all agree that setting science-based catch limits have helped bring red snapper back from the brink, and now is not the time to abandon them.

The recovery of red snapper over the last decade has been amazing to see. I can remember fishing with my dad as a kid off the coast of Texas and we could barely find red snapper. Today you can go to just about any marina and see sizeable red snapper being unloaded with big smiles all around.

The fact is, as the population is rebounding, catch limits for recreational fishermen have more than doubled. The total for the fishery is 14 million pounds this year, split roughly in half between recreational and commercial fishing, with sub-quotas between charter operators and individual anglers. Better management regimes in the commercial and charter industries are keeping both groups within their sustainable limits.

So if the quota has more than doubled in the last decade and other fishing industries aren’t exceeding their limits, why are we facing frustratingly short federal seasons?

Read the full opinion piece at Houma Today

NMFS Institutes More Swordfish Research Off Florida, Praised by EDF

August 16, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Dr. David Kerstetter of Nova Southeastern University will receive an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to conduct research in the East Florida Coast Pelagic Longline Closed Area. Dr. Kerstetter will be working alongside Atlantic swordfish fishermen in an effort to “improve understanding of encounter rates of juvenile swordfish and species like sharks, bullfishes and sea turtles in order to find the best ways to reduce their mortality.”

According to Katie Westfall, senior manager of highly migratory species advocacy for EDF’s Oceans Program, fishermen have already made sacrifices to help the Atlantic swordfish population rebound. However, this project will help by collecting data from fisheries that “interact with imperiled highly migratory species.”

“The project will also pioneer an approach to link catch data with oceanographic data, allowing researchers to learn over time where and when species will occur in order to help fishermen avoid bycatch of sharks, billfishes, and sea turtles,” Westfall added. “This has the potential to be transformative by dramatically minimizing unnecessary deaths of protected species while improving the catch of healthy target species like swordfish.”

Westfall is hopeful that the research will help “pave the way to responsibly increasing yield in domestic fisheries and strengthening revenues for American seafood businesses.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Save the snappers? Environmental groups calling for shorter fishing season

July 27, 2017 — DESTIN, Fla. — A lawsuit filed in Washington D.C. wants to kill or significantly reduce next year’s recreational red snapper season before it starts.

The suit was filed on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund and could benefit commercial fishermen. They say the suit will save the snapper for future generations of fishermen.

The Environmental Defense Fund wants to do away the extra days the federal government gave to recreational fishermen this year by removing them from next year’s season.

Parker Destin has lived in the city named after his family most of his life.

He supports the lawsuit; as well as more regulations on recreational red snapper fishermen.

“If we do not get it right, well we won’t have red snapper in the future and that’s not good for anybody including the small angler, who comes down here and wants to access it,” Destin said.

Read and watch the full story at WEAR-TV

Ocean Conservancy sues over red snapper

July 18, 2017 — The Ocean Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on Monday suing the Department of Commerce for its decision to lengthen the federal red snapper season for recreational anglers from three days to 42. Environmentalists with the groups feel the change “sanctioned overfishing,” putting the rebuilding of the historically overfished red snapper fishery at risk, and violated the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

“We’ve made great progress but we’re only about halfway through the rebuilding plan. You don’t stop taking antibiotics halfway through a prescription,” Chris Dorsett, vice president of conservation policy and programs, said in a press release.

The lawsuit, he said, is about protecting the longevity of the red snapper fishery.

The groups are arguing the mid-season change — which was advocated for by local elected officials — violated the MSA, which requires fishery managers to create and enforce annual catch limits that prevent overfishing. If the catch limit is exceeded, the excess catch is taken out of the allocated catch for the following year.

Red snapper is halfway through a 27-year rebuilding plan. Local fishermen report that it’s working, saying they are catching more and larger red snapper, which is why many found the three-day federal season insulting.

The result, though, is fish are being caught faster and the majority are actually being caught in state-managed waters, which was why the federal season was initially so conservative. When the Department of Commerce lengthened the season, they required the states to give up fishing days as part of the compromise.

Read the full story at the Panama City News Herald

Trump versus EDF in battle over Gulf red snapper season reopening

July 18, 2017 — A month after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump reopened the red snapper fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico for 39 days, two environmental nonprofits have challenged the decision by filing a lawsuit.

A 14 June agreement struck between The U.S. Department of Commerce and the five U.S. states on the Gulf of Mexico aligned the 2017 federal and states red snapper season for recreational anglers, opening federal waters to private anglers for an additional 39 weekend days and holidays. The agreement made no change to the quota or season length for the charter or commercial sectors of the fishery.

On Monday, 17 July, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Ocean Conservancy filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., arguing the decision was made without scientific analysis and puts into jeopardy the ongoing recovery of the red snapper population in the Gulf, in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The lawsuit also complains the season was extended without adequate notice or time for public comment, claiming that violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

“In order to prevent overfishing and allow the Gulf of Mexico red snapper population to rebuilt, the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires the Fisheries Service to comply with the annual catch limit and accountability measures established in the fishery management plan for the red snapper fishery,” the suit states. “Yet, in the temporary rule, the Fisheries Service has extended the fishing season of red snapper for private anglers in a manner that conflicts with the FMP and implementing regulations.”

In a statement emailed to SeafoodSource, EDF said publicly available data and conservative assumptions show the extended season will result in private anglers catching three times their science-based limit in 2017. However, the lawsuit does not seek changes to the length of the 2017 fishing season, but rather, it aims to prohibit the Commerce Department from taking similar actions in the future.

In its federal notice reopening the red snapper season, the Commerce Department acknowledged the additional fishing days “will necessarily mean that the private recreational sector will substantially exceed its annual catch limit,” resulting in a  delay of the goal year for rebuilding the red snapper fishery from 2032 to 2038. In 17 of the past 22 years, the recreational sector has exceeded its annual catch limit for red snapper, resulting in shorter federal seasons as one year’s overages are subtracted from the next year’s quota. However, Gulf states have responded by lengthening their own red snapper seasons, resulting in a patchwork of regulations that scientific and environmental groups assert impedes recovery of the species.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

2 groups sue feds for extending anglers’ red snapper season

July 17, 2017 — Two environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for stretching the red snapper season for recreational anglers in the Gulf of Mexico.

Changes are needed — “The way we’re managing red snapper today stinks,” with states setting widely different anglers’ seasons in their waters and federal seasons getting shorter and shorter, Robert Jones of the Environmental Defense Fund said Monday.

But, he said, “I don’t want to return to the bad old days when my dad and I could barely find a red snapper.”

Jones and Chris Dorsett of the Ocean Conservancy, said during a conference call with reporters Monday that both groups want their lawsuit to prompt discussions about improvements.

The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment. It has said the economic benefit from allowing weekend fishing this summer by recreational anglers in federal waters outweighs the harm to the red snapper species, which is still recovering from disastrous overfishing.

Gulf state officials had lobbied for and praised the change, but the federal lawsuit filed in Washington says the decision violated several laws by ignoring scientific assessments, promoting overfishing, and failing to follow required procedures.

The prized sport and table fish has rebounded under fishing limits and procedures set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, but is only halfway to its goal, Dorsett and Jones told The Associated Press earlier. The lawsuit isn’t trying to cancel the current season but seeks to prevent similar decisions in the future.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

U.S.-Cuba scientific collaborations continue despite change in policy

July 7, 2017 — Scientists from both Cuba and the U.S. have continued to work together despite President Donald Trump’s regression on U.S. relations with the Communist island.

Cuban coral reefs are the nursery grounds for some of the grouper, snapper and other marine species that the U.S. commercial fishing industry relies on.

Daniel Whittle runs the Cuba program for the Environmental Defense Fund, an American nonprofit conservation organization that has been working in Cuba for 17 years.

“We share migratory resources. We share sharks, sea turtles and fish,” Whittle said.

When it comes to biodiversity, Cuba is the ecological crown jewel of the Caribbean. Economic underdevelopment and the communist-run country’s restrictive laws have benefited the environment.

There are more than 4,000 tiny islands surrounding the main island that offer refuge. And there are plenty of endemic exotic species in the 211 protected areas that cover about 20 percent of the island.

There are more than 6,000 species of plants and around 1,400 species of mollusks. More than 80 percent of its reptiles are unique to the island. The Cuban trogon, the Cuban pygmy owl and the Cuban tody are birds that are not found anywhere else in the world.

The U.S.-Cuba scientific research teams that followed restoration of diplomatic relations continue to study the healthy ecosystems.

Among the new partnerships is a deal between the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

Read the full story at WPLG

For fish, the good and bad of warming ocean waters

June 19, 2017 — According to a recent study published in “Progress in Oceanography,” some fish species will thrive in warmer waters — and others, not so much.

Using a detailed climate model and historical observation data, researchers at NOAA and The Nature Conservancy modeled the shifting thermal habitats of over 50 species along the Atlantic coast, from North Carolina to the Gulf of Maine.

“So it’s basically a picture of the water temperature and the depths that individual species are most commonly associated with,” says lead author Kristin Kleisner, now a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund’s Fisheries Solutions Center.

Ocean temperatures in the region are expected to increase 6.6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (3.7 to 5.0 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century, according to NOAA. For many species, like summer flounder, striped bass and Atlantic croaker, researchers found warming oceans could lead to increased habitat availability.

“Those are all species that are currently caught off the more southern portions of our coastline and they’re associated with warmer waters,” Kleisner says. “And these guys might do pretty well as climate changes and new areas of suitable thermal habitat open up for them.”

Kleisner is careful to point out that the study only considered water temperature and depth in its picture of thermal habitats. Other factors like ocean acidification could change the game for lobsters, for example, which otherwise stand to gain from warming waters. “That could be a pretty big wild card,” she says.

Meanwhile, for species like Atlantic cod, Acadian redfish and others found in northern coastal areas, the study’s picture “was not so rosy,” Kleisner says. That’s not to say these species won’t find suitable water temperatures in deeper waters, or further north, she adds — but their habitats may shift out of reach for some fishermen.

Read the full story at PRI.org