Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Shrinking Population Forces Shutdown of Oyster Harvesting in Florida Bay

December 17, 2020 — Florida officials voted Wednesday to shut down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay, a major source of the nation’s supply, due to a diminished population caused by low freshwater flows.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a measure that will suspend all harvesting of wild oysters from the bay through December 2025, or “until 300 bags per acre of adult oysters can be found on a significant number of reefs.”

The final rule also bans on-the-water possession of oyster harvesting equipment in Apalachicola Bay, which encompasses St. George Sound, East Bay, Indian Lagoon and St. Vincent Sound. Their canals, channels, rivers and creeks are also off-limits to harvesting for the next five years.

Historically, nearly 90% of Florida’s commercial oyster harvest and about 10% of the entire U.S. supply came from Apalachicola Bay, according to the commission.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

Critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population gets a boost: 2 newborns spotted off US coast

December 8, 2020 — Biologists from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida knew immediately what they were seeing: It was a North Atlantic right whale calf.

They couldn’t help but be ecstatic.

“Soon enough, the team knew the mother would surface for a breath of air and the calving season would have the first live mother-calf right whale pair,” said Melanie White, a research biologist who serves as the aquarium’s North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Project Manager.

The calf, found swimming on Dec. 4 with a first-time mom known as Chiminea off the coast of Cumberland Island in Georgia, was the first of two live calves found over the past week, the National Marine Fisheries Service tweeted Monday.

The second, born to 16 year-old Millepede, was spotted Monday while swimming with bottlenose dolphins off Vilano Beach in Florida.

Read the full story at USA Today

Choked, strangled and drowned. How balloons and plastic bags are killing marine animals

November 20, 2020 — In Florida, a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was entangled in a plastic bag that had become filled with sand. The plastic bag had wrapped around the turtle’s neck, which likely led it to drown or suffocate.

In another Florida case, a recently hatched sea turtle was found with two plastic balloons in its gastrointestinal tract, causing a blockage that potentially led to the animal’s death.

Balloons, plastic bags, recreational fishing line and food wrappers are killing thousands of marine animals as they eat plastic items that later perforate internal organs, or they become entangled and drown, Oceana said in a new report.

Read the full story at The Miami Herald

FLORIDA: Tampa Bay fishermen donate their catch to families struggling during the pandemic

November 19, 2020 — Fishermen from the Tampa Bay area are stepping up to help families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance is partnering with the St. Petersburg Free Clinic to bring 20,000 pounds of fresh fish to families who are facing economic hardship because of the pandemic. 

Over the next few months, commercial fishermen in Madeira Beach will donate red grouper and red snapper to St. Petersburg Free Clinic for distribution to the people and community it serves. The clinic is a multi-service, independent, human services agency that helps locals who are in need of food, shelter and health care.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve been serving at times up to triple the amount of families we typically support,” said Jennifer Yeagley, CEO of St. Petersburg Free Clinic. “Half of these households have never had to visit a food pantry prior to COVID-19. So, we are very grateful to the local fishing captains and these businesses all working together to provide sustainable, local seafood to our neighbors in need.”

Read the full story WTSP

Florida connection draws Publix into Atlantic Sapphire partnership

October 26, 2020 — A Florida connection has brought together pioneering salmon farming firm Atlantic Sapphire and the Publix supermarket chain.

Atlantic Sapphire, which recently celebrated its first commercial harvest at its new recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., is teaming up with the Lakeland, Florida-based supermarket chain to begin offering its Bluehouse brand salmon in 269 of its 1,255 stores, mostly in the Miami area.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Florida gains CARES Act spend plan approval

October 22, 2020 — Florida has become the latest U.S. state to gain approval for its CARES Act spend plan, allowing it to begin the application process to deliver aid to the seafood industry to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The approval comes several months after the USD 300 million (EUR 253.7 million) in aid funding was approved in May. Florida represents the fourth-largest recipient of those funds, with the state receiving USD 23.6 million (EUR 19.9 million) in relief funding to be distributed among industry stakeholders.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FB20-063: NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to Transit Provisions for the South Atlantic Shrimp Fishery

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGES:

  • NOAA Fisheries announces changes to provisions for shrimp trawl vessels transiting through cold weather closed areas with brown, pink, or white shrimp on board in federal waters of the South Atlantic.
  • The rule will allow trawl doors in the rack (cradle), nets in the rigging and tied down, and try net on the deck during transit.
  • The final rule for Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic Region will update the regulations to more closely align with current fishing practices, reduce the socio-economic impacts for fishermen who transit these closed areas, and improve safety at sea while maintaining protection for overwintering white shrimp.

WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

  • Regulations will be effective November 23, 2020

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION:

  • 85 FR 67309; October 22, 2020. 

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

Where can I find more information on Amendment 11? 

  • By Phone: (727) 824-5305
  • By FAX: (727) 824-5308

Six critically endangered sawfish found dead on the side of the road in Florida Everglades

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is conducting an investigation involving the deaths of six critically endangered smalltooth sawfish in Everglades City, Fla. An employee with Everglades National Park reported the dead sawfish and two dead bonnethead sharks to NOAA experts. Two of the sawfish are missing their rostra (saws). One other had its meat removed, leaving only the carcass.

The animals were found along the causeway between Everglades City and Chokoloskee Island, Fla. A sawfish biologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will perform a necropsy on the animals to try to determine the cause of death.

Smalltooth sawfish are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. They were once found in the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida and along the East Coast from Florida to North Carolina. Their distribution has decreased greatly in U.S. waters over the past century. Today, the species is generally only found off the coast of Florida, especially southwest Florida where sawfish give birth. They reproduce every other year and give birth to just 7-14 young. The loss of these six animals is nearly equivalent to one mother’s entire litter.

NOAA officials seek information from anyone who may have details about this incident and are offering a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to a criminal conviction or the assessment of a civil penalty.

Please call the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Tips may be left anonymously.

Read the full release here

Southwest Florida fishery prepares for uncertain stone crab season

October 15, 2020 — Stone crabbers in Southwest Florida are facing an uncertain season, but meeting it with high hopes and optimism.

The season opens Thursday.

New crabbing regulations from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have cut the season short and raised the size limit of claws. On top of that, the coronavirus pandemic has put the restaurant industry in flux.

“We’re all looking forward to another good season,” said Kelly Kirk, owner of Kirk Fish Company on Marco Island. “This season is a new one for us with COVID and some new regulations, but we’re excited to get back to work. It’s time and we’re ready and fired up for it and hope our customers are, too.”

Read the full story at Naples Daily News

Feds move toward permitting offshore Florida fish farm

October 9, 2020 — The Army Corps of Engineers will open a public comment period on a permit application for a fish farming pilot project off Florida’s southwest coast, following demands from critics and a newly issued pollution permit.

Hawaii-based developer Ocean Era LLC is proposing its Velella Epsilon aquaculture project, a single net pen system to raise up to 20,000 Almaco jack fingerlings, in the Gulf of Mexico about 45 miles southwest of Longboat Pass-Sarasota Bay.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 30 issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit allowing the fish farm to discharge up to 80,000 pounds of wastewater during its pilot production cycle.

“The proposed aquaculture system would be deployed for one period of 12-18 months, which will represent one production cycle including a 12-month rearing timeframe and 6 months for initial cage deployment and water quality and benthic sampling, time between stocking and harvesting, and the removal of gear at the project conclusion,” according to the Corps’ public notice of application.

Read the full story at National Fisherman