Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule: Framework 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

April 19, 2019 — The following was published by NOAA Fisheries: 

We are seeking public comment on an action that would revise catch limits for seven groundfish stocks for the 2019 fishing year (May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020), including the three stocks managed jointly with Canada. These revised catch limits are based upon the results of stock assessments conducted in 2018.

For the commercial groundfish fishery, quotas are increasing for Georges Bank cod (+15%), Georges Bank haddock (+19%), witch flounder (+1%), and Georges Bank winter flounder (+6%), but are decreasing for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder (-50%), Gulf of Maine winter flounder (-1%), and Atlantic halibut (-3%).

Framework 58 would also:

  • Exempt vessels fishing exclusively in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area (i.e., in international waters) from the domestic groundfish fishery minimum fish sizes to allow them to better compete in the international frozen fish market.
  • Extend the temporary change to the scallop Accountability Measure implementation policy for the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder to provide the scallop fishery with the flexibility to adjust to current catch conditions while still providing an incentive to avoid yellowtail flounder.

In this proposed rule, we are also announcing:

  • Required adjustments to the 2019 quotas for Gulf of Maine cod because the quota was exceeded in 2017;
  • Proposed management measures for the common pool, the US/Canada Area, and special management programs for fishing year 2019;
  • A proposed extension of the annual deadline to submit applications to lease groundfish days-at-sea between vessels from March 1 to April 30 (the end of the fishing year); and
  • Changes to the regulations to clarify that vessels must report catch by statistical area when submitting catch reports through their vessel monitoring system.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

The comment period is open through May 6, 2019.

Questions?
Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103

Fishermen’s group offering safety training next week

April 19, 2019 — The water can be a dangerous place to make a living, but a fishermen’s group is a sponsoring a special free, three-day round of safety training next week in Gloucester and Newburyport that could make it less so for participants.

The nonprofit Fishing Partnership Support Services is offering the free hands-on sessions:

Wednesday, April 24: Safety and survival training, U.S. Coast Guard Station, 65 Water St., Newburyport, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday, April 25: Safety and survival training, U.S. Coast Guard Station, 17 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; drill conductor training, U.S. Coast Guard Station, Newburyport, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Friday, April 26: Drill conductor training, U.S. Coast Guard Station Gloucester, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

As a prerequisite for drill conductor training, fishermen need to have taken the safety and survival training within the previous year.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

ANALYSIS: Unsettled 2019 Scallop Season Start

April 18, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The market for U.S. origin Atlantic sea scallops remains unsettled at the start of the 2019 fishing year which began on April 1, 2019. With consecutive days of landings over the 200,000 lb. mark, the industry is split. Some are taking a step back, allowing for the raw material market to stabilize before adjusting their prices, while others promote discounts with the abundant landings typical of the season opening.

Inventory holdings play a key role when determining price adjustments at the start of the season. Those with healthier inventory levels with product purchased when prices were higher will be slower to discount at the first sign of the market softening.

The graph below illustrates how the most dramatic discounts are typically seen in the first two months of the season, before the market begins to stabilize through the end of the year.

In looking at our current season, while the daily catch rates have been ample, the scallop quality is characterized as ‘medium’, with splits and pieces taking a higher percentage rate than favorable, resulting in weaker boat prices. The weeks ahead will reveal if the 2019 season will follow seasonal trends or create its own path.

The following story was published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Seven right whale calves seen this season

April 17, 2019 — There were no known births in the 2017-2018 calving season for the North Atlantic right whale, so each new calf spotted with its mother so far in 2019 has been greeted with extra enthusiasm.

On Thursday, April 11 the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) right whale aerial survey team spotted two right whale mother/calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay, bringing the number of calves observed off Cape Cod this season to three. In all, seven calves have been seen swimming off the coast.

The mothers have been identified as EgNo 4180 and EgNo 3317.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Group offering lobstermen discounted lifejackets

April 17, 2019 — A nonprofit organization dedicated to the health, safety and economic security of commercial fishermen are offering discounted lifejackets to lobstermen this week.

Fishing Partnership Support Services has partnered with the Northeast Center for Occupational Health & Safety on its “Lifejackets for Lobstermen” Van Tour. The tour runs through November and is stopping at ports across Massachusetts and Maine. The van be will on Cape Ann and lobstermen may drop by:

Wednesday, April 17, at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Morss Pier in Masconomo State Park in Manchester.

Thursday, April 18, at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the lot near the Gloucester Harbormaster’s Office, 19 Harbor Loop.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

Endangered right whale experiencing mini-baby boom off New England

April 15, 2019 — The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.

The right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only about 411.

But the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass., said Friday its aerial survey team spotted two mom-and-calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay a day earlier. That brings the number seen in New England waters alone this year to three.

That’s big news because the right whale population has been falling, and no calves were seen last year. In all, seven right whale calves have been seen so far this year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CBC

Feds declare Gulf whale species endangered

April 15, 2019 — Federal officials today declared a tiny group of Bryde’s whales in the Gulf of Mexico endangered, facing threats including oil and gas exploration and development.

“They’re the only year-round baleen whales that make their home in Gulf of Mexico, and (they) have a unique and very important role in the ecosystem,” said Laura Engleby, a marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries’ service.

A Republican congressman from Florida and a marine mammal scientist in Massachusetts applauded the decision to protect the whales. There probably are about 33 of them in a deepwater area called the DeSoto Canyon, Engleby said. If there are any in the southern Gulf, she said, the total including the known population is probably less than 100.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Daily Comet

MASSACHUSETTS: Lured to Gloucester: Virginia business comes to buy haddock after expo visit

April 12, 2019 — When executives at Gloucester-based Intershell Inc. decided to ramp up the company’s presence at the Seafood Expo North America in March, they hoped at the very least to develop new relationships that could slingshot into additional sales.

Intershell did strong business during the three days the vast show ran at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston, shipping orders to new customers stretching from New York to Texas.

Now it can add the bustling burg of Spotsylvania, Virginia, to the list of new out-of-state clients.

Intershell has entered into an agreement with the Spotsylvania-based Van Cleve Seafood Co. to fully source Gloucester-landed haddock for a new line of ultra-healthy frozen seafood the all-female-owned company is developing for national distribution from its facility near the Chesapeake Bay.

“We think this could evolve into a very good revenue stream for local fishermen,” said Frank Ragusa of Intershell. “We’ve also talked with them about sourcing North Atlantic pollock, as well, which would really help build up the market for pollock and help our guys out even more. And it all started with a conversation at the seafood show.”

In that conversation, the women from Van Cleve — mother Shelly Van Cleve and her daughters Monica Van Cleve-Talbert and Alexandra Cushing — explained to the Intershell executives that they were looking for the cleanest, freshest seafood they could find for the new line.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Rare Baby Whale Seen in Cape Cod Bay for First Time in ’19

April 11, 2019 — Surveyors say a North Atlantic right whale mother and calf have been spotted in Cape Cod Bay for the first time this season.

The whales are the focus of conservation efforts because of their declining population. There are only about 411 of the marine mammals, and they’ve suffered high mortality and poor reproduction in recent years.

The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown says the mother and calf were seen Saturday by surveyors from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Surveyors in an airplane saw them again Sunday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Equinor to support New York Bight whales monitoring

April 10, 2019 — Offshore wind power developer Equinor Wind US is entering a joint project with conservationists and scientists to deploy two new acoustic buoys to expand detection and monitoring of whales in the New York Bight.

To be operated with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, the buoys will provide near real-time monitoring of species including sei, fin and humpback whales, and the extremely endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The buoys will become a broader network with a previously deployed acoustic buoy, funded by the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation and the Flora Family Foundation, now on station about 22 miles off New York.

Read the full story at WorkBoat