Saving Seafood

Access to red snapper in South Carolina waters could improve with new legislation

February 23, 2022 — Nearly 13 years ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined the South Atlantic red snapper stock was overfished and undergoing overfishing. The fishery was closed in 2010 with a 35-year rebuilding plan put in place.

Ever since, red snapper have been virtually inaccessible for recreational anglers in South Atlantic waters which stretch from North Carolina southward through the east coast of Florida.

Save for occasional mini-seasons ranging from three to nine days in some, but not all, of those years, anglers have been forced to release red snapper.

As the numbers and size of red snapper have increased over the past dozen years, so has frustration among recreational anglers not only in South Carolina but throughout the South Atlantic Region.

Red snapper are almost exclusively caught in federal waters (3-200 miles offshore), typically in depths of about 60-120 feet off South Carolina. The reef species is very susceptible to barotrauma, which occurs when the rapid change in pressure as fish are reeled in causes the gases in the fish’s body to expand.

Read the full story at The State

Gulf of Mexico Swordfish: Lingering covid effects, cheap imports depress market

December 22, 2021 — Low production, the ongoing covid-19 health and economic crisis, and a flood of product from Canada are depressing the U.S. commercial swordfish market in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic, according to some industry members.

“Production levels are the lowest they’ve been since the beginning of time,” lamented Scott Taylor, operator of Day Boat Seafood in Fort Pierce, Fla. “There have been no positive developments whatsoever. I have more boats sitting at the dock than I have fishing.”

Taylor cited a litany of hits to the fishery: Covid’s impacts on the restaurant industry which drives U.S. demand for swords; new U.S. government regulations, including gear restrictions and the possible closure by the Biden administration of New England’s fish-rich Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument; a deluge of cheaper product from Canada dumped in U.S. markets recently; rising fuel prices; and a lack of new blood entering the U.S. commercial fishing industry.

Taylor said the average boat price is about $4, which he calls “unsustainable.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Recruitment Announcement Communication and Digital Media Specialist

December 17, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, is responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal 200-mile limit of the Atlantic off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida to Key West. The Council is responsible for Coastal Migratory Pelagics from New York to Florida and for Dolphin/Wahoo, from Maine to Florida.

The Communication and Digital Media Specialist (CDM) position is responsible for developing a wide range of communication products in support of Council activities. The CDM serves as the Council’s webmaster and administrator for outreach and communication software products and assists other staff in developing documents and graphics to support the Council’s communication needs. Duties include developing digital and print media outreach materials, working closely with other staff to develop graphics and visual aids for Council documents and presentations, and managing the Council’s website and application platforms. The CDM is expected to work effectively in a team-oriented environment with minimal direct supervision while managing multiple tasks simultaneously and meeting deadlines.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

•Manage website structure and framework

•Manage and post website content

•Serve as the POC for website design and hosting contractors

•Monitor website use and analytics to inform decision making relevant to updates

•Coordinate third party software vendors and software applications

•Stay current with digital media developments and assist with design or selection of future applications

•Create user-friendly digital and print media in support of Council activities

•Develop documents and graphics to effectively convey technical information to general audiences

•Foster cohesively branded content across multiple communication products and tools

•Manage end-to-end digital projects and coordinate workflow both internally and with outside collaborators

•Serve as a liaison with federal, state, and NGO partners for digital media management

•Participate in outreach activities and events

•Other duties as assigned

See the complete recruitment announcement available from the Council’s website for additional information and application instructions.

 

20 endangered sea turtles flown from New England to Florida to avoid freezing

December 13, 2021 — Twenty critically endangered juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles were flown from New England to the subtropical Florida Keys to convalesce at the Marathon Turtle Hospital after being rescued from Cape Cod Bay’s frigid coastal waters.

Each of the turtles suffers from “cold stunning,” a hypothermic reaction that occurs when sea turtles are exposed to cold water for a prolonged time, according to hospital manager Bette Zirkelbach. They arrived Friday by private plane.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

ASMFC Seeks Proposals for Regional Pilot Projects in Support of Sustainable Aquaculture – Proposals Due February 1, 2022

November 8, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), in partnership with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture, is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP), seeking marine aquaculture pilot projects focused on sustainable aquatic farming techniques and regional business practices to grow U.S. domestic seafood. The geographic scope of the proposed projects is the U.S. East Coast states from Maine to Florida. The primary location of the proposed projects must be in the marine/estuarine environment.  Examples of the types of pilot projects being sought through the RFP follow:

• Research and development related to the production and distribution of shellfish seed stock. 

• Finfish, shellfish (other than oyster*), and seaweed farming systems, especially for those species new to aquaculture in the region or that use novel production systems.

• Identification and development of Aquaculture Development Zones with pre-planning and pre-permitting for a range of aquaculture activities.

• Resolution of issues (e.g., enforcement, water quality, public trust concerns or impacts) related to open water finfish farming in state waters.  

• Business incubators

• Regional market and economic impact studies

*Note: Proposals for oyster projects were already requested in a separate RFP (2019 Regional Oyster Aquaculture Research Consortia) 

NOAA Fisheries, through the Commission, is planning on issuing approximately $600,000 for the funding period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Individual proposals should not exceed $200,000 or be less than $75,000. It is anticipated that approximately 3-5 projects will be funded. Eligible applicants include researchers at U.S. academic institutions, research laboratories, for-profit companies/firms, nonprofits, and state agencies.  Proposals from foreign entities are not eligible. Proposals involving multiple investigators are welcome. U.S. federal government agencies, including Regional Fishery Management Councils, are not eligible to receive funding through this solicitation. Federal staff may be collaborators on proposed projects, as long as they are not compensated for their contribution to the project.

Applicants seeking to apply to the RFP must submit, as a single file, an electronic proposal by email no later than midnight on February 1, 2022. Please see the RFP for complete proposal details, qualifying requirements, and submission instructions. The RFP is available at.http://www.asmfc.org/files/RFPs/2022PilotAquacultureRFP_Nov2021.pdf.

For more information, please contact Pat Campfield and Lindsey Aubart at Aquaculture@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

 

On the Water: A Look at Life as an Observer October 13, 2021

October 18, 2021 — Keenan Carpenter has always loved being on the water. Growing up in Florida, he dreamed of a pro fishing career. Today, you can often find him casting his rod from the beach or on a kayak in his spare time. But as he moved through his studies in marine sciences at Jacksonville University, he found another way to channel his affinity for fishing and his background in sciences—as an observer for NOAA Fisheries.

“I watch what gets taken out of the ocean to ensure there’s more to get taken out later,” Carpenter says of his work. As one of about 850 observers contracted by NOAA Fisheries, Carpenter acts as the agency’s eyes and ears on the water. Observers collect data from commercial fishing vessels on what’s caught and what’s discarded, and track interactions with seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. The data are critical “puzzle pieces of the whole picture,” as Carpenter says, underpinning the decisions made for sustainable fisheries management.

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

 

Reminder! In-Person Public Hearings for Cobia Management Begin Next Week in Florida

October 15, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a series of four in-person public hearings along the east coast of Florida next week to gather input on proposed measures for the Gulf Migratory Group Cobia fishery in federal waters. Written public comment is also being accepted (see below).

Measures are being proposed to modify catch limits, revise the sector allocation for the Florida East Coast Zone, modify size and possession limits, and change Framework procedures. The measures are proposed through Amendment 32 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region.

Public Hearing Schedule

Coastal Migratory Pelagics Amendment 32
All hearings begin at 6 p.m.

Monday, October 18
Harvey Governmental Center
Key West, FL

Tuesday, October 19
The River Center at Burt Reynolds Park
Jupiter, FL

Wednesday, October 20
Hilton Cocoa Beach
Cocoa Beach, FL

Thursday, October 21
Mudville Grill
Jacksonville, FL

During the in-person public hearings Council staff will provide an overview of proposed actions and answer questions. Council representatives will also be present and formal public comment accepted.

Additional information, including public hearing documents, a video presentation, and an online public comment form is available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/.

Public comments are due by October 21, 2021 at 5 p.m. The South Atlantic Council will address Amendment 32 during its December 6-10, 2021 meeting.

Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming SAFMC Meetings

The following meetings will be held via webinar

October 19-21, 2021
Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel
Briefing book materials and additional meeting information available online
Webinar Registration

October 27-29, 2021
Scientific and Statistical Committee
Briefing book materials and additional meeting information now available online
Webinar Registration

November 2 and 3, 2021
Public Scoping Meetings – Yellowtail Snapper
Starting at 6 p.m.
Snapper Grouper Amendment 44 – Proposed changes to catch levels and allocations
Scoping meeting materials will be posted online as they become available
Webinar Registration:
Tuesday, November 2
Wednesday, November 3

November 3-4, 2021
Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel

November 18-19, 2021
Outreach and Communications Advisory Panel

About the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, one of eight regional councils, conserves and manages fish stocks from three to 200 miles offshore of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and east Florida. For more information, visit: www.safmc.net.

 

$99.6 Million Approved to Continue Restoring Gulf-wide Resources Impacted by Deepwater Horizon

September 28, 2021 — NOAA and the Deepwater Horizon Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group have finalized their first restoration plan (PDF, 401 pages). The group includes all four federal agencies and all five Gulf states, collaborating and coordinating to restore the environment after the 2010 oil spill. The plan calls for $99.6 million to implement 11 restoration projects across all five of the Gulf coast states. It also targets specific locations in Mexico and on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Wildlife and other natural resources affected by the spill often live and migrate across jurisdictional boundaries, which requires a region-wide approach to restoration. This approach also links projects across regional jurisdictions.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

 

Some sharks are more likely to die after ‘catch and release,’ study finds. Here’s why

September 24, 2021 — Longlining, a commercial fishing technique that drags a main line with baited hooks through the water, is convenient when catching massive amounts of swordfish and tuna, but it also traps what experts call “bycatch” — unintended victims that may face dark fates after release back into the ocean.

Sharks are often attracted to and caught on these baited longlines; it’s one of the many culprits behind declining shark populations. Certain rules called “no-take regulations” require fishermen to release some species when accidentally hooked, but a new study of over 300 sharks found that some are much more likely to die after “catch and release” than others. The study was published Sept. 15 in the journal PLOS One.

“The assumption behind no-take regulations is that the shark will swim away and live out its normal life after it’s released, but we know that for some sharks, that’s not true,” study lead author Dr. Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Massachusetts, said in a news release.

After five years of longline fishing that targeted five of the seven most commonly caught species in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys, the researchers learned as many as 42% to 71% of blacktip and spinner sharks will die after being caught and released alive. Others, such as sandbar and tiger sharks, were more resilient; only 3% or fewer died after release. Bull sharks were also one of the more hardy species. The animals were caught near Madeira Beach, Key West and Naples, Florida.

The team learned 90% of the post-release deaths occurred within five hours of returning to the water, and 59% occurred within just two hours. Blood samples and tracking data revealed the stress of the capture process, or injuries acquired during it, leads to the unnecessary and disproportionate demise of some sharks.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

The race to rescue Florida’s diseased corals

August 30, 2021 — On any given day, aquarist Sara Stevens whips up a slurry of plankton, amino acids and other powdered nutrients to feed a voracious group of rescued corals. Using a turkey baster, she blasts the cloudy concoction over each colony made up of thousands of individual organisms called polyps, watching as their tiny tentacles slowly extend and envelop the meal. For the especially carnivorous ones housed at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colo., she hand-feeds them full-bodied krill.

This ritual is just one part of the painstaking care Stevens and other aquarists across the country have been giving to a group of corals rescued from disease-ridden waters in Florida. Their future depends on it.

Since 2014, a mysterious illness known as stony coral tissue loss disease has plagued Florida’s reef tract, killing off nearly half the state’s hard corals, whose rigid limestone skeletons provide the architectural backbone of the largest bank reef in the continental United States. By 2018, it became clear that without drastic intervention, these corals would face imminent localized extinction.

“We couldn’t sit back and watch these corals disappear,” said Stephanie Schopmeyer, a coral ecologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

To save them, scientists devised a plan to remove the most vulnerable species from their natural habitat and create a land-based gene bank that would serve as a modern day ark for the animals. They knew that to succeed, time was of the essence and collaboration was key. What followed was an unprecedented effort, in which dozens of federal and state organizations, universities, zoos and aquariums joined forces to rescue thousands of Florida’s endangered corals.

Read the full story at The Washington Post