Saving Seafood

Doreen Leggett: Open up scallopers’ fishing grounds

November 10, 2017 — There is $300 million worth of mature scallops in waters off the Cape that virtually everyone agrees should be harvested. But that potential economic boon to local fishermen may never materialize.

“Before long, they are just going to die,” said Beau Gribbin, a Provincetown scalloper, explaining that the shellfish only live for about 10 years.

Gribbin was in Washington, D.C. last month working to make sure that doesn’t happen. He joined fellow scalloper Tom Reilly from Chatham, and staff from the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, advocating for approval of the so-called Omnibus Habitat Amendment.

The amendment would open up several areas that have been closed to scallopers, including Area 1, part of George’s Bank, and the nearby Nantucket Lighship area, while also creating stronger protections for other crucial areas where groundfish spawn. (These areas were closed in 1994 to protect essential fish habitat.)

He said his arguments were well received on Capitol Hill, but it is still unclear what will happen. Gribbin is already worrying about the unpalatable alternative of having to travel down South next season to make sure his business remains solvent.

In years past, he and many of the two dozen or so scallop captains across the Cape have worked out of Delaware and Maryland to make their quotas. Scallopers have invested greatly in the fishery; they own quota and not using it would mean payments lost and increasing debt.

Read the full story at the Harwich Wicked Local 

 

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment

November 6, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are seeking public comment on an action that would:

  • Revise the essential fish habitat designations for all New England Fishery Management Council-managed species and life stages;
  • Add Habitat Areas of Particular Concern to highlight especially important habitat areas, including 16 canyons and two seamounts;
  • Revise the spatial management system within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the southern New England area to better align with scientific advice on how and where to protect essential fish habitat while balancing the economic needs of the fishing industry;
  • Establish two Dedicated Habitat Research Areas;
  • Revise or implement seasonal spawning protection measures; and
  • Add a system for reviewing and updating the proposed measures.

Read the proposed rule and supplemental documents as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

The comment period is open through December 5.

To learn more about NOAA visit their site here.

 

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2

October 6, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we published a Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.

We are seeking public comment on an action that would:

  • Revise the essential fish habitat designations for all New England Fishery Management Council-managed species and life stages;
  • Add Habitat Areas of Particular Concern to highlight especially important habitat areas;
  • Revise the spatial management system within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the southern New England area;
  • Establish two Dedicated Habitat Research Areas;
  • Revise or implement seasonal spawning protection measures; and
  • Add system for reviewing and updating the proposed measures.

Read the Notice as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

The comment period is open through December 5, 2017.

NE Council Receives 2017 Scallop Survey Overview and Progress Report on 2018 Management Measures in Framework 29

October 2, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its late-September meeting in Gloucester, MA, the New England Fishery Management Council received a comprehensive overview of the “very successful” 2017 scallop survey season. The Council then reviewed the range of measures under development for Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. These measures, once fully developed and approved, will apply to the 2018 scallop fishing year, which will begin on April 1 instead of March 1 as in previous years.

Five separate groups contributed to the 2017 scallop surveys:

  • The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) conducted dredge surveys in the Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship Area, and Closed Area II.
  • UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) conducted intensive surveys of Closed Area I, Closed Area II, and the Elephant Trunk Area, along with broadscale surveys of Georges Bank and the Mid-Atlantic and a drop camera survey of Stellwagen Bank in the Gulf of Maine.
  • The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), in partnership with Lund’s Fisheries, conducted a Habitat Camera Mapping System (HabCam) version 5 (v5) survey of the Northern Edge on Georges Bank.
  • Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) conducted a HabCam v3 survey of the Nantucket Lightship Area, as well as a HabCam v3 survey on Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge in the Gulf of Maine, along with six dredge tows on Stellwagen. And,
  • The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) conducted a dredge survey on Georges Bank and a HabCam v4 survey of the Mid-Atlantic and Georges Bank.

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council

Fishing plan with Canada gives US more cod, less haddock

September 29, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — American fishermen may soon have less access to haddock and slightly more access to cod in a key fishing area, following an agreement between U.S. fishing regulators and Canada.

The U.S. shares the total allowable catch for eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock with Canada. The bank is a piece of ocean located east of New England and south of Nova Scotia.

The New England Fishery Management Council accepted a 2018 catch share plan on Wednesday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Herald

New England Council Endorses 2018 U.S./Canada TACs; Receives Progress Report on Groundfish Framework 57, Monitoring Amendment

September 28, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today accepted 2018 total allowable catches (TACs) for three groundfish stocks on Georges Bank (GB) that the U.S. shares with Canada – Eastern GB cod, Eastern GB haddock, and GB yellowtail flounder. The TACs were recommended by the U.S./Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) based on advice from the U.S./Canada Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC). The U.S. has members on both the TMGC and the TRAC.

The TACs will be included in Framework Adjustment 57 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which is still under development. The National Marine Fisheries Service must approve the TACs before they are implemented.

Proposed Fishing Year 2018 U.S./Canada TACs in Metric Tons (mt)

Eastern GB Cod

Eastern GB Haddock

GB Yellowtail Flounder

Total Shared TAC

951

40,000

300

U.S. TAC

257

15,600

213

Canada TAC

694

24,400

87

The allocation shares for 2018 are based on the following formula: historical catches weighted 10%; and resource distribution based on trawl surveys weighted 90%.

The TACs reflect the following changes from 2017 levels for U.S. quotas:

  • Eastern Georges Bank Cod: 111 mt increase
  • Eastern Georges Bank Haddock: 13,900 mt decrease
  • Eastern Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder: 6 mt increase

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council

NOAA Shipyard Update: NEFSC Fall Research Cruises Will Continue

September 22, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The annual NEFSC Fall Bottom Trawl Survey will be conducted on the NOAA Ship Pisces, which is a fishery survey research vessel similar to the Bigelow. Only Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine will be surveyed. The two most southerly areas, the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England have been dropped.

If all goes smoothly in preparing the Pisces to support the survey, October 16 is the target start date carrying on through November 20.

Fishing gear will be moved from the Bigelow onto the Pisces, and some devices will be installed for monitoring trawl performance while the gear is fishing. Supplies and equipment needed for the survey are already aboard the Bigelow, and will be transferred to the Pisces. The modifications to Pisces are underway.

In a typical year, the Fall Bottom Trawl Survey occupies an average of 377 stations across the Northeast Continental Shelf from the Cape Hatteras to the northern Gulf of Maine in four segments, or legs. Each leg covers a different area beginning in the south and ending in the north.

The number of stations in the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine survey areas will be similar to past years. Fewer data will be collected at each station because Pisces has less fish handling capacity than the Bigelow. However, samples critical for stock assessments will be collected, including lengths, weights, and hard parts used for aging fish (usually scales and ear bones). Two other NEFSC research cruises planned for this fall were also delayed by the Bigelow repair, and will be conducted on other ships.

The first leg of the Fall Ecosystem Monitoring cruise has been moved to the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, an oceanographic research vessel. This cruise collects oceanographic data and plankton samples and has been conducted from the Gunter in the past. There is no firm plan for Leg 2 of this cruise, but the Bigelow is an option if it is ready as scheduled. A beaked whale sighting survey was moved onto a chartered vessel, the R/V Sharp, operated by the University of Delaware, and has been completed with fewer objectives than originally planned.

Meanwhile, repairs continue on schedule for the NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow. The ship is expected back in service in early November 2017.

Read this update on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center website.

Changes to cod, haddock, flounder quotas eyed in New England

September 18, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal fishing regulators are planning a host of changes to the quota limits of several important New England fish, including cod.

New England fishermen search for cod in two key fishing areas, Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine. Regulators have enacted a series of cutbacks to the cod quota in those areas in recent years as cod stocks have dwindled.

This year, regulators want to trim the Georges Bank cod quota by 13 percent and keep Gulf of Maine’s quota the same.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1

Don Cuddy: Stokesbury’s science continues to yield scallops for SouthCoast

September 5, 2017 — It’s been a long and busy summer for Kevin Stokesbury and his team of scallop researchers at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology. But a lot of sea time, following many months of preparation, has paid off in a big way. “We surveyed the entire footprint of the scallop resource from Virginia all the way up to the Hague Line,” Kevin told me. “That’s 70,000 kilometers square, a huge area. We’re all really jazzed.”

The data was gathered using the system developed by Kevin in the 90′s, dropping underwater cameras mounted on a steel pyramid to the sea bed from the deck of a commercial scalloper. The work began at the end of April and finished in mid-July.

“We sampled over three thousand stations and you can multiply that by four drops at each location. Then multiply that by three because there are three cameras. So that’s a huge amount of information.”

As any fisherman can tell you, SMAST has been doing groundbreaking industry-based research for more than two decades. The drop-camera was pioneered to count scallops on Georges Bank in 1999 and proved a game changer that rescued what was then an ailing industry.

The resulting pictures provided independent evidence that what fishermen had been saying was correct. There were plenty of scallops out there awaiting harvest in spite of what the government survey would have everyone believe.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fate of First Marine National Monument May Be Decided in Court

August 28, 2017 — The future of the first Atlantic marine national monument will likely be decided in court. A lawsuit that challenges the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument remains on hold, as fishermen’s groups wait to hear specific recommendations from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Zinke announced this week he would not recommend eliminating any national monuments, but he would propose some changes. Supporters of the marine monument off of Cape Cod say if any changes go through, they’ll mount a legal challenge.

The creation of the 5,000 square-mile monument on the edge of Georges Bank this past September closed the area to commercial fishing. Soon after, five fishing organizations across New England filed a lawsuit. The attorney who represents them, Jonathan Wood of the Pacific Legal Foundation, says the suit was put on hold while the monuments were under review.

“It remains on hold, and I suppose until we know what the president is going to do, it will stay on hold,” Wood says.

The lawsuit challenges the authority that President Obama used when he created the monument. Wood says federal law only allows presidents to designate monuments on land owned or controlled by the government.

“And the ocean, 100 miles from the United States, is obviously not land,” says Wood. “But it’s also not owned or controlled by the federal government.”

Read and listen to the full story at Maine Public Radio