Saving Seafood

NEFMC Selects Groundfish Monitoring Alternatives, Initiates FW 57

June 21, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Following a review of written and oral public comments collected during the Feb. 17-April 3 scoping process, the New England Fishery Management Council today approved an extensive range of alternatives for development and further consideration in Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23.

The Council identified the amendment’s purpose and need and then voted to include the following elements to achieve the purpose:

  • Electronic monitoring (EM) alternatives;
  • A dockside monitoring program option;
  • Alternatives to determine the total monitoring coverage rate, including reevaluating the 30% coefficient of variation (CV) precision standard and how it is applied, for example, on a fishery vs. stock level;
  • An option to facilitate knowing the total coverage rate at a time certain to assist sectors for business planning; and
  • Proposals to streamline and improve the sector weekly reporting process.

Regarding electronic monitoring, the Council voted to include the following items for further development and analysis within the range of alternatives:

  • EM as an approved alternative to at-sea monitors to directly estimate discards;
  • An audit-based approach where EM operates on 100% of the trips with a subset of hauls or trips reviewed to verify vessel trip reported discards; and
  • A maximized retention approach where EM verifies that all groundfish are landed and dockside monitoring is used to sample catch.

Read the full release here

TWO IMPORTANT WEST COAST GROUNDFISH STOCKS REBUILT

June 20, 2017 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Two important West Coast groundfish stocks that were formerly overfished have now been rebuilt.

Bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish, which are managed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, were under strict rebuilding plans that have constrained West Coast fisheries for more than a decade. Bocaccio was declared overfished in 1999, and darkblotched rockfish in 2000; both were rebuilt well before their original target dates.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils that manage ocean fisheries in the United States. Altogether, the Pacific Council manages more than 100 species of groundfish.

Managing groundfish fisheries under rebuilding plans has been an immense challenge for the Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). These plans required sharp reductions in commercial and recreational fisheries targeting groundfish, which included widespread fishing closures through the establishment of Rockfish Conservation Areas off the West Coast and other measures. Since 2003, managing overfished species through area closures such as the Rockfish Conservation Areas has helped to reduce fishing impacts and rebuild overfished groundfish species.

In addition, the groundfish fleet has had to limit fishing for other more abundant species to avoid unintentional catch of the overfished stocks.

“The rebuilding strategies used to achieve this conservation success, coupled with favorable environmental conditions for groundfish productivity, have paid huge dividends in rebuilding our overfished groundfish stocks and resurrecting West Coast groundfish fisheries,” said Council Chair Herb Pollard.

The successful rebuilding of these species reflects the support and sacrifice of West Coast ports and fishermen who recognized the difficult actions and fishing cutbacks necessary to restore the stocks. The rebuilding of bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish will lead to increased harvest opportunities beginning in 2019.

“By working together, we’ve brought bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish back to where they will again be part of a sustainable West Coast groundfish fishery that creates renewed opportunity for the fishing fleet, as well as more options for seafood consumers,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.

Between 1999 and 2017, ten West Coast groundfish stocks were declared overfished, as surveys documented their declining numbers. Pacific whiting, for example, was declared overfished in 2002. The Council, working with NOAA Fisheries and the fishing industry, reduced commercial harvests. Combined with strong reproduction and recruitment, the fishing cutbacks led to the rapid rebuilding of Pacific whiting by 2004. The Council and NOAA Fisheries developed rebuilding plans for the other nine overfished stocks—bocaccio, darkblotched rockfish, lingcod, canary rockfish, cowcod, Pacific ocean perch, widow rockfish, petrale sole, and yelloweye rockfish.

Lingcod was declared rebuilt in 2005, and widow rockfish in 2012. Both petrale sole and canary rockfish were declared rebuilt in 2015. Rebuilding plans remain in place for three remaining overfished species: cowcod, Pacific ocean perch, and yelloweye rockfish. New assessments for Pacific ocean perch and yelloweye rockfish will be reviewed this summer and may be adopted in September. Cowcod is expected to be rebuilt by 2019.

“The Council is a transparent, science-based, inclusive approach to fisheries management,” said Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy. “Our progress in rebuilding overfished stocks shows the effectiveness of this approach. West Coast fisheries are a model of sustainable resource management, and they will continue to provide healthy seafood, jobs, and support for coastal communities, as well as access to this resource for all Americans.”

Process

The bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish assessments were developed by scientists at NOAA Fisheries and were reviewed by the Council’s scientific advisory bodies.  NOAA Fisheries confirmed the stocks’ status as rebuilt on June 16.

Council Role  

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3‐200 nautical miles offshore of the United States of America coastline.  The Pacific Council recommends management measures for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

JOHN BULLARD: There Is No Silver Bullet for Groundfish

June 16, 2017 — The great philosopher Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” You can also learn a lot by listening. I try to do a lot of listening. I think it’s the most important part of my job, and of all of our jobs at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

With all of the activity in the last couple of months, there has certainly been a LOT to listen to. For example, we held recreational roundtable meetings in New Jersey and New Hampshire and a commercial roundtable in New Bedford. We also attended the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meetings and an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting. And let’s not forget the daily meetings, emails, and phone calls with stakeholders.

What did we hear? We heard about recreational catch estimates and allocations among different fishing sectors. We heard reports on the Standardized Bycatch Reduction Methodology and observer coverage for last year and next. We heard progress reports on electronic monitoring projects. And, in every hallway, there has been talk of the Carlos Rafael case and its potential impact on the groundfish industry.

While obviously I can’t comment on the specifics of an ongoing case, I am going to comment on a larger issue that I think is important. To put it briefly: There’s no such thing as a silver bullet.

When people come up to me passionately lamenting that Amendment 18 will not do enough to address consolidation within the groundfish fleet, I understand their passion. The power of a very large fleet can be misused. But, I wonder if they are looking to Amendment 18 to be a silver bullet that will singlehandedly solve this problem.

Some blame sector management for our troubles. I don’t buy it. Instead, I see the ability of the private sector to manage quota with accountability, flexibility, and initiative. All of these are necessary ingredients for a healthy fishing industry, especially in tough times.

At many meetings, people line up to decry the science and management. And yet, some of the same people who condemn the status quo are the ones who advocate for no action. It causes me to wonder whether or not we share the same sense of urgency towards improving the accuracy of our data, which is needed to gain more confidence in our scientific models, which is needed to improve our management. The status quo is short-sighted and leaves us with few options.

I see a system under a lot of stress. When there is a lot of stress, there is a tendency to blame:  Blame the science. Blame woeful observer coverage levels. Blame errors in reporting or illegal discarding. Blame the management. Blame fleet consolidation or the sector system. Blame overfishing over the years. Blame warming ocean waters. Blame NOAA Fisheries. Blame the Councils. Point the finger somewhere.

Just as there is the tendency to blame, there is also the quest for the silver bullet. While understanding causes is essential to providing solutions, an emphasis on blame can be distracting and destructive, especially if the fingers never point in the mirror. The solution is likely to be a network of responses rather than a single answer. A network that will provide accuracy, accountability, and efficiency.

I think that network of answers has several fundamental elements:

  • A renewed management focus on optimum yield and business flexibility that follows on the heels of improved monitoring and complete accountability, and that provides diversity and stability to the groundfish fleet.
  • A revamped Office of Law Enforcement that will continue to help fishermen comply with the rules and root out the few bad apples. Nearly every single fisherman works hard to comply with complicated regulations to bring quality seafood to the consumer. So when the occasional violator decides the rules don’t apply to him, that person is stealing from his neighbors and emboldening others to cheat, and needs to be brought to justice. Our Law Enforcement team is doing just this with increasing efficiency.
  • An improved monitoring program that will provide full accountability and full coverage. The program will tap into emerging technologies with increased use of electronic monitoring coverage by either the “trust but verify model” or “maximized retention/ dockside sampling model.” The resulting increase in accuracy and shared sense of responsibility for effective monitoring and management of this fishery may allow uncertainty buffers to be reduced, which could then allow us to increase quotas.
  • Improved and integrated science that includes fishermen and their insights into the design, implementation, and interpretation of science, a wider understanding of ecosystem changes, and better communication and coordination with stakeholders, all of which ultimately leads to wider acceptance of results. The best science is transparent, timely, adaptable to our rapidly changing environment, and allows us to make better management decisions.

There is no silver bullet. Each of these elements is equally important in transforming the groundfish fishery into a one that provides a stable source of protein for U.S. consumers, and a stable source of jobs for New England fishermen.

New England groundfish is certainly not the only fishery with high profile enforcement cases or challenging scientific questions. But these issues are most acute in groundfish—one of the most iconic and complex fisheries in the world. The fishery has been dealt a series of devastating blows, and the cumulative effects have finally caught up to us.

Yogi Berra also said, “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.” Well we’re at a fork in the road in groundfish management. The status quo has gotten us record low abundance in some stocks, arguments about the science, pressures to discard legal fish that have proven as irresistible to avoid as they are to acknowledge, and all of us skirting the truth in many ways at a cost to the fishery and future generations. Seeking accuracy should not be something that anyone gets penalized for. Rather, we must remove the disincentives for full accountability and full coverage. We have to bring illegal discarding out of the shadows. Talk about it. Acknowledge it. Account for it.

If anyone thinks that the status quo is good enough, then they haven’t been paying attention.

Read the full statement here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Reimbursement Rate of 60 Percent for 2017 At-Sea Monitoring Costs in Groundfish Fishery

June 16, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

Effective at-sea monitoring (ASM) programs are essential to the success and sustainability of Greater Atlantic Region fisheries. Groundfish vessels in the Greater Atlantic Region that participate in the sector program are required to carry a fisheries observer or an at-sea monitor for a portion of their trips. Fisheries observers are provided and typically paid for by the Federal government in the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) program and at-sea monitors are partially paid for by industry in the at-sea monitoring program.

In 2016, industry began paying their portion of at-sea monitoring costs and NOAA Fisheries was able to reimburse 85 percent of industry’s expenses for July 2016-April 2017. We used these funds to offset a portion of industry’s costs of the groundfish ASM program through a grant administered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). For fishing year 2017, there are remaining funds in the grant, and therefore we will continue the reimbursement program.

We estimate there is funding to reimburse 60 percent of ASM costs for the 2017 fishing year. 

Any sector trip beginning on or after May 1 is now eligible for reimbursement. 

We are committed to providing as much stability to sectors as possible, so we have based our reimbursement rate on one that we anticipate will be consistent through the entire fishing year.

More information about our region’s observer program.

U.S. West Coast Fisheries Revitalized by Catch-Share System

June 16, 2017 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has published its new, comprehensive analysis of the impact of sustainable seafood certification in safeguarding our marine resources. The MSC Global Impacts Report 2017 spotlights the U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl among more than a thousand examples of positive change made by certified fisheries to safeguard fish stocks and marine habitats.

The turnaround of the U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl, which received a disaster declaration by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in 2000, is a true American success story. Between the 1980s and 2000s, landings dropped by 70 percent. Fishing communities suffered as revenues fell from US$47.3 million in 1997 to US$22.2 million in 2007. In 2011, under the advice of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Pacific Fishery Management Council took the then-controversial decision to introduce an individual fishery quota system.

The system has been described by NOAA as the biggest transformation in fish management for more than a generation. Since its introduction, fishers have made fewer trips each week, landed more of the fish that they catch, and earned higher revenue for each fishing trip. Importantly, bycatch and discards have dropped substantially with catch of rebuilding stocks 50 percent lower than before the catch-share system was introduced. For example, the discard rate of darkblotched rockfish dropped from 51 percent to just 2 percent and for bocaccio rockfish it fell from 80 percent to less than 1 percent.

In 2014, MSC certification provided valuable recognition of this transformation and ushered in further improvements. Since becoming certified, the fishery client has continued to work closely with NOAA and has fostered strong collaborations with international non-profit organizations.

Representing the U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl fisheries, Brad Pettinger, Director of the Oregon Trawl Commission, said: “In gaining MSC certification for this fishery, what we really did was to renew the social contract that we have with the public, providing assurance that we are fishing sustainably and in a manner that is consistent with the public’s high expectation.”

The MSC report provides governments, industry and NGOs with evidence for credible certification as a powerful tool to catalyze and secure improvements in marine fisheries. The findings were released just ahead of the United Nations (UN) Oceans Conference, which convened in New York last week to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which calls to conserve and sustainably use the oceans.

“When people purchase MSC certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability,” said Brian Perkins, MSC regional director – Americas. “We’re extremely proud of the MSC certified U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl fishery and fisheries around the globe working to safeguard seafood supplies for the future.”

With certified fisheries currently comprising 12% of global marine catch, the MSC’s goal is for 20% of all wild caught seafood to come from fisheries engaged in the MSC program by 2020. The report clearly demonstrates that with the correct incentives and actions fisheries can achieve the sustainable performance required to meet the SDGs.

A catalyst for change in habitats and ecosystems management

The MSC report shows that 94% of fisheries entering the program have made at least one improvement to achieve or maintain certification, totaling more than 1,200 over the last 16 years. Of these, 117 actions by 39 fisheries contributed to improving habitat status, management and information. In total, MSC certified fisheries have been involved with 46 new scientific research projects as part of efforts to better understand and minimize impacts on habitats.

Our oceans, our future – more to do

Roughly half of fisheries which complete voluntary pre-assessment to the MSC Fisheries Standard do not progress to full assessment, suggesting that they have work to do to reach the requirements of certification.

The MSC Global Impacts Report maps the location of certified fisheries in large marine ecosystems (LMEs) around the world, showing the proportion of MSC certified fisheries in areas of international importance to biodiversity. The maps reveal a need to support small-scale fisheries, particularly those in developing countries, on the road to sustainability. The MSC is developing new tools and investing in scientific research to support fisheries in achieving MSC certification.

In order for these initiatives to have impact at scale, the MSC encourages the international community meeting at the UN to support market-based incentive mechanisms, including certification, as an essential tool to contribute to realizing the SDGs. Consumers can also play their part by choosing seafood with the blue MSC label.

Read the MSC’s commitment to SDG 14

The MSC program is recognized in the UN Concept Paper for Partnership dialogue as a promising tool for developing partnerships and sustainable seafood supply chains.

The electronic monitoring of groundfish industry

June 13, 2017 — Randy Cushman rises before dawn each day, drives down to his trawler at Port Clyde Harbor and meets his crew. They prep their boat and head out for another day of chasing flounder and halibut. These days, Cushman and his crew rest easier and sleep in a little later, thanks to the camera installed in the boat’s wheelhouse.

“We used to have to take observers to help count our catch,” said Cushman.

Regulations had required observers appointed to certain vessels by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to help keep track of fish stock.

“Taking an observer out with you is cumbersome,” Cushman said. “You have to train them, get down to the boat an hour early. Sometimes they clash with the crew. And you have to worry about another body on your boat. The camera eliminates those issues. And there are a lot more advantages than that.”

For three years, Cushman has been participating in the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association’s Electronic Monitoring System pilot project. The project swaps out the observers with surveillance cameras in order to count fish and take other observations on board New England groundfish vessels.

In the groundfish industry, 15 percent of trips must be covered by observers. The data gleaned from those trips is then used to portray industry norms.

All legal fish are counted at the docks, but until recently only human observers could properly count fish that were thrown back in the ocean.

Read the full story at The Times Record

Fish council likely give input on Rafael permits

June 13, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council could adopt a formal recommendation to NOAA Fisheries on the ultimate redistribution of Carlos Rafael’s groundfish permits when it convenes next week in Portland, Maine.

The council, set to meet next Tuesday through Thursday, faces a busy agenda of items, including a summary of public comments on groundfish monitoring, as well as possible final actions on the coral amendment and the framework dealing with skates.

But the question of what should happen to Rafael’s stable of more than 40 groundfish permits once the New Bedford fishing magnate is sentenced — now scheduled for July 28 — may generate the most heat at the three-day meetings.

“That issue has generated a lot of interest and opinion among the fishing community and the council could develop an official comment that could be positioned in a recommendation letter to (NOAA Fisheries),” said Janice Plante, council spokeswoman.

The council is set to hear from its Groundfish Committee late next Tuesday morning, including a discussion on the interim final rule for 2017 and 2018 fishing sector operation plans and “whether measures or restrictions should be recommended for Sector 9 due to misreporting by sector vessels.”

As part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, Rafael pleaded guilty in late March to falsifying fish quotas, conspiracy and tax evasion. The man known on the docks as “The Codfather” may have to surrender up to 13 of his groundfishing vessels — which continue to fish as members of Northeast Fishing Sector 9 — and will pay almost $109,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The commercial groundfish industry has roiled over the question of what to do with all of Rafael’s groundfish permits now that he has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

Officials and fishing stakeholders in New Bedford have insisted the permits should remain there, even if divvied up to other groundfishermen. Other stakeholders — such as Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine — argue that Rafael should be stripped of all of his permits.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MAINE: Midcoast lobster pound co-op sees a promising future in aquaculture

June 12, 2017 — The Bremen Lobster Pound Co-op on Keene Neck has been a fixture of Bremen’s working waterfront for decades. After a merger between the fishermen’s association and Community Shellfish LLC, the co-op’s new owner is looking to keep it that way.

Boe Marsh is a Bremen selectman and owns Community Shellfish LLC, a dealer in lobster, clams and shrimp. The company buys from harvesters at its processing and distribution center at 656 Waldoboro Road in Bremen and at the co-op.

The co-op will continue in its current role as a base of operations for local lobstermen and other commercial fishermen, and Marsh is reintroducing aquaculture, a field the co-op first experimented with in previous years.

Marsh hopes to repurpose the co-op’s two lobster pounds for aquaculture space, particularly the growth and harvesting of oysters and clams, while keeping the co-op open and available to local lobstermen and commercial fishermen.

According to Marsh, co-ops across Maine have long used lobster pounds — roughly 50 are spread along the state’s coast — to house and nourish lobsters during the height of the crustacean’s season. The co-ops used plentiful groundfish to sustain the lobsters when a seasonal surplus tends to drive prices down, saving the lobsters for a time of year when they are more valuable.

Marsh said this practice has changed in recent years because of the rising cost of groundfish, such as herring, and the development of technology to keep the lobsters indoors. Some tanks use thermal elements to keep the lobsters in hibernation for two to three months.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

MAGGIE RAYMOND: Carlos Rafael’s Fishing Permits Should be Redistributed

June 5, 2017 — Dear Editor:

Carlos Rafael’s environmental crime spree, spanning two decades, will finally come to an end. Rafael pleaded guilty to federal charges of falsifying fish catch reports, conspiracy and tax evasion. He will serve at least four years in jail and will forfeit millions of dollars in fishing assets. For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue.

While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. Rafael’s violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirements, and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market. Rafael has harmed the entire groundfish industry, and fishermen from Maine to New York deserve to be compensated.

Rafael’s history is so egregious that the National Marine Fisheries Service is obliged to cancel all his groundfish permits and fishing privileges. Existing regulations describe a process for redistributing the fishing privileges from canceled permits to all other permit holders in the fishery, and this is precisely the process that should be followed in this case.

Maggie Raymond

Executive Director

Associated Fisheries of Maine

South Berwick

Read the letter at The Ellsworth American 

New Comment Link for Proposed Recreational Catch Limits for Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock

June 2, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

Due to an administrative error, the comment link published in the Federal Register for the proposed groundfish recreational measures has changed.

Please submit your comments using the Regulations.gov online portal, which now matches the docket number listed in the ADDRESSES section of the Federal Register notice and will link you to all the supporting documents for this action.

If you already submitted comments using the previous link, you do not need to resubmit. Those comments have been registered.

You can also mail comments to: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Fishing Year 2017 Groundfish Recreational Measures.”

The comment period closes on June 9.

We apologize for the error.

For more information, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel at 978-281-9175 or jennifer.goebel@noaa.gov