Saving Seafood

2018 Alaska Fisheries Science Center Year in Review

March 1, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

More fish come through the Alaska fishing port of Dutch Harbor than anywhere else in the Nation. In fact, Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, Alaska, are the top two U.S. fishing ports in landed volume. These same two ports rank No. 2 and No. 3 in U.S. economic value.

We collect biological, ecological, and environmental data during long-term, standardized research surveys, from fishing catches, and through other research activities. In the laboratory and in the field we study what fish and crabs eat, where they live, and how fast they grow. We input these data into sophisticated computer models to generate estimates of fish abundance (number of fish in the population), determine the potential impacts of environmental change, and recommend sustainable fishing limits. We also collect socio-economic data on fisheries and coastal communities, and other ecosystem data. Resource managers use this information to develop sound management measures ensuring healthy fisheries over the long term with ecological, economic, and socio-cultural benefits for the nation.

Our primary responsibility is to provide scientific data, analyses, and expert technical advice to marine resource managers (i.e., the NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Regional Office, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the State of Alaska, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, and the Pacific Salmon Commission), Alaska tribal governments, public stakeholders, and U.S. representatives participating in international fishery and marine mammal negotiations. The work of monitoring and assessing fish, crab, and marine mammal populations, fisheries, and marine ecosystems is mandated by legislation, which includes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the U.S Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Read the full release here

Forcing Other Countries To Ban Shark Finning: A Bipartisan Conservation Bill Back In Congress

February 5, 2019 — During the George W. Bush administration, American furniture makers had a crippling disadvantage. While American timber was tightly regulated, foreign supplies had no limitations on where their wood originated from, and could engage in destructive practices and undercut U.S. companies.

President Bush solved that by modernizing the Lacey Act, which was the conservation brainchild of Republicans a century earlier and had been modified a few times since. Under the new law, if a supplier could not show a legitimate trail of legal acquisition, it simply could not come into the U.S.

Modern fisheries have the same import problem, plus a domestic perception one.(1) When it comes to products like shark, American fishers have one set of rules, and it has created the most sustainable program on earth, but importation is a free-for-all. The Magnuson-Stevens Act means responsible shark management but in other countries shark finning is all too common

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2019, H.R. 788, mandates the same science-based management standards for imported products that American fishermen use. The program this bill has been modeled after has worked well for sea turtles and other marine mammals.  Though it is a Republican bill, its support is bipartisan, rare enough for modern politics, but it is also supported by non-profit education organizations like Science 2.0. and the fishing industry, non-ban-happy conservation groups, aquariums and zoos. It almost sounds impossible to have such a diverse consensus, but there it is.

Read the full story at Science 2.0

Alaska management untouched under revised Modern Fish Act

January 24, 2019 — Though a landmark piece of fisheries legislation will affect how many Lower 48 federal sportfisheries are managed, there won’t be many changes for Alaska.

President Donald Trump signed the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Act — known as the Modern Fish Act — into law on Dec. 31, 2018. The law revises the management framework for recreational fisheries in federal waters, heralded by supporters as a way of differentiating sportfishing from commercial fishing and providing more fishing opportunity in the recreational sector.

In Alaska, though, the act won’t have much direct impact. Mike Leonard, the vice president of government affairs for the American Sportfishing Association, said it’s fair to say the provisions in the bill don’t herald many changes in the Pacific Northwest saltwater sportfisheries.

The final version of the bill itself removed some of the particular provisions directly changing management strategies, but the essential purpose of the bill remains, Leonard said.

“The passage of a bill itself that is focused on saltwater recreational fishing … I don’t know that Congress has ever done that,” he said. “The motivations behind this were to get a recognition within the (Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act) that recreational fishing is important but that (commercial and sport) are fundamentally different activities.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Judge: NMFS must rewrite anchovy catch rule

January 22, 2019 — Federal fishing regulators have until April 16 to rewrite a rule that sets annual catch limits (ACL) for commercial fishing of anchovy in federal waters off the northern coast of California, a judge has ruled.

The Jan. 18 order from federal judge Lucy Koh enforces a judgment in a lawsuit brought in 2016 by the environmental activist group Oceana against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Oceana’s lawsuit questioned the science that NMFS relied on in reaching a 2016 decision to set the ACL for northern California anchovy at 25,000 metric tons. The agency set that limit — even though landings typically only total less than a third of that, 7,300t — judging the stock’s maximum sustainable yield to be 123,000t, and calculating an acceptable biological catch of 100,000t. The ACL was set, conservatively, the agency said, at a fourth of that level.

Speaking to Undercurrent in June 2018 about the ruling, Diane Pleschner-Steele, the executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, disagreed with the biomass estimates, but because the harvesters her group works with are seeing more anchovies, not fewer.

Pleschner-Steele said that her group worked in 2017 with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to perform an aerial survey of anchovy stocks.

“The department’s plane flew along the coast inside the area that the NOAA acoustic trawl survey was transecting at the same time, and our spotter pilot estimated tonnage of the schools he observed,” she wrote.   “We documented tens of thousands of tons of coastal pelagic species — both sardine and anchovy —  that the NOAA cruise did not see or factor into its assessment because they survey largely offshore and don’t come into nearshore waters.   This is now recognized as a problem, and we’re hopeful that we can improve stock assessments over time.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

SAFMC Prepared for the Modern Fish Act of 2018

January 17, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (Modern Fish Act), which aims to provide more stability and access to recreational anglers, was signed into law by the President on December 31, 2018. The Act includes improving recreational data collection (through avenues such as smart phone apps), allowing additional management tools that are more appropriate for recreational fishing, and requiring studies of allocations in the South Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico mixed-use fisheries and limited access programs in mixed-use fisheries for all Councils except the Pacific and North Pacific Councils.

The Modern Fish Act affects federally-managed fisheries governed by the eight regional fishery management councils in the U.S. Initially established by the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 1976, the Councils, working with NOAA Fisheries and the Department of Commerce, have led the way in establishing fisheries management processes followed around the world today. Approval of the Modern Fish Act was celebrated by the recreational fishing community and allows federal fishery managers to explore novel ideas and partnerships to enhance fisheries management.

“These new tools are something that recreational fishermen have worked on very hard, and we are happy to see it in law,” said Chester Brewer, South Atlantic Council Member. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council began work on management activities for the recreational fishery that align with items outlined in the in the Modern Fish Act as it was being developed. These include:

  • MyFishCount – a recreational reporting website and application for smart phones designed to allow anglers to voluntarily report their fishing activity, including numbers of fish harvested, numbers released, depth fished, and other information helpful for management. The pilot project, developed in partnership with the Angler Action Foundation and Elemental Methods, is funded through NOAA Fisheries and has over 800 users to date.
  • For-Hire (headboat & charter vessel) Electronic Reporting – federally-permitted headboat captains are currently required to report electronically; expected to begin in 2019, federally permitted charter captains in the South Atlantic region will be required to report trip-level data for all trips and all species electronically on a weekly basis, improving the timeliness and accuracy of data used for fisheries management.
  • Collaboration – In 2018, the Council collaborated with and participated in a Recreational Fishing Workshop with the American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, and Yamaha Marine during the October Council meeting. The workshop is part of a 3-phase project to explore approaches for innovative management of the private recreational sector of the South Atlantic Snapper Grouper fishery. Results from the workshop and additional stakeholder meetings will be presented to the Council during its March 2019 meeting on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The Council will consider the results and discuss how to develop a new approach for managing the recreational fishery that aligns with items identified in the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act.

“The Council is very excited to be cooperating with the recreational fishing community to develop this new approach for the Council’s area and we look forward to receiving recommendations from the recreational sector,” said Spud Woodward, South Atlantic Council Member.

“NOAA Fisheries and the Secretary of Commerce are to be commended for funding development of MyFishCount, an app that, when expanded and implemented, could meet the private recreational data reporting requirements of the Modern Fish Act,” said Jessica McCawley, Chair of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. “NOAA Fisheries is working to provide additional funding to continue this important program for 2019/20, and the Secretary of Commerce and the NOAA Fisheries Administrator expressed strong support for such programs at the National Recreational Fishing Summit held last year,” McCawley noted.

Council Vice Chair Mel Bell noted the importance of timely, mandatory data reporting. “The State of South Carolina recently moved from their 20+ year, paper-only based for-hire reporting program to include use of an electronic report application that is web-based. With the pending implementation of federal charter vessel reporting, we will have all federal for-hire vessels, and all South Carolina state-only for-hire vessels, reporting electronically,” explained Bell, who also represents the SCDNR Marine Resources Division on the Council. “In addition, MyFishCount provides a method for individual recreational anglers to report electronically, which would help supplement existing data streams and be a much-needed improvement to our understanding of recreational catch information,” according to Bell.

Tune in to the Council’s meeting on Tuesday afternoon, March 5th, to hear the discussions. Materials and webinar registration information will be available from the Council’s website on February 15th.

Trump took shot at fishery management councils in signing of Modern Fish Act

January 7, 2019 — Despite earlier resistance from commercial fishing and ocean conservation groups, little uproar was registered after US president Donald Trump signed the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (S. 1520), also known as “the Modern Fish Act”, last week. The parts of the bill most objected to were removed.

However, the president’s brief comments – in a statement released after his signing of the bill – are raising a few eyebrows as well as questions about what actions might be taken next at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Trump suggested his administration has concerns about both the increasing authority and makeup of the country’s eight fishery management councils (FMCs).

“The power of these councils,” he said, “has steadily increased over time, raising constitutional concerns related to the manner of the appointment and removal of their members and of members of certain scientific and statistical committees that assist them.

“Keeping with past practice of the executive branch, my administration will treat the plans promulgated by the council as advisory only; the adoption of the plans will be subject to the discretion of the secretary of Commerce as part of the regulatory process described in section 304 of the Magnuson‑Stevens Act [MSA],” he said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Will Modern Fish Act do anything for New Jersey fishermen?

January 4, 2019 — One of the last actions taken by Pres. Donald Trump in 2018 was to sign the Modern Fish Act into law.

The act amended some of the recreational fishing management rules in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or MSA, the principal body of fisheries’ laws. The MSA however, didn’t receive a full reauthorization, which is something the fishing industry will try to accomplish this year with the new Congress.

As its full name the “Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act,” may imply, the act was geared for the recreational fishing industry.

Except for where commercial fisheries relate to recreational access in mixed-used fisheries in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, such as red snapper, commercial fishing was basically left out.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Statement by the President on the Modern Fish Act

January 4, 2019 — The following was released by the White House on December 31, 2018:

Today, I have signed into law S. 1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018” (the “Act”). The Act, however, further strengthens the Regional Fishery Management Councils, which were first established by the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976 to promulgate fishery management plans. The power of these Councils has steadily increased over time, raising constitutional concerns related to the manner of the appointment and removal of their members and of members of certain scientific and statistical committees that assist them. Keeping with past practice of the executive branch, my Administration will treat the plans promulgated by the Council as advisory only; the adoption of the plans will be subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce as part of the regulatory process described in section 304 of the Magnuson‑Stevens Act.

DONALD J. TRUMP

Read the statement here

New fishing rules continue to attract attention

January 2, 2019 — Revisions to federal fishing regulations that have received widespread praise from competing interests are drawing a more cautious reaction from one commercial fishing group.

Members of the National Coalition for Fishing Communities, which represents commercial fishermen in communities along all U.S. coasts, says it wants to ensure the Modern Fish Act does not diminish the nation’s main fishing law, which awaits reauthorization by Congress.

The group says the Magnuson-Stevens Act does need reforms but that its main protections against overfishing have worked well and need to be maintained.

“Any Magnuson-Stevens re-authorization should include two goals,” said David Krebs, president of Ariel Seafoods Inc. in Destin, Florida and a board member of the Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance, said in a coalition news release. “The 10 national standards must be maintained, and provisions should be included to ensure balance between commercial and recreational interests on the eight fishery management councils.”

Read the full story at Houma Today

Modern Fish Act passes House: Industry wonders what happened to Magnuson?

December 21, 2018 — The U.S. House voted to pass the Modern Fish Act on Wednesday, just two days after the Senate approved it unanimously, swiftly sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.

The “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” or S.1520, has been the subject of debate and compromise among lawmakers, commercial and recreational fishing interests, and environmentalists for months.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities released a statement on Thursday denouncing the quick passage of the bill and cementing their earlier support for Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, H.R. 200, that was passed over earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up the House bill, and instead took up S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” read the statement. “In its original form, S.1520 faced widespread opposition from both commercial fishing and environmental groups. After its most controversial components were either totally removed or substantially weakened, it moved forward in the Senate and passed the House yesterday.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman