Saving Seafood

In Court Ruling on Right Whales, Good News for Scallop Fishery

October 30, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

A federal district court has ruled this week that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated both the Endangered Species Act and Magnuson-Stevens Act in allowing gillnet fishing in areas frequented by right whales. While the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) was a Defendant-Intervenor in the case, the ruling contains good news for the scallop fishery.

At issue are provisions in Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2), which updated the network of closed areas and habitat protections off the coast of New England. The suit, filed by the Conservation Law Foundation and Earthjustice, alleges that OHA2 put right whales at risk by opening offshore areas near Nantucket to commercial fishing.

While the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that allowing gillnet fishing in these areas did have the potential to harm right whales, and thus violated the Endangered Species Act, the Court’s ruling does not affect the scallop fishery, which will continue to be allowed to operate in these areas.

Specifically, the Court noted, “because Plaintiff’s summary-judgment motion does not contest the Habitat Amendment’s changes to the Scallop [Fishery Management Plan], Defendant-Intervenor Fisheries Survival Fund’s arguments, which relate only to that fishery, are rendered moot.”

This means that while the Court acted to prevent gillnet fishing in the newly opened areas, it did not overturn OHA2, nor did it stop scallop fishing in these areas. This is consistent with FSF’s long-standing position in the case, which is that the scallop fishery is not a threat to right whales, and that scallop fishing is not impacting right whale conservation.

Read the full opinion here.

Read the full order here.

Federal judge renews ban on gillnet fishing in Nantucket area to protect whales

October 30, 2019 — A federal judge in Washington, DC, on Monday ruled that the US’ National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Endangered Species Act, Magnuson Stevens Act, and other federal laws when it removed a roughly 20-year-old ban last year on gillnet fishing within a 3,000 square mile area south and east of the Massachusetts island Nantucket.

US District Court judge James Boasberg has renewed the ban in order to protect North Atlantic right whales, the Boston Globe reports. He said, in his 32-page ruling, that his decision was “not a close call” and quoted Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”.

“Demonstrating that ‘there is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men’ … humans have brought the North Atlantic right whale to the brink of extinction,” he wrote.

Boasberg’s ruling does not apply to the scallop industry, which will be allowed to continue using its dredging equipment in the area, as it has not been found to harm the marine mammals.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Alaska’s hatchery program supports healthy harvests

October 15, 2019 — In the early 1970s, Alaska’s salmon harvests were at an all-time low. Annual statewide harvests for all salmon species were down to nearly 20 million fish. As all Alaskans trying to fish for their business or sport or to fill a freezer at that time know, the lack of reliable harvests resulted in deep and painful impacts in our state and communities. Selective openings and even complete fishery closures failed to reverse the decline. So, too, did efforts to stop foreign vessels from fishing in state waters. It was a time, as the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner observed in 1970, “dominated by tragedy, disaster, intrigue and double-dealing.”

Undaunted, Alaskans banded together to overhaul state fisheries. In 1969, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game started a rehabilitation program to build fish ladders, stock lakes with smolt, and remove log jams and other obstacles from salmon-producing streams. In 1973, voters amended the state constitution’s “no exclusive right of fishery” clause, putting into place limited-entry and hatchery production. And in 1976, Alaska’s congressional delegation helped pass the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which established a federally managed exclusive economic zone up to 200 miles offshore.

To protect wild salmon stocks from overfishing and to support the sport, subsistence and commercial users whose livelihoods depended on the salmon fishery, the Alaska Legislature expanded the hatchery program. Starting in 1974, Fish and Game enabled legislation providing authority for private non-profit, or PNP, hatcheries to operate and to harvest salmon for brood stock and cost recovery. By 1977, the first hatchery fish had returned from the ocean, relieving harvest pressure on wild stocks.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Rep. Huffman Gets Bleak Input on Fisheries

October 11, 2019 — Long before the first refugees from the city planted cannabis seeds in the hills of Southern Humboldt, fishermen braved the seas in summer and winter to bring back crab, salmon, rockfish, lingcod and a variety of other seafood.

It was always considered a reliable — if dangerous — way to make a living.

Things have changed. A hodgepodge of rising costs, shrinking fish stocks, impossible bureaucratic requirements and crumbling on-shore infrastructure is gradually driving people out of Humboldt’s oldest occupation.

On Oct. 5, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman held a public meeting in Arcata to discuss updating the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the federal legislation that governs ocean fishing.

Huffman brought together a roundtable of regional and local officials, a Humboldt State University professor and a few representatives of the local fishing industry to offer feedback on the failings — and successes — of the MSA. Later in the meeting, he also took comments from the 35 or so members of the general public attending the meeting at the D Street Community Center.

Aside from some initial remarks, Huffman did not say much, noting that he was there to listen and gather feedback from the community. He will hold similar meetings on a “listening tour” of fishing communities all over the country in his role as chair of the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife.

Read the full story at The North Coast Journal

Rep. Huffman’s First MSA Listening Sessions Highlight Successes, Challenges in Fisheries Management

October 10, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — As promised, House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Chairman Jared Huffman, D-Calif., completed two days of round-table listening sessions in California about the current state of federal fisheries policy and the challenges that must be addressed for future management success.

Rep. Huffman heard from a diverse array of marine resource stakeholders on such topics as climate change, modernizing and improving our data collection systems, improving the fisheries disaster relief system, protecting habitats, and equitable access to marine resources, according to a Marine Fish Conservation Network press release.

Huffman plans to hold a series of roundtable discussions throughout the United States to assist in his development of a Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization bill.

“The Magnuson-Stevens Act has guided us in managing our ocean’s resources for decades – and we have all benefited from our longstanding laws for managing fisheries resources,” Huffman said on his Twitter feed. “But as we are met with new challenges to keeping fisheries healthy and productive, it’s important we listen to feedback on improving how we manage them.”

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and Huffman have supported Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act reauthorization bills in the past. Young introduced HR 3697, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act in July, about the same time Huffman announced he planned to hold listening sessions around the country before he introduced a new bill.

“Conditions are changing and we have a chance to fine tune the Magnuson-Stevens Act – and that’s what this tour is all about,” Huffman Tweeted.

“Chairman Huffman has shown great leadership in launching this national dialogue for marine resource policy development. By listening to a range of stakeholders from our working waterfronts and coastal communities all across the country, this process will better inform and result in a comprehensive and forward-looking reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” Robert C. Vandermark, executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, said in a press release. “Participants in the first two listening sessions affirmed that the Magnuson-Stevens Act is working. Many speakers encouraged Congress to build on that success to meet current challenges and those that are emerging in the future.

“The Network looks forward to continuing to work with Chairman Huffman and Congress to sustain the benefits of our existing marine resource policy and to capitalize on the opportunity to enhance the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In the next reauthorization bill, lawmakers must support and strengthen catch accounting and data management for all sectors, ensure healthy ocean ecosystems and environments, promote and prioritize community-based commercial and recreational fishing interests, and manage fisheries for abundance through science-based conservation measures,” Vandermark added.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Huffman to start MSA town halls this weekend in California

October 4, 2019 — One of the top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will begin a series of roundtable discussions this weekend to help him prepare a bill that would reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) will hold the first roundtable on Saturday, 5 October, in Arcata, California. Two days later, he’ll hold a similar session in San Francisco. The events are free and open to the public, though registration is required.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rep. Huffman Announces First Fisheries Roundtable Events in Arcata and San Francisco, CA

October 2, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, announced today that his first two fisheries roundtable discussions will be held in Northern California; the first on Saturday, October 5th, at 2:30 p.m. in Arcata, California, and the second on Monday, October 7th, at 1:00 p.m. in San Francisco. These are the initial stops on a nationwide listening tour on federal fisheries management designed to engage diverse perspectives, interests, and needs of individuals who have a stake in management of federal ocean and fisheries resources. The events are both free and open to the public and press.

Arcata roundtable:
WHO: Congressman Jared Huffman, fisheries and oceans experts
WHAT: Roundtable discussion on federal fisheries management
WHEN: October 5, 2019, 2:30-4:30 PM
WHERE: D Street Community Center, 1301 D Street, Arcata, CA 95521

San Francisco roundtable:
WHO: Congressman Jared Huffman, fisheries and oceans experts
WHAT: Roundtable discussion on federal fisheries management
WHEN: October 7, 2019, 1:00-3:00 PM
WHERE: Aquarium of the Bay – Farallon room, Pier 39 Embarcadero & Beach St, San Francisco CA 94133

Each of Huffman’s roundtable panel discussions with experts and stakeholders will include a detailed, technical examination of current and future challenges in federal fisheries management and will explore potential solutions. Guests will be able to submit written questions during the roundtable and provide public comments at its conclusion. Members of the public can register for the events and submit questions ahead of time:

The ideas Huffman receives from this listening tour, and from other stakeholder outreach that is already underway, will inform his introduction of a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries management in U.S. federal waters.

More detail on Huffman’s listening tour, which was first announced in July, can be found here.

North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets next week in Homer

September 25, 2019 — Federal stewards of Alaska’s fisheries will meet in Homer for the first time since 1983 as they continue their pursuit of involving more people in policy making.

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 10, the Spit will be aswarm with entourages of the 15-member North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees more than 25 stocks in waters from 3 to 200 miles offshore, the source of most of Alaska’s fish volumes.

The NPFMC is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-(Ted) Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 that booted foreign fleets to waters beyond 200 miles and “Americanized” the Bering Sea fisheries.

“The council certainly is interested in engaging more stakeholders, particularly from rural and Alaska Native communities, and by going to more coastal communities, it allows them more opportunity for input into the process,” said Dave Witherell, council executive director, who added that in recent years the council has expanded beyond Kodiak, Juneau and Sitka to convene in Nome and Dutch Harbor.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

NOAA: Number of sustainable US stocks near record high

August 5, 2019 — US federal fishing regulators say that the number of US fish stocks at sustainable levels remains at a near-record high.

Some 90% of US stocks are not subject to overfishing, regulators believe.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its annual Status of the Stocks report Aug. 2, which, as is required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, details the stocks that are regulated as “overfished” or subject to “overfishing.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

New Bering Sea management plan to incorporate local and traditional knowledge

July 23, 2019 — For the first time in its more than forty-year history, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) will incorporate Traditional Knowledge from local communities into its core management plans for the Bering Sea region. Many believe Local and Traditional Knowledge will help the council better manage the complex ecosystem and bring new light to regional issues—such as the changing climate. KNOM’s JoJo Phillips reports:

The NPFMC has developed a new model, the Core Bering Sea Fisheries Ecosystem Plan, consisting of five strategic modules. Work has already begun on two of them: evaluating the impacts of climate change on fish species and beginning to use Traditional Knowledge in management of the region.

The NPFMC is one of eight councils in the United States responsible for managing the nation’s coastal fisheries, established when Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976.

According to NOAA spokesperson Julie Speegle, the National Marine Fishing Service and the Council quote, “work together to get the most out of our fisheries for food and economic well-being.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media