Saving Seafood

Atlantic marine monument suit can move forward

March 30, 2018 — Fishing organizations are set to proceed with their suit against the federal government to reopen fishing grounds in New England.

President Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument, which included a blanket commercial fishing ban in an area that was already closed to some gear types under the New England Fishery Management Council’s jurisdiction.

The lawsuit has been held up since April 2017 by a Trump administration review of several national monuments created under the Obama administration. Recent filings at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia say the hold was lifted in mid-March.

The lawsuit argues that Obama never had the authority to establish the monument under the the Antiquities Act, given that the ocean is not “land owned or controlled by the federal government,” as the act stipulates.

In December, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended making changes to marine national monument policies and proposed shifting the responsibility for controlling fishing within the monument to the regional fishery management councils.

“No president should use the authority under the act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the objects,” wrote Zinke in his recommendation.

Since Zinke’s official recommendations, no public action has been taken by the administration to address his statement.

Fishing industry leaders involved with the suit are ready to pick up where they left off.

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association is optimistically encouraged, given the forward movement of the lawsuit,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “We are hopeful to regain the fishing grounds that were taken away from the fleet and to set a legal precedent through the court that will prevent any further draconian actions against the fleet.”

While lobster and deep-sea red crab fisheries were granted a 7-year grandfather period, all other commercial fishing was banned when the 5,000-square-mile monument was established in order to protect deep-sea corals and vulnerable species like North Atlantic right whales.

“To lose a big area that we have historically fished has quite an impact on quite a lot of people here,” Jon Williams, a New Bedford, Mass., crabber and a member of plaintiff group Offshore Lobstermen’s Association told the Associated Press.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

New York: Long Island outrage over reduced black sea bass limit reduction

March 30, 2018 — On Tuesday evening, the New York State DEC held a meeting to discuss regulatory options for the 2018 black sea bass season that must conform to federal guidelines.

All of the proposals called for a 12 percent reduction in harvest from last year. The reduction comes despite the sea bass population standing an astonishing 240 percent above the federal target biomass for the species. The percentage comes from a cooperative effort between the states and federal authorities.

The DEC’s Division of Marine Resources director, Jim Gilmore, started the meeting by saying he has heard the outrage of anglers, for-hire captains and industry stakeholders, and agrees something must be done.

He announced that New York has joined the other states in the black sea bass northern regulatory zone — Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — in appealing a decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that allowed the five states in the southern sector, plus New Jersey, to liberalize their sea bass regulations while the northern states must reduce. New Jersey is a stand-alone region in terms of sea bass management.

If the appeal is successful, New York should get 6 percent added to its harvest allocation — but that would still be a 6 percent reduction from 2017. As sea bass stocks have swelled, New York has taken a catch reduction in six of the past seven years.

The response from the standing room only crowd of more than 200 was swift and overwhelming.

“No reduction is acceptable!” said Capt. Joe Tangle, skipper of the Center Moriches charter vessel King Cod. “In my entire lifetime sea bass have never been this numerous but we keep getting cuts. It’s ridiculous.”

Capt. Jamie Quaresimo, who along with Tangle suggested New York go out of compliance (ignore federally mandated regulations, which could result in closure of both the recreational and commercial sea bass seasons,) said after the meeting that sea bass are so thick at Montauk he has to find areas to avoid catching them while fluke fishing.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

Massachusetts: A shell game in New Bedford? 55 boats scramble out of Sector IX, catching NOAA by surprise

March 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Something fishy is going on in New Bedford (excuse the terrible pun).

On March 26, the final day for sectors to confirm their rosters and membership for the 2018 fishing season, NOAA got letters from sector VII saying that no vessels will remain in Sector VII who were there last year, and that 16 of these vessels are joining sector VIII.

Then they were told that 55 vessels from sector IX are joining sector VII, including the 4 vessels owned by Carlos Rafael that have been judged subject to forfeiture.

Meanwhile, a separate letter from sector IX said that only three vessels would remain in that sector, that it would operate solely as a lease sector and those vessels would not fish.

What is going on here?

First, all three sectors VII,VIII, and IX are New Bedford groundfish sectors approved under the Northeast Groundfish management plan.

Each year, these sectors have to submit operation plans to NOAA, including the roster of vessels and the rules under which the vessels in the sector will fish.

After the guilty plea by Carlos Rafael, and the admission last fall by sector IX that its vessels, primarily associated with Rafael, had engaged in overfishing, NOAA suspended the operating permit for that sector.  That meant no vessels in that sector could continue to fish.

Since the fall negotiations have been going on between NOAA and Sector IX over how Sector IX might return to operations.  The primary obstacle is that NOAA has required the Sector to account for its overfishing, and to calculate how much fish must be deducted from its current allotments in order to pay back fish illegally harvested.

Secondly, NOAA has insisted on Sector IX developing a monitoring and catch reporting plan that would prevent illegal fishing.

By March, neither side had reached an agreement, and the issue of Sector IX was going to be a prominent part of the New England Fishery Management Council Meeting next week.

NOAA was blindsided by the switcheroo.

Much of what is going on in New Bedford is with the same actors.  Three Board Members from Sector IX would join the Board of Sector VII.  Meanwhile, the manager of Sector IX, Stephanie Rafael-DeMello, has said she would be moving to fleet operations management for Rafael’s vessels, instead of continuing full time as the manager of Sector IX.

One interpretation of this switch is that Sector IX is being effectively disbanded.

However, not all the promises made by Sector IX to NOAA are being carried over as the vessels move to sector VII.

One point mentioned in NOAA’s letter to the council is that Sector VII has requested that vessels owned by Carlos Rafael remain inactive in the fishery, although with rights to lease their quotas to other sectors or intra-sector, unless they are sold to another party.

But the 55 vessels transferring to Sector VII, including all those currently listed as inactive, could become operational within Sector VII with no changes to existing ownership.

Under NOAA rules, if a sector disbands after having overfished, the overfishing penalty is allocated among the vessels that had previously been in the sector, and deducted from their new sector allocation.

As Sector IX was unable to provide information about the overages of specific vessels, the time and cost of allocating the overages to the remaining vessels transferring out of the sector may be substantial.

The three inactive vessels remaining in Sector IX appear to be willing to shoulder the penalty, once it is agreed upon, and to pay it by having the overages deducted from the amount of their quotas that are leased. The move appears to be an attempt to get the other Sector IX vessels out from under the obligation to payback the sector overages.

All of this will be discussed at the council meeting, which promises to be interesting.

The driving factor here is that the New Bedford Auction, owned by the Canastra Brothers, needs to get some volume of groundfish back.  This has been greatly reduced by the suspension of sector IX.  Rafael vessels represented the largest source of groundfish for the private New Bedford auction.

The Canastras first tried to buy Rafael’s boats.  This did not go anywhere, as NOAA needs to give its approval.  Then they tried to set up a way to satisfy NOAA on Sector IX overages without providing a detailed accounting.  This was not accepted either.

Now they have participated in a wholesale abandonment of Sector IX and moved vessels to Sector VII, with the aim of first, hoping the vessels will be allowed to fish, or that in this situation inactive vessels can become active though still owned by their original Rafael connected owners.

Secondly, they may be hoping to clear the way for a sale of these vessels who are now potentially operating in a less tainted sector.

There has been a continuing political effort in New Bedford to try and keep the groundfish volumes that had been part of Rafael’s fishing operations within the port.

All of this maneuvering avoids the basic question before NOAA and the Council, which is whether the permits for the vessels that are now suspended will simply be allocated to New Bedford, or will they be subject to distribution to the rest of the New England groundfish fishery that was harmed by the rampant overfishing taking place in New Bedford.

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

 

NY threatens suit over federal limits on black sea bass

March  28, 2018 — New York State will file suit against the federal government if it loses an appeal in opposition to current restrictions on the recreational black sea bass fishery, which for 2018 mandates a 12 percent reduction in fishing, a top state commissioner said Tuesday night.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is holding a meeting Tuesday night to discuss options for the black sea bass season for 2018, and by all indications it will be contentious. Fishing boat captains on Facebook have urged anglers to attend the meeting to protest the 12 percent reduction, which would drastically shorten the season and the number of fish anglers can take. The DEC moved the location to a larger venue to accommodate more people.

“Please get on top of this situation and get the people of New York on equal footing with the rest of the boats and businesses on the East Coast,” Huntington fishing boat captain James Schneider said, noting charter and partyboats face a 30 percent reduction in their business. “Our people should not be punished.”

In an interview Tuesday night in advance of the meeting, Basil Seggos, DEC commissioner, said he’s been directed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to make sure state fishermen don’t suffer as a result of federal regulations that seek to limit a fishery that’s considered healthy.

“Black sea bass populations have increased substantially,” he said. “Nonetheless, we’re stuck with the prospect of cuts, which never made sense to me, never made sense to the governor, or to our fisheries managers.”

New York joined with Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in filing an appeal on March 16 of the 12 percent quota reduction for black sea bass this year. If the appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is not successful, he said, the state will file an appeal with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. “If they are not prepared to rule favorably, then we’d pursue the litigation route,” said Seggos. “We think the science is with us” showing an abundance of black sea bass in the region.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

April Showdown Looming for Battle Over Atlantic Ocean Monument

March 28, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Fisherman and lobstermen reeled in a temporary victory after a federal court agreed to lift a 10-month stay on a lawsuit that seeks to reverse Obama-era protections for the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

In September 2016, former President Barack Obama used powers under the Antiquities Act to designate the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument.

The 5,000-square-mile monument, rich with deep coral and home to sperm whales, sea turtles and dolphins, is located just off the Georges Bank near Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The Obama-era order closed off the area to commercial fisherman, except for a handful of crabbers who were grandfathered into the deal and allowed to continue trawling for just seven years more until fishing activity would be completely barred in the region.

The plaintiffs who originally challenged the monument designation in March 2017 include the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Atlantic Offshore Lobsterman’s Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Rhode Island Fisherman’s Alliance and the Garden State Seafood Association.

In their original lawsuit, the groups claimed Obama “exceeded his power under the Antiquities Act” when cordoning off the ocean acreage.

They argued the sea is not “land owned or controlled by the Federal government and thus not within the president’s proclaiming authority.”

“Unless a permanent injunction is issued to forbid the implementation of the proclamation’s fishing prohibitions, plaintiffs are and will continue to be irreparably harmed … and will continue to suffer a diminution of income, reduced fishing opportunities and depletion of their investment in their boats and permits,” the March 2017 complaint states.

This March 15, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg finally agreed to allow the fisherman’s lawsuit to continue, effectively turning up  pressure on the Trump administration to act.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

 

Deepwater considers Massachusetts’ South Coast for major offshore wind development

March 28, 2018 — Deepwater Wind will assemble the wind-turbine foundations for its Revolution Wind in Massachusetts, and it has identified three South Coast cities – New Bedford, Fall River, and Somerset – as possible locations for this major fabrication activity.

The offshore wind developer is committed to building a local workforce and supply chain for its 400-MW Revolution Wind project, now under review by state and utility officials. Deepwater Wind says it plans to create 2,300 regional jobs and nearly $300 million in regional economic impact.

“No company is more committed to building a local offshore wind workforce than us,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We launched America’s offshore wind industry right here in our backyard. We know how to build offshore wind in the U.S. in the right way, and our smart approach will be the most affordable solution for the Commonwealth. This is about building a real industry that lasts.”

The construction activity will involve welding, assembly, painting, commissioning, and related work for the 1,500-ton steel foundations supporting the turbine towers. This foundation-related work will create more than 300 direct jobs for local construction workers during Revolution Wind’s construction period. An additional 600 indirect and induced jobs will support this effort.

In addition, Deepwater Wind is now actively seeking proposals from Massachusetts boat builders for the construction of purpose-built crew vessels for Revolution Wind. Several dozen workers are expected to build the first of these vessels at a local boat-building facility, and another dozen workers will operate this specialty vessel over the life of Revolution Wind. (Deepwater Wind commissioned America’s only offshore wind crew vessel – Atlantic Wind Transfer’s Atlantic Pioneer – to serve the Block Island Wind Farm.)

The company will issue a formal Request for Information to local suppliers in the coming weeks. Deepwater Wind’s additional wind farms serving Massachusetts will require the construction of additional vessels.

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development

 

Massachusetts: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center seeks seafood workers for oral history project

March 28, 2018 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center has begun a major research initiative, exploring the history and role of unions and other industry organizations from the 1930s to the present through a combination of archival research and oral history interviews.

The resulting documentation will become part of the center’s growing archive and will provide the foundation for the creation of exhibits, public programs and publications. Funding for this project is provided through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Mass Humanities.

The center is currently working to identify individuals who worked in the fish houses (seafood-processing plants) during the 1970s and during the seafood workers strike of 1981 as part of an effort to better understand and document the history of organized labor on the city’s waterfront. The center is particularly interested in understanding how the seafood industry, work conditions, the labor force and the community has changed over time, according to a news release.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Fishermen suit against Atlantic marine monument moves ahead

March 27, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — Organizations suing to eliminate the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean have gotten the OK to proceed with a suit designed to reopen the area to commercial fishing, which environmentalists fear could jeopardize preservation efforts.

The fishing groups sued to challenge the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument created by President Barack Obama in 2016. It’s a 5,000-square-mile area off of New England that contains fragile deep sea corals and vulnerable species of marine life such as right whales.

The fishermen’s lawsuit had been put on hold by a review of national monuments ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration in April 2017. Court filings at U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia say the stay was lifted in mid-March and the litigation can proceed.

Marine national monuments are underwater areas designed to protect unique or vulnerable ecosystems. There are four of them in the Pacific. The Northeast monument, the only one off the East Coast, is also an area where fishermen harvest valuable species such as lobsters and crabs.

“To lose a big area that we have historically fished has quite an impact on quite a lot of people here,” said Jon Williams, a New Bedford, Massachusetts, crabber and a member of plaintiff group Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. “It’ll raise attention to it a little bit, which it needs.”

The court ordered the federal government, which is the defendant in the case, to respond by April 16. A spokeswoman from the federal Department of Commerce declined to comment.

The lawsuit’s ability to move forward will hopefully prod the federal government to make a decision about the future of the monument, which is unpopular with commercial harvesters, Williams said. But a coalition of environmental groups is also intervening in the case in an attempt to keep the monument area preserved.

Read the full story at the AP News

 

Massachusetts: Sustaining New England’s Wild Seafood

March 27, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and Eating with the Ecosystem presents Sustaining New England’s Wild Seafood on Thursday, April 12th at 6:30 p.m. as part of AHA night.  This naturalist-style lecture about marine ecosystems, how these contribute to seafood production and why it is important to take a whole-system approach to sustaining seafood.  Recipes will be shared.

This program is part of the Center’s look at the issue of sustainability during the month of April.  Admission is free.  The Center is handicap accessible through the parking lot entrance. Free off-street parking available. The Center is located at 38 Bethel Street in New Bedford’s historic downtown.

Eating with the Ecosystem’s mission is to promote a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood, through healthy habitats, flourishing food webs, and short, adaptive supply chains. Learn more at www.eatingwiththeecosystem.org.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through archives, exhibits, and programs. For more information, please email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

 

Path to extinction for North Atlantic right whales

March 26, 2018, PROVINCETOWN, Mass. — Inside the cabin of the research vessel Shearwater, Charles “Stormy” Mayo, senior scientist and director of the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies, pulled up on his computer an image of the family tree of North Atlantic right whale #1140.

This whale — dubbed “Wart” by researchers — has a file of photographs, identifying marks, and a life history, as does nearly every one of the remaining 451 right whales on earth.

“Her productivity has been extraordinary,” Mayo said. But Wart hasn’t been seen since 2014, and some worry her fabled life may have come to an end.

Last summer was particularly tragic with 16, possibly 17, right whales — 4 percent of the remaining population — killed after being hit by ships, entangled in fishing gear, and other unknown causes.

Extinction, experts say, is suddenly a reality.

“It was one of the big stories of the day, that right whales were coming back,” Mayo said. “But up to 2010, you had this appallingly slow climb, then decline. Now we have a species that is clearly headed for extinction.”

Wart, first seen in 1981, at the dawn of right whale research, has been subsequently spotted and identified 66 times from the Bay of Fundy to Florida. Believed to be in her 50s now, she is one of the more successful breeders — mother to seven calves, grandmother to 13 and great-grandmother to six.

But that productivity may not be enough in the face of a host of environmental issues related to an increasingly urbanized ocean — vessel noise, pollution and oil and gas exploration — and the unknown complications from a rapidly warming sea that could affect, for example, the seasonal timing of critical right whale food.

Then, there is the intractable problem of human induced mortality and serious injury.

Sixteen deaths last summer caused many to hit the panic button. Researcher Brian Sharp called it shocking.

“It begs the need for fishery managers, the industry and scientists to push harder to find solutions,” said Sharp, manager of Marine Mammal Rescue and Research at the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth.

Twelve of last year’s deaths occurred in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where right whales had been seen sporadically over the last four decades, fewer than a dozen a year, and not well-documented. Five live entanglements also were documented in that area last year. Unlike the U.S., Canada has had no ship or fishing restrictions in place as the numbers of whales documented in the Gulf, possibly following prey driven north by climate change, has grown.

But four deaths also happened in the U.S. last year, despite decades of research and planning on how to create whale-safe fishing gear, massive fishing closures and rerouted and slowed ships to avoid fatal interactions with whales. The U.S. deaths alone were four times the number scientists set as the maximum allowed per year if the species is going to recover.

“There’s a huge misconception that the industry is not sensitive to this matter or not aware of it. We certainly are, and it concerns the industry a lot,” said Grant Moore, of Westport, a longtime offshore lobsterman and president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association.

The exact number of North Atlantic right whales that existed prior to human killing is unknown, but the population was likely reduced to fewer than 100 by the time the international 1935 ban on whaling was enacted.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times