Saving Seafood

In Court Ruling on Right Whales, Good News for Scallop Fishery

October 30, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

A federal district court has ruled this week that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated both the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-Stevens Act in allowing gillnet fishing in areas frequented by right whales. While the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) was a Defendant-Intervenor in the case, the ruling contains good news for the scallop fishery.

At issue are provisions in Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2), which updated the network of closed areas and habitat protections off the coast of New England. The suit, filed by the Conservation Law Foundation and Earthjustice, alleges that OHA2 put right whales at risk by opening offshore areas near Nantucket to commercial fishing.

While the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that allowing gillnet fishing in these areas did have the potential to harm right whales, and thus violated the Endangered Species Act, the Court’s ruling does not affect the scallop fishery, which will continue to be allowed to operate in these areas.

Specifically, the Court noted, “because Plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion does not contest the Habitat Amendment’s changes to the Scallop [Fishery Management Plan], Defendant-Intervenor Fisheries Survival Fund’s arguments, which relate only to that fishery, are rendered moot.”

This means that while the Court acted to prevent gillnet fishing in the newly opened areas, it did not overturn OHA2, nor did it stop scallop fishing in these areas. This is consistent with FSF’s long-standing position in the case, which is that the scallop fishery is not a threat to right whales, and that scallop fishing is not impacting right whale conservation.

Read the full opinion here.

Read the full order here.

Federal judge requires fishing areas off Nantucket closed to protect right whales

October 29, 2019 — In a ruling that could create greater protections for North Atlantic right whales, a federal judge ruled Monday that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws when it made the controversial decision last year to reopen long-closed fishing grounds off Nantucket.

The ruling, which was a major victory for conservation groups, requires the agency to renew the ban on gillnet fishing in about 3,000 square miles of water south and east of Nantucket. Gillnets, walls of netting that rise vertically in the ocean to catch many fish at a time, present a major risk to right whales, whose numbers have plummeted by about 20 percent since 2010. Scientists say there are fewer than 400 left, and the main threat to their survival has been entanglements in fishing gear.

Boasberg’s ruling, however, does not apply to the scallop industry, which has been allowed to fish in the area. The lawsuit did not contest the right of scallopers to use their dredging equipment in the area, as they have not been found to harm the marine mammals.

“It reaffirms that the scallop industry is not at issue with regards to right whale conservation,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney at the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C., which represents the scallop industry.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Federal agency accused of misrepresenting views of its scientists in opening fishing grounds off Cape

October 4, 2019 — Without citing its sources, the group told the inspector general of the Commerce Department, which oversees the Fisheries Service, that it has “reason to believe” that there are e-mails, memos, and other internal communications that support their allegations that the agency’s officials were responsible for “blatantly mischaracterizing” the recommendations of its scientists on whether to open 3,000 square miles of popular feeding grounds for right whales to fishermen. The move, made under pressure from the fishing industry, outraged environmental advocates.

“An internal review process would likely reveal a disagreement within the agency, or a failure to take into account the advice of … its own right whale scientists, or true ‘agency expertise,’” Whitehouse wrote.

Officials at the Fisheries Service and the Commerce Department declined to comment on the complaint. An official at the inspector general’s office said he had yet to review the complaint.

Representatives of the scallop industry, which has been allowed to access the newly opened areas and has earned millions of dollars from their catch, said they were operating safely.

“Scallopers have been fishing for years, and there’s not a single known interaction with a right whale,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney at the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington D.C., which represents the scallop industry. “If we’re not impacting them, then why should we be restricted from the area?”

But scientists say that other fisheries, such as those that use fixed gear like lobster traps, pose a grave threat to right whales. That threat has increased in the waters off Nantucket, where more right whales have been spotted in recent years.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Why It’s So Hard to Build Offshore Wind Power in the U.S.

October 1, 2019 — For years, the mighty wind blowing off the Massachusetts coast has beckoned developers with visions of clean, emission-free electricity. The latest to be seduced, Vineyard Wind LLC, aims to install 84 Statute of Liberty-size turbines about 15 miles off the state’s shoreline, which would together generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes as soon as 2022.

The project hit a snag in August, when the U.S. Department of the Interior ordered additional analysis of how the wind farm—and potentially 14 others that have been granted leases across almost 1.7 million acres of Atlantic waters—would affect the $1.4 billion fishing industry along the Eastern seaboard. U.S. regulators had sought to fast-track Vineyard Wind and could still sign off on the project by their self-imposed deadline in March, but the additional review is a blow to the companies behind Vineyard Wind, Avangrid Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which had hoped to begin construction this year.

Analysts predict the U.S. will swiftly catch up with foreign competitors. According to BloombergNEF, even with additional Vineyard Wind scrutiny, the U.S. is on track to become fourth in offshore wind capacity by 2030. The rapid buildout is beyond what anyone expected when Cape Wind was struggling earlier this decade. “There is a gold rush mentality in this right now,” says Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney with the Fisheries Survival Fund, which has battled Equinor’s Empire Wind project. “We’re not saying no. We’re just saying, can we please be wise and realistic in what we are going to develop?”

The Interior Department’s additional environmental scrutiny is critical, Minkiewicz says. Had the government approved Vineyard Wind without deeper analysis of fishing impacts, its opponents would have won an easy victory against it in court. “I get that it’s a renewable energy project, and I get that people are excited about it,” he says, “but would you allow a nuclear reactor or a coal plant to write its own environmental impact statement?”

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Fisheries Survival Fund Supports Department of Interior Commitment to Scientific Review of Wind Farm Projects

August 16, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) supports recent efforts by the Department of the Interior to ensure that planned offshore wind developments receive a thorough environmental review, as required by law. We appreciate that President Trump and his Administration, and specifically Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, have chosen to require that major offshore renewable energy development is based on sound science and takes the needs and interests of existing, historic coastal communities into account. Recognizing that major offshore wind development projects — especially when so many are being planned all at once— fundamentally alter the ocean environment is sound policy and the right thing to do.

FSF has consistently stated that any offshore wind development needs to properly consider how new development affects exiting ocean users. This includes scallopers and all other fishermen, who rely on key fishing grounds that will be disrupted by new wind farms, as well as other ocean users who rely on these areas for transit.

Any prospective wind farm needs to properly account for the environmental impacts it would have on marine life and marine habitats, and the economic impacts it would have on fishermen and others relying on the areas. Only then can the benefits of any project be accurately assessed against the costs, and possible damages successfully mitigated.

Recent steps by the Department of the Interior closely follow our advice. In requiring a proper environmental review of existing wind farm proposals, the Department is holding the wind power industry to the same standards the fishing industry is whenever it implements a fishery management plan. To be clear, the Department is not imposing new or unique burdens. Rather, it is assuring that existing standards are met and proper procedures are followed. We are a nation governed by laws that apply to all, including renewable energy projects.

FSF still believes that it is possible for wind power and fisheries to coexist. But this coexistence can’t happen without an honest and complete understanding of how this new industry will change our environment. We thank Secretary Bernhardt for his active engagement and thoughtful deliberation on this issue.

Fishermen face uphill battle in lawsuit over New York wind site

July 1, 2019 — Fishermen and the city of New Bedford are facing an uphill battle in their fight against a New York offshore wind location after losing a lawsuit in September.

Attorney David Frulla, who represents the Fisheries Survival Fund and other plaintiffs in the case, said he was disappointed at the court decision but has not given up.

“I just don’t think the judge understood that these leases aren’t theoretical, that they actually confer rights,” he said.

The Fisheries Survival Fund is leading a dozen plaintiffs. They sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in 2016, saying the agency had not done enough to seek alternatives to important fishing grounds.

United States District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in September granted the federal government’s motion for summary judgment, meaning she believed they made their case as a matter of law, without a trial.

The plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the decision, which is still pending.

Mayor Jon Mitchell said Friday that the city shares the disappointment of the other plaintiffs but believes there are strong grounds for the judge to reconsider.

“The decisions made by federal agencies about what happens in New York waters have major implications for New Bedford fishermen, so we have no choice but to fight when we believe our interests are not being taken into account,” he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

HabCam loss during Northeast scallop survey raises concerns about survey management

June 18, 2019 — The loss of the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center “HabCam” (short for Habitat Mapping Camera) during a recent scallop survey has raised concerns from some groups about the transparency of the survey process.

The sea scallop survey of the U.S. Northeast scallop fishery performed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center uses a combination of dredging and the HabCam to determine the densities of scallops at survey stations in the areas that are typically fished. Data from both the camera and the dredge, as well as data from a number of other surveys performed by colleges and other institutions,  are used to create a model that the various government organizations managing the resource – including the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) – use to set quotas for the coming year.

The HabCam is towed behind the research vessel on a long tether and is used to take detailed photos of the sea floor in order to get ideas on how dense and mature the scallop population is. According to the science center, during a survey of the Great South Channel on 6 June the HabCam struck an uncharted object in 130 feet of water, severing the tow cable.

“The weak link in the tow cable broke, as intended when tension is too great,” the science center wrote in a release. “This limits damage to both the instrument and the ship’s tow winch. The HabCam was separated from the ship, but a sound-emitting locator attached to it signaled its location.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fisheries Survival Fund: HabCam Failure Threatens 2019 Atlantic Sea Scallop Survey

June 12, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

The loss, recovery, and now electrical failure of the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center “HabCam”habitat mapping camera means that the all-important 2019 Northeast sea scallop survey now continues as a dredge-only survey. The federal survey will thus conclude on June 15 without crucial sampling instruments, including cameras that photograph the ocean bottom. The HabCam, towed just above the ocean floor, provides a non-invasive, extensive, optically-based survey of the Atlantic scallop resource and ocean floor. NOAA Fisheries is working to make the HabCam a centerpiece research and survey tool.

For its part, the scallop fishery is one of the nation’s most valuable and sustainable. On average, over a half billion dollars of scallops are landed each year in New England and Mid-Atlantic fishing ports. The fishery has prospered in large part due to NOAA Fisheries and scallop-industry funded cooperative research teams from universities and foundations obtaining and using real-time data and information regarding scallop growth and abundance. Federal scientists use the HabCam and a dredge survey, and the federal surveys are supplemented with cooperative dredge and optical surveys, conducted in partnership between the fishing industry and its research partners.

On June 6, the HabCam was being towed by the Research Vessel Hugh R. Sharpin the area known as the Great South Channel and hit an uncharted object in about 130 feet of water. The HabCam separated from the ship when the weak link in the tow cable broke. According to NOAA, this is “intended when tension is too great [in order to limit] damage to both the instrument and the ship’s tow winch.” Four days later, on June 10, commercial divers recovered the instrument. “The vehicle was inspected and minor repairs made, before deploying this morning. The HabCam initially operated as usual, but soon encountered power problems,” NOAA reported.

This disruption will hamper the survey, especially in the Great South Channel, which is a vital scallop harvesting area. The optical survey is particularly important due to the presence of numerous boulders in this area, which make dredge surveys difficult or impossible. This is an area with high yield to the fishery, and one dredge survey is inadequate to determine the size of the biomass in the area.

Government researchers charter the Research Vessel Hugh R. Sharpfor only a specific numbers of days each year, so any day lost has an impact. As a result of this failure, the survey will be conducted for fewer days, and we will therefore have less data to manage the scallop resource.

No matter how staunchly officials protest to the contrary, the HabCam’s loss and electrical failure willimpact our ability to manage the resource.

Sadly, this is the second time in just three years that the $450,000 HabCam has been lost and recovered while operating. On May 20, 2016, scientists aboard the Hugh R. Sharpresearch vessel were conducting scallop surveys about 75 miles southeast of Delaware Bay, between New Jersey and Delaware, when, according to NOAA, the HabCam “separated from the tow cable and the vessel” in about 80 meters of water.

Considering that this is not the first time this has happened, and bearing in mind that by the NOAA Science Center’s own declaration, the weak link is inserted intentionally to limit potential damage to the instrument, it is difficult to understand why no contingency plan is in place to address a loss situation that is both predictable, and known to arise if or when the weak link does its job.

Despite the seriousness of this equipment failure to the survey’s success, NOAA did not inform the public or the industry about this failure until it was directly and publicly asked about the status of the survey at this week’s New England Fishery Management Council meeting, a full five days after the incident occurred. The industry stands ready to partner with the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and asks that the science center improve its dialogue and communication with the industry and the taxpaying public.

Fisheries Survival Fund Releases New Video on British Fishermen’s History with Wind Farms

February 22, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Fisheries Survival Fund, representing the offshore scallop industry, sent two people to the UK last year to make a short film on the interactions between wind farm development and the fishing industry.

They found that initially, the UK government granted leases without even informing fishermen, who found out only when their grounds were already slated for development.   Subsequently, new process have brought in the industry very early on in the license process, but many feel they are ‘listened to, but not heard’.

One of the biggest issues on one of the wind farms highlighted in the film are the sediment plumes which have changed the ecology of the local area, and driven away fish.

The Fisheries Survival Fund is particularly concerned about placement of leases in major scallop grounds, making the suggestion in the film that changes in sediment, water turbidity, and tide flows could negatively impact scallops.

The video highlights the need for fishing knowledge and input early in the process of siting and developing offshore wind farms. English fishermen explain how they were not given the opportunity to provide input into the siting of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, which lies seven miles off the coast of Kent, England, right in the middle of important fishing grounds.

Several leases have already been awarded for wind farms off the East Coast of the U.S., including one in an area that is prime grounds for sea scallops. Additional lease areas are also currently under consideration.

Watch the video here

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

New video shows impacts of offshore wind on U.K. fishermen, provides lessons for U.S. industry

February 21, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

A new video, Winds of Change, released today by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), documents how the arrival of offshore wind blindsided U.K. fishermen, and how the wind farms have permanently changed their traditional fishing grounds and how they make their livelihoods.

Last year, two members of FSF traveled to the United Kingdom to learn how fishermen in Ramsgate, England and Aberdeen, Scotland have been impacted by offshore wind development. Those lessons are documented in Winds of Change.

“As offshore wind moves forward here in the U.S., it’s essential that it’s able to co-exist with the fishing communities that have depended on these waters for generations,” said Andrew Minkiewicz, an attorney for FSF. “We must learn from the experiences of European fishermen if we want to avoid the same pitfalls and make the best decisions for American fishermen and offshore wind developers.”

Winds of Change explains the impacts offshore wind can have on marine ecosystems, including altering the flow and direction of the tide, churning up sediment, and changing fish behavior or causing them to leave the area altogether. It also shows how wind farms can affect fishing operations, leaving vessels with little room to maneuver through wind turbines and interfering with navigation systems.

The video highlights the need for fishing knowledge and input early in the process of siting and developing offshore wind farms. English fishermen explain how they were not given the opportunity to provide input into the siting of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, which lies seven miles off the coast of Kent, England, right in the middle of important fishing grounds.

“One of the developers turned up one day with these agents…and said ‘we’re going to build a wind farm here,’” says John Nichols, Chairman of the Thanet Fishermen’s Association, in the video. “And they said ‘but we’re not worried about the fishermen because it’s divide and conquer, fishermen can’t stick together.’”

Several leases have already been awarded for wind farms off the East Coast of the U.S., including one in an area that is prime grounds for sea scallops. Additional lease areas are also currently under consideration.