Saving Seafood

Rep. Jones, others want red snapper fishery to reopen

June 20, 2016 — More than a dozen congressmen, including U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, wants federal fisheries regulators to reconsider a decision to close the South Atlantic red snapper fishery.

The representatives said data produced by a Florida research institution shows the South Atlantic red snapper stock is healthier than what federal data indicates so the fishery should be reopened to commercial and recreational fishing.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries program, announced the South Atlantic red snapper season is closed this year because the total number of red snapper removed from the population in 2015 exceeded the allowable level, according to the NOAA Fisheries website.

Read the full story at the Daily Reflector

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Addresses Management Options for Red Snapper

June 19, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council listened intently as a draft list of management options for red snapper was presented for consideration during their meeting this week in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The options include a comprehensive adaptive management approach that may allow harvest of red snapper as the stock continues to rebuild. The red snapper fishery remains closed for the second year in a row in federal waters after NOAA Fisheries estimated the total number of fish removed in 2015 exceeded the annual catch limit of 114,000 fish by more than double. The majority of the total removals, an estimated 276,729 fish, are attributed to dead discards within the private recreational fishery as fishermen encounter more red snapper while targeting other species. Scientists estimate that approximately 40% of red snapper that are released do not survive.

“No one wants to continue to see the large numbers of red snapper being discarded while this valuable fishery remains closed to harvest,” said Council Chair Dr. Michelle Duval. “Stakeholders have made it clear that managers must consider alternative management options and we agree. The Council must also balance the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act as the stock recovers.” The proposed comprehensive management approach includes options to reduce discards by establishing a federal private recreational snapper grouper fishing season, allowing a limited recreational bag limit for red snapper during the season, use of descending devices and venting tools, changes to size limits, and limiting the number of hooks allowed. The approach also includes requirements for a federal recreational snapper grouper stamp. The Council voted to address options for a limited entry program for the for-hire sector in a separate amendment. There are also recommendations for improving data collection for the fishery that include electronic reporting using logbooks for private recreational fishermen, increased biological sampling, discard monitoring using cooperative research and citizen science projects, tagging programs, and other methods. “Many of the ideas included in this approach are similar to those heard during our port meetings as part of the Visioning process for the snapper grouper fishery,” said Dr. Duval. The Council agreed to move forward with development of a scoping document for further review during their September 2016 meeting.

Council members also had many questions regarding the data used for the latest red snapper stock assessment and the determination by their Scientific and Statistical Committee that the stock remains overfished and undergoing overfishing, as the number of dead discards increases. “The fact that the stock is showing a strong biomass and recovering age structure is encouraging,” said Dr. Luiz Barbieri, senior research scientist with the Florida Marine Research Institute and member of the committee. Red snapper are long-lived, with some fish living up to 50 years, and the stock assessment shows there are still not enough older fish needed for a healthy stock due to overfishing for the past few decades. Dr. Barbieri acknowledged the uncertainty associated with the stock assessment and data available since the red snapper fishery was initially closed in 2010 with subsequent mini recreational seasons in 2012, 2013 and again in 2014. The Council requested the Scientific and Statistical Committee reexamine the assessment and the stock status determination when it meets again in October. The Scientific and Statistical Committee will also review the Council’s proposed changes to stock reference points as noted in the adaptive management approach.

Management Changes for Atlantic Cobia and Mutton Snapper Approved for Public Hearings  

The Council approved management actions and alternatives for Atlantic cobia to take out to public hearings scheduled for August 2016. The measures, as outlined in draft Framework Amendment 4 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery Management Plan would reduce harvest of cobia in federal waters along the Atlantic coast from Georgia to New York. The new measures are designed to help ensure consistent and stable fishing opportunities for all participants in the fishery. The recreational fishery in federal waters will close on June 20, 2016 when the annual catch limit is projected to be met. The early closure for 2016 was required due to the overage of recreational harvest of Atlantic cobia in 2015 and the accountability measure that requires a shortened season the subsequent year. The 2016 recreational closure of the seasonal fishery occurs during the peak fishing season in North Carolina and Virginia. The Council reviewed the numerous written and public comments before choosing alternatives for public hearings. Actions include reducing the recreational bag limit with a preferred alternative to reduce the daily bag limit from 2 per person/day to 1 fish per person/day with a vessel limit of 3 fish/per day, modifying the recreational fishing year with a preferred alternative for the year to begin May 1st, modifying the current accountability measure, and changes to the commercial trip limit.

The Council also approved measures for mutton snapper, a popular species found primarily in South Florida and the Florida Keys. Stakeholders have expressed concerns about fishing pressure that occurs each spring as mutton snapper gather to spawn. Snapper Grouper Amendment 41 includes actions to modify the annual catch limit based on the most recent stock assessment for mutton snapper, reduce the current bag limit of 10 fish per person/day with a preferred alternative of 3 fish per person/day year round, establish a commercial trip limit with the preferred alternative of 300 pounds, and modify the minimum size limit, with the Council’s preferred alternative to increase the size limit from 16 to 18 inches total length. Public hearings are scheduled for August. Details are available from the Council’s website at http://safmc.net/meetings/public-hearing-and-scoping-meeting-schedule.

Other Business

The Council also discussed options for establishing a limited entry program for the federally permitted for-hire sector (Snapper Grouper, Dolphin/Wahoo and Coastal Migratory Pelagic federal permits). The Council approved a control date of June 15, 2016 for the open access charter vessel/headboat permits. The control date is designed to alert fishermen that the Council may use that date for making future management decisions. The Council approved development of an amendment to establish a for-hire limited entry program.

NOAA Fishery Bulletin: NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Hogfish in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Region

June 20, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement for Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 37).

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to manage hogfish in the South Atlantic as two populations: Georgia through North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida. A population assessment determined that the Florida Keys/East Florida population is undergoing overfishing and is overfished and, therefore, in need of a rebuilding plan. The overfishing and overfished status of the Georgia/North Carolina population is unknown.

The draft environmental impact statement for Amendment 37 analyzes a range of alternatives for actions, which include:

  • Modifying the management unit for hogfish.
  • Establishing a rebuilding plan for the Florida Keys/East Florida population to increase hogfish biomass to sustainable levels.
  • Specifying commercial and recreational annual catch limits and accountability measures for the Georgia/North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida populations of hogfish.
  • Modifying or establishing fishing regulations for both populations of hogfish, including minimum size limits, commercial trip limits, recreational bag limits, and a recreational fishing season.

For more information, please see the frequently asked questions section at:

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.html

Request for Comments

The comment period on this draft environmental impact statement ends on August 1, 2016. You may obtain electronic copies of the draft amendment and environmental impact statement from the NOAA Fisheries Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.htmlor the e-Rulemaking Portal (see Addresses section).

Addresses

You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068, by either of the following methods:

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

  1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068.
  2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
  3. Enter or attach your comments.

MAIL: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

INSTRUCTIONS: Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Could Seismic Tests Harm Fish?

June 16, 2016 — Fish might not have fancy communication equipment like whales and dolphins, but they do have their specialized ways of navigating through an ocean filled with predators and mobile food sources. And these honed adaptive responses could potentially be harmed by seismic air guns.

But as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management continues to review the effects of proposed seismic surveys on marine mammals in the Atlantic, an environmental advocacy group is putting out alarms that the tests’ potentially ill effect on fish will be glossed over in the review process that is close to completion.

“There are fisheries impacts that are not very well understood, and now is the time to do these reviews,” said Zachary Lees, ocean and coastal policy attorney for Clean Ocean Action, a New Jersey-based nonprofit group.

Eight companies are currently seeking to conduct seismic surveys in areas off the southern Atlantic coast between Delaware and Florida to look for oil and natural gas resources. Although oil leases in the Atlantic have been canceled until at least 2023, the federal government is moving forward with mapping the sea floor for hydrocarbon deposits.

After approving a final programmatic environmental impact statement, or PEIS, on seismic surveys in 2014, BOEM was made aware earlier this year of new information on protected marine mammals that triggered additional review.

Read the full story at CoastalReview.com

Loggerhead sea turtles aid in NOAA research to protect the species

June 16, 2016 — PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Paris Janos visited Ben Higgins from the Galveston National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Lab on Wednesday Morning. Higgins is conducting research on Panama City Beach this month to help protect sea turtles.

Researchers are working on Turtle Excluder Devices, or TED’s.

“Tens of thousands of sea turtles were drowning each year in shrimp trawls before the Turtle Excluder Device [TED] was invented and made mandatory in 1989,” Higgins told Paris. “Each year we look at new and improved ted designs with the aim of making sure the very best technology is being used by the fisheries to save sea turtles.”

NOAA’s Panama City Beach lab has 220 loggerhead sea turtles on site, including 160 two-year-old and 60 yearlings.

Read the full story at ABC Panama City

CFA Responds to Approval of H.R. 3094 Today in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee

June 15, 2016 — The following was released by the Charter Fisherman’s Association:

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Earlier today the House Natural Resources committee in Congress approved H.R. 3094 by Rep. Garret Graves (R-La) to transfer management of the private, charter for-hire and commercial components of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fisheries away from the federal government to a newly created five-person committee made up of the five Gulf state fishery directors. The CFA has been adamantly opposed to this concept since its inception last year and one of our members (Captain Gary Jarvis) testified against the bill in a hearing on the bill in October. The following statements are in reaction to this morning’s vote.

“As federally permitted charter captains, we are the access point for millions of Americans who want to go offshore but don’t own a big boat,” said Captain Shane Cantrell from Galveston, TX. “We have worked constructively with NOAA to develop management solutions for our industry to improve accountability, increase sustainability and deliver flexibility for our customers and most of the Gulf States have opposed us every step of the way. Congress should be advised that transferring authority over this fishery will result in the Gulf of Mexico being reserved for only wealthy boat owners in short order.”

“I am disappointed to see this dangerous piece of legislation move out of the Natural Resources committee because our industry has been near unanimous in saying that we want to stay under federal management. The private recreational system is what is broken and those anglers absolutely deserve relief, but you don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. If the states want to manage millions of private anglers that is fine, but there are 1,200 of us and we operate exclusively in federal waters and we don’t want any part of that.” ~ Capt. Gary Jarvis from Destin, FL.

“In addition to turning their backs on years of progress in rebuilding this fishery, they are passing down a huge unfunded mandate to my home state of Louisiana. After the multi-billion dollar mess that the previous Governor left us, I don’t know how they expect us to pay for the management of another 191 miles offshore!”  ~ Capt. Steve Tomeny from Fourchon, LA. 

Council to consider loosening red snapper fishing rules

June 15, 2016 — COCOA BEACH, Fla. — A regional fish management panel meets this week to consider — among other things — whether to allow more time for fishermen to bag a red snapper.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries closed the red snapper fishery on Jan. 4, 2010, to protect the species from fishing pressure. Fishery managers said the ban was necessary because the species had been “overfished.”

The council in recent years had reopened the fishery for short seasons lasting only a few days, after new scientific information projected red snapper could continue to grow in numbers, even with some allowable catch.

Consideration of allowing up to a six-month red snapper fishing season — possibly by 2018 — will come up at around 1:30 p.m. at the Wednesday, June 15 council meeting, held at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, 1550 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach.

Read the full story at Florida Today

Florida lionfish: King of the ocean no more?

June 15, 2016 — Marc Gralnick’s eyes dart toward the beastly fish in the Whole Foods Market display case.

“Wild-looking thing, isn’t it?” he said.

Three whole lionfish, striped and menacing-looking, lay bulbous-eyed on ice like a dare. Gralnick isn’t scared. He hasn’t stopped thinking about eating lionfish since he had it at a Miami restaurant recently.

“I’m totally into it,” he said. “I loved it. I would have ordered more if it were socially appropriate for one person to order two entrees.”

Gralnick, who lives in Midtown, came to the South Beach store shopping for fresh vegetables and fish for him and his girlfriend. But he’s coming home with an added surprise.

Starting this month, all 26 Whole Foods Markets in Florida will carry lionfish. They are the first national retailer to carry this invasive fish, as prized for its rich flavor as it is reviled for how quickly this one-time aquarium novelty has overtaken Florida’s coasts.

Thanks to a series of venomous spines along its back, lionfish has no natural predators in our waters. It devours any and all kinds of native sea life. And it is often spit up by everything from giant grouper to nurse sharks. Those spines not only ward off potential enemies, they’ve also deterred diners and home cooks. Until now.

Man — thanks to men like Gralnick — is putting itself back on top of the food chain.

Read the full story at the Bradenton Herald

Southeastern Fisheries Association: Keep Federal Management of Red Snapper

June 14, 2016 — The following opinion piece was released by Southeastern Fisheries Association Executive Director Bob Jones, concerning H.R. 3094, the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act. The bill “amend[s] the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to transfer to States the authority to manage red snapper fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.” The bill will be subject to full committee markup by the House Natural Resources Committee tomorrow, June 15:

HR 3094 will scuttle, by action and precedence, the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). We believe the MSA has done much to make US fishery resources sustainable.

Before there was a federal fishery management zone, commercial fishermen brought their issues before the state legislatures. They were assured fair hearings by legislative committees. Then some state fish commissions, in Florida for example, assumed the management without legislative oversight. The Florida Marine Fisheries Commission did come under the Governor and SIX elected Cabinet Officers for a few years where fishery issues were fully discussed. Then an autonomous Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission was established so the commercial fishermen came under a SEVEN person group. In Florida we started out under a 160 member legislature, then down to a SEVEN member commission and now HR 3094 places us and a billion dollar seafood industry under the whims of THREE people with no federal oversight for managing federal resources. Is any other food producing industry subject to THREE unelected people in control of their livelihood?

When the MSA was enacted it established management of Gulf red snapper under a SEVENTEEN person fisheries council composed of all state members except one. The council operates under a mandated set of National Standards. For the most part it operates under the rule of law.

HR 3094 changes the rule of law to the rule of man by creating a FIVE member authority with no elected official oversight. On a FIVE member authority THREE votes is a majority.

“(502 (a) (1) of HR 3094 (says:) Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority that consists of the principal fisheries manager of each of the Gulf coastal States.“

“{c) (i) of HR 3094 (says:) any recommendation by the GSRSMA to reduce quota apportioned to the commercial sector by more than 10 percent shall be reviewed and approved by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.”

This means the ‘Gulf States authority’ will reallocate 9.99% of the red snapper each year from the commercial harvesting sector to the anglers. This Texas/Louisiana CCA inspired ‘authority’ will allocate all the red snapper for themselves in about a decade. That is the true goal of this bill. 

HR 3094 was already killed when it was proposed as an amendment to the MSA legislation. It has “risen from the ashes” to once more attempt to reward the only fishing sector without accountability. 

HR 3094 needs to be killed just as it was at full committee earlier in the Congress.

View a PDF version here

Red snapper confusion has some seeing red

June 10, 2016 — Next week, expect to hear more talk about confounding math methods than the first time our schoolchildren introduced us adults to Common Core. Then expect to hear that many anglers turned as red in the face as the scales on the red snapper they will again be told they can’t keep when fishing in federal waters.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet in Cocoa Beach for week-long meetings to discuss management of some of the more than 100 species of important food fish and popular game fish it is responsible for handling.

The bulk of the focus during next week’s meetings will be on the red snapper, a fish that is very important to three sectors with very different goals. Red snapper grow large, fight hard, fetch a good price at the market, and have a critical role in the ecosystem of the coral reefs located on the sea floor from North Carolina to Florida’s Treasure Coast.

Commercial fishermen working out of ports from Sebastian and Port Canaveral to the Outer Banks would love to target red snapper year round. Charter boat operators in that same zone are stinging ever since the National Marine Fisheries Service put a halt to red snapper harvest in 2010. Recreational anglers who fish a day or two on the weekend aren’t allowed to take any home for dinner, either.

But next week, the entire world that revolves around the red snapper will have a chance to read and hear the latest data on this prized and valuable resource. The long-awaited red snapper stock assessment was completed in April and peer reviewed in May, so it will be debuted to the world Tuesday and Wednesday.

Read the full story at TC Palm