Saving Seafood

Live Cam May Show True Status of Atlantic Cod Fishery

October 18, 2017 — Atlantic cod, New England’s most iconic fish, has been reported at historic lows for years, but fishermen hope a new video monitoring technique will prove there are more of the fish than federal surveyors believe.

Ronnie Borjeson, who has been fishing for more than 40 years, says the federal surveys don’t match up with what fishermen are seeing. “I don’t care if you’re a gillnetter, a hook and line guy, a trawl guy,” he said, “there’s codfish everywhere up there. Everywhere. You can’t get away from them.”

Borjeson helped test a video rig designed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that allows them to record fish underwater and count them on the video later. With this rig, scientists can sample a larger area in the same amount of time and hopefully improve federal estimates of how many cod are left.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, cod are overfished, and in 2014, the spawning population reached its lowest numbers ever recorded. The once-booming cod fishery has been subject to increasingly strict regulations since the 1990s, forcing commercial fishermen to target less-profitable species while they wait for the cod population to recover.

Read the full story at PBS

Feds: Popular Species Of New England Flounder Is Overfished

October 17, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal ocean managers say a popular species of New England food fish is overfished, and conservation measures are needed to rebuild its population.

The National Marine Fisheries Service says the Northwestern Atlantic witch flounder stock is overfished, and the status of whether overfishing is still occurring is unknown.

Witch flounder are mostly brought to shore by fishermen in Maine and Massachusetts.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public

Atlantic Herring Eastern Maine Spawning Closure Effective 6:00 p.m. October 16th

October 17, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Fisheries Commission

The Atlantic herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. If additional samples taken from a spawning area during or following the closure indicate a significant number of spawning herring, the closure will resume for an additional two weeks.

Samples from the Eastern Maine spawning area indicate a significant number of spawning herring, defined as 25% or more mature herring by number in a sample that have yet to spawn. As a result, the Eastern Maine spawning area will re-close for two additional weeks, starting at 6:00 p.m. on October 16, 2017 and extending through11:59 p.m. on October 30, 2017; however, directed vessels who have Atlantic herring on board upon release of this notice can land this herring by 11:59 p.m. on October 16th.

Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land, or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Eastern Maine spawning area during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/ calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Eastern Maine spawning area.

Eastern Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:

Maine coast 68° 20’ W

43° 48’ N 68° 20’ W

44° 25’ N 67° 03’ W

North along the US/Canada border

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

ASMFC American Lobster Board Approves Draft Addenda XXVI & III to the American Lobster and Jonah Crab FMPs for Public Comment

October 17, 2017 — NORFOLK, Virginia — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved American Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum III for public comment. Given the same data collection needs apply to both American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, Draft Addendum XXVI and Draft Addendum III are combined into one document that would modify management programs for both species upon its adoption. The Draft Addenda seek to improve harvest reporting and biological data collection in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. The Draft Addenda propose using the latest reporting technology, expanding the collection of effort data, increasing the spatial resolution of harvester reporting, and advancing the collection of biological data, particularly offshore.

Recent management action in the Northwest Atlantic, including the protection of deep sea corals, the declaration of a national monument, and the expansion of offshore wind projects, have highlighted deficiencies in current American lobster and Jonah crab reporting requirements. These include a lack of spatial resolution in harvester data and a significant number of fishermen who are not required to report. As a result, efforts to estimate the economic impacts of these various management actions on American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries have been hindered. States have been forced to piece together information from harvester reports, industry surveys, and fishermen interviews to gather the information needed. In addition, as American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries continue to expand offshore, there is a greater disconnect between where the fishery is being prosecuted and where biological sampling is occurring. More specifically, while most of the sampling occurs in state waters, an increasing volume of American lobster and Jonah crab are being harvested in federal waters. The lack of biological information on the offshore portions of these fisheries can impede effective management.

The Draft Addenda present three questions for public comment: (1) what percentage of harvesters should be required to report in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries; (2) should current data elements be expanded to collect a greater amount of information in both fisheries; and (3) at what scale should spatial information be collected. In addition, the Draft Addenda provide several recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for data collection of offshore American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. These include implementation of a harvester reporting requirement for federal lobster permit holders, creation of a fixed-gear VTR form, and expansion of a biological sampling program offshore.

It is anticipated the majority of states from Maine through New Jersey will be conducting public hearings on the Draft Addenda. The details of those hearings will be released in a subsequent press release. The Draft Addenda will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input) by October 27th. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741(FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addenda XXVI & III).

ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves 2018 Fishery Specifications

October 17, 2017 — NORFOLK, Virginia — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved a spiny dogfish commercial quota of 38,195,822 pounds for the 2018 fishing season (May 1, 2018 – April 30, 2019). The Board maintained a 6,000 pound commercial trip limit in state waters (0-3 miles from shore) in the northern region (Maine through Connecticut). The quota and northern region trip limit are consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. States in the southern region (New York to North Carolina) have the ability to set state-specific trip limits based on the needs of their fisheries.

2018 marks the third year of the current federal 3-year specifications cycle. It is anticipated the stock assessment will be updated in 2018 to inform development of fishery specification recommendations, including the commercial quota, for 2019 and beyond. Additionally, the Board intends to discuss issues raised by the Advisory Panel (and other fishery participants) in more detail prior to setting 2019 specifications. The timing of the next benchmark stock assessment for spiny dogfish is less certain, however, the Board supported the Council’s recommendations to conduct a benchmark stock assessment in 2019, or soon after.

The 2018 spiny dogfish commercial quota allocations (in pounds) for the northern region and the states of New York through North Carolina are provided below. Any overages from the 2017 season will be deducted from that region’s or state’s 2018 quota allocation. Similarly, any eligible roll overs from the 2017 season will be applied to that region’s or state’s 2018 quota allocation.
For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740

MASSACHUSETTS: US’ most valuable fishing port seeks $15m grant, wants to get bigger

October 16, 2017 — Ed Anthes-Washburn wants to make what is already the United States’ most valuable commercial fishing port even larger.

For the second consecutive year the director of the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, has submitted an application for a grant from the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program to add 600-feet of bulkhead and dredge areas that are now unusable at only three- to four-feet deep.

The changes, which would increase depths in those areas to 18- to 30-feet, would grow the number of berthing areas, allowing the port to expand from about 300 fishing vessels to more than 360. It would invite fishing companies that currently operate outside of New Bedford to make it their new base of operation or to simply offload there, and harvesters already using the port could overcome some frustrations and even grow their fleets, Anthes-Washburn told Undercurrent News.

“There are a minimum of three boats [rafted next to each other] at every dock, and in some cases there are five,” Michael Quinn, operations manager for Quinn Fisheries, said of the crowded situation in New Bedford. “When you have to climb across five boats, it takes all day to get [a boat] out.”

Quinn believes his family’s scallop fishing operation, which keeps six vessels at the port, would benefit by as much as $160,000 per year by the reduced costs and added efficiencies and revenue that could be created.

Having expanded dock space would allow Quinn Fisheries and others to bring in mobile cranes to load and unload, he said. Excess dock space also could be rented to a number of other vessel owners who are clamoring to get in.

Additionally, the changes – which also would include the expansion of roadways and connections to rail lines — would eliminate congestion and allow for direct vessel to truck and rail transfers of fresh seafood, Anthes-Washburn said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

A safety training exercise that every fisherman “needs to know”

October 16, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Bob Scammon lived out the words of the medical training. Michael Oliveira experienced the man overboard training in reality.

Scammon, a commercial fishing captain for more than three decades, tried to help a man on board suffering from a heart attack aboard one of his vessels years ago. Oliveira woke up to the news that someone on board the Miss Shauna had fallen overboard in July.

In both situations, the crew dealt with death at sea.

“All that mayday stuff, that is very, very important how to do it,” Oliveira said. “Everything that we’ve learned today is definitely to our benefit. I do think every fisherman, everybody that’s a seaman, needs to know this stuff.”

The Fishing Partnership, a nonprofit organization geared toward improving the health and safety of fishermen, provided a safety training day at UMass Dartmouth SMAST on Friday. Safety experts offered tips and training on medical emergencies, man overboard, getting into a lifesuit and using it in the water, fire safety, damage control, life raft information and flare use.

“Fishing is the most dangerous job in the country,” J.J. Bartlett, president of the Fishing Partnership, said. “And New England’s waters are the deadliest in the country. Without programs like this fishermen wouldn’t have access to lifesaving safety training.”

Read the full story at the New-Bedford Standard Times

After criminal case, Carlos Rafael faces more losses

NOAA has yet to determine fines and penalties in civil case involving Carlos Rafael

October 16, 2017 — So far, New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael has lost a fraction of his fishing empire after pleading guilty to 23 counts of false labeling and identification of fish, as well as cash smuggling, conspiracy, falsifying federal records and tax evasion. He was found guilty and sentenced to nearly four years in jail last month.

But there could be millions more in fines and penalties as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decides what civil measures to impose on Rafael. Fishermen and environmental groups have been lobbying for that money to go toward restoring the fishery, and many would like to see it pay for better monitoring of what fishermen catch at sea and land on shore.

“We’re looking ahead to the civil phase and hope there will be some visibility (public input),” said Johanna Thomas, a senior director for the Environmental Defense Fund. “We agree that the money from (criminal) and civil cases go to funding the monitoring system.”

But how that happens is still a bit of a mystery.

At the time of his sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge William Young required that Rafael pay a $200,000 fine and $108,929 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury for the smuggled money and tax evasion. This past week, Young also determined that Rafael would forfeit four fishing vessels that participated in Rafael’s scheme to get around a lack of quota in certain species. Rafael also forfeited 34 of what Young termed “permits.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Civil penalities from NOAA could be next for Carlos Rafael

October 13, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Judge William Young’s judgment filed Wednesday appeared to be the finish line to Carlos Rafael’s case. Young, though, by ordering the forfeiture of four vessels and every permit associated with the Bull Dog, the Olivia and Rafaela, the Lady Patricia and the Southern Crusader II began a new ripple effect throughout the commercial fishing industry revealing some questions but very little answers.

It’s likely NOAA will take center stage now that the Department of Justice has closed its case. NOAA can bring civil penalties to Rafael.

The Environmental Defense Fund released a statement after Young’s ruling calling for NOAA to “pursue civil remedies to further aid the victims of Carlos Rafael’s crimes.”

They can range from fines to indefinite bans within commercial fishing.

NOAA issued indefinite bans to James G. Spalt and Peter Spalt, former Cape Cod scallopers, in 1996 to go with a more than $4 million fine. More than 20 years later, they remain outside the industry with no way to return.

The allegations levied toward the Spalt brothers included some of the same offenses Rafael pleaded guilty to, but also expanded beyond falsifying fishing quotas.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Questions linger despite judge ordering forfeiture of Carlos Rafael permits

October 12, 2017 — News Bedford, Massachusetts — Carlos Rafael must forfeit four fishing vessels with an appraised value of $2.2 million and “34 permits” as ordered by District Judge William Young on Wednesday.

In a 16-page Memorandum and Order Concerning Forfeiture, Young described the methods he used in determining forfeiture, which includes the “Bull dog (eight permits)”, the “Olivia and Rafaela (11 permits), the “Lady Patricia (four permits)” and the “Southern Crusader II (11 permits).”

The number of permits the government will strip from Rafael is more complicated than what the court document indicates.

Read the full story at the New-Bedford Standard Times