Saving Seafood

Coast Guard Rescues Man From Fishing Ship Dozens of Miles off Montauk

April 24, 2017 — The Coast Guard rescued a man who was suffering a medical emergency on a ship 65 miles south of eastern Long Island.

The 47-year-old man was lifted from the deck of the Braedon Michael after the fishing vessel contacted the Coast Guard around 8:30 a.m. Friday for help with a crewmember who was experiencing flu-like symptoms and was in and out of consciousness.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter launched from an air station in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and arrived at the ship about an hour later, where it swooped in and rushed the man to a local medical center.

Read the full story at NBC 4 New York

Boats may be hitting whales in Gulf of Maine more often, study suggests

April 24, 2017 — A group of marine scientists says collisions of whales and boats off the New England coast may be more common than previously thought.

The scientists focused on the humpback whale population in the southern Gulf of Maine, a body of water off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. They found that almost 15 percent of the whales, which come to New England to feed every spring, had injuries or scarring consistent with at least one vessel strike.

The researchers, who published their findings in the March issue of the journal Marine Mammal Science, said the work shows that the occurrence of such strikes is most likely underestimated. They also said their own figure is likely low because it does not account for whales that are killed in ship strikes.

“Vessel strikes are a significant risk to both whales and to boaters,” said Alex Hill, the lead author of the study, who is a scientist with the conservation group Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “Long-term studies can help us figure out if our outreach programs to boaters are effective, what kind of management actions are needed and help to assess the health of the population.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

Researchers study whales and the food they eat

April 24, 2017 — North Atlantic right whales need a lot of food each day — the caloric equivalent of 3,000 Big Macs — and right now there’s plenty of it in Cape Cod Bay, in the form of a tiny crustacean.

“The food resource is the thickest we have seen in 32 years,” Charles “Stormy” Mayo, head of the right whale ecology program at the Center for Coastal Studies, said of the zooplankton that whales consume.

In years past, the center’s water sampling in the bay has shown total zooplankton densities usually less than 5,000 organisms per cubic meter. While the individual zooplankton are measured in millimeters, the whales that eat them are among the largest animals on earth, reaching lengths of more than 50 feet and weighing up to 79 tons.

But on April 14, for example, the densities reached well over 40,000 organisms per cubic meter across most of the bay, according to Christy Hudak, the center’s associate scientist. Some areas west of Great Island in Wellfleet reached 72,000 organisms per cubic meter.

On that same day, more than 40 percent of the total population of right whales left in the world, 217 out of 524, were spotted in the bay.

“It might be that the food resource is particularly strong this year, and if it continues that will bode well for right whales,” biologist Mark Baumgartner of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said. “Alternatively, food in other habitats at other times of the year may be poor, leading to right whales concentrating in fewer places and fewer times, such as Cape Cod Bay in early spring.”

Scientists are looking at possible connections between the high concentration of right whales in the early spring in Cape Cod Bay and low calving rates.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Loss of Rafael’s permits could hurt New Bedford

April 24, 2017 — By late morning just before Easter weekend, three fishing vessels lined up at the docks to unload their catch, and they all belonged to one man — the local mogul known as the “Codfather,” Carlos Rafael.

“It’s a good haul,” a passing auction worker at the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction said under her breath, as crew members, some still in their orange waterproof bibs, unloaded the ice-packed fish.

For decades, Rafael’s fleet of some 40 vessels has been a staple of this city’s fishing industry, a sight as common as the seal that patrols the docks.

But now, Rafael’s recent conviction on federal charges that he cheated fishing regulations to boost his profits is putting his many vessels and permits up for grabs — potentially distributing them to ports along the New England coast. That would deliver an economic blow to New Bedford and the people who depend on the business created by Rafael’s fleet.

Rafael, 65, whose nickname given by locals derives from his brash business style, is expected to be sentenced in June to about four years in prison. Local officials are urging the federal government to keep the permits in New Bedford, home to the country’s most valuable fishing port and one of the last true ports on the East Coast.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Steamship Authority begins exploration of New Bedford freight options

April 19, 2017 — The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority is working with a maritime consultant to determine if any existing facilities in New Bedford could handle freight ferries to Martha’s Vineyard and possibly relieve some truck traffic to the Woods Hole ferry terminal.

The ferry line has hired Craig Johnson, a partner in the Florida-based maritime executive search firm Flagship Management who was involved the time the Steamship offered freight service from New Bedford more than a decade ago, said Wayne Lamson, the Steamship Authority’s general manager. Lamson updated the boat line’s board on the matter at its Tuesday meeting at the Hyannis ferry terminal.

“He’s in the discovery phase and going around and seeing what facilities might be available before (we) approach certain potential private carriers to see if it would be something they would be interested in and if it would be something that is feasible in the long term,” Lamson said.

The Steamship Authority will pay $19,500 for the work, which will include the review of New Bedford shipping facilities, interviewing potential customers of the freight service and identifying private operators that might provide the service under a license agreement, Lamson said. Johnson is expected to report his findings to the Steamship Authority in three or four months.

The first step in a report issued last year outlining recommendations for a potential New Bedford freight line is to explore private operators to provide the service. If no operator can be found, the next steps would include pursuing funding to improve either the New Bedford State Pier or New Bedford Marine Commercial Terminal to allow for freight service.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times 

SEAN HORGAN: Fisherman on hunger strike to protest rules

April 17, 2017 — Stop us if this sounds familiar.

Last Thursday, Canadian fisherman Richard Gillett, a vice president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador, decided enough was enough.

Gillett had had enough of the regulations and enough of scientists telling him that six critical fishing stocks in the Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries were in dire shape despite what he and other fishermen were witnessing on the water.

“There’s fish there,” Gillett told The Telegram newspaper. “We’ve never seen fish like it before. The fish are overrunning our crab grounds, eating our shrimp, eating our crab and we’re still at one-third of the level (regulators) would like to see.”

So Gillett went rogue. He camped out in a tent and began a hunger strike he said will continue until representatives from the Fish-NL organization get to meet with the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans and receive an independent review of the science and management of the region’s fisheries.

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod boaters asked to use caution due to presence of extremely endangered right whales

April 17, 2017 — Boaters have been urged by officials with the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to use extreme caution when enjoying the waters of Cape Cod.

According to a statement released by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game on Friday, an unusually large amount of endangered North Atlantic right whales have been observed in the bay area.

The right whale, which is known to congregate and feed near the bay on an annual basis, is a species of whale so endangered that their entire population is only about 500 animals, the statement says.

An aerial survey conducted on April 12 by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies showed that roughly 163 of those whales were present in the Cape Cod Bay, meaning that some 30 percent of the known population of the species was sighted in the same bay on a single day.

“Aggregations of this magnitude have never been observed in Cape Cod Bay before,” said Gronendyke.

Boat owners have been urged to “proceed with extreme caution” and to reduce speed to less than 10 knots.

Read the full story at MassLive.com

UPDATE: Court rules in government’s favor in New England fishing monitor dispute

April 17, 2017 — An appeals court has found in favor of the federal government in a challenge by a New England fishermen’s group over the cost of at-sea monitoring.

The monitors are workers who collect data that help the government craft fishing regulations. The government shifted the cost of paying for monitors to fishermen last year.

A group led by New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel sued the government over the rule change. The fishermen lost in federal district court and appealed. A 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Boston agreed with the lower court Friday.

Monitors can cost hundreds of dollars per day. Fishermen argue it represents an illegal new cost burden they can’t shoulder in an era of tight quotas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1

From Port to Plate: A journey of New Bedford’s most profitable product

April 17, 2017 — Who knew that a silver dollar-sized scallop could provide such bang for a buck? As the most profitable item turned over in the most profitable port in the country, this milk-colored mollusk has almost been solely responsible for the re-birth of New Bedford’s working waterfront since the turn of the century.

While other New England ports have shrunk or been gentrified from a working waterfront to high rise condos and upscale restaurants, New Bedford has thrived.

In 2015, the port of New Bedford hauled in more than $321 million according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — $104 million more than Dutch Harbor, Alaska which had the second-most profitable port that year.

Three years earlier, in 2012, the municipality formerly known as the Whaling City set the national record for highest-valued catch at $411 million with scallops accounting for nearly 80 percent of that number. Alliteration aside, the Scallop City just doesn’t have the same ring to it, although a case could certainly be made for a name change.

Ed Anthes-Washburn, Port Director of the city’s Harbor Development Commission, said the port accounted for more than 36,000 jobs and held a value of $9.8 billion in economic value in 2015 — nearly double Boston’s $4.6 billion value in 2012 — according to the commissions state-funded study by Martin Associates in October.

“It’s really huge,” Anthes-Washburn said of the port’s impact on the city and the state. “We’re growing at a time where a lot of ports are shrinking.”

Fishing industry-lifers believe the scallop business will continue to boom thanks to the rotational management system that allows vessels to enter certain areas once they are deemed to be replenished by NOAA officials. Given a certain amount of trips each year, vessels can fish in those closed access areas until a designated date at which point two other areas open up. Creating a level of sustainability, the previously fished areas are then closed so that the scallops can be replenished.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Right Whale Found Dead in Cape Cod Bay

April 17, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

On Thursday, April 13, a dead North Atlantic right whale was reported around 11:30 a.m. near Barnstable by researchers conducting right whale surveys in Cape Cod Bay. The United States Coast Guard provided assistance by towing the carcass to a landing site in Sesuit Harbor. Researchers then transported it by trailer to a necropsy site in Bourne for a complete examination. The necropsy logistics were organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and overseen by NOAA Fisheries. The examination team was led by Bill McLellan from University of North Carolina Wilmington and included stranding response experts from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Marine Mammals of Maine, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Center for Coastal Studies, New England Aquarium, Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife, and University of New Hampshire. 

“It’s really worrisome to know that another young right whale has died in our waters,” said Misty Niemeyer, Necropsy Coordinator for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “As an endangered species of approximately 500 individuals, every animal is important for the survival of the population. We need to learn as much as we can from her tragic death and gain valuable insight in hopes to further protect the species.”

The young whale was a female, and was approximately 27 feet long. She has been identified as a one-year old offspring of Eg#4094 from the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog born in 2016.

“It’s very difficult to lose one of our endangered North Atlantic right whales, but it’s important for us to use this tragedy as a means to stay vigilant in our efforts to recover the species,” says Kim Damon-Randall, assistant regional administrator for protected resources at NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region. “We’ll analyze the samples taken from the whale for disease, biotoxins, histology, genetics, and life history information. This will provide a glimpse into the life and death of this whale, which will contribute to our efforts to protect other whales in the population.”

Preliminary findings of bruising were consistent with blunt trauma. There was no evidence of entanglement. Final diagnosis is pending ancillary laboratory tests that can take weeks or months. There have been a record high number of endangered right whales observed in Cape Cod Bay over the past few weeks, and over 100 whales were observed last weekend during an aerial survey research project. We urge vessels of all sizes to keep a close look out for right whales at all times and to travel slowly to help prevent injury to both whales and people. Right whales skim the water surface to feed or hang just below the surface and are difficult to see. They can grow to 50 feet in length and weigh up to 55 tons, so they are large animals that need space. Look for blows, ripples in the water, and patches of plankton–these are often signs that whales are in the area. Vessels and aircraft are required to maintain a distance of 500 yards from right whales.  We encourage everyone to take this opportunity to view the right whales from local Cape Cod beaches, including Race Point Beach. More information on right whales, and how to report sightings, is on NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region’s website.