Saving Seafood

NEFMC: Weather Update for Coral Workshops, Herring MSE Peer Review

March 13, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

As a result of the winter storm that’s forecasted for our region on Tuesday, the New England Fishery Management Council is: (1) modifying the schedule for its two Coral Workshops; and (2) reminding members of the public who are interested in the Atlantic Herring MSE Peer Review that a webinar option is available.  Here are the details.

CORAL WORKSHOP #1, NEW BEDFORD, MA:  This workshop will begin as planned at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 13 and extend into the early evening to accommodate as much of the original two-day agenda as possible.  The second day of the workshop — Tuesday, March 14 — has been cancelled to avoid unnecessary travel.  The workshop will be held at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, 185 MacArthur Drive, New Bedford, MA 02740.

CORAL WORKSHOP #2, PORTSMOUTH, NH:  This workshop will take place on Wednesday, March 15 as originally scheduled, but the start-time has been advanced by two hours — from 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. — to allow additional travel time.  The workshop will be held at the Sheraton Harborside, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801.

CORAL INFORMATION:  Visit the Council’s Coral Workshops webpage to access all meeting materials, including the agendas for both workshops, maps, and presentations.

QUESTIONS:  Email Michelle Bachman at mbachman@nefmc.org.

 

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ATLANTIC HERRING MSE PEER REVIEW:  The March 13-15 MSE peer review will proceed as planned on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at the Embassy Suites near Boston Logan Airport.  Technical experts involved in the peer review will be traveling to and from the meeting outside of the forecasted storm window. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. each day.

ALTERNATIVES TO TRAVELING:  Members of the public who are concerned about traveling may listen to the discussion via webinar or telephone.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/473795069

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (312) 757-3121.

The access code is 473-795-068.

Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.  Also, please be sure to mute your telephone or computer microphone upon joining the meeting so there will be no interference.

MATERIALS:  Meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at MSE documents.

QUESTIONS:  Email Deirdre Boelke at dboelke@nefmc.org.

Drop in herring a mystery in Maine as bait price booms

March 13, 2017 — ROCKLAND, Maine — Maine’s booming lobster industry has a big problem involving a little fish.

The state’s iconic lobster fishery is healthy, having set records for volume and value in 2016. But the fishery for herring, a small schooling fish that lobsters love to eat, is another story.

Herring is suddenly the second-most valuable fishery in the state, and Maine’s most valuable species of fish, bringing in $19 million at the docks in 2016. It’s also the most popular bait used in lobster traps, and the climb in value corresponds with demand from the hungry lobster fishery and a drop in catch of herring off of New England.

Scientists and fishermen are trying to figure out why Maine’s Atlantic herring catch — the largest in the nation — has fallen from 103.5 million pounds in 2014 to 77.2 million last year. The per-pound price of the fish at the dock has gone up 56 percent since 2014, and that price is eventually borne by people who buy lobsters.

“The whole dynamic of the fishery has changed,” said Jeff Kaelin, who works in government relations for Lund’s Fisheries, which lands herring in Maine.

Kaelin, and others who work in and study the fishery, thinks climate and the way the government manages herring may have played a role in the decline of catch. Atlantic herring are managed via a quota system, and regulators have slashed the quota by more than 40 percent since the early 2000s.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Fishing fatality prompts call for safer vessels

March 13, 2017 — The brother of the 51-year-old fisherman from Alert Bay who died when the Miss Cory capsized is calling for safety improvements to the industry.

Mel Rocchio was in the engine room when the vessel took less than two minutes to capsize Monday afternoon after listing in calm waters near Comox, off Cape Lazo. It was the first day of the commercial seine roe-herring fishery in the Strait of Georgia.

Four other crew members survived.

Rocchio’s brother, Jim, also a veteran of the commercial fishing industry, said a 19.5-metre-long boat doesn’t sink that fast unless there are “catastrophic failures.”

He said he wants to see a full investigation into his brother’s death.

“If anything, we need to learn from this,” he said. “I really feel in my heart that no one else should have to go through this. Identify the problem and correct it so other people don’t lose a brother, or uncle or grandfather.”

Glenn Budden, a marine investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, said witnesses reported the boat was alongside another boat and hauling up the catch when the accident happened.

Read the full story at the Times Colonist

Family identifies missing fisherman as Mel Rocchio of Alert Bay

March 10, 2017 — Mel Rocchio of Alert Bay has been identified by family as the fisherman who is missing and presumed drowned after a fishing boat capsized Monday off Comox.

WorkSafe B.C., Transport Canada and the RCMP are investigating what caused the Miss Cory, a 19.5-metre wooden vessel, to capsize on opening day of the commercial seine roe-herring fishery in the Strait of Georgia.

The four others on the boat were rescued by vessels fishing in the waters off Cape Lazo.

Rocchio had been fishing out of the Campbell River Fisherman’s Wharf for about 15 years, according to Phyllis Titus, manager of the Campbell River Harbour Authority.

Titus, who met Rocchio about seven years ago, said he was the type of person who became instant friends with anyone who crossed his path.

“He always made you laugh while being as quiet as a mouse or as loud as an ox,” Titus said. He was the type of friend “who’s willing to help anyone, any time.”

Rocchio was married, and while the couple did not have children, he treated his nieces and nephews like his own children.

Read the full story at the Times Colonist

Atlantic Herring MSE Peer Review, March 13-15, 2017, Live Streaming

March 8, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council is conducting a peer review of the Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) that is being used to help identify the range of possible Atlantic herring acceptable biological catch control rules. The peer review will be conducted Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 13-15, 2017. The public is invited to listen-in via webinar or telephone. Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Embassy Suites, Boston Logan Airport, 207 Porter Street.  Hotel information is available at Embassy Suites.

START TIME:  9:00 a.m. each day.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting will be available at:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/473795069  

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (312) 757-3121.  

The access code is 473-795-068.  

Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.  Also, please be sure to mute your telephone or computer microphone upon joining the meeting so there will be no interference.

AGENDA:  A panel of experts has been invited to evaluate the methods, data, and results of the MSE and determine whether the MSE is sufficient for the Council to use in identifying and analyzing a range of ABC control rule alternatives for Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. As part of this process, Atlantic herring, predator, and economic models were developed to evaluate control rules and performance metrics. 

MATERIALS:  Meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at MSE documents.

QUESTIONS:  Call Deirdre Boelke at (978) 465-0492 ext. 105 or email her at dboelke@nefmc.org. 

The Status of Maine Fisheries

February 22, 2017 — Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner will discuss the health of Maine’s fisheries – from scallops to herring, shrimp to lobster – and measures to protect them.

Guest: Patrick Keliher is a Gardiner native. He has spent much of his life in the woods and on the waters of Maine. His career has involved work as a registered Maine hunting guide and charter boat captain. He also served as Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine, the Executive Director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, and Acting Commissioner of the department before being appointed by Governor LePage to serve as Maine’s Department of Marine Resources Commissioner in 2012.

Listen to the interview and read the full story at Maine Public

Plan Aimed at Preventing Lobster Bait Shortage Up For Debate

February 21, 2017 — Fishing regulators say public hearings will take place on a plan to make the Atlantic herring fishery run more smoothly.

Herring are a key fish on the East Coast because they are important bait for lucrative species, especially lobster. Last year’s lobster season was hindered for several weeks by a herring shortage.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on a plan to more evenly distribute the herring quota during the fishing year. Public hearings are planned in several states that are home to herring fisheries.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CapeCod.com

Fishermen forced to share pounds in herring fishery

February 1, 2017 — New restrictions are being put into place for the upcoming spawn-on-kelp herring fishery in Southeast Alaska to address a declining population. For the first time, fishermen are required to share spawning structures with several others. KFSK’s Angela Denning reports:

The spawn-on-kelp fishery allows fishermen to catch herring near Craig and Klawock and put them into floating net pens called pounds. Blades of kelp are also put in there for the herring to spawn on. The eggs are then sold to Asian markets.

Scott Walker is the Area Management Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Ketchikan. He’s been helping manage the spawn-on-kelp fishery since it began in 1992.

“We have been seeing throughout Southeast Alaska right now a downturn of herring stocks,” Walker said.

Read the full story at KFSK Community Radio

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Section Approves Draft Addendum I for Public Comment

February 1, 2017 —  Alexandria, VA — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Section approved Draft Addendum I to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring for public comment. Draft Addendum I includes management options to ensure the seasonal quota is distributed throughout Trimester 2, are applied consistently by the states adjacent to Area 1A, and address excessive capacity.

The Draft Addendum was initiated in response to the accelerated rate of Area 1A Trimester 2 (June through September) landings in recent years and the increasingly dynamic nature of days out measures to control effort that have varied across states. The Section utilizes days out of the fishery to slow the rate of Area 1A catch by restricting the number of available landing days. Landing reports indicate vessels are harvesting herring on days out of the fishery and transferring fish at‐sea to carrier or larger vessels until landing is permitted. The practice of fishing outside of landing days has limited the effectiveness of the days out program in controlling the rate of harvest.

The Draft Addendum presents six management options to improve the performance of the Area 1A fishery, ranging from restricting a vessel from landing fish caught on days out of the fishery to limiting transfers at sea as well as the amount a vessel can land per week. The document also seeks input on a tiered weekly landing limit for future management consideration.

The Draft Addendum will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input) by February 10, 2017. It is anticipated Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New Jersey will be conducting public hearings in March/April. The details of those hearings will be released in a subsequent press release. The Section will review submitted public comment and consider final approval of Addendum I at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in May 2017.

For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Canada’s largest herring fishery achieves MSC certification

November 29, 2016 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

TORONTO — The Canada 4VWX purse seine herring fishery in the Bay of Fundy area is the third and largest Canadian herring fishery to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as sustainable and well managed.  Herring products from the purse seine vessels and processing companies based in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick can now carry the blue MSC label to inform customers the fishery meets a global standard for sustainability.

Meeting the world’s most recognized standard for sustainability

To achieve MSC certification the 4VWX purse seine herring fishery demonstrated that it meets a high bar of sustainability set by the MSC Fishery Standard.  Widely recognized as the world’s most credible and robust standard for sustainable fishing, the MSC Standard is founded on three principles: a healthy fish stock, protection of the surrounding marine ecosystem, and effective fishery management.

“We are proud of the work our fishery has undertaken together with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to maintain the health of this important Canadian resource” says Roger Stirling, President of the Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia, the client representative for the 4VWX herring fishery. “As one of the longest-running commercial fisheries in Canada the herring fishery and associated processing companies have demonstrated the ability to sustain the resource.  The MSC certification now allows us to clearly signal the fishery’s sustainability to global markets.

A ‘clean’ fishery with local and global markets

Purse seining produces very low bycatch levels when harvesting the dense schools of herring that form during specific seasons.  The fishing vessels harvest at night and return to shore for immediate processing.  Annual catch for this fishery is 50,000 metric tonnes.

In addition to providing employment for fishers, herring plants in the local area employ hundreds of people in coastal communities and significantly contribute to the rural and coastal economy in the area.

A versatile fish, 4VWX herring is destined for primary markets around the world where it is sold in various forms like frozen fillets (Europe and North America), marinated and sauced canned products (Europe), smoked (kippers, in North America), canned (global), roe (Japan) and bait (Canada, for MSC certified lobster fisheries).

Jay Lugar, Program Director for MSC in Canada adds: “We congratulate the Bay of Fundy purse seine herring industry on achieving MSC certification.  The fishery consistently generates employment in the local community while working diligently to protect herring stocks that also play an important role in the ecosystem as food for other fish and mammals.  MSC is very pleased to see this long-standing industry take the sustainability message to global markets.” 

Continued improvement

As part of the MSC Theory of Change, MSC certification requires annual audits by an independent certifier to ensure that each fishery retains its status while also implementing improvements, allowing it to progress toward an even higher level of sustainability. To help the 4VWX herring stock sustain its role in the ecosystem, the fishery has committed to meet improvement goals with respect to biomass levels.

Assessment process

The assessment against the MSC Fisheries Standard was conducted by Acoura Marine, an accredited, third-party certification body, in a robust, scientific, transparent process that considered all available information presented by all fishery participants and stakeholders with an interest in the fishery.