Saving Seafood

Protest ahead of EPA fish farm hearing in Sarasota

January 23, 2020 — Environmental groups objecting to a Hawaii-based company’s plans to open the first offshore fish farm in the Gulf of Mexico about 45 miles west of Sarasota plan to demonstrate against the proposal before a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permit hearing on Tuesday.

“Lots of people don’t know that this is happening in their backyard; it’s flying under their radar,” said Hallie Templeton, senior oceans campaigner at Friends of the Earth, one of several organizers of the Tuesday demonstration outside at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, where the hearing will be held.

Kampachi Farms plans to anchor a chain-link mesh pen offshore of Southwest Florida to raise 20,000 almaco jack fish for human consumption. The fish farm is a pilot project and would not only be the first for the Gulf but also the first in federal waters in the continental United States. If it works, more are expected to follow, both here and elsewhere.

The Kampachi proposal is drawing opposition from environmental groups because they don’t want offshore fish farms to start popping up around the country that could potentially pose a threat to clean water and the fishing industry.

Read the full story at The Herald-Tribune

Florida wades into the culture war over shark finning

January 17, 2020 — Florida lawmakers are getting support for a pair of bills that would ban the possession, import, export and sale of separated shark fins in Florida.

The legislation, HB 401 and SB 680, are designed to discourage the controversial and inhumane practice known as “shark finning”.

Finning is already illegal in the United States but is still practiced by other countries. It involves pulling a live shark out of the water, cutting off its fin and tail, and tossing the live shark back in the water where it will either suffocate or be eaten alive by other animals.

While Florida law prohibits the practice of finning, the shark fin trade is legal in the state and there are fins being imported from other countries where bans on finning aren’t in place.

And, while most people can agree that finning is bad and should be discouraged, there are differing opinions on whether banning the fin trade altogether is the right approach.

“The emotional side of this is people hear about finning and they think it’s awful, and it is awful, and they say let’s just stop the practice. That’s sort of a feel-good approach, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to be very effective in terms of solving the worldwide problem and it is going to punish the wrong people here at home,” said Dr. Bob Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

Read the full story at WTSP

New fish farm near Miami aims to grow major portion of U.S. salmon supply

January 13, 2020 — A new land-based salmon farm, described by industry groups as among the world’s largest, is raising millions of the healthy popular fish in giant warehouses about 30 miles southwest of Miami.

The subtropical location for the farmed salmon, which love cold northern waters, is unique in the world. The company, Atlantic Sapphire, pulls cold water from underground and keeps it at 59 degrees Fahrenheit in what it calls a bluehouse — a greenhouse for fish.

Norwegian entrepreneur Johan Andreassen built the farm in Homestead, Fla., over the past two years, relying on a steady supply of fresh and salt water from underground aquifers, he said. That’s because salmon in the wild lay eggs in freshwater rivers, and the young fish swim to salt water to grow.

Ultimately, the company wants to supply a sizable portion of the U.S. salmon market at a time when more Americans are turning to healthy fish in their diets.

Read the full story at UPI

Trump administration sued over endangered Florida sea turtle protection from climate change

January 9, 2020 — Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming agencies in the Trump administration have failed to protect green sea turtle habitat as required by the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, says the turtles’ nesting beaches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as their ocean habitat, face threats from sea level rise brought on by climate change and plastic pollution, according to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs.

Other plaintiffs are the Sea Turtle Oversight Protection and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Read the full story at the Treasure Coast Newspaper

Reminder – The New Year Brings Changes to South Atlantic Federal Fishing Regulations

December 30, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Fishermen are reminded that several changes in federal fishing regulations occur beginning January 1st as we ring in 2020 – and a new fishing year for some species in the snapper grouper management complex. The South Atlantic regulation changes apply to federal waters ranging from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore of NC, SC, GA, and the east coast of Florida.

For example, a spawning season closure for shallow-water grouper goes into place to help protect species such as gag grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, yellowmouth grouper, and others. The season will reopen May 1st. Some other snapper grouper species will open for harvest January 1st.

See the Regulations Summary (click the image) available from the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council for changes effective January 1, 2020. To keep up with federal regulations and changes throughout the year (recreational and commercial), download the free FishRules mobile app.

Additional regulation information and other helpful resources are available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/regulations/.

North Atlantic right whale ‘moms,’ including Cape regular Harmonia, arrive off Florida

December 13, 2019 — The North Atlantic right whale migration southward is underway.

Since the first right whale report of the season — Harmonia, a right whale commonly seen in Cape Cod Bay — was spotted by fishermen Nov. 23 off Mayport, Fla., biologists have confirmed seeing four more potential right whale “moms.”

Only 409 North Atlantic right whales remain. Right whales travel along the Atlantic coast annually, spending time in warmer Georgia and Florida waters to calve and nurse. They spend late winter and early spring in and and around Cape Cod Bay to feed and socialize before heading northward to Canadian waters for the summer months.

The winter tracking of right whales that may be pregnant — typically off Georgia and Florida — is part of a U.S. and Canadian government effort to stop any further drop in their population, which is considered nearing possible extinction.

Deaths, mainly from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing rope, have outpaced births of these bus-sized creatures recently. Biologists have recorded 30 right whale deaths over the last three years and only 12 births.

“We’re going backwards here,” said Barb Zoodsma, right whale biologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ Southeast region.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

FLORIDA: FWC approves draft for changes to 2020 red snapper season

December 13, 2019 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission approved draft proposals on Thursday to extend red snapper season and its authority to manage it.

Regarding the 2020 red snapper season, the commissioners were presented two options; June 11-July 25 and June 1-July 13.

In 2019, the Gulf red snapper season ran from June 1 to July 12.

The staff recommended the June 11-July 25 option because it will be a low risk of exceeding Florida’s quota for 2020, which is 1,913,451 lbs. That is slightly higher than 2018 and 2019 quotas.

“There’s a lot of varying opinions on what people want,” Amanda Nalley of Marine Fisheries Management said. “Some people want weekends only seasons, some people want seasons that start earlier, and we consider all of that.”

Read the full story at The Destin Log

Plan would protect 21 coral hot spots in Gulf of Mexico

November 15, 2019 — A plan to protect corals in the Gulf of Mexico is close to becoming a law, drawing cheers from environmental groups who believe leaving the corals alone would help vulnerable ocean ecosystems to grow.

The plan would create 21 protected areas off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Thirteen of the areas would carry new commercial fishing restrictions, and that has attracted the attention of fishing groups, who want the government to take a cautious approach.

Pew Charitable Trusts has characterized the plan as a way to protect nearly 500 square miles of slow-growing coral “hot spots,” and is championing the protection plan as a way to spare vulnerable corals from fishing gear. The proposal would prohibit gear such as bottom trawls and dredges that can disrupt the corals.

Sandra Brooke, an oceanographer and coral ecology expert at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory, said it’s important to spare the corals because of their importance to the marine environment and because they can have value for the development of new medicines.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WRAL

First offshore aquaculture farm proposed for Gulf of Mexico

November 6, 2019 — A Hawaii-based fish farming company is proposing the first offshore aquaculture for the Gulf of Mexico, a pilot-scale project off Florida.

Kampachi Farms LLC proposed a single-net floating enclosure where up to 20,000 Almaco jack — yellowtail amberjack, also known as kampachi or kahala — would be reared about 45 miles west-southwest of Longboat Pass and Sarasota Bay.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft permit in August and concluded a public comment at the end of September before issuing a final permit.

Kampachi Farms pioneered open-ocean fish culture off Hawaii, and the gulf venture could be the first in federal waters off the continental United States. The new project, dubbed Velella Epsilon, requires other permits from multiple federal agencies, including NMFS and the Corps of Engineers.

An interagency working group prepared a draft environmental assessment to look at potential environmental impacts of building and operating the fish farm. Commercial and recreational fishing advocates along with environmental activists are raising objections, saying introducing dense assemblages of non-native fish will harm the local ocean environment and the existing fishing industry.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Florida GOP Congressmen Back Bill to Help Fisheries With Climate Change’s Impact

October 18, 2019 — This week, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., paired up with a South Carolina Democrat on a proposal to help local fisheries deal with the impact of climate change.

With Mast as the main cosponsor, U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-SC, introduced the “Climate-Ready Fisheries Act” on Tuesday.

“The Climate-Ready Fisheries Act of 2019 directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine what actions have already been taken by fishery managers to prepare for the impacts of climate change,” Mast’s office noted. “The bill also requires the GAO to identify whether any knowledge or funding gaps are hindering action and provide recommendations for how to better adapt fishery management in local communities. It also directs the GAO to offer recommendations for how Congress can enhance our nation’s science and management systems to better address climate change.”

Read the full story at Florida Daily