Saving Seafood

Fisheries scientists to address flaws in past forage fish research

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – May 2, 2016 – Dr. Ray Hilborn, a marine biologist and fisheries scientist at the University of Washington, has launched a new initiative aimed at addressing key issues surrounding forage fish science and the impacts of forage fishing on predator species. Dr. Hilborn’s Forage Fish Project is one of several scientific efforts occurring in the next few months to expand the existing body of scientific research on forage fish.

Comprised of 14 renowned fisheries scientists from around the globe, the Forage Fish Project held its inaugural conference last month in Hobart, Australia, where it identified shortcomings in the existing forage fish research. Specifically, it found several issues with work produced by the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, whose April 2012 report, “Little Fish, Big Impact,” concluded forage fish are vulnerable to overfishing, among other findings.

The Forage Fish Project, which includes two members of the Lenfest Task Force, began work to address these flaws, with the goal of producing an accompanying study later this year.

In Hobart, Project members found that most of the models used in previous forage fish studies, like the Lenfest Task Force report, left out factors such as the natural variability of forage fish stocks, and the extent of size overlap between fisheries and predators. The group also found multiple indications that the Lenfest study greatly overstated the negative impact of forage fishing on predator species.

“Most [food web] models were not built with the explicit intention of evaluating forage fish fisheries, so unsurprisingly many models did not include features of forage fish population biology or food web structure that are relevant for evaluating all fishery impacts,” according to minutes from the Hobart meeting.

Two upcoming fishery management workshops will also evaluate forage species on the East and West Coasts of the U.S., the first organized by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The workshop, which will be held in La Jolla, Calif., from May 2-5, will focus on how to improve stock assessment methods for northern anchovy and other coastal pelagic species. Attendees will evaluate model-based assessment approaches based on routinely assessed pelagic species from around the world, consider non-assessment approaches to estimate fish stocks, and develop recommendations for how the SWFSC should evaluate coastal pelagic fish stocks in the future.

A similar forage fish workshop will be held May 16-17 in Portland, Maine. This workshop will focus on Atlantic herring, with the goal of establishing a rule to specify its acceptable biological catch (ABC), the recommended catch level for any given fish species. An effective ABC rule will consider the role of Atlantic herring in the ecosystem, stabilize the fishery at a level that will achieve optimum yield, and address localized depletion in inshore waters.

Ultimately, these various forage fish workshops and projects are striving to use the best available science to update previous research and determine sound management practices for forage species.

Read the full minutes from the Forage Fish Project conference in Hobart, Australia

Learn more about the upcoming coastal pelagic species workshop in La Jolla, Calif.

Learn more about the upcoming Atlantic herring workshop in Portland, Maine

Federal regulators: Don’t even think about fishing for these forage species

April 7, 2016 — No one’s fishing in large numbers for lanternfish, bristlemouth, pelagic squid or a handful of other forage-fish species targeted for protection in California by federal regulators this week.

And no one will be fishing for them anytime soon, under the new rule, which has been the subject of debate among fishers and environmentalists for more than five years. It aims to proactively protect the Pacific Ocean ecosystem by banning commercial fishing of round and thread herring, Pacific saury and sand lance, and certain smelts across the West Coast that are preferred meals of predators commonly fished here.

“The fishery management council wasn’t interested in being surprised by a potential new fishery,” said Yvonne deReynier, a NOAA spokeswoman. “Because of this rule, now people can’t just decide they want to go fishing without checking in and getting permission from fishery management. This is a big-picture concern of our council. The council wants to ensure there are going to be enough prey for mid- and higher-level trophic species that feed on these.”

Before the rule was finalized Monday, new forage-fish commercial fisheries could start relatively easily. Now they can’t begin without extensive study, regulation and permission by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to ensure they’re not overfished or otherwise harmed.

Read the full story at The Long Beach Press-Telegram

Feds make West Coast ban on new forage fisheries official

April 5, 2016 — SEATTLE — Federal officials finalized rules Monday for a West Coast ban on catching forage fish, the small fish that larger species, seabirds and marine mammals depend on for food.

The ban on new commercial fisheries will protect little schooling fish that play a critical role in the marine food web but that are not actively fished or managed, the National Marine Fisheries Service said. It marks the first action under a new approach to fisheries management that considers how one species affects others in the ecosystem.

The ban does not affect existing fisheries for forage fish, such as sardines and anchovies. It covers species including Pacific sand lance, silversides and certain varieties of herring, smelt and squid. The restrictions apply to federal waters from 3 to 200 miles off Washington, Oregon and California, and do not affect fishing authorized by tribes.

Fishermen generally do not target forage fish in federal waters, and no West Coast fishing boats are known to be considering efforts do so.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Oregonian

Counting fish from the air

March 31, 2016 — This week, I was reminded of the outstanding Atlantic menhaden management program we have in Narragansett Bay. Monday night, George Purmont, a spotter pilot commissioned by the Marine Fisheries Division of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), spoke about his work of counting schools of Atlantic menhaden (pogies) from the air in Narragansett Bay.

At a R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association meeting, Purmont said, “When the amount of Atlantic menhaden in the Bay goes above the threshold, the Bay is open to commercial harvesting. When it falls below the threshold, the Bay is closed to Atlantic menhaden fishing.”

The program is one of the most sophisticated and effective programs of its type in the nation. Purmont said, “Flights once or twice a week give fish managers at DEM good information to manage the fishery.” The program works well for recreational fishermen to protect this forage fish, as well as for the commercial fishery, allowing the Bay to be fished when there is an abundance of fish in the Bay.

Read the full story at The Warwick Beacon

MAFMC Meeting, February 9-11 in New Bern, North Carolina

January 21, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

 

Double Tree by Hilton New Bern

100 Middle Street

New Bern, NC 28560

Telephone 252-638-3585

Webinar:  

For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/february2016/

Briefing Materials:

Briefing materials will be posted on the February 2016 Meeting page as they become available.

Agenda

Tuesday, February 9th

9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Executive Committee – CLOSED SESSION

  • SSC membership and process

10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Collaborative Research Committee

  • Review and discuss preliminary alternatives for long-term collaborative research

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. Council convenes

1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Unmanaged Forage Fish

  • Consider comments from the Fishery Management Action Team, Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel, and Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Committee meetings on list of species, management alternatives, and other aspects of the amendment
  • Review and approve public hearing document

4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. NROC Party/Charter Electronic Reporting Project

George Lapointe

Wednesday, February 10th

9:00 a.m. Council convenes

9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management

  • Review Interactions White Paper Discuss EAFM Guidance Document (First Draft)

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Fisheries Dependent Data Project

Jen Anderson – GARFO

12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. Ricks E Savage Award

12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Law Enforcement Report

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Scup Gear Restricted Areas – Framework Meeting 2

  • Review AP input
  • Review analysis of impacts
  • Select final alternative

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Omnibus Industry Funded Monitoring Amendment

  • Select preferred alternatives for standard cost responsibilities, framework provisions for IFM programs, service provider requirements, a prioritization process to allocate federal funding, and monitoring set-asides

Thursday, February 11th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Marine Recreational Information Program

  • Update on implementation activities

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Naming the Deep Sea Coral Protection Areas

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Business Session

  • Organization Reports 
  • Liaison Reports 
  • Executive Director’s Report
  • Science Report
  • Committee Reports
  • Continuing and New Business 

View a PDF of the Agenda 

Bay anchovies appear to be more important than menhaden in predators’ diets

December 7, 2015 — The Chesapeake Bay may be the best-studied estuary in the world, but a group of scientists attending a recent workshop were surprised about how little they knew about what predatory fish eat.

After all, menhaden — dubbed by some as the “most important fish in the sea” would also be the “most important” fish in the Bay, right?

Apparently not. That honor, were one species to be singled out, might belong to the tiny bay anchovy — a fish that rarely grows more than 3–4 inches in length and typically doesn’t live longer than a year.

“They’re the most abundant fish in the Bay,” said Ed Houde, a fisheries scientist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who helped organize the workshop. “They’re really important in the Bay’s food web.”

An analysis of 12 years of Baywide diet information for five major predators prepared for the workshop found that bay anchovy was a significant portion of the diet for four of those species. Menhaden was important for only one, striped bass, and even for them, bay anchovy were more important.

“Menhaden came out not as high on the list as people thought it was going to be,” Houde said. “It was an important prey, but it certainly wasn’t in the top three or four.”

Even more significantly, the analysis showed that the Bay’s food web is less of a fish-eat-fish world than popularly thought, even among many scientists. A host of unheralded species, from worms to clams to crustaceans, are major food sources for the Chesapeake’s predatory fish.

Read the full story at Bay Journal

 

Aquaculture Exchange: Andrew Jackson, IFFO

November 12, 2015 — Despite great advances in aquafeed formulations aimed at lowering aquaculture’s dependence on wild-capture fishery resources, there is little doubt that fishmeal and fish oil still play a crucial role in the global seafood supply. The highly nutritious marine ingredients are chief components in the production of the world’s animal protein supply — some 20 percent of the global fishmeal supply goes to pig farmers, while high-quality fish oil remains in strong demand for direct human consumption as well.

The shape of the world’s reduction fisheries, therefore, has never been more important. Andrew Jackson, technical director at IFFO (The Marine Ingredients Organisation), recently spoke with the Advocate about the latest in reduction fisheries, the ever-increasing part that processing byproducts has to play and why fishmeal is so hard to replace, even for fish considered to be largely herbivorous.

Jackson announced earlier this year that he would step down from his post as technical director at the end of 2015, after nearly a decade of service. He will, however, take up the reins as chairman of the IFFO RS (Responsible Supply Certification Program) independent standards board. “It is my hope and intention to keep serving,” he said of his upcoming two-year appointment.

WRIGHT: What is the difference between “mining” a resource like a forage or reduction fishery and “cropping” it?

JACKSON: People often associate fishing with removing a resource as you would with mining. Like with coal, once it’s taken out of the ground, that’s it, unless you’ve got several million years to wait. You’re not going to get anything back; it’s a one-use resource. You can look at fisheries as, we’ve got this valuable thing, not in the ground but swimming around in the sea, and we can go out there, and we can take it out and we call sell it all and it’s worth this much. You can look at it like that.

But how much better to crop it, as you would a sustainably managed forest. You take it out at a rate at which it can be replenished by nature. That’s what the best management does. And that is when you become truly sustainable. In my book, sustainable means you can keep doing the same thing over and over again, year after year, and it’s always there. That’s what we should be looking to do, in any fishery, whether we’re taking it out for direct or indirect human consumption.

Read the full story at The Advocate

December 7-10 MAFMC Meeting in Annapolis, Maryland

November 18, 2015 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Monday, December 7, 2015 – Thursday, December 10, 2015

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s December 2015 meeting to be held in Annapolis, Maryland on December 7 – 10, 2015. 

  • On Monday, December 7, the meeting will be held at the O’Callaghan Annapolis Hotel (174 West St., Annapolis, MD: telephone 410-263-7700). 
  • On Tuesday, December 8 through Thursday, December 10, the meeting will be held at the Westin Annapolis (100 Westgate Circle, Annapolis, MD: telephone 410-972-4300). 

Briefing Materials: Additional details and briefing materials will be posted on the December 2015 Council Meeting page.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, go to http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/december2015/

Agenda

Monday, December 7

O’Callaghan Annapolis Hotel

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  Executive Committee (CLOSED)

  • Ricks E Savage Award nominees and other awards

10:00 a.m.  Council Convenes

 

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Comprehensive 5-year Research Priority Plan

  • Review and approve plan

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  Non-Fishing Activities that Impact Fish Habitat

  • Review and approve policies

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Lunch

 

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.  Golden Tilefish Framework 2 – Meeting 1

 

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  Blueline Tilefish Alternatives

  • Review public hearing document

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.  Spiny Dogfish Committee Meeting as a Committee of the Whole

  • Review findings from SSC meeting
  • Adjust specification recommendations as appropriate

 

Tuesday, December 8

Westin Annapolis

 

8:30 a.m.  Council Convenes

 

8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.  Unmanaged Forage – The Pacific Council Experience, Rich Lincoln

 

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Unmanaged Forage Species Amendment

  • Review and approve list of species for inclusion in the public hearing document
  • Review and approve management alternatives for NEPA analysis and public hearing document

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.  Scup GRA Framework – Meeting 1

  • Discuss and adopt alternatives

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.  Lunch

 

1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.  Summer Flounder Goals and Objectives Workshop, Fisheries Forum

  • Review feedback from Fisheries Forum project
  • Discuss priorities for revised FMP goals and objectives
  • Identify draft goals and objectives for Summer Flounder Amendment

Wednesday, December 9

Westin Annapolis

 

9:00 a.m.  Demersal Committee Meeting as a Committee of the Whole with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Boards

 

9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  2016 Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Commercial Management Measures

  • Review recommendations from the Monitoring and Technical Committees
  • Recommend changes to commercial management measures if appropriate

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  Summer Flounder 2016 Recreational Management Measures

  • ASMFC Addendum for summer flounder (Board Action)
  • Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations for 2016
  • Adopt recommendations for 2016 management measures

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Lunch

 

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.  Summer Flounder Recreational Management Measures (continued)

 

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.  Summer Flounder Amendment

  • Discuss timeline and update on progress

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  Black Sea Bass 2016 Recreational Management Measures

  • ASMFC Addendum for black sea bass (Board Action)
  • Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations for 2016
  • Adopt recommendations for 2016 management measures

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.  Scup 2016 Recreational Management Measures

  • Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations for 2016
  • Adopt recommendations for 2016 management measures

 

Thursday, December 10

Westin Annapolis

 

8:00 a.m.  Council Convenes

 

8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.  GARFO Recreational Implementation Plan, Mike Pentony

 

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.  NEFSC Strategic Plan, Bill Karp

 

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.  2016 Implementation Plan

  • Review and approve Implementation Plan

10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Business Session

  • Organization Reports
    • NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
    • NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
    • NOAA Office of General Counsel
    • NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
    • U.S. Coast Guard
    • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Liaison Reports
    • New England Council
    • South Atlantic Council
    • Regional Planning Body
  • Executive Director’s Report, Chris Moore
    • Review and approve change to SOPPs
  • Science Report, Rich Seagraves
  • Committee Reports
    • Executive Committee
    • Collaborative Research Committee
    • River Herring/Shad Committee
  • Continuing and New Business

View a PDF of the Agenda