Saving Seafood

Reminder of Boundary Shifts, Commercial Quotas, and Trip Limits for King Mackerel

October 28, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

King mackerel are divided into two migratory groups: the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and Atlantic groups. The groups are divided into zones and subzones, and each group, zone, and subzone may have a separate quota and trip limit. Currently, the boundary between the Gulf and Atlantic groups shifts north on November 1 and south on April 1 of each year. Please see maps and charts on page 2.

NOAA Fisheries is reviewing an amendment to the fishery management plan that would eliminate the boundary shift and set a permanent management boundary between the two migratory groups at the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line. If approved, this change should be implemented before the next boundary shift on April 1, 2017. The amendment would make other management changes for king mackerel, including changes to the trip limits on the Florida east coast. An additional Southeast Fishery Bulletin will be sent out if those changes are approved.

Gulf Group King Mackerel Zones and Subzones

Western Zone

The Western Zone includes waters off Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and has a trip limit of 3,000 pounds per day year-round. This zone closed October 14, 2016, and will reopen July 1, 2017. If a quota increase is approved, the zone may reopen in spring.

Florida West Coast

The west coast is divided into Northern and Southern Subzones.

The Northern Subzone extends east and south from the Florida/Alabama state line to the Lee/Collier County line. This subzone opened October 1 and remains open at this time.

From November through March, the Southern Subzone extends south and east from the Lee/Collier County line to the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line. With the April boundary shift between the Gulf and Atlantic groups to the Monroe/Collier County line, the Southern Subzone for the Gulf group is reduced to the area off Collier County, and Monroe County becomes part of the Atlantic group. The quota for the Southern Subzone is divided equally between the hook-and-line and gillnet components. The hook-and-line component opened July 1, 2016, and remains open at this time. The gillnet component is closed and will open January 17, 2017.

Both the Northern and Southern Subzones have a hook-and-line trip limit of 1,250 pounds per day. The gillnet component in the Southern Subzone has a trip limit of 45,000 pounds per day.

Florida East Coast (Mixing Zone)

From November through March, fish harvested south of the Flagler/Volusia County line to the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line are considered to be Gulf group king mackerel. The trip limit for this Florida East Coast Subzone during this time period is 50 fish per day, until March 1, when the trip limit increases to 75 fish per day, if 70 percent of the quota has not been reached.

Atlantic Group King Mackerel Zones

Northern Zone

The Northern Zone is from the North Carolina/South Carolina state line north to the intersection point of New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. This area has a 3,500-pound per day trip limit year-round.

Southern Zone

From November through March, the Southern Zone extends from the North Carolina/South Carolina state line south to the Flagler/Volusia County line. South of the Flagler/Volusia County line, fish are considered to be part of the Gulf group during this time (see above).

From April through October, the Southern Zone is from the North Carolina/South Carolina state line south to the Monroe/Collier County line on Florida’s west coast, which is the boundary between the Gulf and Atlantic groups during that period.

Reports: Gulf population of menhaden, prey of game fish, thriving

October 26th, 2016 — A commission that assesses the health and viability of the menhaden population in the Gulf of Mexico says despite massive commercial hauls, the menhaden population is sound.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission calls it a stock assessment for menhaden.

Steven J. VanderKooy, a fisheries coordinator with the commission, which has an Ocean Springs, Mississippi office, told The Sun Herald despite the fact that millions of pounds are hauled in each year, they are thriving.

The fish is caught for cat food and fish oil supplements and is a favorite food of large game fish.

The assessment was completed as a cooperative effort of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Decatur Daily

Louisiana official defends fish testing after oil spill

October 26th, 2016 — A former Louisiana Cabinet official is fending off criticism about the way he managed a program to ensure seafood from the Gulf of Mexico was safe to eat after a massive oil spill in 2010.

Robert Barham pushed back against auditors’ suggestions the work was shoddy, saying in an interview with The Associated Press that he has no question the seafood was tested thoroughly after the spill, which was sparked by a broken rig and led to the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

“With absolutely no equivocation, I not only feel confident that everything we said was true, but that we did everything that we needed to do to ensure that it is safe,” Barham said.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office said it found insufficient sampling of fish, excessive spending and missing property in part of the $10.5 million BP-financed seafood safety program overseen by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, when Barham was agency secretary.

State auditors found that Gulf oil spill recovery money intended for the fish testing instead paid for unnecessary iPads, cameras, boats and now-missing fishing equipment.

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

LOUISIANA: Coastal Crisis, Conflicting Ideas: How A Complex Restoration Plan Found Success

October 25th, 2016 — Delta systems such as coastal Louisiana are beautiful and unique intersections of communities, ecosystems and industry. But the wide variety of interests in these areas can also lead to discord as we plan for the future of our often-vulnerable coastal regions.

As complex restoration projects are implemented, how do we balance the needs of the ecosystem and communities? How do we reduce negative impacts to fisheries and industry, and make sure certain wildlife won’t benefit at the expense of others?

A diverse, interdisciplinary group of 12 scientists with decades of on-the-ground research in Louisiana recently tried to work past conflicting interests to tackle challenges left by decades of mismanagement of the region’s vital wetlands.

Their task: to figure out how so-called sediment diversions affect different aspects of the environment, and how to operate them to build land while providing the greatest good.

The report they released in July 2016 was significant because it was the first attempt to look holistically at how best to operate these engineered structures that release Mississippi River sediment and freshwater into the wetlands.

Read the full story at Forbes 

Latest report says menhaden thriving in the Gulf

October 25th, 2016 — A commission that assesses the health and viability of the menhaden population in the Gulf released a report this week that says despite massive commercial hauls, the menhaden population is sound.

It’s called a stock assessment for menhaden — a fish caught for catfood and fish oil supplements and a favorite food of large game fish. If fact, there’s been controversy this year over how many redfish commercial menhaden boats in the Gulf should be allowed to keep in the bycatch while fishing for menhaden.

Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission evaluated the status of the Gulf menhaden in U.S. waters and concluded the “Gulf of Mexico’s menhaden stock is not experiencing overfishing,” said Steven J. VanderKooy, a fisheries coordinator with the commission, which has an Ocean Springs office.

The assessment was completed as a cooperative effort of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Menhaden catches support the second largest commercial fishery by weight in the United States. Menhaden are small filter feeders that don’t grow much longer than a foot and only live for three or four years.

Despite the fact that millions of pounds are hauled in each year, they are thriving, VanderKooy said. “They are really, really resilient. It’s a great fish and short-lived.”

Read the full story at the Sun Herald  

LOUISIANA: Urgency in rebuilding coastal wetlands stressed in master plan discussion

October 25th, 2016 — Louisiana’s senior coastal official on Monday (Oct. 24) called the upcoming approval of the 2017 rewrite of the state’s master plan for coastal restoration and storm surge protection “the issue of a lifetime” because of the urgency surrounding the need to begin building major restoration projects.

“The coastal crisis will affect every aspect of the economy and every constituency, and yet this plan is not political or devised to give something to every interest,” Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman Johnny Bradberry told dozens of participants in a roundtable on the plan sponsored by CPRA and the America’s WETLAND Foundation. “Instead it is a plan for our collective future and for the common interest. The stakes are extremely high.”

“Everyone wants their needs met immediately, and with so much money on the table, many have come to this table for a piece of the action,” Bradberry said.
“But the governor and I are truly dedicated to keeping this money safe and using it for its intended purposes as defined by the master plan. We will fight to make sure that the coastal trust fund is not raided, swept, redirected, co-opted or compromised in any way.”

Sitting around a circular set of tables in the Lod Cook Convention Center at Louisiana State University were key scientists who have assisted in writing the still-incomplete master plan rewrite, along with state legislators and representatives of many of the interest groups that Bradberry referred to in his introductory remarks.

Read the full story at The New Orleans Times-Picayune

 

NOAA: Red snapper data can’t be shared with states

October 12th, 2016 — A letter written late last month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates  that if red snapper are ultimately removed from federal oversight to be managed by the five Gulf states, much of the data currently collected on the species by NOAA — including stock assessments — would not be shared with the states.

The letter dated Sept. 22 from Eileen Sobeck to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Charlie Melancon contradicts what Rep. Garret Graves — the author of H.R. 3094 that would strip red snapper from federal oversight and award it to the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority — has said about how potential costs associated with stock assessments and data collection for snapper will be covered if his legislation becomes law.

Requests for telephone interviews to discuss details of the NOAA letter with Melancon were denied.

But Graves said the letter is just another in a long list of allegations brought by the LDWF in an attempt to derail the bill.

“The reality is this: NOAA is going to go out there and do fish surveys, and they don’t have any idea what type of fish is going to come up in that net or on that long line, so for them to suggest that they’re going to pretend that some fish isn’t there and another fish is there is completely bogus,” Graves said. “And if NOAA is going to jump in and play these political games with Charlie (Melancon), have at it. Y’all enjoy your next two and a half months of playing games because y’all are gone. It’s just continued silliness and obviously has no merit.”

Read the full story at Louisiana Sportsman

LOUISIANA: Charlie Melancon continues battle with Garret Graves’ bill

October 6, 2016 — Controversy continues to swirl around Charlie Melancon and his state agency’s position on regional management of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The latest for Gov. John Bel Edwards’ appointed top man in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries comes from a Sept. 15 letter Melancon penned to Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the standing chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee.

In the missive, Melancon continued to decry HR 3094, a bill introduced by Rep. Garret Graves, R-Louisiana, that would hand recreational red snapper management in the Gulf of Mexico to the five Gulf states.

Melancon continued to state his objections to the bill, the same ones he and his staff offered in July, and continued to indicate that Bishop’s amendment passed with HR 3094 would put the onus of data collection on the states despite Bishop’s letter to the LDWF that his amendment did not indicate the states would have to assume the costs of data collection.

Read the full story at The Advocate

Report questions Louisiana fish safety testing

September 26th, 2016 — Gulf oil spill recovery money intended for testing to ensure fish caught off Louisiana were safe for consumers instead paid for unnecessary iPads, cameras, boats and now-missing fishing equipment, state auditors said, calling the safety program so mismanaged it couldn’t even declare if the catch was fit to eat.

Energy giant BP PLC gave Louisiana millions of dollars for the program aimed at restoring confidence in the state’s multibillion-dollar seafood industry after a massive oil spill fouled the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. But auditors said they believe hundreds of thousands of dollars were misspent.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office found “insufficient sampling of fish for contamination from the oil spill, excessive costs and missing property” in part of the $10.5 million BP-financed seafood safety program overseen by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in the years after the spill.

A preliminary draft of the auditor’s report, which hasn’t been released publicly, was obtained by The Associated Press.

Beyond problems with the seafood safety program, the auditors say they found widespread financial issues across the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: questionable purchases, free-wheeling spending with little oversight and missing fishing equipment, drones, guns and other items that belong to the state. And it said the department’s management and employees may have violated the agency contract with BP “and state law” in the fish testing program.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at KOAM 7 

Louisiana responds to report alleging misspending of BP money for fish testing

September 23, 2016 — KENNER, La. —The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is now reviewing a draft report by the Louisiana legislative auditor which blasts it for misspending money intended to test seafood after the BP spill.

The report says the department spent oil spill recovery money on things like cameras, iPads and boats instead of testing fish. It also alleges that some samples sat for weeks before testing.

The quality of Louisiana seafood was a major concern immediately after the BP oil spill, and the seafood industry felt the impact.

“We had a huge problem with perception after the spill,” said veteran seafood dealer Harlon Pearce with LA Fish.

Seafood sales dropped, and the industry went to great pains in a bid to ensure the fish weren’t contaminated.

“We closed a lot of areas ahead of time just to be sure,” Pearce said.

But six months after the spill there were reports of tainted seafood.

“In the oysters we collected there were up to 8,000 to 12,000  parts per million oil range organics, and they were not visibly oiled oysters,” said microbiologist Wilma Subra, speaking to FOX 8 in February of 2011.

At the time state fisheries officials vouched for the catch.

“What we’ve seen are low base levels. All seafood has natural levels,” said Randy Pausina with the LDWF.

But a new draft report from the legislative auditor obtained by the Associated Press calls into question state tests. The report says the LDWF misspent a portion of $10.5 million BP provided for a seafood safety program, alleging that money intended for testing was spent on unnecessary items.

“It always concerns you when people say money was spent wrong. That concerns me,” said Pearce.

He said he never saw any bad seafood. In fact, six years after the spill, his Kenner fish house has added 10,000 square feet to ship Louisiana seafood to half the U.S.

“We probably added two million pounds a year since the expansion,” Pearce said.

The draft report says the LDWF engaged in insufficient sampling after the spill, but Pearce said from his perspective, that wasn’t the case. While he couldn’t comment on  the quality of the tests, he said between the state and the Food and Drug Administration, he remembers more sampling of seafood than normal.

Read the full story at KSLA