Saving Seafood

Atlantic Sapphire suffers mass salmon mortality at its Florida RAS farm

March 24, 2021 — On Tuesday, 23 March, Atlantic Sapphire suffered a mass mortality event at its recirculating aquaculture system salmon farm in Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

In a press release issued via the Euronext Market, where the company’s stock is listed, Atlantic Sapphire said it expected a loss of 500 metric tons (MT), or around 1.1 million pounds, of head-on, gutted salmon. The company said the average weight of the deceased fish was one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, meaning an estimated 500,000 individual salmon died due to the accident. The total represents around 5 percent of its phase-one harvest volumes.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FLORIDA: Group donates 13,000 pounds of fresh grouper, red snapper to Second Harvest

March 18, 2021 — A special delivery arrived at Second Harvest Wednesday morning. A truck dropped off 13,000 pounds of Red Snapper and Grouper fillets at the food bank.

The donation is worth about $20,000. It’s all thanks to North Florida fishermen and members of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.

It started after the group signed up for a grant through “Catch Together.” Their goal is to help put fishermen back on the water while also feeding those in need. Second Harvest said they’re grateful to soon be able to offer more variety to people.

Read the full story at WTXL

Study finds significant liver damage in Gulf of Mexico red snapper

March 17, 2021 — A study completed by researchers from the University of South Florida has revealed almost every red snapper studied in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill showed signs of liver damage.

Red snapper is the latest Gulf species studied by researchers at the USF College of Marine Science in the wake of the devastating 2010 oil spill. Erin Pulster, a USF researcher and lead author of the study, said the results give “early warning signs of a compromised ecosystem.” Pulster and her team recently had their findings published in Aquatic Toxicology.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Red Snapper in the Gulf show signs of stress after Gulf oil spill

March 12, 2021 — Nearly 100 percent of the red snapper sampled in the Gulf of Mexico over a six-year period by University of South Florida (USF) marine scientists showed evidence of liver damage, according to a study reported in Aquatic Toxicology.

The study is the first to correlate the concentration of crude oil found in the workhorses of the digestive system — the liver, gall bladder, and bile — with microscopic indicators of disease, such as inflammation, degenerative lesions, and the presence of parasites. The team sampled nearly 570 fish from 72 Gulf locations between 2011 to 2017 in the wake of the historic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The results add to the list of other species we’ve analyzed indicating early warning signs of a compromised ecosystem,” said Erin Pulster, PhD, first author of the study and researcher at the USF College of Marine Science.

Pulster and the team of researchers studying oil pollution in Gulf of Mexico fishes have previously reported high levels of oil exposure in yellowfin tuna, golden tilefish, and red drum as well.

The Gulf of Mexico not only experiences hundreds of annual oil spills with long-lasting effects such as the historic Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 but is routinely subject to intense shipping traffic and collects pollutants from faraway places that flow in from coastlines and rivers like the Mighty Mississippi and the Rio Grande.

In this study Pulster and the team looked specifically at the most toxic component of crude oil called polycyclic aromatic compounds, or PAHs. PAH sources include old oil and gas rigs, fuel from boats and airplanes, and natural oil seeps, which are fractures on the seafloor that can add millions of barrels of oil to the Gulf every year.

Read the full story at Science Daily

Red Snapper in the Gulf show signs of stress

March 11, 2021 — Nearly 100 percent of the red snapper sampled in the Gulf of Mexico over a six-year period by University of South Florida (USF) marine scientists showed evidence of liver damage, according to a study reported in Aquatic Toxicology.

The study is the first to correlate the concentration of crude oil found in the workhorses of the digestive system—the liver, gall bladder, and bile—with microscopic indicators of disease, such as inflammation, degenerative lesions, and the presence of parasites. The team sampled nearly 570 fish from 72 Gulf locations between 2011 to 2017 in the wake of the historic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The results add to the list of other species we’ve analyzed indicating early warning signs of a compromised ecosystem,” said Erin Pulster, Ph.D., first author of the study and researcher at the USF College of Marine Science.

Pulster and the team of researchers studying  in Gulf of Mexico fishes have previously reported high levels of oil exposure in yellowfin tuna, golden tilefish, and red drum as well.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Misinformation, polarization impeding environmental protection efforts

March 5, 2021 — A group of researchers, spanning six universities and three continents, are sounding the alarm on a topic not often discussed in the context of conservation—misinformation.

In a recent study published in FACETS, the team, including Dr. Adam Ford, Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology, and Dr. Clayton Lamb, Liber Ero Fellow, both based in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, explain how the actions of some scientists,  and the public are eroding efforts to conserve biodiversity.

“Outcomes, not intentions, should be the basis for how we view success in conservation,” says Dr. Ford.

Dr. Lamb points to other cases including mass petitions against shark finning in Florida, although the practice was previously banned there; planting a species of milkweed in an attempt to save monarch butterflies, only to ultimately harm them; and closer to home, the sharing of misinformation in regards to the British Columbia grizzly bear hunt.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

World-renowned Mote shark scientist retires

March 5, 2021 — The following was released by Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium:

After more than 40 years of shark science with profound conservation impacts, Dr. Robert (Bob) Hueter retired from his role as Director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research in December 2020, becoming a Mote Senior Scientist Emeritus.

Hueter’s shark research has spanned six of Earth’s seven continents, and lately he is best known for trailblazing work in Cuba—including satellite-tagging the first sharks in Cuban waters—and the U.S., where he has combined his roles as Mote Senior Scientist and Chief Scientist for the nonprofit organization OCEARCH to lead groundbreaking studies of great white sharks.

Hueter’s research has produced more than 200 published scientific articles and reports, and his career exemplifies Mote’s mission—conducting world-class research and translating it to benefit the oceans and society. He has testified before the U.S. Congress three times on shark research and conservation and has spearheaded landmark developments—including promotion of the first shark fisheries management regulations in Florida in 1991, and the first international shark fisheries management and conservation conference, held at Mote in 1993, where the first U.S. federal shark fisheries management plan was announced.

Over the years, the exceptional research led by Hueter and his team has included: sweeping surveys of sharks along Florida’s Gulf Coast to document long-term changes in their populations; a satellite-tagging study of record scope with whale sharks, Earth’s largest fish species, that documented their migrations spanning over 5,000 miles; through collaborative expeditions with OCEARCH and partners, successfully tracking 70 great white sharks with satellite transmitters and proposing a model of their life history and migrations in the Northwest Atlantic; leading field research identifying nursery areas for 16 shark species in the Gulf of Mexico; and groundbreaking studies on intensive shark fishing in Mexico’s Gulf of California that documented 160,000 sharks and rays in the fishery over years. He also played leading roles in: providing the first scientific documentation of a shark nursery area in Cuban waters, for the lemon shark; gaining new insights on sharks caught in northwest Cuba’s open-water longline fishery; documenting shark bycatch to support development of fisheries electronic monitoring systems in the Gulf of Mexico; contributing data and expertise to massive, global studies of shark-fishery interactions, reef shark conservation and declines; and more.

Read the full release here

Protecting right whales: Advocates, fishermen say proposal needs more work

March 1, 2021 — A fatal collision that killed a baby whale and injured his mother in waters south of Brunswick is the latest impetus for advocates of whales to respond by the March 1 deadline for public comments on proposed federal rules intended to protect right whales.

The infant and his mother, named Infinity, were struck Feb. 12, off St. Augustine Inlet, Fl. The captain of a 54-foot sport fishing vessel reported that he’d driven over a whale. The boat began taking on water and the captain grounded the boat to prevent her from sinking, according to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. No human injuries were reported.

The 22-foot-long carcass of the infant whale washed ashore at Anastasia State Park. The mother, known in scientific circles as Catalog #3230, was spotted off the coast of South Georgia on Feb. 16, with “two new cuts on her left side suggestive of a vessel strike,” according to a report from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

This incident helped fuel an attendance of more than 300 at last week’s virtual public hearing on the proposed revision of a federal regulation regarding the protection of whales from commercial fishing gear. Attention to the plight of right whales is increasing as their numbers dwindle. Fewer than 350 of the mammals are thought to exist, according to a report issued Wednesday by the New England Aquarium, which has studied right whales for 40 years.

Read the full story at The Saporta Report

SAMFC: See How Recent Public Comments on Proposed Dolphin and Wahoo Measures Provide Insight to Managers

February 18, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Managing two popular offshore fish species along the entire Atlantic coast can be a challenge under the best of circumstances. Add an international component, lack of stock assessments, and the cascading effects of new catch level recommendations mixed with differing perceptions on the condition of the fisheries, and the challenge increases. Such is the case for Dolphin and Wahoo. Both are managed in federal waters by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council from Maine to Key West, in collaboration with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and New England Fishery Management Council. The two highly migratory species are often targeted in the U.S. by recreational fishermen and are prized by charter captains and private anglers alike for their colorful display as a fighting fish and for their delicious flavor.

In April 2020, the South Atlantic Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee provided new Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) recommendations for both Dolphin and Wahoo. The updates were primarily prompted by revisions to recreational data collected through the Marine Recreational Information Program or MRIP, a partnership between state marine resource agencies and NOAA Fisheries. Changes to the program’s effort survey have resulted in revised recreational landings estimates that are being incorporated into catch level recommendations, not only for Dolphin and Wahoo, but several other species managed by the Council.

Because the two fisheries are primarily recreational, with 90% of the annual catch limit for Dolphin and 96.07% for Wahoo currently allocated to the recreational sector, the recreational landings estimates from MRIP are especially important for management. Stock assessments are unavailable for Dolphin or Wahoo due in part to the migratory nature of each species but also due to a lack of reliable data on the stocks of each species. In the western Atlantic, they are found from Nova Scotia to Brazil, including Bermuda, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Dr. Wessley Merten with the Dolphinfish Research Program has provided the Council with presentations on tagging research demonstrating the migratory nature of Dolphin. In the presentations, Dr. Merten noted the largely unreported or under reported commercial landings from other countries. Learn more at: https://dolphintagging.com.

Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 10

The new catch level recommendations require the Council to modify current annual catch limits (the number or pounds of fish that can be harvested in any given year) and adjust allocations between recreational and commercial sectors. For Dolphin and Wahoo these measures are being addressed through Amendment 10 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan. The amendment would also modify recreational accountability measures to help ensure that annual catch limits are not exceeded. These temporary measures may include in-season reductions in bag limits, vessel limits, or shortening of a season the following year if the catch limit is exceeded. In developing the amendment, the Council has also included proposed actions in response to public input on management changes needed in the fishery. There are currently a total of 13 actions in the amendment.

The Council recently held a series of public hearings via webinar where staff provided a complete overview of the amendment and the Council’s preferred alternatives. A copy of the presentation, video, and interactive story map is available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. Let’s take a closer look at some of the proposed measures and concerns expressed by fishermen.

Read the complete article

Scientists Describe New Species of Rare Bryde’s Whale

February 17, 2021 — In early 2019, a massive whale carcass washed up on a tourist beach in the Florida Everglades. The whale, measuring nearly 37 feet from tip to tail, was a rare Bryde’s (pronounced broodus) whale.

When Dr. Michael McGowen, curator of marine mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and John Ososky, a museum specialist at the museum, heard about the corpse, they jumped on the phone to convince the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help preserve the whale.

NOAA agreed and later that year, the whale skeleton made its journey to the Smithsonian, where it is now a part of the National Museum of Natural History’s marine mammal collection. McGowen and Ososky knew from the beginning that this whale was going to be an important specimen. But, at the time, they didn’t know just how important.

In a paper published in the journal Marine Mammal Science in January, scientists discovered that the Smithsonian’s specimen is a new species related to the Bryde’s whale, making the skeleton a holotype — the specimen used to describe and define a species for the first time. The research team named the species Rice’s Whale (Balaenoptera ricei) after the prominent marine mammal biologist Dr. Dale Rice.

Read the full story at the Smithsonian Magazine