Saving Seafood

Massachusetts: ‘Boundless’ uses theater to explore the lives of fishing families

May 17, 2018 — “Boundless,” a new play written by Alison Weller with music by Peter Hodgson and Alison Weller, explores how local fishermen navigate the complexities of today’s world.

Created from interviews with Cape Cod fishermen, their families, and the organizations that keep them fishing, “Boundless” takes audiences into the heart of their story.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will present a staged reading of “Boundless” on Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m., The actors, musicians, and playwright will participate in a post-performance discussion.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts: South Shore lobstermen finally put traps in water

May 17, 2018 — MARSHFIELD, Mass. — A dozen lobstermen hauled traps onto boats, tinkered with on-board computer systems and chatted, as they waited for the high tide they needed to clear the channel out of Green Harbor and get to work.

South Shore lobstermen are back on the water this week after more than a three month ban on lobster fishing, aimed at protecting endangered whales. The ban was supposed to be from Feb. 1 to April 30, but an additional two weeks was added because whales were spotted close to the shore last month. In all, local lobstermen have gone 15 weeks without pulling a trap or making a sale.

“We’re going into the season broke, let’s put it that way,” fisherman Dana Blackman said Wednesday morning, the day after lobster fishing resumed.

Lobster fishing on the South Shore used to be a year-round industry, but in 2014 federal regulators made it illegal to use lobstering equipment off the southern Massachusetts coast in February, March and April when the endangered North Atlantic right whales are in the area and could be injured or killed by fishing gear and boats.

The ban affects about 75 lobster boats in Marshfield and Scituate alone.

Read the full story at the Patriot Ledger

 

SMAST Receives Scallop Awards to Fund Drop Camera Surveys

May 17, 2018 — The NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) are pleased to announce 15 projects have been selected for funding through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program, including three projects proposed by the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) in New Bedford.

“The Scallop RSA Program truly has become one of the flagships of the scallop fishery,” said New England Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. “The collaborative efforts that take place at sea between fishermen and researchers go a long way toward enhancing our understanding of what’s happening with the resource. The results of this RSA work funnel back to the Council and support stock assessments. Without a doubt, the Scallop RSA Program helps us better manage our extremely valuable scallop fishery.”

Projects will address research priorities established by the NEFMC, with particular focus on resource surveys. The awards are expected to generate more than $12 million; $3 million to fund research, and $9 million to compensate industry partners that harvest set-aside quota.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

Scallop RSA Program: NEFMC and NOAA Announce 15 Awards Selected for 2018-2019 funding

May 16, 2018 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

 

The New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) are pleased to announce that 15 projects have been selected for 2018-2019 funding through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program.

“The Scallop RSA Program truly has become one of the flagships of the scallop fishery,” said New England Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. “The collaborative efforts that take place at sea between fishermen and researchers go a long way toward enhancing our understanding of what’s happening with the resource. The results of this RSA work funnel back to the Council and support stock assessments. Without a doubt, the RSA program helps us better manage our – Virginia Institute of Marine Science photo extremely valuable scallop fishery.”

Projects will address research priorities established by the Council, with a particular focus on resource surveys. The awards are expected to generate more than $12 million: $3 million to fund research; and $9 million to compensate industry partners who harvest set-aside quota

“We are excited to be able to work with the New England Fishery Management Council, industry, and scientists to fund sea scallop science through the Research Set-Aside Program,” said NEFSC Science and Research Director Dr. Jon Hare. “The projects funded support surveys, bycatch mitigation, and biological studies, all with the purpose of improving the information used in the management of the sea scallop resource.”

The New England Council established the Sea Scallop RSA Program to address research questions that support management of the scallop resource. The Council sets the research priorities and researchers compete for funding through a federal grant competition managed by NOAA Fisheries.

No federal funds are provided to support the research. Instead, projects are awarded pounds of scallops, which have been “set aside” from the annual fishery quota for this purpose. Successful applicants partner with the fishing industry to harvest their set-aside award to generate funds for the research. There are active research set-aside programs for Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, and monkfish.

2018-2019 Scallop RSA Award Summary

The awards fall into three categories: scallop surveys (dredge, drop camera, and HabCam); bycatch mitigation; and sea scallop biology.

Scallop Surveys

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) received new awards to conduct dredge surveys in Closed Area I, Closed Area II, and the Nantucket Lightship. Under an existing award from last year, VIMS also will conduct a dredge survey of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. As part of ongoing efforts to better understand scallop survey dredge performance, VIMS investigators received an award to evaluate the hydrodynamic characteristics of both lined and unlined survey dredges in the largest flume tank in the world, located in St. John’s, Newfoundland at Memorial University’s Marine Institute.

The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) received three awards to conduct surveys using a drop-camera array. Through these awards, researchers plan to conduct high-resolution surveys of the Nantucket Lightship, Closed Area I, Great South Channel, and select portions of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will conduct Habitat Camera Mapping System (HabCam) optical surveys throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight and on the northern flank of Georges Bank. In addition to these surveys, researchers will continue to evaluate dredge effects on habitat and habitat recovery in the Closed Area II Habitat Area of Particular Concern. Coonamessett Farm Foundation will conduct a HabCam survey of the Nantucket Lightship and Southern Flank of Georges Bank.

Bycatch Mitigation

Coonamessett Farm Foundation will continue its seasonal survey on Georges Bank, collecting information on bycatch rates for yellowtail flounder and other species relative to scallop meat yield. These data also will be used to evaluate sea scallop health and meat quality, biological questions about several flounder species, and to examine lobsters for shell disease.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation will continue its loggerhead sea turtle tagging program, receiving funds to tag up to 20 loggerheads with water activated tags. Tag data will be used to evaluate spatial and temporal overlap between loggerhead sea turtles and the scallop fishery.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation also will be testing a dredge twine-top cover net in an attempt to quantify dredge selectivity characteristics.

Sea Scallop Biology

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science will investigate sea scallop density-dependence factors that may be affecting growth, mortality, and reproduction of scallops in the Nantucket Lightship and Elephant Trunk areas. In addition, VIMS will conduct a pilot study to extend the current stock assessment model to better account for sea scallop ages with a particular focus on the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Nantucket Lightship areas.

WHOI will receive support to determine if a gonadosomatic index (GSI) can be calculated from Light Field 3D images of shucked scallops collected during fishing operations. The GSI is used to assess maturity and spawning events in many species of fish and shellfish, including scallops. If successful, this could improve the ability to collect and quantify scallop maturation and spawning data during the course of routine fishery sampling procedures.

The 2018-2019 award listings can be found on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center website at: https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/coopresearch/news/scallop-rsa-2018-2019/.

RSA award announcements and answers to “frequently asked questions” also are available at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/coopresearch/rsa_program.html.

Visit the New England Council’s scallop webpage: https://www.nefmc.org/management-plans/scallops.

View the release in its entirety here.

 

New Bedford Fishing Vessel Collides With Loaded Tankship

May 15, 2018 — NEW YORK — The Coast Guard Sector New York responded to a report of a collision at sea Saturday evening, involving the loaded tankship Tofteviken and the commercial fishing vessel Polaris.

The collision allegedly occurred nearly 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, New York.

The Tofteviken was transiting to New York, while the Polaris was transiting back to its homeport in Massachusetts after a night of fishing.

The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger. There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely.

The Polaris is homeported in New Bedford, and according to the Boat Database, is owned by the O’Hara Corporation.

The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

As Gulf of Maine warms, will black sea bass make up for declines in lobster?

May 15, 2018 — The Gulf of Maine’s warming waters could mean that new fisheries are coming to Maine.

The Bangor Daily News reported that many lobster fishermen, concerned about a possible drop-off in the lobster resource, are looking at other species like Jonah crab and black sea bass. In 2016, fishermen in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island together earned $2.38 million from their black sea bass fishery.

If Maine were to develop a black sea bass fishery, she said, fishermen could use techniques and equipment that are very similar to what they use now to catch lobster, which would help with the transition, Marissa McMahan, a senior fisheries scientist for the environmental science nonprofit Manomet, told the BDN.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

 

Lobster industry fears weaker shells, but evidence is mixed

May 14, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — More people outside the U.S. are enjoying the New England tradition of cracking open a freshly cooked American lobster, and that experience hinges on one thing — the lobster getting there alive.

That’s a looming problem, according to some members of the American lobster industry, who are concerned that lobsters’ shells are getting weaker. Scientific evidence about the issue paints a complicated picture.

U.S. lobster exports to Asian countries have increased exponentially this decade, and American shippers prefer lobsters with hard, sturdy shells to survive the long journey to places such as Beijing and Seoul.

But some members of U.S. industry have complained in recent years of poor shell quality among lobsters, most of which are plucked from the ocean off Canada and New England. They’ve raised concerns about warming ocean waters or acidification of the ocean having a negative effect on lobster shells.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Scientists say Maine’s lobster boom won’t last. Here are the fisheries coming next.

May 14, 2018 — For the past two decades Maine’s lobster industry, which had $433 million worth of landings in 2017, has been lauded and envied as a model for how conservation practices can help a fishery thrive.

But if, as some have predicted, Maine’s lobster boom since 1990 reverses itself, lobstermen might find themselves having to catch something else in order to maintain their livelihoods out on the water. With an eye toward the future, many in Maine have been looking south to see what kind of emerging species other fishermen are catching as climate change disrupts the environment.

In southern New England, many fishermen have turned their attention to species such as Jonah crab and black sea bass, the numbers of which have increased as ocean temperatures warm and as lobster in the region have become more scarce. Maine’s lobster landings remain near historic highs, but some say the changes that have occurred south of Cape Cod are inevitable in the Gulf of Maine.

“I know it’s a hard concept to get around, but it’s going to happen,” Norbert Stamps, a Rhode Island fisherman, told a roomful of other fishermen at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in March.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

New Bedford Standard-Times: groundfishermen need to get back to work

May 14, 2018 — It was a bittersweet start to the fishing season on May 1.

Bittersweet because much of New Bedford’s already battered groundfish fleet could not go to sea.

Nearly 60 permits in Sectors VII and IX did not receive quota allocations from NOAA. The federal government withheld their quota because of overages accumulated by fleet owner Carlos Rafael when he admitted last year that he had falsified the numbers of fish he had taken, substituting valuable species subject to quotas for ones that were not so.

Rafael is in prison now but the results of his misdeeds continue to be paid by the community that made him rich. About 80 fishermen have been out of work since November when NOAA first instituted its groundfish ban for the sector in which Rafael perpetuated his fraud. Shoreside businesses, including the ones that manufacture nets and ice and repair boats, have also been greatly affected by the cut to New Bedford’s groundfish effort.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Safety training is a must for all who go to sea

May 14, 2018 — On December 20, 2004 the 75-foot New Bedford scalloper Northern Edge went down in the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Five men perished. It was a loss that rocked the city. Pedro Furtado, the only survivor, was a 22 year-old man who had been through safety training in his native Portugal before coming to the United States. He had the presence of mind to jump into the wintry sea while the other men froze. It was this disaster that prompted the city to introduce safety training for those who earn their livelihood from commercial fishing, the most dangerous occupation in the United States.

It has been very successful, according to Ed Dennehy, director of safety training for the Fishing Partnership which runs these one and two-day programs in fishing harbors up and down the coast. “We’ve been all over, from Jonesport, Maine to Jones Beach, Long Island, he said. “We like to bring the program to where the fishermen are and it has grown over the years.”

In response to the loss of the Northern Edge the city received some funds from National Marine Fisheries in 2005 in order to develop safety and survival training. At the time Dennehy, a retired Coast Guard captain, was running New Directions in New Bedford and with the help of SMAST and others, like Rodney Avila, along the waterfront the program began. Since then more than 3500 fishermen have taken the safety classes which are offered free. The Fishing Partnership began running the program in 2012.

I had the opportunity to participate in the training myself on Thursday last. It was held at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton and there were 40 participants, a testament to the growing awareness and demand for this vital service.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times