Saving Seafood

Fishing officials ease restrictions in waters off New England

January 8, 2018 — After 15 years of research and deliberation, federal fishing officials this week approved a landmark set of regulations that will open a large swath of the region’s waters to fishing while maintaining other closures to protect vulnerable species.

The opening of one area east of Nantucket, closed since the 1990s, could be extremely lucrative, allowing fishermen to catch as much as $160 million worth of additional scallops in the coming fishing season, regulators estimate.

“The scallop industry is thrilled to be able to access significant scallop beds,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney at the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington D.C., which represents the scallop industry. “Allowing rotational scallop fishing on these areas will increase the scallop fishery revenue in the short term and in the long run.”

Yet many in the industry had hoped that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would go further.

Minkiewicz and others objected to the decision to maintain the ban on fishing on the northern edge of Georges Bank, where there are significant amounts of scallops but also vulnerable species such as juvenile cod.

Minkiewicz said the industry would continue to press NOAA to reconsider opening those fishing grounds.

“The scallop industry respectfully disagrees with [NOAA’s] conclusion that allowing limited scallop fishing [there] . . . was not consistent with the law,” he said.

NOAA officials said that opening such areas could be harmful to some fish.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Can you hear me? NOAA studies boat noise and fish

January 8, 2018 — NOAA scientists studying sounds made by Atlantic cod and haddock at spawning sites in the Gulf of Maine have found that vessel traffic noise is reducing the distance over which these animals can communicate with each other.

As a result, daily behavior, feeding, mating, and socializing during critical biological periods for these commercially and ecologically important fish may be altered, according to a study published in Nature Scientific Reports.

Three sites in Massachusetts Bay included two inside Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a region well known to whale-watchers from the Cape because whales feed in the plankton-rich bank, and one inshore south of Cape Ann. All were monitored for three months by researchers at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) laboratory in Woods Hole, and at the sanctuary offices in Scituate.

Vocalizations, such as Atlantic cod grunts and haddock knocks, were recorded by bottom-mounted instruments at each site during spawning in winter and spring.

“We looked at the hourly variation in ambient sound pressure levels and then estimated effective vocalization ranges at all three sites known to support spawning activity for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock stocks,” said Jenni Stanley, a marine research scientist in the passive acoustics group at the NEFSC and SBNMS and lead author of the study.

“Both fluctuated dramatically during the study. The sound levels appear to be largely driven by large vessel activity, and we found a signification positive correlation with the number of Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracked vessels at two of the three sites.”

AIS is an automatic tracking system, used on ships and by vessel traffic services. It provides information on a vessel, such as its unique identification number, position, course and speed, which can be displayed on a shipboard radar or electronic chart display.

Read the full story at the Wicked Local

 

‘Cod Is Dead’: New Netflix Series Details Challenges Facing U.S. Fishermen

January 5, 2018 (Saving Seafood) — The challenges facing American fishermen, ranging from declining quotas to disputed science to fleet consolidation, are highlighted in a new Netflix documentary series premiering today.

The new series, Rotten, “travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal unsavory truths and expose hidden forces that shape what we eat.” The series’ sixth and final episode, “Cod is Dead,” focuses on the domestic seafood industry, and the business and regulatory climate that has made it increasingly difficult for fishermen to make a living. Special focus is given to the ongoing fallout from the Carlos Rafael seafood fraud case and the continuing impact of the controversial catch share management system.

The episode interviews fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, and other stakeholders, with special emphasis placed on industry members in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The full list of interviewees is:

  • Steve Welch – Commercial Fishing Captain
  • Richard Canastra – Co-Owner, The Whaling City Seafood Display Auction
  • Peter Baker – Director, U.S. Ocean Conservation-Northeast, The Pew Charitable Trust
  • Ian Saunders – New Bedford Dock Worker
  • Dr. Jonathan Hare – Science and Research Director, Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • Seth Macinko – Professor of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island
  • Aaron Williams – Commercial Fishing Captain
  • Scott Lang – Former Mayor of New Bedford/Lawyer
  • Jake Kritzer – Director of Fishery Diagnostics and Design, Environmental Defense Fund
  • Tor Bendikson – Vice President, Reidar’s Trawl Gear & Marine Supply
  • Arthur Bogason – Chairmen, Icelandic National Association of Small Boat Owners
  • Ragnar Arnason – Professor of Economics, University of Iceland
  • Charles Smith – U.S. Coast Guard
  • Tom Williams – Commercial Fishing Vessel Owner

Rotten is available now on Netflix

 

‘Groundbreaking’ fish protection plan in place in Northeast

January 5, 2018 — The following is excerpted from an article by Doug Fraser of the Cape Cod Times:

After 14 years of research, negotiations, hearings and two additional years of review, New England has a plan that uses science and the latest technology to decide which areas are important for the critical life stages of fish and shellfish species and how to protect them.

John Bullard, the regional director of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, informed New England Fishery Management Council Chairman John Quinn in a letter Wednesday that his agency had approved most of their fish habitat protection plan.

“It was a massive undertaking and your staff, especially Michelle Bachman, should be proud of their groundbreaking work that went into supporting this amendment,” Bullard wrote in the letter. The council staff, along with researchers from the National Marine Fisheries Service, state fisheries agencies, and universities, especially the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology, put together models that incorporated photographic and other surveys of the ocean bottom with known areas of fish concentration and other research on spawning and other life stages, that helped the council evaluate what should be protected and how.

“The fact that it dragged on so long, people miss how groundbreaking this really is,” said Tom Nies, the New England council’s executive director. Two decades ago, habitat closures were decided based on drawing a line around areas where fish were congregating, Nies said. Now, with a model that compares the sea bed with the impact of fishing, they can make decisions he feels will have greater significance to restoring and protecting fish stocks. Plus, the habitat plan also set aside research areas to investigate the link between habitat and fish productivity, a piece of the puzzle that has seen relatively little conclusive research.

“If you compare where we are with this amendment in terms of how they were developed and analyzed versus the original habitat areas in 2002 and 2003, we are light years ahead of where we were then,” Nies said.

Scallopers from both the big boat and small boat fleets, which are often at odds, traveled to Washington in October to lobby [U.S. Rep. William] Keating and other congressmen on getting NMFS to finish its review of the habitat plan and open the area up to scalloping before that population died off. Their message was that allowing them into scallop-rich, nonessential fish habitat meant they spent far less time towing their heavy dredges through areas fish do use.

“From our perspective, it’s really heartening that they heard our concerns,” said Seth Rolbein, director of the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, speaking for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.

David Frulla, an attorney and lobbyist representing limited access scallop vessels, and Fisheries Survival Fund attorney Andrew Minkiewicz agreed the council and NOAA made the right decision in closing the Great South Channel and opening the scallop grounds in what is known as Closed Area I. But they felt that there was just as much evidence to open up a portion of a second closed area on Georges Bank over 100 miles east of the Cape that had historically produced as much as 50 million pounds of harvested scallops. Bullard said more information would be needed for his agency to do that right now.

“There are only so many highly productive scallop beds, and this is one of them,” Minkiewicz said. Frulla admitted that the bottom there is more complex and may be harder to determine its value to fish, but Minkiewicz said adding another prime scallop area keeps scallopers away from the bottom where fish do congregate.

Assistant Regional Administrator Michael Pentony told Quinn in an email that his agency expected to publish the final rule containing the regulations to implement the plan this spring.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

NOAA to open New England scallop areas, invite record harvest

January 5, 2018 — New England sea scallop fishers can start planning now for what promises to be their best season in 14 years, thanks to a decision coming soon from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

John Bullard, the outgoing administrator of NOAA’s greater Atlantic region, informed the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), in a five-page letter sent late Wednesday, that the agency will follow most of its recommendations with regard to the “essential fish habitat” amendment – a long-discussed plan to reset fishing management and conservation practices in the area.

That includes opening up to scallop harvesters an expanded portion of Closed Area I and the western part of the Nantucket Lightship area, two sections of the Atlantic Ocean that have been closed for a decade and are now expected to be loaded with large scallops.

“NMFS determined that the removal of the Closed Area I designations and proposed new designations do not compromise the ability of the council’s fishery management plans to comply with the [essential fish habitat] requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” Bullard wrote in his letter, which was addressed to John Quinn, NEFMC’s chairman.

Based on surveys reported in September, Closed Area 1, including the previous off-limit “sliver” area and northern portion, contains 19.8 million pounds (9,016 metric tons) of exploitable scallop meat, referring to scallops found with shells that were at least 4 inches wide. Even better, as much as 45.6m lbs (20,670t) of exploitable scallop meat is projected to exist in the west Nantucket Lightship area.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Scallops: Framework 29 “Highest Yield, Lowest Impact” Alternative Advances Following NMFS Habitat Decision

January 5, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

On Wednesday, January 3, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), also known as NOAA Fisheries, informed the New England Fishery Management Council that it had “approved the majority” of the Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2). The approved provisions include two actions that have a direct impact on Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which, among other measures, contains 2018 fishing year specifications and 2019 default specifications for the scallop fishery.

The Framework 29 preferred alternative that now will be advancing for NMFS review and implementation contains the following 2018 allocations for the fishing year that begins on April 1:

Full-time limited access scallop permit holders – 24 open-area days-at-sea and six 18,000-pound access area trips with:

  • Two trips in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • Two trips in the newly available Nantucket Lightship West Access Area
  • One trip in the Nantucket Lightship South Area
  • One trip in the new Closed Area I Access Area with the northern portion, including the “sliver,” available

Part-time limited access scallop permit holders – 9.6 open area days-at-sea and three 14,400- pound access area trips with:

  • One trip in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • One trip in the Nantucket Lightship West Area
  • One trip in the reconfigured Closed Area I Access Area

During its December meeting, not knowing whether NMFS would approve all of the proposed changes in the habitat amendment, the Council adopted four Framework 29 preferred alternatives for scallop allocations that covered the potential mix of access area possibilities – both with and without Closed Area I and Nantucket Lightship West. The breakdown of these alternatives is available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-Approves-Scallop-Framework-29-REVISED.pdf

Of the four scenarios, the one that now is moving forward for NMFS review and implementation provides the greatest benefits and is projected to result in close to 60.1 million pounds of landings in scallop meat weight over the next fishing year.

“By giving the fleet access to dense concentrations of scallops in the northern portion of Closed Area I and Nantucket Lightship West, scallopers will be able to catch their trip limits faster and reduce the amount of time dredges are on bottom,” said Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. “This scenario has another benefit in that it lets us shift effort away from Closed Area II, which means flatfish bycatch will be lower and the scallops in that area will have a chance to grow larger.”

The Council also included a provision in Framework 29 to allocate the existing 1.64 million pounds of Closed Area I carryover that are still on the books. These pounds are from trips allocated to Closed Area I in 2012 and 2013 through a lottery system but never were taken due to poor fishing.

The resulting Framework 29 allocations for the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery include: (1) a 3,086,050-pound quota, equivalent to 5.5% of annual projected landings for the fishery as a whole; and (2) a total of 3,426 access area trips at a maximum of 600 pounds each into the following areas:

  • 1,142 trips in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • 1,142 trips in the Nantucket Lightship West Access Area
  • 571 trips in the Nantucket Lightship South Access Area
  • 571 trips in the Closed Area I Access Area

Framework 29 also includes flatfish accountability measures and Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area catch limits and related provisions, which are described at the link above. The Council will provide a broader overview of the habitat amendment decision in a subsequent release.

To view the release from the NEFMC in its entirety click here.

 

Massachusetts: Frozen lobstermen face additional winter challenges

January 4, 2018 — MARSHFIELD, Mass. — With inches of ice covering the harbor and no end of severe winter weather in site, local lobstermen are struggling to keep their boats in the water during the last month of the legal lobstering season. Tuesday and Wednesday saw captains breaking up ice surrounding their boats and trying to move their vessels to safer locations before a storm pummels the region today.

Tuesday and Wednesday saw captains breaking up ice surrounding their boats and trying to move their vessels to safer locations before a storm pummels the region today.

“There are so many dependencies here in this business,” president of the South Shore Lobster Fishermen’s Association John Haviland said. “When everything goes smoothly it’s wonderful, but when everything doesn’t – there is nothing I can do. I have no control over winds blowing 60 mph, and I have no control over 3 inches of ice in my harbor.”

A week of single-digit temperatures has left Scituate and Plymouth harbors coated in a thick layer of ice, and most commercial fishermen have moved their boats to Green Harbor, where freezing hasn’t been as significant.

Read the full story at the Patriot Ledger

 

Massachusetts: 4 Local Communities Receive State Habitat Improvement Grants

January 4, 2018 — BOSTON — Four local communities have been awarded funding from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Habitat Management Grant program to protect natural resources.

Barnstable, Mashpee, Nantucket and Yarmouth will receive a total of almost $78,000 towards habitat improvement projects.

Barnstable ($10,000), Mashpee ($24,000) and Yarmouth ($25,000) were awarded funding for prescribed burns to improve pitch pine and oak woodland habitats. Nantucket will use the $18,997 in funds to manage heathlands on the Head of the Plains properties.

Read the full story at CapeCod

 

Massachusetts: No, sharks aren’t just freezing to death in Cape Cod Bay. But they are getting trapped

January 4, 2018 — Frigid temperatures may have transformed the waters off Cape Cod to ice, but it turns out the recent cold snap is not literally just freezing sharks to death.

It may, however, be contributing to the ocean predators getting trapped in Cape Cod Bay.

Greg Skomal, the senior fisheries scientist for the state Department of Fish and Game who leads the Massachusetts Shark Research program, said the thresher sharks — like the four that have been found dead in Wellfleet and Orleans in recent days — are dying as they attempt to swim to warmer southern waters but are getting stranded in shallow waters in Cape Cod Bay.

“The rapid cooling associated with this cold snap and water temps is forcing the sharks to move south at a faster pace, and the landmass of Cape Cod is contributing to them getting stranded in shallow water,” said Skomal, adding that the exact cause of the sharks’ deaths remains hypothetical at this time.

Cape Cod, with its shape of an outstretched human arm that hooks at Provincetown, can act as a natural trap for animals trying to move south quickly, and most shark species need to be continually moving in order to breathe effectively, he said.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe