Saving Seafood

U.S. senators call for review of Canadian protections of endangered right whales

November 18, 2019 — Two U.S. senators from Massachusetts, including presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, are calling for an investigation of Canada’s regulatory measures to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

Democrat senators Edward Markey and Warren sent a letter this week to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arguing Canadian rules for protecting the endangered whales are less strict than those in the United States.

Their request notes New England lobster fishermen are currently responding to a federal plan that reduces the amount of rope in the water and requires lines that break more easily.

Read the full story at CTV

Top climate hawk bashes first big offshore wind project

November 15, 2019 — For the past seven years, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has given a weekly address about the dangers of climate change. Increasingly, some greens wonder if he is full of hot air.

The Rhode Island Democrat, one of the Senate’s top climate hawks, has emerged as a leading critic of Vineyard Wind, an 84-turbine offshore wind project proposed in federal waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Whitehouse has questioned the federal government’s review of the project, the first large-scale development of its kind in the United States, and criticized Vineyard Wind for failing to adequately consult fishermen.

His barbs have raised eyebrows in climate circles and in Massachusetts, where Vineyard Wind has the enthusiastic backing of the state’s political establishment, and comes as the Trump administration weighs the future of the project.

In August, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt called for an additional round of environmental review of the project (Climatewire, Aug. 12). A division of Interior, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, is currently conducting a cumulative impact study of other offshore wind projects proposed for the area.

In an interview, Whitehouse said he was simply pushing for improvements to BOEM’s permitting process to better accommodate the concerns of fishermen and other ocean users.

He argued that Vineyard Wind had already settled on the design of its project with investors before taking input from fishermen. And he cited the Block Island wind farm, a five-turbine project built by Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, as an example of how wind developers should approach fishermen’s concerns.

Keating said he appreciates the difficulty Whitehouse faces in balancing the concerns of fishermen next to the economic potential of offshore wind. He represents New Bedford, Mass., America’s largest commercial fishing port, and has heard similar concerns about offshore wind from some constituents. But he added: “I really feel an urgency and I feel an imperative that we have to go forward on this. This is gonna be great for our economy.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Group Discusses Potential Gear Restrictions At North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium

November 15, 2019 — An international group of scientists, conservationists, fisheries managers and others are gathered in Portland this week for the annual meeting of what’s called the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Federal regulators told the group that they are looking at a wide slate of measures to protect the endangered whales from entanglement in fishing gear. Some measures include reductions in the amount of lobster-trap rope allowed in the water and in the strength of that rope. The feds say they are also considering having a part of Cape Cod Bay that is now closed February to April closed to endlines but open to ropeless gear in the future.

Read the full story at Maine Public

NOAA to implement new regs on Jonah crab fishery

November 14, 2019 — The profile of the humble Jonah crab, once considered mere bycatch in the lobster fishery, continues to rise.

On Dec. 19, NOAA Fisheries will implement new regulations that will sharpen the scope and definition of the Jonah crab fishery in federal waters by establishing permitting requirements and setting size and possession limits.

The new federal measures closely replicate Jonah crab fishery management plans already enacted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates Jonah crabs on an interstate level, and many East Coast states — including Massachusetts.

“The federal regulations that are being issued mirror those set in place by ASMFC when they released the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan in 2015,” said Derek Perry, a crab biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “More than 99% of Jonah crabs are caught in federal waters, so this is mostly a federal waters fishery.”

So, beginning on Dec. 12, only vessels with a federal American lobster trap or non-trap permit may retain Jonah crab in federal waters. The minimum size will be the same as set by Massachusetts for state waters — 4.75 inches across the carapace.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Gorton’s, riding high on celebrity chef partnership, launches new products

November 14, 2019 — After growing sales and awareness of its brand via a partnership with a celebrity chef and the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), Gorton’s is unveiling new products that appeal to millennials and other key demographic groups.

Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Gorton’s partnered with restauranteur Antoni Porowski, star of Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” earlier this year to create new recipes for Gorton’s and buzz for wild Alaska pollock. GAPP helped fund the partnership with a portion of USD 1 million (EUR 909,000) from its North American Partnership Program, which awarded 12 seafood suppliers in its second round of funding.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Marine Animal Deaths Attributed to Low Oxygen Levels

November 13, 2019 — Fishermen in Cape Cod Bay recently discovered a large number of dead animals in their traps, including lobsters, flounders, and eels.

After an investigation conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, it was determined they died due to low levels of oxygen at the ocean’s floor, otherwise known as hypoxia.

Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, said that the warm water temperatures over the summer as well as the current state of Cape Cod Bay lead to the deaths.

“This area in the Cape Cod Bay has very low current flow, so it was the perfect storm for something like this to happen,” she said.

Cold water in the bay gets trapped at the bottom of the ocean underneath layers of warmer water, causing oxygen to wane.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

DAVE MONTI: NOAA called out for doing its job

November 11, 2019 — The fishing industry in Massachusetts and Rhode Island collaborates with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This is the way it should be.

It was no surprise to me when a story titled ‘Emails show bond between NOAA, fishermen against project’ appeared in Energy & Environmental (E & E) News on Oct. 25.

In Rhode Island and Massachusetts, big fishing (those representing major fishing companies or fishing associations), were reportedly discussing a review of the Vineyard Wind ocean wind farm environmental study with NOAA staff, some from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

By design, NOAA and fishermen are supposed to work together. Historically NOAA has conducted the longest running fish stock survey up and down the east coast. The survey serves as a tool, along with formal stock assessments, establishment of allowable catch limits, rebuilding time lines and the development of fishery management plans for each species. These are the successful measures outlined in our national fishing law, the Magnuson Stevens Act (and its eight regional councils), that have successful rebuilt 45 of our fish stocks since 2009.

It is the job of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to work closely with fishermen, so yes, when it comes to ocean wind farm development in our oceans that may impact fishing, it is NMFS’s job to talk to fishermen, review research and research approaches and express their perspective on how it will impact fish, fishing and habitat.

However, the ocean does not belong to fishermen, big fishing companies or ocean wind farm developers. No one special interest group should have the right to block the development of a natural resource (whether it be ocean wind farms or fishing) because the oceans are a natural resource for the benefit of all the people of the United States of America. The ocean belongs to all of us.

Read the full story at The Sun Chronicle

SARAH E. HUNT & CHARLES HERNICK: Trump’s Environmental Legacy Could Be the Rise of U.S. Offshore Wind

November 8, 2019 — The appetite for renewable energy is growing and the East Coast is a top target for companies looking to invest in wind energy. Sarah E. Hunt, with the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, and Charles Hernick, with Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, explain how wind could end up being President Trump’s environmental legacy if the administration stays true to its all-of-the-above approach to energy.

When President Donald Trump took office, he pledged to make America a powerhouse by embracing an all-of-the-above approach to energy. While the president has criticized wind energy, ironically, it may be his administration that green-lights Vineyard Wind and substantially unlocks America’s offshore wind potential.

While dozens of offshore wind projects have been developed over the past two decades from the U.K. to China, only one project has come online stateside. That is about to change.

The U.S. East Coast is a top target for energy companies interested in investing in offshore wind and will bring with development a substantial boon for workers and the economy while also accessing a previously untapped source of emission-free energy.

Read the full opinion piece at Bloomberg

Researchers Report Spike in Ocean Sunfish Strandings

November 8, 2019 — Marine researchers are reporting a spike in sunfish strandings this fall as waters continue to cool off Cape Cod.

Ocean sunfish, also known as mola mola, is one of the heaviest known bony fishes in the world. Adult sunfish typically weight between 550 and 2,200 pounds.

It is a unique shape and resembles a fish head with a tail and has a mainly flat body.

As the sunfish are migrating south to warmer waters they can get trapped and cold stunned, mainly in Cape Cod Bay, similar to what happens with sea turtles.

Marine biologist Carol “Krill” Carson, the president of the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, said sunfish strandings average between 20 and 40 per season, and there have been 135 carcasses documented this year.

“This year is our busiest season and we have exceeded all previous seasons already,” Carson said. “The stranding season hasn’t even ended.”

The sunfish stranding season typically runs from mid-August through the end of December.

“It’s been a really bad season for ocean sunfish,” Carson said.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Right whale named Snake Eyes died due to entanglement

November 7, 2019 — The probable cause of the death of a North Atlantic right whale found in September off Long Island is entanglement in fishing gear, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The 40-year-old male whale, known as No. 1226 and named “Snake Eyes,” died after being seen alive in July and August in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In September, researchers performed a necropsy at Jones Beach State Park to determine the cause of death.

Critically endangered right whales — which spend late winter and early spring in Cape Cod Bay and nearby waters — are experiencing what is called an unusual mortality event along the Atlantic coast, given the high number of deaths since 2017, which currently stand at 30, according to NOAA.

There are currently about 400 right whales remaining.

“His death is testament to a couple of important issues,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, who directs Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Plymouth. First, the habitats of right whales have shifted both in the United States and Canada and government managers who protect the animals must also shift the areas being managed, Asmutis-Silvia said. Second, fixed gear fisheries, such as commercial lobstering, are an unintentional but lethal threat to the species’ survival, and the faster gear modifications can be implemented the more likely it is that the species and fisheries can both thrive, she said.

Read the full story at Wicked Local