Saving Seafood

Industry-Funded Monitoring Coverage in the Atlantic Herring Fishery Will Begin on June 1, 2021

March 24, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries will begin selecting vessels with Category A or B herring permits fishing on declared herring trips for industry-funded monitoring (IFM) coverage of trips departing on or after June 1, 2021. Vessels issued a Category A or B Atlantic herring permit will be required to secure and pay for at-sea monitoring coverage on trips that are selected for IFM coverage. The IFM coverage target for the herring fishery is 50 percent of trips.

Notification, Reporting, and Monitoring Requirements

Vessels must follow all Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS) requirements for the herring fishery. For more information on notification and reporting requirements, please see the Notification, Reporting, and Monitoring Requirements for the Atlantic Herring Fishery bulletin from March 31, 2020. For more information about PTNS, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.

Approved IFM Providers

In April 2020, NOAA Fisheries approved four companies to provide IFM services to herring vessels in 2020 and 2021. Please see the IFM in the Northeast webpage for a list of approved providers, services provided, and contact information.

Vessels issued a Category A or B Atlantic herring permit must log into their PTNS web account to review the list of approved providers in PTNS and rank them in order of preference. Vessels should rank their providers in PTNS by May 20, 2021.

For more information about ranking preferred providers, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.

Fishing in Groundfish Closed Areas

A vessel may fish with midwater trawl gear inside certain Groundfish Closed Areas on a herring trip if:

  1. The vessel is assigned Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) coverage on the trip in PTNS, and
  2. The vessel carries a NEFOP observer on the trip.

If the vessel is issued a coverage waiver for the trip for any reason, the vessel is not permitted to fish inside a Groundfish Closed Area during that trip.

Midwater trawl vessel owners may purchase observer coverage to satisfy the requirement of carrying an observer to access Groundfish Closed Areas. Vessels carrying an IFM at-sea monitor are not allowed to fish with midwater trawl gear inside the Groundfish Closed Areas. For more information about purchasing observer coverage, please contact the PTNS team at nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov or (855) 347-4371.

Midwater Trawl Electronic Monitoring (EM) Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP)

Some herring vessels chose to use EM and portside sampling instead of at-sea monitoring to satisfy IFM coverage requirements in 2021. EM coverage will be provided by Saltwater Inc. through a contract with NOAA Fisheries. Participating vessels will be required to secure portside sampling services from an approved provider on trips that are selected for IFM coverage. Participating vessels will also be required to land at a NOAA Fisheries-approved sampling station on trips that are selected for portside sampling. Consistent with the NOAA Fisheries COVID-19 protocols for deploying human observers and monitors, vessels participating in the midwater trawl herring EM EFP will temporarily not be assigned Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) coverage. For questions about the EFP, please contact Maria Fenton at maria.fenton@noaa.gov or (978) 281-9196.

Read the full release here

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Friday, March 26, 2021 – Atlantic Herring, Ecosystem Issues

March 18, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet via webinar on Friday, March 26, 2021 to discuss issues related to Atlantic herring and the state of the ecosystem.  The public is invited to listen live.

START TIME:  8:30 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live.  There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8321.  The access code is 658-624-262.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

  • Review initial information from the Atlantic Herring Plan Development Team (PDT) and provide PDT guidance on developing rebuilding plan alternatives for Atlantic herring;
  • Receive a presentation on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s State of the Ecosystem 2021 Report for New England and provide the Science Center with any SSC recommendations about revisions; and
  • Discuss other business as needed.

COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.  Address comments to Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org.  Additional information is available in the meeting notice.

MATERIALS:  All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC March 26, 2021 meeting webpage.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 101, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Alaska herring stocks on the rise, but fleet is not finding the right-sized fish

February 16, 2021 — Just two seiners and one gillnetter participated in the 2020 herring season in Togiak, Alaska. With a guideline harvest of 38,749 metric tons (MT), it is believed those that participated did well, though exact harvest data will remain confidential due to rules allowing the participants not to report catch data with fewer than five vessels partaking in the harvest.

Elsewhere in Alaska, the Sitka sac roe fishery struck out last year after managers and the industry decided the fishery should remain closed for its second year in a row. The predominance of herring recruiting into the fishery have been three-year-olds. With weights of about 90 grams per fish, buyers aren’t interested in the tiny egg skeins for salted roe markets in Japan.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New rules to limit New England herring fishing to start

February 10, 2021 — New restrictions that will limit commercial herring fishing off New England take effect on Wednesday.

Atlantic herring are the source of a major East Coast fishery. They’re used as food and bait. Concerns about the size of the population motivated federal regulators to craft new rules about herring fishing.

The rules prohibit certain kinds of fishing in inshore federal waters from the border of the U.S. and Canada to the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The rules state they are designed to bring sustainability to the species.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Milford Mirror

New Atlantic herring protections set to take effect Wednesday

February 9, 2021 — New Atlantic herring protections announced last month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will take effect on Wednesday.

The regulations will limit the annual catch levels for the commercial herring industry. It will also end the use of giant trawls in nearshore waters from New England to the Canadian border.

The new rules are expected to benefit the Atlantic puffin which was once on the brink of local extinction because of overhunting.

Don Lyons, the director of conservation science at the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute, says Maine could see more fishing regulations like this in the future.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

ASMFC 2021 Winter Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Winter Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-winter-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2021WinterMeetingWebinar/2021WinterMtgSupplementalCombined.pdf.

Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials. Please note that minor changes have been made to the time and schedule for meetings on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, February 2.

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Technical Committee Memo on 2021 Summer Flounder and Black Sea Bass Recreational Fishery Proposals

ISFMP Policy Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; 2020 Commissioner Survey Results; Draft Letter from ASMFC to USACE Wilmington District for Policy Board; Public Comment

American Lobster Management Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Winter Flounder Management Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Technical Committee Meeting Summary; Advisory Panel Meeting Summary

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Revised Memo on Recent Fishery Performance Relative to Commercial Allocations; Public Comment

Atlantic Herring Management Board – Revised Agenda and Meeting Overview; Public Comment

Executive Committee – Revised Agenda

ACCSP Coordinating Council – Draft Proceedings from October 2020; Program and Project Funding Summary; FY2021 Proposal Rankings; FY21 Administrative Budget; FY21 Calendar

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – ME/MA Proposal to Study the Tube Rig Fishery and Consider Its Exemption from the Circle Hook Provision; Revised MA Implementation Plan for Striped Bass Addendum VI Circle Hook Requirement; Revised ME Striped Bass Implementation Plan for Addendum VI Circle Hook Provisions; Public Comment

Shad and River Herring Management Board – Advisory Panel Report and Technical Committee Recommendations to Improve Shad Stocks

Bluefish Management Board – Recommended Revisions to the Addendum I Biological Monitoring Program

Webinar Information

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, February 1 at  9:30 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:30 p.m.) on Thursday, February 4. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4886491769864000527, Webinar ID# 151-774-483.

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.930.5321 (a pin will be provided to you after joining the webinar); see webinar instructions  for details on how to receive the pin. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.930.5321 (access code: 864-933-588).

Public Comment Guidelines

To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board  approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period(i.e., in response to proposed management action).

1.    Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (January 11) will be included in the briefing materials.

2.    Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, January 26 will be included in the supplemental materials.

3.    Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, January 29 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

Alaska predicts commercial herring harvest will fall short of annual limit

January 15, 2021 — In an unusual move, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has set a large guideline harvest level for the commercial herring fishing in Sitka this spring, on the understanding that the fleet is not likely to hit that mark.

In a news release Monday, ADF&G announced a guideline harvest level — or GHL — of just over 33,000 tons for the upcoming Sitka sac roe herring fishery.

But that much probably won’t be harvested. In the same news release, Fish and Game predicts that the commercial harvest will likely not exceed 20,000 tons. Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis says the state arrived at that number after speaking to processors about the potential market demands.

“Just from our conversations, like what the individual markets want in terms of herring,” he said. “Part of the reason why we put that in the announcement was, I guess just to temper people’s’ expectations for what will likely get harvested in the fishery. “

Dupuis says 33,000 is already a conservative estimate. The GHL is reduced by 20% of what the state would typically allow from the forecasted population of fish, a mature biomass of 210,453 tons. Even so, he says the state is gearing up as usual for a fishery this year.

Read the full story at KTOO

Distribution and Abundance of Forage Fish in Arctic and Sub-Arctic Waters Affected by Warming Ocean Conditions

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

Pelagic or forage fish species are an important source of food for marine predators in the eastern Bering Sea. This group of fish includes capelin, Pacific herring, juvenile chum salmon, juvenile pink salmon, juvenile sockeye salmon, and walleye pollock during their first year of life.

A new study by scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center shows variable effects on species distribution and abundance. It looked at several warm periods from 2002–2018 when ocean temperatures were warmer than average for four or more consecutive years.

Previous studies by NOAA Fisheries documented a northward shift in age-0 pollock, juvenile salmon, herring, and capelin during the 2002-2005 warm period relative to the 2006-2011 cool period in the eastern Bering Sea.

“However, this is the first study to look at temperature-related changes in the distribution and biomass (total average weight of all fish) of pelagic fishes over multiple warm periods,” said Ellen Yasumiishi, researcher, Alaska Fisheries Science Center and lead author for the study. “Studies like this are also important for understanding factors that may affect juvenile salmon and age-0 pollock growth, development and ability to reach maturity. As adults these fish are targeted by commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries in Alaska.”

Read the full release here

New Plunge Pool Increases River Herring Survival at Maine Dam

January 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are working with the dam owners to improve fish passage for river herring and American eels on a tributary of the Kennebec River in Gardiner, Maine.

From 2014 through 2019, NOAA Fisheries staff from the Greater Atlantic Region consulted on the relicensing of the American Tissue Dam. As part of the Federal Power Act, NOAA Fisheries may require fish passage at federally licensed dams, which was the case for this dam.

In order to comply with this requirement, Kruger Energy Inc. was busy this summer and fall constructing a new and improved downstream fishway. When migrating fish pass over a notch in the dam, they will now enter a well-designed plunge pool. The pool does a better job reducing fish mortality than the old plunge pool, particularly for the small juvenile river herring.

Additional passage improvements to this project will include an eel ramp to help juvenile eels migrate upstream. A submerged pipe will help adult eels headed downstream to get up and over the dam and back down to the river channel safely. With these fish passage improvements, we are optimistic that restoration of fisheries resources in Cobboseecontee Stream can succeed.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Sitka Tribe scores one win in herring lawsuit and tries for another

January 11, 2021 — The Sitka Tribe of Alaska in November won another round in its legal fight with the state over the management of the commercial herring fishery. And next week the court will hear new oral arguments and decide whether the state has upheld its constitutional responsibilities in its management of the fishery.

Andy Erickson is a lawyer with the firm Landye Bennett Blumstein, representing the Sitka Tribe of Alaska in its legal battle with the state that’s spanned over two years.

He says November’s proceedings were essentially “part two” of the court’s ruling on whether the state’s interpretation of a specific herring fishery regulation was lawful.

In March, Judge Daniel Schally ruled that the state had failed to demonstrate it was providing a “reasonable opportunity” for subsistence harvesters before opening the commercial fishery.

And in November, Schally issued a second order for “partial summary judgement” in Sitka Tribe’s favor. Schally determined that the state had failed to follow a regulation established by the Board of Fish in 2002.

Read the full story at KTOO