Saving Seafood

Four newborn right whales spotted early in 2019 breeding season

February 1, 2019 — The end of 2018 contained more dark news for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, as scientists finding that the species decline had quickened.

An estimate by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) brought the total population count of the species to a maximum total of 411 individuals remaining, with as few as 100 of those remaining being females of breeding age. That news came on top of already grim finding that no new calves were born during the 2017-2018 breeding season.

But on 22 January, three new calves were reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And on 25 January, the agency recorded a spotting of a fourth right whale calf off the coast of Georgia.

The North Atlantic right whales, one of the world’s three right whale populations, spend much of the winter in the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Florida and Georgia before migrating to New England the Canadian Maritimes for the summer. There, they face the danger of entanglement in fishing lines used in lobster and crab fishing.

In 2017, 17 right whales died from ship strikes or entanglements in fishing gear. In 2018, an additional three right whales died, with one of the deceased right whales found to have died from entanglement in snow crab gear used in Canada.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Right whale calves a hopeful sign for researchers

January 28, 2019 — The future of the North American right whale remains perilous, but researchers following their progress see hope in three calves spotted so far this winter off the Florida coast.

“It’s a spark of hope,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. “It’s not even quite to the point of guarded optimism.”

The massive marine mammals migrate in the winter from the waters off Maine and Canada to the waters off northern Florida and southeastern Georgia for a calving season. Considered critically endangered, their total population is estimated at 411 animals. After a deadly year in 2017, with 15 deaths, and no calves born during the 2017-2018 season, whale advocates and researchers had awaited this calving season with trepidation.

An aerial survey team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute photographed the latest mother-calf pair, whale No. 1204 and her calf, on Jan. 17 off Amelia Island.

No. 1204 has been particularly prolific, giving birth to at least nine calves in her lifetime. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers said she’s one of only three right whales known to have given birth to nine calves.

Read the full story at the Daily Commercial

2nd North Atlantic right whale calf spotted off Florida

January 17, 2019 — Another North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother have been spotted off Florida, the critically endangered species’ second confirmed newborn of the winter birthing season, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The mother, tentatively identified as #3317, is an important example of the ideal calving rate for a reproductively mature right whale female, said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist with the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

“She actually gave birth three years ago,” Hamilton said about a previous birth, compared to the nine years between documented births for the season’s other right whale mother, #2791, spotted with a calf Dec. 28 off Jacksonville Beach, Florida. “That’s very heartening that at least some right whales are able to reproduce as quickly as they can.”

Right whale #3317 is about 16 years old, and has been spotted by government surveys since 2002 from Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, according to the aquarium’s right whale database. She was spotted in Cape Cod Bay several times in 2016 by researchers for the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

While still rebuilding, red snapper fishermen are seeing good returns

December 5, 2018 —  “It’s been another productive year for sure,” said Buddy Guindon, a fisherman and owner of Katie’s Seafood in Galveston, Texas.

Although technically still in a “rebuilding” status, the gulf red snapper population has come a long way since stock lows in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“We’re seeing more and more snapper in the eastern gulf, more than in the past 15 years,” said Jason DeLaCruz, a fisherman and owner of Wild Seafood Co. in Madeira Beach, Fla. “Our catches are doing a flip. They used to be so grouper-heavy and now they’re snapper-heavy,” he said.

For at least the past several years, gulf vessels on both coasts have brought to dock nearly 100 percent of quota.

According to numbers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the average ex-vessel price for red snapper in 2018 in the state was $3.94.

But both Guindon on the west Gulf Coast and DeLaCruz on the east say red snapper in their area has fetched $5 or more a pound for several years.

“I think we got up to an ex-vessel price of about $5 a pound about four or five years ago, and since then it has crept up to anywhere from $5.20 to $6,” said Guindon.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Recovery of Florida waters could take decades

October 31, 2018 — MARATHON, Fl. — The Florida Keys marine environment likely will need decades to recover from Hurricane Irma, scientists told marine advisers Oct. 16.

“Sobering,” said Bruce Popham, chairman of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, about post-hurricane survey reports on mangroves, sponges and water quality.

Mangrove forests that lay in the Lower Keys path of Irma in September 2017 endured “extensive canopy damage from high winds,” typically losing more than half their canopy cover, Kara Radabaugh of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a briefing to the Sanctuary Advisory Council, meeting in Marathon.

Mangroves that once had 85 to 100 percent canopy cover were left with about 40 percent cover, she said, noting that larger trees took the most severe hits.

“Canopy cover recovered from 40 percent to 60 percent within two to four months,” Radabaugh said, “but recovery plateaued.”

Read the full story at Keys News

 

Florida: Red tide creeps up to Melbourne Beach, Indialantic

October 17, 2018 — INDIALANTIC, Fla. — While test results to prove red tide are pending, the itchy throats and rancid fish carcasses on the beach this week have some already convinced, and fearing a repeat of the toxic tides that thoroughly flogged the Space Coast 16 years ago.

For tourists, another red tide now would be lousy timing. For fish, too.

“Right now we’ve got a big mullet run on the beach, so there are a lot of migratory fish following the mullet runs,” said Jon Shenker, associate professor of marine biology at the Florida Institute of Technology. “I have no idea how bad this is.”

Beachgoers and beachside residents have complained in recent days of coughing and irritated throats after being by the ocean. Dead fish reported in Indialantic and Melbourne Beach on Tuesday included bluefish, Spanish mackerel, mullet and other fish. A dead fish dotted the shoreline every 10 feet or so at Paradise Beach Park.

Brevard County is helping Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission gather water samples to test for the red tide organism, Karenia brevis. The algae releases a neurotoxin that can cause asthma-like symptoms. If ingested, it can cause digestive problems. Brevard County Natural Resources has coordinated with FWC for sampling beginning Tuesday and hopes to know the results on Wednesday.

“In the meantime, we have been monitoring conditions and have reached out to various agencies, such as Keep Brevard Beautiful, Tourism and Development, the city of Cocoa Beach, to plan for a coordinated response if and when we have reported fish kills,” Brevard County spokesman Don Walker said via email.

Read the full story at Florida Today

 

Florida to boost redfish hatcheries amid red tide epidemic

September 19, 2018 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is getting an additional $1.2 million to enhance research and increase production of redfish in Port Manatee, the state announced Monday.

The new funding should help recover Florida’s fisheries from the ongoing red tide sweeping Florida’s Gulf coast and wreaking havoc on Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee County beaches.

Florida’s commercial fisheries generate $17.7 billion of sales and support nearly 93,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2015 Fisheries Economics of the United States.

In addition, recreational fishing has an $8 billion economic impact in Florida and supports nearly 115,000 jobs, according to a National Marine Fisheries Service report last year.

“Florida is the ‘Fishing Capital of the World,’ ” FWC Executive Director Eric Sutton said. “Not only are our fisheries robust, but they are also incredibly resilient to the impacts of natural events, like red tide.”

Read the full story at Florida Politics

 

Red Tide: Is Florida seafood safe to eat?

September 13, 2018 — The major red tide algae bloom along the Gulf Coast is certainly smelly, and at worst may have negative health effects in exposed humans.

But what about locally-caught seafood? What’s safe to eat right now? With customers staying away from beachside resorts and restaurants en masse, diners may be equating the fish on their plates to the dead fish on shore.

However, most commercial gulf species, including snapper and grouper, are caught 20 miles out from the shore, meaning they are not at all impacted by the red tide.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it is safe to eat local finfish as long as the fish are filleted before eaten. Although toxins may accumulate in the guts of fish, these areas are discarded when fish is filleted.

Read the full story at the Tampa Bay Times

FLORIDA: Scallop survey shows rebounding population

August 17, 2018 — The extra TLC the past two years would appear to be reaping dividends.

A project begun in 2016 to restore the scallop population in St. Joseph Bay has found purchase based on the results of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s adult population survey.

The survey results, posted Tuesday, show that the current population is nearly four-times that of last year and nearly twice the mean of the past six years.

Scallop harvest season in St. Joseph Bay begins Friday and continues through Sept. 30, the latest starting, and longest by days, scallop harvest season in Florida.

During this year’s survey, which was more extensive than typical due to the late start of the season, researchers found 8.1 scallops per square meter, approximately 1.2 square yards.

That is more than three times the density found during last year’s survey and eight times higher than two years ago, when the population was deemed “collapsed,” with less than one scallop per square meter.

The population remains “vulnerable,” the FWC category for adult populations of between two and 20 scallops per square meter.

Read the full story at The Port St. Joe Star

FLORIDA: Scallop season scheduled for next week

August 10, 2018 — There is certain hesitancy about pronouncing the start of scallop harvest season in St. Joseph Bay.

After all, nothing about the past two seasons as been on schedule.

Nevertheless, the 2018 scallop harvest season in St. Joseph Bay is scheduled to open Aug. 17, next Friday, with the potential for the first full season in three years.

If indeed a full season is realized, it will come to a close Sept. 30.

Gulf County’s season in the last to open in Florida as the state moved to region-specific seasons this year.

Researchers have yet to complete and post the numbers from the annual survey of the scallop population in St. Joseph Bay.

The numbers, a researcher with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission should be posted on the FWC website before the end of the week.

But, there was a hint of positive vibes for the season this past weekend during a “scallop rodeo.”

Last Saturday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission invited those interested to participate in a collection of scallops as a continuation of restoration efforts that began three years ago.

Read the full story at The Port St. Joe Star