Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Lifeline could be coming for fisheries still reeling from Ian

December 16, 2024 — We all remember the images of shrimp boats stacked on top of each other after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida. It wasn’t just the shrimp boats, but also fish houses and much of the rest of the fishing industry was severely damaged as well. Over two years later, federal aid has yet come.

A bill recently passed by voice vote in the House of Representatives could throw a lifeline post-disaster to American fisheries.

House Bill 5103 (Fishery Improvement to Streamline Untimely Regulatory Hurdles post Emergency Situations) FISHES Act passed in House in early December to help streamline the process for fisheries to receive aid.

“As we saw in Southwest Florida, time of the essence once a disaster hits,” said Florida Congressman Byron Donalds (R).

But in the past, federal aid to fisheries only came after a long grueling review process that took years. Something that Congressman Donalds is looking to change with the FISHES Act.

“What the FISHES Act does, it makes two review processes happen concurrently and requires a response to the property owner happens within 90 days,” said Rep. Donalds.

Read the full article at Fox 4

Why Texas gets 9 miles of off-shore territory but Louisiana gets 3 — and how it could change

December 2, 2024 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves intends to sprint toward the finish line for the 118th Congress, which convenes Monday and disbands in a month, by pushing an issue he has been working since he was a Capitol Hill staffer 20 years ago.

“This has been an ongoing effort for me, for many years, to give Louisiana parity,” Graves said.

Graves, a Baton Rouge Republican who steps down when the 119th Congress assumes office on Jan. 3, teamed with Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, on a bill that would give Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama the same offshore sovereignty as Texas and Florida — moving the boundary line from three nautical miles to nine — thereby allowing Louisiana control of more energy exploration and fishing rights.

Graves said last week in announcing the Offshore Parity Act of 2024, “I’m not sure who was negotiating for us generations ago, but that is just ridiculous.”

History, rather than bonehead negotiators, played a greater role in setting state sovereignty over offshore waters.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

FLORIDA: Florida invests USD 1 million in fisheries recovery following hurricanes

October 30, 2024 — The U.S. state of Florida has awarded USD 1 million (EUR 924,274) to help the state’s struggling commercial fisheries and aquaculture sector recover from damage inflicted by a trio of hurricane landfalls.

“The [state’s] fishing industry took a direct hit from hurricanes Debby and Helene, and so did the hardworking Floridians who make their living on the water,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement. “Today’s investments will help to rebuild critical waterside infrastructure and help get Floridians in the fishing and aquaculture industries back to full operations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Marine Debris From Hurricanes Helene And Milton Could Take Years To Remove

October 24, 2024 — The recovery and cleanup process following hurricanes Helene and Milton will take months or even years to fully complete.

But the cleanup extends well beyond people’s homes and businesses. Marine debris has also found its way onshore, as well as into Florida’s canals and rivers, adding another layer to the cleanup.

“After hurricanes, they create a large pulse of debris in a short amount of time,” explains Ashley Hill, the Florida Regional Coordinator for NOAA’s marine debris program.

Hurricanes are so powerful that they are able to move large amounts of water. The water displacement, combined with the wind and storm surge, pushes trash, plastic and debris that has been floating around the Gulf of Mexico on the Florida coast and inland. All the trash now has to be picked up and removed.

What is marine debris?

Marine debris is any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material that intentionally or unintentionally ends up in our oceans or Great Lakes, according to NOAA.

“Anything human-made and solid can become marine debris once lost or littered in these aquatic environments,” says NOAA. “Our trash has been found in every corner of our ocean.”

Just one year after Hurricane Irma hit Florida in 2017, more than 250,000 cubic yards of marine debris had been reported removed at an estimated cost of $43 million, according to NOAA.

Hurricanes carry marine debris well inland

Hill explains that the marine debris removal following hurricanes Helene and Milton will take a very long time and is also very expensive.

“We’re finding things months, sometimes years after a particular hurricane,” said Hill. “A great example of that is we’re getting close to funding projects that will be removing some debris that we still have remaining from Hurricane Ian, which made landfall about two years ago.”

Read the full article at The Weather Channel

Biden, DeSantis sound alarm as Milton barrels toward Florida

October 9, 2024 — Floridians evacuating what could be the most powerful hurricane to strike the Tampa Bay region in a century crawled Tuesday along Florida’s major highways, seeking higher ground before Milton’s expected Wednesday night landfall.

Scientists at the National Hurricane Center said the slightly weakened hurricane — which skirted the northern Yucatan Peninsula on Monday night into Tuesday morning — continued to track eastward across a warm Gulf of Mexico, drawing up energy as it approaches Florida’s central Gulf Coast.

In brief remarks before reporters at the White House, President Joe Biden sounded the alarm about Milton’s threat, noting that the storm was projected to both strike Florida’s west coast as a hurricane and possibly exit the east coast and into the Atlantic Ocean at hurricane strength.

Read the full article at E&E News

FLORDIA: Divers set new record catching invasive fish: ‘A great way to get people outdoors and involved in conservation’

October 9, 2024 —  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s annual lionfish hunting competition just wrapped up, and it broke records for both attendance and results, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The hundreds of divers who entered the competition had three-and-a-half months to catch as many of the invasive species as they could. When all was said and done, over 31,000 lionfish had been removed from Florida waters.

Lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific Sea and the Red Sea, first appeared off the coast of South Florida in 1985, per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Outside of their native habitat, the predatory species has been able to outcompete native species like snapper and grouper while also eating fish that serve important functions in maintaining coral reefs. Their presence has disrupted the entire ecosystem, which has led Florida (and other places) to get creative in enlisting the public’s help to control their populations.

Read the full article at TCD

A Storied Luxury Liner May Soon Find New Life on the Florida Seafloor

October 4, 2024 — More than seven decades ago, the S.S. United States — a ship bigger than the Titanic — made its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, breaking the trans-Atlantic speed record.

The ocean liner, which once transported heads of state and members of the Hollywood elite from New York City to destinations across Europe, may soon make history again — this time underwater, as the world’s largest artificial reef off the coast of Florida.

The stately ship, once graced by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and John F. Kennedy, could soon be home to sea turtles, starfish and grouper.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Death toll rises from Helene while supplies are rushed to North Carolina and Florida digs out

September 30, 2024 — Authorities struggled to get water and other supplies to isolated, flood-stricken areas across the U.S. Southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm rose to nearly 100.

A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed due to the storm, and several other fatalities reported in North Carolina Sunday pushed the overall death toll to at least 91 people across several states.

Supplies were being airlifted to the region around the isolated city. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged that she would have food and water into Ashville — which is known for its arts, culture and natural attractions — by Monday.

“We hear you. We need food and we need water,” Pinder said on a Sunday call with reporters. “My staff has been making every request possible to the state for support and we’ve been working with every single organization that has reached out. What I promise you is that we are very close.”

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Scientists raise concerns about ancient fish species following onslaught of extreme weather: ‘They’re not invincible’

September 30, 2024 — With their spiky armor and snouts full of whiskers, Gulf sturgeon have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. But human-driven threats are pushing this Florida-native species to the brink, WUSF reports.

What’s happening?

These fish, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, face a slew of threats. Pollution has expanded in the Suwannee River, one of the waterways where they live. Plus, hurricanes and flooding can worsen chemical runoff and create oxygen “dead zones” that make it impossible for the sturgeon to breathe. For instance, scientists reported “tremendous” mortality in several Florida rivers with Hurricanes Irma in 2017 and Ivan in 2004, and they’re still waiting to assess the impacts of August 2024’s Hurricane Debby, which rose water levels by 20 feet along the Suwannee. This rise threatened to spill more fertilizers, salts, and other nutrients into this fish’s habitat. Meanwhile, a warming world is causing fluctuations in water levels, which can make it difficult or impossible for sturgeon to reach their spawning grounds.

According to WUSF, scientists say that “Florida’s prehistoric fish are surviving as they have for eons … But they’re not invincible.”

Read the full article at The Cool Down

FLORIDA: Are mahi fleeing Florida to beat the heat?

September 18, 2024 — Under a sky glowing orange from the dawn sun, Martin Grosell gunned his twin-engine sportfishing boat toward the Gulf Stream one morning in August, in search of one of his and South Florida’s favorite fish: mahi.

On board, sprawled on a beanbag, was one of his best anglers, his youngest daughter Camilla, 12.

“She’s born and raised doing this and she’s caught a lot more fish than most in South Florida,” Grosell said, then admits: ”Most of the time, it’s actually her telling me what to do.”

Grosell is an ichthyologist — a marine biologist who studies fish — at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School where he specializes in mahi. As one of the principal investigators for a research project studying lasting impacts from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, his lab looked at how the massive spill harmed two of the state’s most popular trophy fish – bluefin tuna and mahi.

Read the full article at WLRN