Saving Seafood

Zero Dollars for Marine Mammals?

February 27, 2018 — The future of marine mammals is at risk in U.S. waters. President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 would eliminate the Marine Mammal Commission. With an annual operating budget of $3.4 million, which comes to just over one penny per American per year, the Marine Mammal Commission has for 45 years been assiduously developing science and policy to protect seals, sea lions, dolphins, whales, dugongs and walruses. Through the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), Congress charged the commission with providing independent oversight of marine mammal conservation policies and programs being carried out by federal regulatory agencies. Obviously, with a proposed budget of zero dollars, it would be impossible to execute the federally mandated objectives of fostering sustainable fisheries (through the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [MSA]) and protecting endangered species (through the Endangered Species Act [ESA]).

Marine mammals are more than just lovable creatures. They are important components of productive marine and coastal ecosystems that overall generate $97 billion of the gross domestic product. Whales function as ecosystem engineers by cycling vital nutrients between deeper and surface waters in the oceans. Without this nutrient cycling, oceans would produce less plankton and phytoplankton, which would eventually mean less fish. Also, through complex food-web interactions, marine mammals help to regulate fish populations. For example, marine-mammal–eating killer whales (often called “transient” killer whales) will eat seals, a common predator of pelagic fish—enabling fish populations to stay high. This kind of interaction is called a trophic cascade and is very common in marine ecosystems.

Serving as an independent oversight body, the commission has the critical task of assessing the scientific validity and effectiveness of research conducted to meet the federal mandates of the MMPA, ESA and MSA. If we as a country can’t even protect the charismatic species, I worry for all the less adorable parts of nature. So we need to draw a line in the sand. In this era of “fake news,” maintaining this entity to guard against encroachments to science-based policymaking on is more valuable than ever.

Read the full story at the Scientific American

 

The Trump Administration Just Got Sued Over an “Unusual Mortality Event” in the Ocean

February 23, 2018 — On January 22, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration got word of a juvenile, North Atlantic right whale carcass floating off the coast of Virginia. Later identified as whale #3893, the 39-foot, 10-year-old female was towed to shore, where researchers examined her partially-decomposed remains. A few days later, preliminary necropsy findings indicated that the whale died of “chronic entanglement,” meaning it was caught in rope or line, according to a report from NOAA.

It was the first right whale to die in 2018, but it comes on the heels of the deaths of 17 right whales in the North Atlantic in 2017—a record setting number that is more than all right whale mortalities in the five previous years combined. NOAA researchers are calling the trend an “unusual mortality event”—a particularly concerning phenomenon, as North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species. There are only about 450 left in the wild, according to NOAA, and at the current rate, scientists predict the species could be functionally extinct in fewer than 25 years.

NOAA hasn’t determined the cause of the “unusual mortality event,” but some are looking right at Washington, and at NOAA itself. A new lawsuit, filed January 18 in US District Court in Washington, D.C., argues specifically that the Trump administration is at least partly responsible for failing to adequately address this epidemic.

Between 2010 and 2016, 85 percent of diagnosed whale deaths were the result of entanglement, typically in commercial fishing gear. The plaintiffs—the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Humane Society—allege that President Trump’s Department of Commerce, of which NOAA is a branch, is in violation of the 1973 Endangered Species Act and the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act over their management of the North Atlantic lobster fishery, which “frequently entangles right whales,” according to the suit. Under the Endangered Species Act, the plaintiffs point out, any action, direct or indirect, by a federal agency must not be “likely to jeopardize” any endangered or threatened species.

Read the full story at Mother Jones

 

California sea lion population rebounds

January 24, 2018 — California sea lions are doing just fine. Thanks for asking.

More than fine, actually.

Sea lions have fully rebounded with an estimated population of more than 250,000 in 2014, according to a recent study by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 1975, the population was estimated at less than 90,000.

The study reconstructed the population’s triumphs and trials over the past 40 years.

“The population has basically come into balance with its environment,” co-author Sharon Melin, a research biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a statement. “The marine environment is always changing, and their population is at a point where it responds very quickly to changes in the environment.”

NOAA’s declaration that California sea lions have fully rebounded does not mean a “delisting” as it would if the sea lion was listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Although there is no provision in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (which protects sea lions) to delist a species, there is a provision that allows states to ask NOAA Fisheries to take over management of species that have reached carrying capacity (in the law it is called Optimum Sustainable Population or OSP) and potentially do more to control their numbers,” wrote NOAA spokesperson Michael Milstein when announcing the report’s findings.

The goal now, Melin said, is to keep the population balanced between 183,000 and 275,000 individuals.

The rebound is a victory for the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. But as in other instances of animal populations beating the odds — wolves, for example — it’s a success story that comes with challenges.

As the California sea lion population has grown, the animals have expanded their range, bringing them into conflict with humans and endangered fish.

Where you sit’

In Astoria, male California sea lions have taken over an entire stretch of docks at the Port of Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. Port employees have attempted numerous deterrent tactics over the years, everything from fluttering wind dancers to a fake killer whale. Nothing has really worked.

Upward of 1,000 pinnipeds were recorded in a single daily count at the mooring basin in 2015. While fewer sea lions returned this spring, plenty showed up in the fall and many have stuck around through the winter instead of leaving like they have in the past, said Janice Burk, marina manager.

The port plans to install more low railing fabricated by students from Knappa along the docks in the spring. It has proved to be the one deterrent that seems to work. Sometimes.

Read the full story from the Columbia Basin Bulletin at the Chinook Observer

 

Future Of Northeast Marine National Monument Protections Still Uncertain

December 7, 2017 — Protections of a marine national monument made up of underwater mountains and canyons 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod could be at risk after President Donald Trump significantly scaled back the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah Monday – the biggest reduction of monument protections in U.S. history.

On Tuesday, U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke officially released his review of the designations of 27 national monuments, including the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean.

The three-million-acre monument was designated in September 2016 by former-president Barrack Obama under authority granted by the 1906 Antiquities Act. Since then, commercial fishing, with the exception of lobster and red crab fishing, has been banned within the monuments boundaries.

Read the full story at RI NPR

 

Bill could make drilling off N.C. coast more likely

December 5, 2017 — WASHINGTON — Congress is considering a bill that would expedite seismic testing and create a revenue sharing system for offshore drilling off the coasts of several states, including North Carolina.

The plan, H.R. 4239, dubbed the “SECURE American Energy Act,” has been met with criticism by environmental groups, but is in line with the Trump administration’s stated goals of expediting offshore energy exploration. It has been passed by the House Committee on Natural Resources, but has yet to receive a vote by the full chamber.

Congress would, according to the bill, have the sole power to establish moratoriums on offshore drilling and create National Marine Monuments. In markup documents, the bill is described as helping offshore operators who need significant advance warning help plan their future projects, allowing for more production.

Oceana, which has been involved in anti-drilling and seismic campaigns in Southeastern North Carolina, has criticized the package. The organization has expressed specific concerns about the parts of the bill looking at the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full story at the Wilmington Star

 

Center For Biological Diversity Takes Aim at California Dungeness Fishery With New Petition

November 15, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Center for Biological Diversity is attacking the California Dungeness Crab fishery again — this time under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A petition, co-signed by the Turtle Island Restoration Network, asks the National Marine Fisheries Service to designate the California crab fishery as a Category 1 fishery under the Marine Mammal Protection Act because of its rising injuries to humpback, blue, killer and gray whales, the Center said in a press release. Moving the fishery into the top category of concern would prioritize state and federal resources to help protect whales along the West Coast, the statement also said.

But the press release fails to note the petition itself goes much deeper. The Center focuses on the Central American breeding population of humpback whales — which feed primarily in California waters.

CBD cites an estimated average of 1.35 mortalities per year between 2011-2015. The Center also references the potential biological removal (PBR) of 0.8 in the stock assessment is below the estimated mortalities.

“This shows that the California Dungeness crab pot fishery – and not the
Oregon or Washington Dungeness crab pot fishery – primarily impacts the Central America [distinct population segment]. Without additional information, all interactions of the California Dungeness crab pot
fishery should be assigned to the Central America DPS,” the center says in the petition.

However, the years cited do not include the most recent seasons, when fewer whales were entangled.

Furthermore, the Center requests NOAA add blue whales; the offshore stock of killer whales; and the endangered Western North Pacific population of gray whales — of which three of seven tagged whales have been documented on the West Coast — to the list of marine mammals injured or killed in the California crab fishery.

A 2017-18 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) report, a pilot program put together by the California Dungeness Crab Fishing gear Working Group, identifies four priority factors that evaluate elevated risk of whale entanglements: crab season delay, forage/ocean conditions, whale concentrations and rate of entanglements. The report uses established data sources and the expertise of the working group members to determine entanglement risks.

The Working Group determined the whale concentration risk level is moderate; rate of entanglements risk is low; the chance of a season delay is low; and whale forage and ocean conditions risk level also is low.

The Central California crab season opened today, although some smaller vessels may be holding off for better weather.

“We are excited with the on-time opening of our local Dungeness crab season,” Angela Cincotta, with Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, said this morning. “We pray that all of our fishermen stay safe while the weather bats them about the sea. We are thankful for their commitment to our industry and their respect of the oceans.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

U.S. Leads in Global Fisheries Management

November 13, 2017 — The United States has some of the best managed marine fisheries in the world. With that leadership comes the opportunity and responsibility to advance sustainable conservation and management practices on the high seas and, as appropriate, to support other nations in achieving similar outcomes in their economic zones. NOAA Fisheries, through the work of our Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection—along with our national program offices, regional offices, fisheries science centers, and international partners—leads the nation’s efforts in achieving globally sustainable resources and conservation of living marine resources while ensuring U.S. fishermen’s access to high-seas fisheries.

Much of this is achieved through bilateral engagement, participation in regional fishery management organizations, other multilateral conservation fora, and scientific exchanges. But we also use our role as a major importer of seafood by enforcing laws requiring seafood exported to the United States to originate from fisheries that have comparable conservation measures in place. Over the past year, the Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection has worked to implement two new regulations:

  • The Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which established traceability requirements for certain priority fish species entering U.S. commerce.
  • The international import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which require that seafood exported to the United States is from fisheries with measures in place to reduce the bycatch of marine mammals that are comparable in effectiveness to U.S. measures.

We are dedicated to the implementation and administration of these regulations and have engaged the governments and seafood producers of more than 100 nations this past year to explain the requirements of these regulations and gather information about their fisheries. In addition, we issued a report to Congress on international compliance with another law intended to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, to reduce the bycatch of protected species, and to ensure adequate shark conservation measures on the high seas.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Fossil fuel search would target migratory path of right whales

November 14, 2017 — Conservationists will gather today in Washington, D.C., to stop a bill they say will “fast-track” air gun surveys for oil and gas off the U.S. coasts that could harm whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.

“This is a pro-oil and gas industry wishlist,” said CT Harry, a marine conservation campaign officer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is one of the nine lead conservation groups heading the lobbying effort.

More than 50 marine mammal advocates and ocean conservationists are expected to visit Capitol Hill, on the 45th anniversary of the passage of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The act, enacted in 1972, established a moratorium on the taking of marine mammals in U.S. waters, where “take” means hunt, harass, capture or kill, or attempt to do so, and the act set a national policy to prevent depletion of marine mammal populations. Exceptions to the moratorium can be made through permits for lawful activities that might incidentally result in a “take.”

Conservationists say that House bill 4239, known as the Secure American Energy Act, contains provisions to weaken the MMPA permitting for “incidental” events, where the weakened measures could harm marine mammals all along the East Coast, particularly the North Atlantic right whales. The House Committee on Natural Resources passed the bill last week, and the House could vote on it in the next few weeks.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

MASSACHUSETTS: State Rep. Straus request reveals NOAA has yet to penalize Rafael

August 25, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Through a public records request, Rep. William Straus said he discovered that NOAA hasn’t disciplined Carlos Rafael since the indictment has been released.

That included an incident on Aug. 5, 2016, which occurred after the indictment, where public records also show that the Coast Guard cited the Lady Patricia, a Rafael vessel listed in the indictment, for “fishing without proper VMS designation.”

NOAA defines its Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) as a system supporting law enforcement initiatives and preventing violations of laws and regulations. It is used as evidence in the prosecution of environmental laws and regulations including regional fishing quotas, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Rafael pleaded guilty in March to falsely labeling fish quotas, tax evasion and smuggling money.

NOAA said it doesn’t comment on ongoing cases, but it said it isn’t uncommon for the organization to issues penalties after criminal proceedings.

Straus, D-Mattapoisett, had requested from NOAA all charging documents involving Rafael.

“There was a pattern of behavior which concerned me about its impact on what we want to have in terms of managing the fishery,” Straus said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fisheries Service Hears Pros, Cons on Atlantic Seismic Surveys

July 27, 2017 — Five oil and gas service companies are awaiting decisions by the National Marine Fisheries Service on their proposals for Atlantic offshore seismic surveys that could harm whales and other marine life.

The service, which can issue authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, is reviewing a high volume of opposing and supporting public comments that were filed by the July 21 deadline.

The five companies are TGS NOPEC Geophysical Co. ASA, Spectrum ASA, ION Geophysical Corp., CGG S.A. and WesternGeco Ltd., a subsidiary of Schlumberger Ltd. A sixth company, TDI-Brooks International Inc., recently expressed an interest in restarting the application for an authorization after an earlier application was returned to the company as incomplete.

The fisheries service proposed authorizations with a variety of mitigation measures to reduce risks to marine mammals. If the authorizations are granted—with or without additional mitigation steps—the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will be able to make final decisions on whether to issue one-year permits for the work.

The fisheries service has no deadline for its decisions. BOEM is expected to be able to act quickly if the service gives the green light.

Read the full story at Bloomberg BNA