Saving Seafood

Ocean Acidification Threatens Our Shellfish

February 2, 2018 — The Massachusetts legislature is current considering a number of bills regarding ocean acidification. If passed into law, the bills will establish a special commission or task force to study the effects of coastal and ocean acidification on coastal communities, fishing and aquaculture industries, and local commercially-harvested species. These bills come at a very critical time when what we do or don’t do next to address the effects of ocean acidification could very well alter the Commonwealth’s culture and economy.

What is ocean acidification?

Excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is driving climate change and along for the ride is increased global temperatures, rising sea levels, and increased storm intensity. We hear about it almost daily. But on a planet that’s 70 percent ocean, what’s happening below the waves? They call it global warming’s evil twin: ocean acidification.

Much like the atmosphere, the ocean is absorbing more and more carbon dioxide. As a result, ocean temperatures are not only rising, but the actual chemistry of the ocean is changing. Research estimates that the ocean has become 30 percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution. In particular, the Gulf of Maine is especially vulnerable because its colder waters can absorb more carbon dioxide than other ocean areas. Massachusetts’ bays and sounds are among those waters impacted by ocean acidification.

Why do we need to act?

Ocean acidification should be very alarming to Massachusetts and its legislators because it poses a grave threat to the Commonwealth’s shellfish fisheries – the most valuable in the Commonwealth. Increased ocean acidity interferes with the ability of shell-forming organisms such as clams, mussels, and oysters to build and maintain their calcium carbonate shells. The planktonic larval stages of many species are also vulnerable, a concern for hatcheries and wild populations of shellfish.

Read the full story at TalkingFish

 

GLOUCESTER TIMES: Lobster industry’s discipline staves off collapse

February 1, 2018 — Conservation pays off.

For years, lobstermen in the Gulf of Maine have been returning large and egg-bearing females to the water, instead of selling them for a short-term profit. The long-held practice, called “v-notching” because the females’ tails are marked to alert other lobstermen of their fertility, has kept the lobster stock healthy. A 5-pound lobster can produce another thousand lobsters in its lifetime, fisheries scientists say. A 1.5-pound lobster produces about 100. The last several years have been some of the most profitable in the industry’s history.

Now, it looks like those years of self-restraint are going to help the industry weather a new challenge — climate change.

In a report released late last month, scientists predicted the Gulf of Maine lobster population will drop as much as 62 percent over the next 30 years. The change is coming as the waters warm, making it more difficult for baby lobsters to survive. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the conservation efforts used over the past several decades by lobstermen from Rockport and Gloucester to the state of Maine fostered exponential growth in the lobster population. Ironically, the warming waters also helped, until the temperature rose past a healthy level for young lobsters.

Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Times

 

ASMFC Begins Preparations for American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment

January 30, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated a benchmark stock assessment for American lobster (Homarus americanus) to be completed in the summer of 2020.  The goals of the assessment are to evaluate the health of stocks along the U.S. Atlantic coast and inform management of this species.  The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.

The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will contribute to the goals of the assessment.  This includes, but is not limited to, data on abundance (young-of-the-year, recruits, full recruits), biological samples (sex, maturity, weight, carapace length), life history information (growth, natural mortality, mating, shell disease), stock connectivity (tagging data), catch (harvest, fishing effort) and information regarding the environmental influence on lobster life history. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying description of methods, to the Commission by April 13, 2018.

The Data Workshop will be conducted May 14-17, 2018 at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, 218 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI 02874. This workshop will review available data sources for American lobster and identify datasets to be incorporated in the stock assessment.

For those interested in submitting data and/or attending the American Lobster Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

Maine disputes study that predicts sharp decline in Gulf of Maine lobsters

The Department of Marine Resources won’t be using researchers’ model to make management decisions, saying that forecasting fishery populations 30 years out is extremely difficult.

January 29, 2018 — The state agency that oversees Maine’s marine fisheries is questioning the reliability of a new study that predicts a sharp decline in Gulf of Maine lobsters over the next 30 years.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration built a computer model that predicts the population will fall 40 to 62 percent by 2030.

But Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, won’t be using the model to help him decide how to manage the state’s most valuable fishery, which pumped $533.1 million into the state economy in 2016.

“(He) does not have confidence in a model that simulates what might happen decades in the future,” spokesman Jeff Nichols said. “This is a wild resource, making predictions extremely challenging.”

Thirty years ago, when landings were less than 20 million pounds, no one could have predicted that the Maine lobster fleet would be landing more than 130 million pounds a year in 2016, Nichols said.

“The commissioner and his science staff don’t question the science, but rather see this as an unreliable tool on which to base management decisions,” he said.

The department isn’t alone in having doubts about the study. Maine lobster dealers voiced skepticism, too, recalling previous erroneous lobster forecasts by some of the same scientific organizations.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Federal government failing to protect right whales from destruction, lawsuit alleges

January 22, 2018 — The federal government must do more to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from getting tangled up in lobster gear, a leading cause of death for the rapidly declining mammals, a lawsuit filed Wednesday asserts.

A coalition of environmental groups filed the suit in US District Court in Washington, D.C., against officials from the Commerce Department and National Marine Fisheries Service.

According to a 33-page civil complaint, there were only about 455 right whales in 2016, and at least 17 died last year, “pushing the species even closer to the brink of extinction.” Many of the whales have been spotted off Cape Cod.

The complaint says entanglement in commercial fishing gear has been the “primary cause” of right whale deaths in recent years, and the “lobster fishery is a U.S. fishery that frequently entangles right whales.”

In 2014, the complaint states, the fisheries service issued a “biological opinion” finding that the lobster fishery is likely to kill or seriously injure more than three North Atlantic right whales every year, yet the agency also concluded “the fishery is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of North Atlantic right whales.”

The suit alleges the fisheries service “is failing to ensure that its continued authorization, permitting, and management of the American lobster fishery does not jeopardize the continued existence of endangered North Atlantic right whales.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Big changes likely for national monument just outside Gulf of Maine

December 14, 2017 — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke may have decided Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument in northern Maine should be left as it is, but he’s proposing major changes to another monument established just last year in the Atlantic ocean, on the far side of the Gulf of Maine.

Zinke has recommended that commercial fishing activity resume in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and two other marine monuments in the Pacific.

The marine monument, which encompasses nearly 5,000 square miles, lies outside the Gulf of Maine, roughly 100 to 200 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod along the edge of the continental shelf. It was created by then-President Barack Obama in September 2016.

Since President Donald Trump ordered a review this past spring, Zinke has been reviewing the status of 27 monuments, five of them marine monuments, that were created by prior presidents.

Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument in northern Maine, also created last year by Obama, was among those under review. Last week, Zinke recommended that no changes be made to the northern Maine monument.

As part of the same report, which was released Dec. 5, Zinke recommended that fisheries in the three marine monuments should be subject to the same federal laws that apply to fisheries nationwide.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

States Schedule Hearings on Draft Addenda XXVI & III to the American Lobster and Jonah Crab FMPs

November 16, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Arlington, VA – States from Maine through New Jersey have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on American Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum III. The details of those hearings follow.

Maine Department of Marine Resources

January 10, 2018; 6 PM

* Scarborough, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

* Specific location to be determined

January 11, 2018; 6 PM

Ellsworth High School

24 Lejok Street

Ellsworth, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

 New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

January 16, 2018; 7 PM

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road

Portsmouth, NH

Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

January 19, 2018; 1PM

Resort and Conference Center of Hyannis

35 Scudder Avenue

Hyannis, MA

Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

* The MA DMF hearing will take place at the MA Lobstermen’s Association Annual Weekend and Industry Trade Show

 Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 17, 2018; 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, RI

Contact: Conor McManus at 401.423.1943

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 18, 2018; 7 PM

CT DEEP Boating Education Center

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, CT

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York Department of Environmental Conservation

January 9, 2018; 6:30 PM

NYSDEC Division of Marine Fisheries

205 N. Belle Mead Road

East Setauket, NY

Contact: Jim Gilmore at 631.444.0430

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 8, 2018; 6 PM

Wall Township Municipal Building

Lower Level Community Room

2700 Allaire Road

Wall Township, NJ

Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020

The Draft Addenda seek to improve harvest reporting and biological data collection in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. The Draft Addenda propose using the latest reporting technology, expanding the collection of effort data, increasing the spatial resolution of harvester reporting, and advancing the collection of biological data, particularly offshore.

Recent management action in the Northwest Atlantic, including the protection of deep sea corals, the declaration of a national monument, and the expansion of offshore wind projects, have highlighted deficiencies in current American lobster and Jonah crab reporting requirements. These include a lack of spatial resolution in harvester data and a significant number of fishermen who are not required to report. As a result, efforts to estimate the economic impacts of these various management actions on American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries have been hindered. States have been forced to piece together information from harvester reports, industry surveys, and fishermen interviews to gather the information needed. In addition, as American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries continue to expand offshore, there is a greater disconnect between where the fishery is being prosecuted and where biological sampling is occurring. More specifically, while most of the sampling occurs in state waters, an increasing volume of American lobster and Jonah crab are being harvested in federal waters. The lack of biological information on the offshore portions of these fisheries can impede effective management.

The Draft Addenda present three questions for public comment: (1) what percentage of harvesters should be required to report in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries; (2) should current data elements be expanded to collect a greater amount of information in both fisheries; and (3) at what scale should spatial information be collected. In addition, the Draft Addenda provide several recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for data collection of offshore American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. These include implementation of a harvester reporting requirement for federal lobster permit holders, creation of a fixed-gear VTR form, and expansion of a biological sampling program offshore.

The Draft Addenda, which are combined into one document that would modify management programs for both species upon its adoption, is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/LobsterDraftAddXXVIJonahDraftAddIIIPublicComment.pdf or on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input). Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI).

To learn more about the ASMFC visit their site here.

 

Under threat of lawsuit, Maine lobstermen say Canada is failing to protect right whales

November 1, 2017 — A record number of right whale killings this summer has put environmental groups on the offensive, potentially leading to stricter regulations for Maine lobstermen, even as most of the animals turn up dead in Canadian waters.

A group of environmental organizations has notified federal officials they intend to sue if regulatory agencies fail to better protect the endangered species, following what’s believed to be one of the deadliest summers for North Atlantic right whales in centuries.

Maine lobstermen fear that a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service could result in more costly restrictions on how they fish, even though none of the 16 right whale deaths have been directly linked to the American lobster fishery. Twelve of the whale deaths occurred in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, where that country’s snow crab fishery has been cited by experts as a likely factor in several of the deaths.

The remaining four were found off Cape Cod.

With this year’s deaths, the total population of North Atlantic right whales is estimated at fewer than 450.

Early this month, the four environmental organizations sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Chris Oliver, head of the federal fisheries service, saying that federal regulators are violating the Endangered Species Act by not doing more to protect North Atlantic right whales. The groups specifically called on regulators to determine whether additional restrictions should be placed on the American lobster fishery in order to prevent whales from getting entangled in lobster gear.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

ASMFC August/September 2017 issue of Fisheries Focus Now Available

October 6, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The August/September 2017 issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/59d79752FishFocusAugustSept2017.pdf.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

From the Executive Director’s Desk

ASMFC Discusses Next Steps in State/Federal Management

page 3

Species Profile

Spot

page 4

Fishery Management Actions

American Lobster

Scup

page 7

Proposed Management Actions

Atlantic Menhaden

Cobia

page 9 

Science Highlight

ASMFC Releases Stock Assessment Updates for Atlantic Menhaden and River Herring

page 11

ACCSP

ACCSP Submits Regional Recreational Implementation Plan to NOAA Fisheries MRIP

page 12

Comings & Goings
page 14

Employees of the Quarter Named

page 16

Past issues of Fisheries Focus can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/search/%20/%20/Fishery-Focus.

First half of Maine’s lobstering season ‘painfully slow’ for fishermen

Dock prices are also down amid reports of light catches, leaving the industry worried but hoping for a rebound in the next few months.

October 4, 2017 — A cold spring, high bait prices and a stormy summer are adding up to a slow lobstering season in Maine.

Every fisherman and every lobstering port along Maine’s 3,500-mile coastline is different. But as of Oct. 1, the midpoint in the industry’s peak season, most Maine lobstermen and the dealers who buy from them agree the catch is down. They disagree on whether the industry will be able to land enough lobster to recover and keep up with the last few years of record harvests.

Brooklin lobsterman David Tarr, who serves on the state Lobster Advisory Council, predicts his catch will be down about 20 percent this season unless he can pull off a “great finish.” The light catch, coupled with a boat price that was 10 percent off for most of the summer, adds up to a substantial loss, he said. But the 48-year-old fisherman isn’t exactly surprised.

“We have been over the average for many years, so I’m not really shocked by it,” Tarr said. “It makes it harder, for sure.”

SLOWDOWN AFTER SERIES OF RECORD YEARS

Maine has enjoyed a run of record-setting lobster harvests over the past few years. According to data from 2016, the most recent figures available, Maine fishermen landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster valued at $533.1 million, breaking records for annual catch and industry value. Lobster is the most valuable, and through last year at least, the fastest-growing of all the state’s commercial fisheries.

Lobstermen will remain busy through November, depending on which region they fish, so it’s too early to tell whether the perceived decline will be reflected in the official 2017 harvest numbers that the state releases in February.

Even so, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association called it a “painfully slow start” and said the slow pace of landings and the prices that were well below last year’s had left lobstermen feeling angry, disappointed and worried.

“Fortunately, we still have a lot of good fishing months left this year,” association director Patrice McCarron wrote in her September report.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald