Saving Seafood

  • Home
  • News
    • Alerts
    • Conservation & Environment
    • Council Actions
    • Economic Impact
    • Enforcement
    • International & Trade
    • Law
    • Management & Regulation
    • Regulations
    • Nutrition
    • Opinion
    • Other News
    • Safety
    • Science
    • State and Local
  • News by Region
    • New England
    • Mid-Atlantic
    • South Atlantic
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Pacific
    • North Pacific
    • Western Pacific
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Fishing Terms Glossary

Update of the Gulf of Mexico Gulf Menhaden Stock Assessment (GDAR03)

October 22, 2021 — The following was released by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida – The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) has completed an update of the stock assessment of the Gulf Menhaden population in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The regional assessment has been completed through the GSMFC’s Gulf Data, Assessment, and Review (GDAR) Program as GDAR03. Each of the five state marine resource agencies provided the necessary data and expertise to develop abundance indices for use in the stock assessment model. This assessment provides an update to the 2018 Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) benchmark for the Gulf of Mexico (SEDAR63). The assessment was updated with recent data from 2018-2020. The final stock assessment report is available on the GSMFC’s website at:

2021 Gulf Menhaden Stock Assessment (GDAR03)

The stock status for the updated assessment remained the same as the stock status from the benchmark assessment (SEDAR63). The assessment indicates that fishing mortality rates decreased during the 1990s and have remained at a low level through today. Additionally, spawning stock biomass (measured as fecundity) has increased steadily since the 1990s and remains at a high level. In summary, the update concludes that the Gulf of Mexico Gulf Menhaden stock is not experiencing overfishing and is not overfished.

LOUISIANA: CARES deadline for fishermen is this week

August 23, 2021 — The application period for CARES relief funds ends next week, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says.

“Just a reminder that the application period for the CARES 2.0 relief funds is open for one more week. LDWF will accept applications through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 29, 2021. A total of $12.4 million is available to Louisiana fishermen and others in the industry who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualified applicants will receive direct aid payments from Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission,” a post from the agency states.

For more information about the program, and to access the application, go to: www.wlf.la.gov/page/cares-act-assistance.

Read the full story at KATC

LOUISIANA: LDWF will begin accepting applications from commercial fishermen for COVID-19 relief funds on Aug. 9

July 28, 2021 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) will soon begin accepting applications for $12.4 million in financial assistance that will be available to Louisiana fishermen and others in the industry who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications for these funds will open at 8 a.m., Monday, August 9.

Applications can only be submitted online. To access the application, please visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cares-act-assistance. The application process will be open for a three-week period. The deadline to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. August 29. Funding allocation has been structured so that ALL applications submitted before the deadline will be considered. The funds, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CARES 2.0), will be distributed as direct aid payments by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to those applicants who qualify.

“These federal funds are another step in alleviating some of the financial impacts of the pandemic on our state,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “While we know these funds are not a cure-all, we are grateful for the relief they will provide to our hardworking fishing community.”

Read the full story at WAFB

Engaging Anglers to Improve Catch and Release Practices and Restore Reef Fish in the Gulf

June 14, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Deepwater Horizon restoration partners at the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission selected three new partners to conduct studies on reef fish restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. They were chosen through a competitive process, and the awards total approximately $690,000.

These studies are contributing to a $30 million project to encourage anglers to use fish descending devices. These devices increase survival of reef fish experiencing barotrauma in the Gulf’s recreational fisheries approved by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustees.

Barotrauma is damage caused by the rapid expansion of gases in fish that are caught in deeper water and quickly brought up to the surface. As the gases expand, they can damage the eyes, stomach, and other parts of the fish. This makes it difficult for them to swim back down and survive once released. Descending devices help fish by quickly releasing them at their normal depth, reducing the number of reef fish that die from catch and release fishing.

Read the full release here

Additional $255 MIllion in Fisheries Assistance Funding Being Allocated Through CARES Act

March 29, 2021 — Even more funding for fisheries assistance is being made available. NOAA Fisheries announced on Monday that an additional $255 million will be allocated to states and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants who have been negatively affected by COVID-19. The new funding will be provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and will support activities previously authorized under Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

It’s been a year now since a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, known as the CARES Act, was passed. For the seafood industry, Section 12005 gave the Department of Commerce the right to provide assistance to fishery participants who had been affected by COVID-19. A total of $300 million was set aside for the fisheries sector, with funds ultimately broken down by state, tribe and territory. NOAA turned to their partners – the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission – to disburse the funds. Alaska and Washington came out on top with $50 million each in funding being allocated to them, while Massachusetts landed a little over $28 million and Florida over $23.6 million.

Read the full story at Seafood News

REPORT: Only $16.5 Million in CARES Act Funding Disbursed to Fishery Participants As of October 23

December 3, 2020 — In May 2020 Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $300 million in fisheries assistance funding provided by Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. We’re less a month away from 2021 … so the funds have all been dispersed, right? Not quite. According to a recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), as of October 23, only about $16.5 million of the $300 million has been disbursed.

The CARES Act authorizes the Department of Commerce to provide assistance to eligible tribal, subsistence, commercial and charter fishery participants who have been affected by COVID-19. NOAA turned to their partners—the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission—to disburse the funds. However, before they could begin the payouts, the commissions had to work with the states, tribes and territories to develop spend plans for NOAA’s approval.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Storms extend Louisiana fisheries COVID-19 aid deadline

October 26, 2020 — Damage from Hurricanes Laura and Delta has prompted Louisiana to extend the deadline for fisheries’ workers and businesses to apply for help under a coronavirus pandemic program.

Instead of ending Monday, the application period will now last through Nov. 23, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said in a news release.

“After a closer look at the damage left by hurricanes Laura and Delta to the fishing community, the department wants to ensure that everyone impacted by those hurricanes has ample opportunity to apply,” Secretary Jack Montoucet said.

He said the extension will give those people more time to repair and get services to their homes and to take care of their families’ immediate needs.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission has $14.6 million in federal coronavirus relief money for Louisiana’s fishing industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBRZ

NOAA Fisheries, Gulf States Prioritize Integrating, Calibrating Recreational Red Snapper Data

November 28, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

The Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) partnership took another step toward delivering more timely and precise estimates of Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper catch and effort. At a September workshop co-hosted by MRIP and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, scientists and managers from state agencies, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries, and independent statistical consultants sought to identify the best way to use data collected by specialized and general state-federal surveys to monitor recreational catches of Gulf red snapper, as needed to support stock assessments and fishery management.

The Red Snapper Survey Designs Workshop IV was the latest in a series, dating back to 2014, focused on finding ways to better monitor catches during short federal and state fishing seasons for one of the Gulf’s most popular fish. NOAA Fisheries and its Gulf state and regional partners have spent the past several years working closely to develop survey designs that address federal and state management needs for more timely and statistically precise catch statistics.

Since last December, NOAA Fisheries has certified designs for three surveys in the Gulf of Mexico: Louisiana’s all species, general survey, LA Creel; Mississippi’s red snapper-specific Tails n’ Scales; and Alabama’s red snapper-specific Snapper Check. Florida’s Gulf Reef Fish Survey, which supplements MRIP’s general surveys for a limited group of reef fish species, is expected to be certified later this year. Each survey uses a different methodology to gather data and produce estimates based on the unique characteristics of the state’s fishery.

“This is all part of a comprehensive, collaborative, and rigorous process to ensure sound and effective science and management of Gulf red snapper,” said Gregg Bray, GulfFIN program coordinator for the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. “It’s so important to have the leadership and local knowledge of the states, the collaborative strength of GulfFIN, and the financial and technical resources of NOAA Fisheries. That’s the real value of the MRIP partnership.”

The MRIP state surveys are designed to improve regional monitoring of the recreational red snapper catch and effort. Estimates from these surveys can be used for federal scientific stock assessments and fishery management once there is a transition plan that describes how to integrate state and general data, and how to calibrate new and historical catch and effort estimates.

Read the full release here

National Wildlife Federation Revives Menhaden Myths with Latest Petition

October 24, 2017 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition: 

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is misleading the public on the health and history of Atlantic menhaden – an economically critical fish species along the East Coast. Pushing an online petition and enlisting the help of Hollywood celebrities to call for further restrictions on the menhaden fishery, NWF is repeating and amplifying oft-repeated misinformation on the species.

Menhaden were not overharvested, and quota cuts have not been responsible for their resurgence. NWF states that “fishing pressure” had reduced the coastwide menhaden population, and the species has only begun to recover thanks to harvest reductions that went into place in 2012. Neither of these claims is accurate. Five years ago, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the interstate body responsible for menhaden management, instituted harvest cuts based on an inaccurate and flawed stock assessment. But two improved, subsequent assessments, one released in 2015 and one earlier this year, instead confirm that menhaden are not overfished, nor are they experiencing overfishing.

More importantly, the assessments also found that this is not a recent development: menhaden have not been overfished at any point in the last decade, and menhaden fishing mortality has been on a long-term downward trend and is near the lowest it has ever been. Last year, the ASMFC considered the menhaden stock to be healthy enough that they voted to raise the coastwide quota.

The menhaden fishery does not heavily impact striped bass. Menhaden are one of the many forage species that are eaten by striped bass. But recent science finds that the menhaden fishery does not have as much of an impact on predator species as commonly thought. A study published this April by Dr. Ray Hilborn and a team of fisheries scientists concluded that the size of predator populations had little correlation to the number of forage fish available to them, and that other factors, including the location and naturally fluctuating populations of forage species, were just as influential.

It also found that, specifically in the case of menhaden, that predators such as striped bass are not in direct competition with menhaden fishermen: bass typically target smaller fish, while fishermen generally catch older fish.

Menhaden oversight did not begin in 2012. While 2012 marked the first time that a coastwide quota was put into effect, the NWF is wrong to suggest that this marks the beginning of menhaden oversight. The ASMFC has monitored the menhaden fishery since the late 1950s, and state-level catch limits and restrictions were in place long before the 2012 quota.

NWF surrogates are also wrong characterizing the current debate over menhaden reference points as the menhaden fishery wanting to “remove restrictions” on the species. Members of the menhaden fishery instead support quotas and reference points for menhaden that are supported by the science produced by the ASMFC, and reflect the healthy state of the menhaden population.

Menhaden are not “the most important fish in the sea.” Credible scientists do not consider any one species “most important.” The moniker “the most important fish in the sea” was coined by Rutgers University English professor H. Bruce Franklin in his 2007 book of the same name. The phrase stems from entirely qualitative judgments made by the author that lack scientific founding. There has been no scientific study that validates this claim, and studies that have attempted to analyze how menhaden affects other species and the ecosystem, like the Hilborn et al. study published earlier this year, have found that it is just one of many factors impacting predator species.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Menhaden Advisory Committee discussed the book upon its publication in a March 2008 meeting and concluded, “the book should be sold as a book of fiction and generally disregarded.” There is no scientific evidence supporting the hyperbolic statement that any one species of fish is “most important,” and this phrase represents only Dr. Franklin’s opinion, rather than any scientific consensus.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

LOUISIANA: Gov. John Bel Edwards wants angler input on red snapper regulation

February 2, 2017 — Gov. John Bel Edwards told a group of recreational anglers Thursday that he was open to state regulation of red snapper fishing off Louisiana’s shore, which some anglers said was a rollback of the governor’s previous wildlife and fisheries leader.

“We ought to be able to regulate ourselves when it comes to fishing,” Edwards told the Coastal Conservation Association Louisiana annual membership luncheon during a 14-minute speech that otherwise was long on hunting and fishing stories and short on policy.

 Edwards said his position hasn’t changed, but he understands that mixed messages went out over the past year.

Using population and harvesting data, federal agencies have pressed the Gulf State Marine Fisheries Commission, made up of representatives from the five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, have limited the red snapper season to nine days and restricted how many fish could be caught.

Read the full story at The Acadiana Advocate.

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Recent Headlines

  • IOTC passes resolution tightening at-sea tuna transshipment rules
  • IOTC committee concerned with low levels of compliance
  • Rabobank: Global seafood trade value rebounds to USD 164 billion
  • Plans for Delaware, Maryland offshore wind projects questioned at forum
  • Lund’s Fisheries to Be Featured On Outdoor Channel’s “The Fishmonger,” Airing May 23
  • Gulf Coast commercial fishermen file lawsuit over new red grouper quotas
  • $1.1M+ in Northeast Offshore Renewable Energy Studies Includes NYSG-Funded Project
  • Federal government sues Alaska over Kuskokwim salmon fishing rules

Most Popular Topics

Alaska Aquaculture ASMFC Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission California China Climate change Coronavirus COVID-19 Donald Trump groundfish Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Illegal fishing IUU fishing Lobster Maine Massachusetts Mid-Atlantic National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEFMC New Bedford New England New England Fishery Management Council New Jersey New York NMFS NOAA NOAA Fisheries North Atlantic right whales North Carolina North Pacific offshore energy Offshore wind Pacific right whales Salmon Scallops South Atlantic Tuna Western Pacific Whales wind energy Wind Farms

Daily Updates & Alerts

Enter your email address to receive daily updates and alerts:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Tweets by @savingseafood

Copyright © 2022 Saving Seafood · WordPress Web Design by Jessee Productions