Saving Seafood

Groundfish: NEFSC to Hold Port Meetings With Fishermen to Talk About Upcoming Assessments

August 14, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has scheduled a series of port outreach meetings to talk with commercial and recreational fishermen about the upcoming operational assessments for 20 groundfish stocks. Here are the details.

WHAT’S GOING ON: Stock assessment and cooperative research staff from the science center will provide an informal explanation of the stock assessment process, the cooperative research program, and ways that industry concerns can be addressed by the science center. The center said, “We’re listening to what you have to say.”

WHERE ARE THE MEETINGS: Below is the list of confirmed meetings to date.  Additional information will be posted at meeting schedule.

  • August 15 in Chatham, MA – Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance: In the Barn, 4 p.m.
  • August 16 in New Bedford, MA – New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, 4 p.m.
  • August 17 in Portland, ME – Portland Fish Exchange, 3 p.m.
  • August 18 in Gloucester, MA – Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave., 10 a.m.
  • August 28 in Point Judith, RI – Superior Trawl/NESTCO Conference Room, 65 State St., 4 p.m.
  • August 30 in Montauk, NY – Details to be announced.

ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE AND DETAILS: The Groundfish Operational Assessments Peer Review is scheduled for September 11-15, 2017 at the science center in Woods Hole, MA.  Additional information is available at NEFSC.

QUESTIONS: Need to know more?  Contact Stock Assessment Outreach Coordinator Ariele Baker at (508) 495-4741, ariele.baker@noaa.gov.

Charter boat owners see jump in cancellations as cod ban takes effect

August 14, 2017 — A new rule that recreational anglers in the Gulf of Maine can’t keep cod they catch is putting the squeeze on the charter boat industry, business owners say.

Capt. Don Taylor runs a six-person charter boat out of Rye Harbor. He said he can see the scientific reasoning behind imposing the restriction, but says it is causing people to cancel their reservations — even though they can still keep haddock, cusk and hake.

“I don’t think not allowing us to have one cod per person on a boat is going to make any difference at all. That’s my opinion on it,” Taylor said. “I think they’re going a little overboard, myself, and it’s hurting the charter boat industry.”

Allison Ferreira, who is in charge of communications for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Mass., said the reason for the restriction is that recreational fishermen exceeded their cod catch limit by 92 percent last year.

Federal officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use estimates from the Marine Recreational Information Program to determine if a population is being overfished. In addition to getting reports from charter boat captains, they survey individuals who go out on their own boats.

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader

Despite guilty plea, Carlos Rafael continues to fish

August 14, 2017 — Gloucester fisherman and vessel owner Vito Giacalone is the chairman of governmental affairs, and sits on the board of directors of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, the umbrella organization that oversees a dozen sectors, including Rafael’s. Up until 2016, Rafael was also a coalition board member.

Giacalone believed that Rafael was simply too big to be allowed to fail, that his sector worked with NOAA to enact changes — including bringing in new board members and a new enforcement committee — that allowed them to stay in business.

Rafael’s vessels control considerable groundfish quota, up to 75 percent of what New Bedford holds, according to New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, and Rafael has said he has 280 employees.

“You don’t have to be too imaginative to see that that is an enormous collateral impact as soon as that operation is stopped in its tracks,” Giacalone said, estimating that as many as 80 fishermen would be immediately out of work.

“I wish Carlos Rafael had thought about that before he did what did,” said Hank Soule, manager of the Sustainable Harvest Sector in South Berwick, Maine.  “The bottom line is New Bedford is the richest port in the U.S. The loss of his groundfish boats won’t devastate the port.”

NOAA is reportedly working with Rafael’s legal team on an agreement that would have him selling off his vessels and permits and leaving fishing forever, including scallop and lobster vessels not involved in the fish smuggling scheme.

At least 13 vessels are scheduled to be forfeited to the government as part of the plea deal and Giacalone thinks NOAA may be trying to maintain the value of the assets by keeping them fishing.

“I think it would be clumsy of the sector to cause collateral damage that could be excessive to innocent third parties,” Giacalone said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NEFMC Bids Farewell to One Member, Welcomes Another

August 11, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is bidding farewell to Mary Beth Tooley of Maine and welcoming a new face to the Council table – Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

On June 28, 2017, the Secretary of Commerce announced that three New England Council members, whose terms were scheduled to expire, had been reappointed to serve for another three years effective August 12, 2017.

  • Peter Kendall of New Hampshire was appointed to his third term on the Council;
  • Elizabeth “Libby” Etrie of Massachusetts was appointed to a second term; and
  • John Pappalardo of Massachusetts was appointed to a second term.

Terry Stockwell of Maine was appointed to fill the seat being vacated by Tooley, who had served three consecutive terms. Stockwell is the Council’s vice chairman and previously served as the state of Maine’s designated fisheries official to the Council. In June, however, Stockwell retired from state service following a 21-year career at DMR, and he now is beginning his first term as a secretarial appointee.

Read the full release at the NEFMC

Using Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge to map Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank

August 11, 2017 — The following abstract is from a research paper on Atlantic cod spawning grounds on Georges Bank. It was written by Gregory R. DeCelles, David Martins, Douglas R. Zemeckis, and Steven X. Cadrin, all from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was published in the July-August 2017 issue of ICES Journal of Marine Science:

The spawning dynamics of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) on Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals are not well understood. To address this uncertainty, we combined Fishermen’s Ecological Knowledge (FEK) with traditional scientific data to develop a more holistic understanding of cod spawning on Georges Bank. Data from historical reports, trawl surveys, fisheries observers, and ichthyoplankton surveys were used to describe the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning activity. We also collected FEK regarding cod spawning dynamics through semi-structured interviews (n = 40). The fishermen had detailed knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of cod spawning, and identified persistent fine-scale (i.e. <50 km2) spawning grounds that were often associated with specific habitat features, including spawning grounds that were previously unreported in the scientific literature. The spawning seasons and locations identified by fishermen generally agreed with information from traditional scientific data, but it was evident that seasonal scientific surveys lack the spatial and temporal resolution needed to fully characterize the distribution of cod spawning activity. Our results will help inform management measures designed to promote the rebuilding of Georges Bank cod, and also provide a basis for further investigations of cod spawning dynamics and stock structure.

Read the full paper at ICES Journal of Marine Science

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Finest Kind’ film pays tribute to New Bedford fishing industry

August 10, 2017 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host the world premiere of “Finest Kind: The New Bedford Fishing Industry” Sunday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. The screening will be held at Greasy Luck Brewery, 791 Purchase St., New Bedford. Doors open at 6 p.m.

A facilitated discussion with some of those featured in the film and director Kevin Kertscher will follow. Free parking is available on the street. The venue is wheelchair-accessible. The screening is free.

A year in the making, this original documentary was produced by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Written and directed by Kevin Kertscher of Big Ocean Media, the film interweaves interviews, historic and contemporary footage, and photographs to provide a sense of the rich history and culture of the New Bedford and Fairhaven fishing industry.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen’s Trust hosts third annual Meet the Fleet in Menemsha

August 10, 2017 — Crowds streamed along Menemsha’s docks last Thursday for the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust’s third annual Meet the Fleet, both a celebration of the Island’s fishing community and a fundraising event for the trust that supports it. “I think it was the best one yet,” trust director Shelly Edmundson said.

The three-hour event grossed approximately $20,000 from a silent auction, sponsorships, clothing sales, donations, rawbar sales, and tips given by the band Good Night Louise, which entertained visitors off the deck of Martha Elizabeth, a fishing boat owned by trust founder Wes Brighton.

The event included crab races, and shucking and net-mending competitions. The Coast Guard, environmental police, and numerous commercial fishing vessels — most of which the public could board — were on hand, along with the refurbished 20th century wooden draggers Roann and Little Lady. According to Ms. Edmundson, the Roann made the six-hour journey from its home at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, while the Little Lady still actively plies Vineyard waters.

Aaron Williams, who won the net-mending competition, brought his trawler Tradition to Menemsha, where it docked less than 100 feet from the Roann, his father’s former vessel—one Mr. Williams crewed on as a kid.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, A Preview Of What Might Be In Store For Mass. Barrier Beaches

August 9, 2017 — The first truly global disaster resulting from climate change may come from rising sea levels.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change has projected sea level rise of 1 to 3 feet by the end of the century, and more recent estimates by NASA and other scientists have projected a rise of up to 8 feet.

In Massachusetts, the rising sea will mean more frequent flooding, more severe storms, and dramatic change.

It’s a problem we will share with every coastal community on every continent. A bit farther down the Atlantic Coast, there’s a place that’s on a faster track to where we too may be headed.

‘These Beaches Are Doomed’

Leonardo Da Vinci wrote that “water is the driving force of all nature.”

Fascinated by great storms and terrible floods, DaVinci would have loved the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Nearly 200 miles of low-lying, shifting sand islands link into a high energy system of waves and storms.

“These beaches are doomed,” says Orrin Pilkey, a professor at Duke University and an octogenarian prophet. “The buildings are doomed too.”

Traveling through a shanty town of triple-decker McMansions on stilts, motels and condos too close to the sea, we stop in the town of Nags Head. Pilkey predicts catastrophe in vacationland.

“The future is one of retreat,” Pilkey says. “It’s the only way to save the beach. It’s the only way to save the buildings.”

Read and listen to the full story at WBUR

MASSACHUSETTS: Honors planned for Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association president

August 9, 2017 — Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, will be the guest of honor at the Sea to Supper Celebration at 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Mile Marker One Restaurant & Bar, 75 Essex St., in the Cape Ann Marina Resort.

The Sea to Supper Celebration will feature local, fresh seafood specially prepared for the occasion by Todd Snopkowski of Snapchef, wines, oral tributes and displays on Cape Ann fishermen and more.

Tickets cost $75, and may be obtained by calling 978-821-1590 or visiting http://bit.ly/2v0HBdj.

Proceeds benefit nonprofit Fishing Partnership Support Services, which Sanfilippo helped found in the late ’90s, and on whose board of directors she has served ever since. Fishing Partnership Support Services helps commercial fishermen and their families through a variety of free services — from safety trainings, to health coverage enrollment assistance, to disaster relief support.

While honoring Sanfilippo, the Sea to Supper Celebration will also highlight the contributions commercial fishermen have made to coastal communities and to the health of seafood consumers, according to J.J. Bartlett, president of Fishing Partnership Support Services.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Days Out Call for August 9th Cancelled

August 8, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set effort control measures for the Area 1A fishery via Days Out meetings/calls.

The previously scheduled Days Out call on August 9, 2017 at 10:00 AM has been cancelled. The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:

  • Wednesday, August 23 at 10:00 AM

To join the call, please dial 888.394.8197 and enter passcode 499811 as prompted.