Saving Seafood

Maine lobstermen win concession to fish in coral protection zone

June 22, 2017 — A deep-sea coral protection plan adopted Thursday won’t keep Maine fishermen out of their traditional Gulf of Maine fishing spots.

The New England Fisheries Management Council voted to ban all but lobstermen from fishing about 39 square miles of coral-rich area in two protection zones near Mt. Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge. About 50 Maine lobster boats from more than a dozen ports harvest more than $8 million worth of lobster from those areas, according to state estimates.

Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher called the coral protection plan a good compromise.

“The Gulf of Maine coral motion is one I helped perfect,” Keliher said. “It gives adequate protection to the corals in certain areas of the Gulf of Maine and it exempts lobster gear, which has a lot of landed value and really a very low impact to the corals. We think it’s a good balance. … I would rather take a bite of the apple here one bite at a time instead of trying to do it all.”

Keliher noted that most fishermen avoid corals “like the plague” because it destroys their gear and costs them money.

Lobstermen turned out in big numbers at some of the public hearings on these proposed coral zones, but their anxiety faded once the council decided to choose a proposal that would allow lobster fishing in these areas as the preferred option. The council could have reversed course, but such a turnaround is rare for a board that works so closely with the fishing industry.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NEFMC Postpones Coral Action for Continental Slope/Canyons

June 22, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today adopted coral protection zones for the Gulf of Maine as part of its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. However, it postponed action for the Continental Slope south of Georges Bank in order to further develop an additional alternative. The Council’s Plan Development Team (PDT) will work with the Habitat Advisory Panel to further refine this new alternative. The Council’s Habitat Committee then will review the results and develop a recommendation for the full Council to consider. The timing of final action is uncertain.

Gulf of Maine

For the Gulf of Maine, the Council approved the following measures:

  • Outer Schoodic Ridge – The Council adopted a discrete coral protection zone for this area where bottom-tending mobile gear (trawls and dredges) will be prohibited. Other types of fishing gear will be allowed, including lobster traps/pots.
  • Mt. Desert Rock – The Council adopted a discrete coral protection zone for this area as well where bottom-tending mobile gear will be prohibited but other gears, including lobster traps/pots, will be allowed.
  • Jordan Basin DHRA – The Council designated a Dedicated Habitat Research Area in Jordan Basin on/around the 114 fathom bump site, which encompasses roughly 40 square miles. This designation is meant to focus attention on the coral habitats at this site. The Council believes additional research on corals and fishing gear impacts should be directed here. No fishing restrictions are proposed at this time.
  • Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll – The Council did not adopt any coral protection zones for either of these offshore Gulf of Maine areas or support any new fishing restrictions there.

Framework Items, Research Activities

The Council included a list of items that could be modified in the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment through framework adjustments rather than through additional amendments. These include: (1) adding, revising, or removing coral protection zones; (2) changing fishing restrictions; and (3) adopting or changing special fishery programs.

The Council included a list of items that could be modified in the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment through framework adjustments rather than through additional amendments. These include: (1) adding, revising, or removing coral protection zones; (2) changing fishing restrictions; and (3) adopting or changing special fishery programs.

The Council also agreed that anyone conducting research activities in coral zones would be required to obtain a letter of acknowledgement of these activities from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full release here

Protection of deep-sea Atlantic corals up for debate

June 22, 2017 — A federal panel is considering protections for deep-sea corals in the Atlantic Ocean that would impact commercial fishing interests off New England.

A committee of the New England Fishery Management Council is looking at proposals to preserve corals in two key fishing areas, the Gulf of Maine and south of Georges Bank.

The committee decided Thursday to hold off on voting on options to protect corals near Georges Bank. Coral protections in the Gulf of Maine will be considered Thursday afternoon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

NOAA Fisheries Announces Initiation of Atlantic Salmon Status Review

June 22, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is initiating a five-year review of the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic Salmon, as required by the Endangered Species Act. The Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon is listed as endangered by NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. NOAA Fisheries is taking the lead for this review. 

In a five-year review, we evaluate the best scientific and commercial data available to review the current status of listed species. We use these reviews to ensure that listing classifications are accurate.

Through this announcement, we are requesting submission of information on the Gulf of Maine DPS of Atlantic salmon, including any information on the status, threats, and recovery of the species that has become available since the final listing determination in 2009.

Please submit your information by July 20, 2017, either through the e-Rulemaking portal or by mail to:

Dan Kircheis

NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region

Maine Field Station

17 Godfrey Drive

Orono, Maine 04473

Questions? Contact Dan Kircheis at 207-866-7320 or Dan.Kircheis@noaa.gov.

For fish, the good and bad of warming ocean waters

June 19, 2017 — According to a recent study published in “Progress in Oceanography,” some fish species will thrive in warmer waters — and others, not so much.

Using a detailed climate model and historical observation data, researchers at NOAA and The Nature Conservancy modeled the shifting thermal habitats of over 50 species along the Atlantic coast, from North Carolina to the Gulf of Maine.

“So it’s basically a picture of the water temperature and the depths that individual species are most commonly associated with,” says lead author Kristin Kleisner, now a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund’s Fisheries Solutions Center.

Ocean temperatures in the region are expected to increase 6.6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (3.7 to 5.0 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century, according to NOAA. For many species, like summer flounder, striped bass and Atlantic croaker, researchers found warming oceans could lead to increased habitat availability.

“Those are all species that are currently caught off the more southern portions of our coastline and they’re associated with warmer waters,” Kleisner says. “And these guys might do pretty well as climate changes and new areas of suitable thermal habitat open up for them.”

Kleisner is careful to point out that the study only considered water temperature and depth in its picture of thermal habitats. Other factors like ocean acidification could change the game for lobsters, for example, which otherwise stand to gain from warming waters. “That could be a pretty big wild card,” she says.

Meanwhile, for species like Atlantic cod, Acadian redfish and others found in northern coastal areas, the study’s picture “was not so rosy,” Kleisner says. That’s not to say these species won’t find suitable water temperatures in deeper waters, or further north, she adds — but their habitats may shift out of reach for some fishermen.

Read the full story at PRI.org

Climate change puts Cape fisheries in hot water

June 19, 2017 — As the president claims that climate change is a “Chinese hoax” and members of Congress deny that it even exists, those of us who live at the ocean’s edge can testify firsthand to its effects. They include bigger storms, accelerated sea-level rise and warmer waters. On the Cape, those are game changers to a way of life. They affect the community’s character, soul, and livelihood, especially in the commercial fishery.

The biggest long-term threat to fishing in the northwest Atlantic is not excessive regulations, national marine monuments, or over-fishing – it’s hot water. Cold water species like the iconic cod, and even lobsters and northern shrimp, have to put up with living conditions so uncomfortable that they may be leaving home and heading north.

A recent issue of the journal “Science” shows that over the last 10 years, temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have increased three times faster than almost all of the Earth’s oceans. The Gulf’s southern boundary edges along Cape Cod Bay. Beginning there, Gulf surface temperatures increased four degrees between 2005 and 2013 and scientists tell us they could go even higher. That spells disaster for the Gulf’s ecosystem.

The world’s oceans absorb most of the heat humans produce, but when we deposit too much heat into the atmosphere and adjacent waters below, sea life pays the price. With nature out of balance, fisheries shift, oceans acidify, and life-sustaining oxygen levels decrease.

Especially alarming is what we are seeing at the lower levels of the food chain. As water temperatures spike, copepods are disappearing. These tiny plankton-like crustaceans anchor the Gulf’s food chain and when they leave, the chain starts to unravel from the bottom up and fish productivity suffers.

Excessive carbon dioxide emissions, one of the major causes of rapid climate change, are sapping the strength of the giant ocean conveyor belt known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — otherwise known as the AMOC. It’s a vital component of the Earth’s climate system, with a northward flow of warm tropical salty water in the upper layers of the Gulf Stream, and a southward flow of colder water in the deeper layers.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Hearing on new shrimp rules draws tiny crowd

June 15, 2017 — Fishermen barely outnumbered representatives of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission last Thursday at a public hearing in City Hall on proposed rule changes that would reshape shrimp fishing in the Gulf of Maine.

Three fishermen — John Williams and Ricky Trundy, both of Stonington, and James West of Sorrento — offered comments on a proposed amendment to the ASMFC fisheries management plan for northern shrimp. Department of Marine Resources External Affairs Director Terry Stockwell and Resource Management Coordinator Trisha Cheney dutifully recorded those comments on behalf of the ASMFC.

Stockwell serves as DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher’s representative on the multi-state fisheries management group. He plans to retire at the end of the month after 21 years at DMR and Cheney will assume his role.

Although a somewhat larger crowd was on hand for a hearing the previous evening in Augusta, the sparse audience reflected the state of the fishery from Downeast waters. It also is a reflection of the fact that there has been no commercial shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine since ASMFC shortened the season in 2013 and imposed a complete fishing moratorium before the 2014 season.

For more than a decade, ASMFC managed the fishery by establishing a total allowable catch (TAC) for the entire fishery based on assessments of the size and reproductive success of the shrimp resource that was adjusted annually. As the shrimp resource declined, so did the TAC — and the fishery.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

NOAA recommending $1.5 million for Maine

June 14, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last week that it was recommending six Maine fisheries research projects for a total of $1.5 million in Saltonstall-Kennedy program grants.

In line for funding, but still subject to final approval, are grants to the following.

The Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education, $278,000 for demonstrating aquaculture technologies designed to increase the supply, quality and diversification of domestic seafood and field experiments with cultured arctic surf clams. Last Friday, the organization celebrated the groundbreaking of a $5.8 million expansion of its facilities on Beals Island.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, $288,888 to study the issue of “choke species” in a changing climate. Choke species are fish with very small landings quotas. Fishermen who haul them in as bycatch may be forced to stop fishing for other species.

The Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, $141,092 to continue and expand the 2015 tagging effort studying lobster migration and growth on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.

The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, $298,932 to study the phytoremediation potential of farmed kelp in connection with shellfish aquaculture.

The University of Maine, $299,623 to evaluate the life history and stock structure of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The University of Maine, $275,308 to assess the potential for the sustainability of fishing-dependent coastal Maine communities in the face of environmental and socioeconomic change.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Drifters May Help Improve Regional Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts in Gulf of Maine

June 14, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

Every few weeks for the next few months, a pair of ocean drifters, one surface and one deeper, will be deployed from a ferry north of Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. Both will be tracked as part of a project to monitor the flow of water in and out of the bay and perhaps into the Gulf of Maine, providing insight into harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Maine. 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center oceanographer Jim Manning is deploying and tracking the drifters for a two-year joint project with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as part of its NOAA-funded Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms research program. Researchers have developed models to forecast the annual severity of the blooms and provide weekly forecasts of bloom location and magnitude. These models are becoming operational and will be refined using data collected from a variety of instruments, including Manning’s drifters.The first pair of drifters was deployed May 25, the second pair June 7.

To learn more, check out the full story on the NEFSC’s website. 

Questions? Contact Shelley Dawicki at 508-495-2378 or shelley.dawicki@noaa.gov.

NOAA grant would fund study of tuna, lobster, climate change

June 12, 2017 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is recommending more than $1.3 million in federal funding for fisheries research projects in Maine.

The money would fund five projects. The largest grant of nearly $300,000 would fund a University of Maine project to evaluate the life history of yellowfin tuna in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

Another grant of nearly $290,000 would go to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to address the issue of “choke species” in the era of climate change. Choke species are fish with small quotas for commercial fishermen. Catching too many of them can force fishermen to shut down operations.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Alva Review-Courier