Saving Seafood

Beautiful deep sea corals are being protected by Mid-Atlantic Council

August 31, 2016 — When people think about coral and coral reefs, they usually think about crystal clear, warm waters with hundreds of fish and aquatic animals, all of which live in or on brightly colored corals. These coral reefs are usually in some tropical locale, just off the pristine white sand beach of some isolated island.

And while these coral reefs are certainly important – and very beautiful – they are not the only places to find coral in our oceans.

During the past few decades, scientists have delved deep in search of deep-sea corals, corals that live and grow under hundreds, if not thousands, of feet of water and with almost no natural light at all.

Deep-sea corals are weird, but beautiful, organisms we have discovered hidden in some of the strangest parts of our oceans and with each dive we take to find these corals, we learn a little bit more about them and their environment.

Because of the nature of their environment, searching for deep-sea coral can be painstakingly arduous. However, scientists and researchers have found a plethora of coral and reefs right along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, including off the coast of Maryland.

Most of the larger coral colonies tend to be found in the submarine canyons located off the Atlantic coast, such as the Baltimore, South Vries, Warr and Phoenix Canyons.

To preserve these areas, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a Deep Sea Corals Amendment to the Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan to help to protect areas that are known or highly likely to contain deep-sea corals.

In June 2015, the Deep Sea Corals Amendment was approved by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and is ready to be submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. It is expected to be approved and go into effect in October.

This historic piece of legislation could be key to the long-term health and future of these crucial deep-sea coral colonies.

Read the full story at the Delmarva Daily Times

Failed polygraph may mean $2.3 million more for New Jersey fishermen

August 30, 2016 — Three New Jersey fishermen could soon be $2.3 million richer thanks to some failed polygraph tests.

Earlier this month, Trenton police sergeant Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu, and boater Damien Romeo took home $767,091 from the  White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md., for their 236.5-pound bigeye tuna catch. That fish set records for both weight and payout in the tournament’s tuna category.

Now, as NJ.com reports, that amount could increase significantly, with the tournament announcing last week that the winners of its white marlin category may forfeit their $2.8 million winnings over violating tournament rules. That fish was the only qualifying entrant into the competition’s white marlin category.

To settle the situation, the White Marlin Open has filed a court action in Maryland alleging that fishermen on that $2.8 million-winning boat failed polygraph examinations conducted after their catch. The tournament requires anglers receiving prize money in excess of $50,000 to go through a polygraph examination, and has not taken this type of legal action since 2007, as Delaware Online reports.

If the court decides against the other boat’s fishermen, then Kosztyu, Suschke, and Romeo could collect slightly more than $2.3 million more in prize money thanks to special stipulations from the group’s tournament sign-up. The remaining $500,000 would be split among other winning boats, court documents indicate.

Read the full story at Philly.com

Maryland aquaculture leasing streamlined

August 19, 2016 — Federal regulators unveiled this week a new, “more streamlined” process by which Maryland oyster farmers can lease places in the Chesapeake Bay for raising their shellfish.

The revised permitting procedures announced by the Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers come in response to long-voiced complaints from oyster farmers – backed up by Maryland’s U.S. senators – about delays and red tape in obtaining aquaculture leases.

The Corps said it is replacing a regional general permit, which it issued in 2011, with what it calls a Nationwide permit, which the agency says provides a “more streamlined” way to authorize new aquaculture activities.

The new process, which took effect Aug. 15, includes allowing unlimited acreage to be leased, and speeding up handling of proposed aquaculture projects by having federal and state officials review plans at the same time rather than sequentially.

Until now, oyster farmers were limited to leasing 50 acres if raising shellfish loose on the bottom, five acres if rearing them in cages and three acres if keeping them in floats near the water surface. If a grower wanted more, he or she had to apply for an individual permit, which required more review, more public notice and a hearing.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Biologists alarmed over lack of young Atlantic sturgeon in surveys

August 16, 2016 — Biologists have been surprised in recent years about how many big Atlantic sturgeon they are finding around the Chesapeake Bay. But rather than celebrating, they have become increasingly alarmed about what they are not seeing: a new generation of young sturgeon.

While finding more adults is certainly good news, biologists say they have seen little evidence those sturgeon have successfully produced significant numbers of offspring in recent years that would be critical if the endangered species is to make a comeback in the Chesapeake.

“To get any kind of recovery, the best thing you can do is to increase that first year of survival,” said Dave Secor, a fisheries biologist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. If young fish survive, he said, “you can actually realize very rapid recovery, even for a species like sturgeon.”

That’s something that biologists working with sturgeon around the Bay say they haven’t seen, perhaps for a decade or more. Many blame the absence of young sturgeon on a rampant population of introduced blue catfish, which they say could be consuming eggs and newly hatched fry, or outcompeting them for habitat.

But researchers who study the catfish dispute that, and even sturgeon specialists acknowledge they lack concrete evidence.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

MARCO Encourages Public Review of the Draft Regional Ocean Action Plan

August 11, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean:

WASHINGTON, DC ― The Draft Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan (Draft Plan) was recently released for public review by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB), a group made up of representatives from six states, federal and tribal entities and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

The plan, which is open for public comment through September 6, 2016, aims to ensure healthy, productive, and resilient marine ecosystems and sustainable ocean uses from New York through Virginia.  Developed by the MidA RPB, it is the culmination of collaborative discussions since 2013 and outlines a suite of actions for improving collaboration on decision making for ocean waters of the Mid-Atlantic.

The Draft Plan is available online and the public may formally submit comments via the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) website at http://www.boem.gov/Ocean-Action-Plan. In addition, the public is encouraged to share their reactions to the Draft Plan on social media using the hashtags #MidAOceanPlan and #OceanPlanning.

Working collaboratively to advance regional ocean planning as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia play an instrumental role in supporting the region’s process for gathering and reviewing data on ocean resources and uses, as well as engaging ocean users, tribes and the general public in an ocean planning process.

“The planning process has given the states a seat at the table regarding the use of offshore ocean resources,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Director of Ocean and Coastal Management and MidA RPB State Co-Lead Gwynne Schultz. “The Draft Plan provides an exciting opportunity to raise public awareness and to influence proposed projects and actions in federal waters, streamlining how government agencies work with each other and stakeholders.”

The five MARCO member states began identifying common interests in 2009, after a Governors’ Agreement formed the MARCO partnership to enhance the vitality of the region’s ocean ecosystem and economy.  The states jointly recognize ocean planning as a potential tool for moving common regional priorities forward and, as MARCO, have played an instrumental role in the regional planning process. MARCO’s contributions to the Draft Plan have included:

  • Convening entities and stakeholders throughout the region to help inform the ocean planning process.
  • Facilitating the compilation and synthesis of data and information on marine resources, habitats and human uses.
  • Developing the MARCO Ocean Data Portal (http//:portal.midatlanticocean.org), an interactive ocean mapping and information website focused on the Mid-Atlantic coast.
  • Hosting a series of five regional Open House Public Listening Sessions in July 2016 to share information about and to receive informal public input on the Draft Plan.

“The MARCO Ocean Data Portal provides a public resource that puts maps and data from a variety of federal agencies and other vetted sources in one easy to use website location,” said Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program Manager Laura McKay, who also serves as Chair of the MARCO Management Board and as a member of the MidA RPB. “Never before have we been able to explore from a regional perspective, the transboundary spatial relationships between species, habitats and human activities,” McKay stated.

This process also helped establish a new two-way dialogue between those who use the ocean and the agencies and entities that make decisions about long-term sustainable management.

“The Mid-Atlantic states will benefit in the long-term from the improved relationships with ocean stakeholders who have been given a new opportunity to provide data and feedback to the regional ocean planning process, bringing a louder voice to key issues of concern from coastal communities and ensuring that decision-makers have an improved understanding of the opportunities and limitations of currently available data sets,” said Greg Capobianco, New York Department of State and MidA RPB member.

Following the public comment period, the Plan will be submitted to the National Ocean Council for concurrence.  Upon finalization, the region expects to benefit from the Ocean Action Plan through improved coordination, data availability and outreach opportunities.

With droughts and downpours, climate change feeds Chesapeake Bay algal blooms

August 11, 2016 — Nitrogen-rich agricultural runoff into the Chesapeake Bay presents an ongoing environmental and economic concern for the bay’s massive watershed. Pollution from fertilizer application feeds algal blooms that poison humans and marine life, and devastate fisheries.

 While efforts to restore the bay have been successful during the past several years, a study led by Princeton University researchers shows that weather patterns tied to climate change may nonetheless increase the severity of algal blooms by changing how soil nutrients leach into the watershed.

Extreme rainfall cycles caused by increased climate variability flush larger amounts of nitrogen-containing nutrients from fertilizer and other sources into the Susquehanna River, which carries them into the Chesapeake Bay, according to a report in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Moreover, a spike in rainfall can increase nitrogen levels in the bay even if the amount of fertilizer used on land remains the same.

These chemicals feed explosive algae growth that can produce toxins that harm people, fish, wildlife and drinking water. Decaying algae also suck oxygen from the surrounding water, creating a low-oxygen state known as hypoxia that results in “dead zones” that suffocate fish and other species important to the aquatic food chain.

The researchers constructed a model that they say provides the most complete picture to date of how nitrogen moves from place to place in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It connects weather and pollution in places as far away as upstate New York to the water conditions in the bay.

Read the full story at Phys.org

Old Line Fish Co. delivers Chesapeake Bay seafood in Maryland’s first community-supported fishery

August 9, 2016 — As a lifelong Maryland resident, Stephanie Hall has eaten plenty of oysters. But she’d never shucked one herself until she received a share of the shelled mollusks from Old Line Fish Co. this summer.

Hall was among the earliest customers of the region’s first community-supported fishery. Similar to community-supported agriculture, Old Line Fish Co. allows customers to buy shares of local seafood for biweekly pickups. The seafood in each delivery varies from week to week depending on fish and shellfish in local watermen’s catches.

An offshoot of the Oyster Recovery Partnership, a nonprofit that works to restore the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population, Old Line Fish Co. is as much about educating customers as delivering fresh seafood. In its first season, the organization introduced customers to the watermen who caught their meals, provided some unfamiliar foods and suggested new cooking processes.

Oysters were just one of the species that made it into Hall’s reusable bag stamped with an “Old Line Fish Co.” seal — the Annapolis resident didn’t even have a shucking knife until she bought one on the way home from picking up her share and grilled the oysters on the half-shell.

“If I’m going to say I’m a Marylander, I better be able to shuck an oyster,” said Hall, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist who monitors water quality.

Read the full story from The Baltimore Sun

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel Meeting September 7-8, 2016

August 4, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) intends to hold a meeting of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP) on September 7-8, 2016, at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, 8777 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910.  The AP meeting and webinar will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Wednesday and Thursday, September 7 and September 8, 2016.

On Wednesday, September 7, 2016, the conference call information is phone number 1-888-469-2188; Participant Code: 7954019; and the webinar event address is: https://noaaevents2.webex.com/noaaevents2/onstage/g.php?MTID=eec1bb32466dd8905125c5db01b539623; event password: NOAA.

On Thursday, September 8, 2016, the conference call information is phone number 1-888-469-2188; Participant Code: 7954019; and the webinar event address is:  https://noaaevents2.webex.com/noaaevents2/onstage/g.php?MTID=e9fcef19f3c43ce6255dfad07807a71f4 ; event password: NOAA.

Participants are strongly encouraged to log/dial in 15 minutes prior to the meeting.  NMFS will show the presentations via webinar and allow public comment during identified times on the agenda.

The intent of this meeting is to consider alternatives for the conservation and management of all Atlantic tunas, swordfish, billfish, and shark fisheries.  We anticipate discussing the results of the 2016 dusky shark stock assessment and the Amendment 5b timeline; Draft Amendment 10 on Essential Fish Habitat, including potential Habitat Areas of Particular Concern; implementation updates for Final Amendment 7 on bluefin tuna management; and progress updates on various other rulemakings, including archival tag requirements, blacknose and small coastal shark management; domestic implementation of recommendations from the 2015 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas; and potential changes to limited access vessel upgrading requirements and Individual Bluefin Quota program inseason transfer criteria.  We also anticipate discussing recreational topics regarding data collection and economic surveys, as well as progress updates regarding the exempted fishing permit request to conduct research in pelagic longline closed areas.  Finally, we also intend to invite other NMFS offices to provide updates on their activities relevant to HMS fisheries.

NOAA Recommends $9 Million in Funding for Community-based Habitat Restoration

July 25, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA is recommending $9 million in funding for 17 coastal and marine habitat restoration projects for its 2016 Community-based Restoration Program, as part of agency efforts to support healthy ecosystems and resilient coastal communities.

The recommended projects, in 10 states and territories, range from coral reef restoration in Florida to fish passage improvements in California. In the Greater Atlantic region, there are four recommended projects in Massachusetts, one in Maine, and one in Maryland.

This year’s projects will restore habitat for a variety of coastal and marine species, including three of NOAA Fisheries’ highly at-risk “Species in the Spotlight” – Atlantic salmon, Central California Coast coho, and Sacramento River winter-run Chinook. Projects will also concentrate on habitat improvement in two of NOAA’s Habitat Focus Areas – Puerto Rico’s Culebra Island, and West Hawaii – where agency and partner efforts can come together to yield community and environmental benefits.

“These restoration projects are a win-win for the environment and surrounding communities,” said Pat Montanio, director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation. “When we make smart investments in habitat restoration, we not only help sustain fisheries and recover protected resources, we also use these projects to provide additional benefits, like protecting coastal communities from flooding and erosion, and boosting local economies through increased recreational opportunities.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Community-based Restoration Program, which was established in 1996 and authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006. Since the program’s beginning, NOAA has provided more than $140 million to implement more than 2,000 habitat restoration projects, all through strong partnerships with more than 2,500 organizations. Through the program and the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NOAA and its partners are helping to create healthy habitats and resilient fish populations in the United States.

At this point in the selection process, the application approval and obligation of funds is not final. Each of the 17 applications is being “recommended” and is not a guarantee of funding. Final approval is subject to funding availability as well as final review and approval by both the NOAA Grants Management Division and Department of Commerce Federal Assistance Law Division. Applicants should expect to receive formal notification of award approval by October 1.

Details about the 17 projects recommended for funding are available on the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation website.

MARYLAND: More sturgeon turn up in Bay, raising new questions – and worry

July 13, 2016 — For years, scientists thought there might not be any native Atlantic sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay. That idea changed in recent years, as biologists began netting hundreds of adults in the James River, and others began turning up in other tributaries.

Now, genetic analyses show the Chesapeake is home to at least two — and possibly more — distinct populations of the endangered fish.

DNA analysis shows that James River sturgeon and those recently found spawning next door in the Pamunkey River, a tributary of the York River, are not even particularly closely related, despite their geographic proximity.

The 138 Pamunkey fish sampled seem more closely related to what could be a third population farther up, and across, the Bay in the Nanticoke River where 15 adult fish have been caught — and released — the last two years.

It’s too early to say whether the sturgeon netted in the Nanticoke and its tributaries constitute a unique population, said Tim King, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who did the genetic analysis. King said he would like at least 25–30 samples before offering a more concrete opinion about the Nanticoke sturgeon.

“It is way too early to draw any conclusions,” King said. “But it would seem that they are not James fish. They are genetically more similar to the Pamunkey fish than they are the James, but I am not willing to say that they are Pamunkey fish.”

Read the full story at the Bay Journal