Saving Seafood

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Recognizes Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

December 9, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council awarded its annual Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award to Special Agent Richard Chesler during the Council’s meeting this week in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. The annual award recognizes distinctive service, professionalism, and dedication to enforcing fisheries regulations in the South Atlantic. Special Agent Chesler is a criminal investigator assigned to NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Southeast Division in Port Orange, Florida.

“The Council recognizes the important role that law enforcement plays in effective fisheries management,” said Council Chair Dr. Michelle Duval. “We are fortunate to have dedicated men and women working tirelessly in the field and behind the scenes, at both the state and federal level to help protect our marine resources. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to present the award to Agent Chesler, who has exemplified these characteristics throughout his law enforcement career.”

Special Agent Chesler began his career nearly two decades ago as a U.S. Coast Guard recruit, working counter-drug and U.N. Sanction enforcement in the Caribbean, Eastern Pacific and Northern Arabian Gulf. His duties also included working as a boarding officer enforcing fisheries regulations in the frigid waters off the coast of Alaska, where he developed a passion for natural resources. After leaving active duty, Chesler pursued his interests in conservation by accepting a position as patrol officer for the National Park Service Park Police in the Washington DC area. Before becoming a Special Agent with NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in 2003 he also worked as a deputy U.S. Marshal.

As a Special Agent for NOAA Fisheries Chesler conducts complex criminal and civil investigations of violations of federal fisheries law under the Magnuson-Stevens Act as well as those impacting endangered species, marine mammals, and regulations covered under the Lacey Act. He also works field enforcement including patrols and surveillance and provides liaison and training as part of the joint enforcement agreement (JEA) with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, working closely with the offshore patrol vessel program. Agent Chesler shares his subject matter expertise on fisheries with the U.S. Coast

Guard Sector Jacksonville operations and intelligence departments. With an outgoing personality, SA Chesler has coordinated or participated in numerous outreach events, presented to the Council on law enforcement issues, and authored the law enforcement component of the Oculina Evaluation Plan, outlining enforcement approaches for the managed area.

Since joining NOAA Enforcement he earned a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida and combines his education and unique field experience to provide high-level enforcement training at the state and federal level. Because of his reputation as an instructor, Agent Chesler was selected to participate in international enforcement capacity building for living marine resources, providing training in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Brazil.

“SA Chesler’s tireless work ethic, outstanding liaison with partner agencies, and willingness to take on additional leadership responsibilities has significantly contributed to the overall success of NOAA’s Southeast Office of Law Enforcement,” said Manny Antonaras, Deputy Special Agent in Charge. Chesler recently volunteered for and performed as an acting supervisor. He has also been instrumental in streamlining the processing time for case packages, leading to faster issuance of summary settlements.

“It is both an honor and privilege to join the elite group of fisheries enforcement professionals who have received this award,” said Chesler. “This award is a reflection of the outstanding partnerships I enjoy with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard.  For me, I see it as a team award, I’m just the person accepting it”.

The Council initiated the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award in 2010. Nominees may be submitted from each of the southeastern state law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, and NOAA Fisheries. The Council’s Law Enforcement Advisory Panel selected three of the nominees for 2015 consideration by the Council. The other nominees were Officer Amos Williams with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Marine Patrol and Officer Clay McDonough with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

NORTH CAROLINA: Shark’s 8,500-mile odyssey ends on a fisherman’s hook

December 8, 2016 — A mako shark caught by commercial fishermen off North Carolina traveled more than 8,500 miles after a tracking device was attached 18 months earlier, an ocean research group says.

Researchers studying shark migrations for the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attached the device to the female shark’s dorsal fin in mid-2015 near Ocean City, Md.

A donation to the institute by Heather Finke sponsored the tag in honor of Charlotte Latin School.

A commercial long-line fishing boat caught the shark near Manns Harbor last month. The last of the tag’s 265 data transmissions from the sea to an orbiting satellite was recorded on Nov. 24.

Data show the shark swimming up and down the East Coast (click mako sharks > W. North Atlantic > Charlotte) between North Carolina and Rhode Island, making one big loop into the Atlantic north of Bermuda last spring. It traveled an average of 15 miles a day over 557 days.

“We’re happy to have recovered the satellite tag, but disappointed about the loss of the mako,” said executive director Greg Jacoski of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, which supplies the tags. “It’s important for us to recover tags because of the value they have for our research efforts.”

5,000-year-old corals are now threatened

December 1, 2016 — Coral genotypes can survive for thousands of years, possibly making them the longest-living animals in the world.

Researchers have determined the ages of elkhorn corals, Acropora palmata, in Florida and the Caribbean and estimated the oldest genotypes to be more than 5,000 years old. The results are useful for understanding how corals will respond to current and future environmental change.

“Our study shows, on the one hand, that some Acropora palmata genotypes have been around for a long time and have survived many environmental changes, including sea-level changes, storms, sedimentation events, and so on,” says Iliana Baums, associate professor of biology at Penn State.

“This is good news because it indicates that they can be very resilient. On the other hand, the species we studied is now listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act because it has suffered such sharp population declines, indicating that there are limits to how much change even these very resilient corals can handle.”

Many people mistake corals for plants or even non-living rocks, but corals actually consist of colonies of individual invertebrate animals living symbiotically with photosynthetic algae.

Read the full story at Futurity

Population Recovery of 800-Pound Groupers Not Entirely Welcome

November 28th, 2016 — After many years of a fishing ban in the U.S. on this endangered species, the goliath grouper population is recovering as sports fishermen and charter boat operators in the Keys report that the 800-pound fish has been causing big trouble according to National Geographic.

Fished to near-extinction in its western north Atlantic habitat by 1990, the goliath grouper was listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Goliath groupers, long-lived fish that could reach 40 years old, can grow up to eight feet in length.

“There are a lot of spots we don’t go to anymore because you won’t catch anything,” said Brice Barr, a charter boat skipper and president of the Key West Charter Fishermen’s Association. “The goliaths will catch every single fish that you hook. They hear the sound of our boats and that’s the dinner bell. They know they are going to get fed.”

Groupers are also blamed for the Florida reef’s dwindling snapper and smaller grouper stock, leading fisherman to petition for the fishing ban to be lifted. “They’re not selective in what they eat,” Barr continued. “If you ask most fishermen, they say we need to get rid of the goliath. These top predators are becoming so protected, they are starting to prey more and more on the rest of the fish.”

Read the full story at Nature World News 

FLORIDA: FWC OKS hogfish changes, other measures at meeting

November 23, 2016 — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved several conservation measures that are consistent with federal rules and set a new state management boundary for hogfish at its November meeting in St. Petersburg.

“Hogfish is an economically important species that is popular with the diving and angling community,” said Chairman Brian Yablonski. “This was not an easy decision, but will help balance the species’ needs while still offering opportunities for anglers.”

Hogfish is over-fished and undergoing overfishing in the Florida Keys and east Florida. Federal law requires the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to end overfishing immediately and implement a 10-year rebuilding plan.

Because most hogfish off the Keys and east Florida are taken in Florida state waters, consistency with similar regulations pending approval in Atlantic federal waters is necessary to rebuild the stock.

Read the full story at Florida Weekly

South Atlantic States Schedule Public Hearings on Cobia Public Information Document

November 21, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Arlington, VA – The South Atlantic states of Virginia through Florida have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on the Public Information Document (PID) for the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Cobia. The details of the scheduled hearings follow.

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

December 6, 2016; 6 PM

2600 Washington Ave, 4th Floor

Newport News, Virginia 23607

Contact: Joe Cimino at 757.247.2236

 

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

December 8, 2016; 6 PM

Doubletree by Hilton Atlantic Beach

2717 West Fort Macon Road

Atlantic Beach, North Carolina

Contact:  Michelle Duval at 252.808.8011

December 15, 2016; 5 PM

Dare County Government Administration Building

Room 168

954 Marshall C. Collins Drive

Manteo, North Carolina

Contact: Michelle Duval at 252.808.8011

 

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

December 12, 2016; 6 PM

Port Royal Sound Maritime Center (adjacent to Edgar C Glenn boat ramp on the Chechessee River)

310 Okatie Highway

Okatie, South Carolina

Contact: Mel Bell at 843.953.9007

 

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

December 14, 2016; 6 PM 

New Smyrna City Hall

City Commission Chambers (accessible via the South entrance from Julia Street)

210 Sams Avenue

New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Contact: Jim Estes at 850.617.9622

As the first step in the FMP development process, the PID provides stakeholders with an opportunity to inform the Commission about changes observed in the fishery and provide feedback on potential management measures as well as any additional issues that should be included in the Draft FMP. Specifically, the PID seeks comment on the management unit; goals and objectives of the plan; commercial and recreational measures; coastwide, regional or state-by-state measures; and other issues.

This action responds to a request by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) for the Commission to consider joint or complementary management of the resource in light of the significant overage of the 2015 recreational annual catch limit (ACL) and the impact of those overages to state management. Further, during most recent years, a majority of recreational landings of cobia along the Atlantic coast occurs in state waters. The Commission considered this request in August and agreed to move forward with the development of a complementary FMP.

Widely distributed throughout the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, cobia are managed as two distinct groups – the Gulf Migratory Group and the Atlantic Migratory Group. The Atlantic Migratory Group, which range from New York to Georgia, is managed by the SAFMC. The east coast of Florida falls under the Gulf Migratory Group. The SAFMC manages the east coast of Florida sub-ACL which is set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. Recreational landings of the Atlantic Migratory Group in 2015 were approximately 1.5 million pounds, 145% over the ACL, resulting in a June 20, 2016 closure of the fishery by NOAA Fisheries. Commercial cobia landings in 2015 were 83,148 pounds, 38% over the ACL. Late landings reports in 2015 precluded a timely closure of the commercial fishery.

Concerns were expressed by some states whose recreational seasons would have been significantly reduced by federal waters closure due to the 2015 quota overage. Instead of following the federal closure, several states developed alternate management strategies to reduce economic impacts to their state fisheries which resulted in differing regulations for federal and state water fishing. An intent of the complementary Cobia FMP is to provide the states the flexibility to respond to changes in the fishery and stock that meet their state fisheries needs without impacting federal fishermen while meeting the goals and objectives of the FMP.

Stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on the PID either by attendingg state public hearings or providing written comment. The PID can be obtained at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/CobiaPID_PublicComment.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 6, 2017 and should be forwarded to Dr. Louis Daniel, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at ldaniel@asmfc.org (Subject line: Cobia PID).

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Update Newsletter; New Regulations for Atlantic Cobia, Mutton Snapper, Hogfish and MoreSA Update Newsletter; New Regulations for Atlantic Cobia, Mutton Snapper, Hogfish and More

November 21, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Managment Council:

Fall 2016 Issue Now Available

Inside this issue:

Atlantic Cobia – New measures designed to help extend 2017 season from GA to NY

Mutton Snapper and Hogfish – Measures to reduce harvest; rebuild hogfish in FL Keys/East FL approved by Council

Public Hearings and Scoping Meetings in Jan/Feb – Allocations for dolphin and yellowtail snapper; management options for red snapper; and options for Visioning amendments.

Limited Entry for Charter Vessels – Discussions continue in December

New Public Comment Process – Details for submitting comments defined as Council encourages using online comment form

December Council Meeting Agenda and more.

Read the full update at the South Atlantic Fishery Managment Council

Florida gets $32M more in oil spill money

November 16, 2016 — PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Florida will receive $32 million for four projects aimed at restoring natural resources damaged by the 2010 oil spill, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced Tuesday.

The money is part of a $370 million announcement to finance 24 grants, the foundation’s fourth and largest round to date. Louisiana will receive $245 million, Alabama $63 million, Mississippi $16 million and Texas nearly $12 million.

NFWF was awarded a total of $2.5 billion over five years in settlements and penalties from BP to repair natural resources damaged during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, which is considered one of the largest environmental disasters in history. It began April 10, 2010, and lasted 87 days, releasing millions of barrels worth of oil into the Gulf.

In Florida, the latest round of grants will go toward conserving oyster reefs, building a sea turtle necropsy facility, better assessing stocks of Florida’s reef fish, and restoring shorebird and seabird populations.

Read the full story at the Panama City News Herald

Gulf states get $370M in oil spill funds to restore wetlands

November 16, 2016 — NEW ORLEANS — Five Gulf states still seeking to restore their coastal waters and habitats after the devastating oil spill of 2010 will divvy up nearly $370 million for an array of projects that will create new wetlands, restore fisheries, aid sea turtles and more.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced the grants Tuesday for Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida as those states strive to bounce back from one of the largest environmental disasters in history.

Millions of barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days after an offshore rig fire and explosion in April 2010. British Petroleum, which was found primarily responsible for the spill, has paid billions in cleanup costs, settlements and penalties.

The funding announced Tuesday in New Orleans is the fourth and largest round of grants yet that the foundation — which oversees part of the money from criminal penalties paid by BP and other defendants — is allotting for the Gulf’s recovery. That fund is getting a total of $2.5 billion over five years for projects to repair the damage.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Rocky Mountain Telegram

Menhaden management up for debate

November 15th, 2016 — Interstate fishing managers are hosting public hearings about the future of the menhaden fishery, which they say is in good shape.

Atlantic menhaden, or or pogies, are small fish that swim in large schools and represent a key piece of the ocean’s food chain. They are also fished commercially all along the East Coast, in part because of their use as a dietary supplement and for use as bait. 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says menhaden are not being overfished and their reproduction is good. The commission is holding a series of hearings about the way it regulates the fishery.

Fishermen typically catch more than 500,000 tons of the fish every year. The fishery was worth more than $114 million in 2014. The largest fisheries are in Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The hearings are set to take place between Nov. 30 and Dec. 20 in cities from Florida to Maine. Regulators are seeking input from fishermen and other stakeholders about how the fishery is managed.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times