Saving Seafood

New England Council Honors Lou Goodreau for 45-Year Career on Staff

April 13, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Lou Goodreau, center, flanked by Council Executive Director Tom Nies, left, and Council Chair Eric Reid, right. (Credit: NEFMC)

The New England Fishery Management Council opened the first day of its April 12-14, 2022 hybrid meeting in Mystic, CT by paying tribute to Lou Goodreau, an economist and information technology specialist who is retiring in May following a dedicated 45-year career on the Council’s staff.

Lou joined the staff on March 28, 1977, the year the Council was formed by the 1976 passage of what’s now called the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). He is the third longest- serving staff member among the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils.

Lou worked under four executive directors and two acting executive directors. He saw the Council through an era of astonishing technology advancements, progressing from typewriters, punch cards, and Wang computers to the current state-of-the-art equipment and data storage systems that are now the norm in Council operations. He worked on almost every one of the Council’s fishery management plans and contributed to the economic analyses for the Council’s first groundfish, herring, and scallop plans. He was the first chair of the Scallop Plan Development Team during the successful implementation of limited access, effort controls, and vessel monitoring systems in the scallop fishery, which resulted in stock rebuilding and economic stability.

Read the full release from the New England Fishery Management Council

Bill to Reauthorize Magnuson-Stevens Act Delayed Until Alaska Elects New Member of Congress

April 8, 2022 — The bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is being put on hold until Alaskans elect a new member of Congress following the passing of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young.

Young passed away on March 18 at the age of 88. As SeafoodNews editor Peggy Parker reported, Young was the historical constant in the evolution of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, serving in the house when Senator Ted Stevens represented Alaska in the Senate, and he and Washington Senator Warren Magnusen introduced the original legislation. Young introduced legislation two years ago with several updates to the law.

Now, Representative Jared Huffman, the chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, said his bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act will be put on hold until a replacement for Young is elected.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Don Young’s death will delay fisheries law overhaul

April 6, 2022 — The death of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young will delay consideration of a long-awaited overhaul of the nation’s premier fishing law.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, said his bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a 1976 law, will be put on hold until Alaskans elect a replacement for Young, who died on March 18 at the age of 88.

“Although we often differed politically, we were always able to have productive conversations when it came to fisheries management, and he was a brilliant negotiator for this landmark bill,” Huffman said in a statement.

Calling Young’s death “a tremendous loss for Alaska, the country and all of us who had the honor of working with him,” Huffman said he wanted to wait until a successor is elected this summer to “ensure the voices of the Alaskan people are represented” before the bill moves through the House.

“I am grateful for the progress Rep. Young and I accomplished together as we neared the finish line with this bill, and I look forward to finalizing it with whomever takes the torch from the venerable Don Young,” Huffman said.

Read the full story from the office of Congressman Jared Huffman

Trawler critics aim to appeal court’s herring decision

April 6, 2022 — Gulf of Maine fishermen are looking to appeal a federal judge’s reversal of an exclusion zone that keeps herring mid-water trawlers 12 miles offshore.

The March 4 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston could reopen some Northeast waters to mid-water herring trawlers, reversing the 2019 rule change that shut them out of a broad swath of the nearshore Atlantic from Long Island to the Canadian border.

In November 2019 the National Marine Fisheries Service approved a measure by the New England Fishery Management Council to create an exclusion zone for mid-water trawling 12 miles offshore – with a bump out to 20 miles east of Cape Cod.

The Sustainable Fisheries Coalition, representing trawl operators, brought their appeal soon after to the federal court, arguing the New England council’s science advisors could not identify adverse impacts, and that trawling critics brought more influence to bear on the council and NMFS.

In his opinion Judge Sorokin wrote that the “localized depletion” concept put forth by those in opposition to the mid-water trawlers has not been adequately defined by NMFS, leading him to decide the exclusion zone decision violated National Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Management and Conservation Act.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Western Pacific Council Asks for Remedies to ESA Consultation Delays, Monument Management Plans

March 29, 2022 — Endangered Species Act consultations through NMFS takes time, but the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is tired of waiting.

Council Chair Archie Soliai reiterated concerns about NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office delays in completing ESA consultations for the region’s longline and bottomfish fisheries when the Council met last week.

“Our experience with ESA consultations over the last several years have left us with the impression that our Council process is not respected,” Soliai said in a press release. “The Council is here to ensure the sustainability of our region’s fishery resources as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. We ask PIRO to provide us with realistic timelines and meaningful dialogue, so we may work together to complete these biological opinions and ensure that our fisheries can continue to operate in compliance with ESA.”

The Council said it will convey its concerns to Janet Coit, assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), requesting assistance so biological opinions are completed in coordination with the Council.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Rep. Huffman Statement on Status of Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization

March 25, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Rep. Jared Huffman:

Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) released the following statement regarding the status of his Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) reauthorization legislation, the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, in light of Congressman Don Young’s passing:

“Over the past three years, I have worked to update and reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act – traveling coast to coast to hear from stakeholders, releasing discussion drafts for public review, and partnering with lawmakers from across the country in what has been a uniquely inclusive and comprehensive process. As part of this effort, I have had the privilege to work closely with the MSA’s original author, Congressman Don Young,” said Rep. Huffman. “Although we often differed politically, we were always able to have productive conversations when it came to fisheries management, and he was a brilliant negotiator for this landmark bill. His death is a tremendous loss for Alaska, the country, and all of us who had the honor of working with him. I’ve always said it’s important all voices be heard in this MSA reauthorization process – and so, we will be pausing further committee consideration of the legislation until his replacement is elected and we can ensure the voices of the Alaskan people are represented before the bill advances further through the House. I am grateful for the progress Rep. Young and I accomplished together as we neared the finish line with this bill, and I look forward to finalizing it with whomever takes the torch from the venerable Don Young.”

More information on the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act and the reauthorization process can be found here.

Mid-water trawlers see win in challenge to Northeast herring exclusion zone

March 15, 2022 — A federal court ruling could reopen some Northeast waters to mid-water herring trawlers, after a 2019 rule change that shut them out of a broad swath of the nearshore Atlantic from Long Island to the Canadian border.

U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston ruled Marcg 4 in favor of a lawsuit brought by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition, a trade group representing companies that fish for herring and mackerel. In November 2019 NMFS approved a measure from the New England Fishery Management Council to create an exclusion zone for mid-water trawling 12 miles offshore – with a bump out to 20 miles east of Cape Cod.

It was a culmination of two decades of debate over the impact of mid-water trawling, and complaints from other fishermen that it caused “localized depletion” of forage fish, disrupting ecosystems and their seasonal access to groundfish, tuna and other species.

“The council recommended the midwater trawl restricted area to mitigate potential negative socioeconomic impacts on other user groups resulting from short duration, high-volume herring removals by midwater trawl vessels,” NMFS Northeast regional administrator Michael Pentony wrote in 2019 in a decision letter approving the New England council’s proposal.

But in his opinion Judge Sorokin wrote that the “localized depletion” concept has not been adequately defined by the agency. That led him to decide the exclusion zone decision violated National Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Management and Conservation Act.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Mid-Water Herring Trawlers to Return to Inshore Waters; Court Overturns Exclusion Zone off Long Island, Cape Cod

March 11, 2022 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition: 

Lund’s Fisheries, owner of the F/V Enterprise, pictured here, applauded last week’s federal court ruling.

Herring fishermen from New England and the Mid-Atlantic won a crucial decision last week when a federal judge in Boston ruled in their favor against an exclusion zone in Northeast U.S. waters. The court ruled that a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) measure excluding the mid-water trawl fleet from productive inshore fishing grounds violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation’s premier fisheries law. The lawsuit was brought by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition (SFC), a trade group representing herring and mackerel fishing companies.

Mid-water trawler vessels account for upwards of 70 percent of the annual herring catch. The NMFS measure would have prevented them from operating within 12 miles of shore from Long Island to the Canadian border, with an even larger buffer around Cape Cod. Analysis by the New England Fishery Management Council, the body that developed the exclusion zone, estimated that the trawlers could lose up to a third of their annual revenue.

Gerry O’Neill, owner of two mid-water trawlers and a herring processing plant in Gloucester, Mass., said that finding underestimated the area’s value.

“In recent years, we’ve relied on this area for most of our catch,” he said. “This was an existential threat to our livelihood. This decision is a huge relief.”

Thanks to the court ruling, Cape Seafoods’ F/V Endeavour and F/V Challenger, pictured here, can return to traditional inshore fishing grounds, significantly reducing their fuel costs and carbon footprint.

The New England Council recommended the exclusion zone in response to persistent complaints and advocacy by inshore fishermen, environmental groups, sport fishers, and others. They claimed that herring fishing caused “localized depletion,” a vague concept the court found not to have been meaningfully defined by the agency.

In fact, the Council’s scientific advisors were able to detect no adverse impacts from the herring mid-water trawl fishery on other marine uses. The court agreed with the SFC that the rule lacked both a scientific and conservation justification.

NMFS and the Council pushed this measure without a science basis, SFC argued, because its advocates were both persistent and politically influential. The court, by contrast, decided the matter on the grounds that the exclusion zone allocated all inshore fishing privileges to these other user groups without promoting conservation.

“The law is the only protection a small fishing sector has against a well-represented majority,” said Shaun Gehan, an attorney for the SFC.  “We are pleased the judge recognized this measure lacked a meaningful conservation benefit, not to mention fairness and equity, as the law demands.”

Wayne Reichle, president of Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May, New Jersey, said that the decision “restored his faith in the law” and that he “believed all along the closures would be reversed.” Additionally, he is confident that “localized depletion” has no scientific basis, but remains disappointed that this provocative term was used to justify the original measure.

Under law, federal fisheries management must prevent overfishing. Herring and mackerel, which serve as forage for other fish and marine mammals, are managed more conservatively than other stocks of fish. Once catch levels are set, the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for providing the fishery reasonable opportunities to harvest its allocation.

The main problem with the process was that it was couched as addressing so-called ‘localized depletion,’ which scientists were unable to identify,” he said. “This is an issue of user conflicts and should be addressed as such.”

He also noted that any solution to this concern must equitably balance all user group interests and not place undue burdens on fisheries’ ability to harvest sustainable herring quotas.

Herring fishermen file appeal brief in at-sea monitoring case

February 2, 2022 — Atlantic herring fishermen who lost their case in 2021 against the federal government regarding an at-sea monitoring program filed their opening brief late last week to an appellate court seeking to overturn the decision.

That brief, which was filed to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday, 28 January, claims Rhode Island U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Sullivan erred last year when she ruled the Magnuson-Stevens Act allowed the government to order the fishermen to cover the costs for monitors on their vessels.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Alaskan Indigenous leaders fear impacts on salmon streams by mining project

January 27, 2022 — For Indigenous tribes living in Alaska’s remote Yukon-Kuskokwim region, southwest of the state, the future is bleak and uncertain. Tribal councils worry that plans to construct a 6,474-hectare (15,990 acres) open-pit gold mine near the Kuskokwim River watershed will have grave impacts on salmon habitats, their traditional ways of life and their health.

“This development could possibly destroy our livelihood, rivers and sea mammals that we depend on,” said Fred Phillips, representative of the Indigenous Village of Kwigillingok tribal council. According to him, tribes are not willing to take the risk.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) drainage is part of a rich biome encompassing coastal wetlands, tundra and mountains that supports the subsistence lifestyle of three distinct Alaskan Native groups; The Yup’ik, Cup’ik and Athabascan. To access the remote region, one needs to go by boat when the Kuskokwim River is flowing, or truck, snow machine and four-wheeler when the river is frozen.

Draining into the Bering Sea to the west, the Kuskokwim River, and many of its tributaries, are designated as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for Pacific Salmon. This is a legislation that manages marine fisheries in US waters.

The sprawling river is a vital source of food for the 38 communities that reside alongside it, serving as a running ground for the chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Given the remoteness of the region, the communities rely on subsistence fishing. Salmon makes up more than 50 percent of the tribe’s annual diet.

Read the full story at Mongabay