Saving Seafood

Fisheries scientists teach science of marine mammals to Woods Hole-area elementary students

January 26, 2017 — New England has a rich maritime tradition, with the livelihood and leisure activities of many residents associated with the ocean in some way. The NOAA Outreach and Education on Protected Species (NOEPS) program strives to build connections between NOAA Fisheries science and local communities, enriching and supplementing the current science program. In order to achieve a significant impact in nearby small communities, the NOEPS program targeted all K-4th grade classrooms in the Falmouth Public School District.

In its third year, NOEPS gave classroom presentations to 10 schools in the New England area. The program, based out of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, reached 1,790 students in 95 classrooms from preschool to high school in the 2015-16 school year. Educators had expressed a need for hand-on activities to engage students so the Northeast Fisheries Science Center designed a program to enrich and supplement the current science program as well as bring in marine science at the elementary level. Presentations focused on key marine mammal species and research conducted by NEFSC scientists, offering free one-hour lessons with hands-on activities, presentations, and projects on marine mammals for K-6 classrooms, and emphasizing the conservation and stewardship goals behind the science. In 2015-16, the program expanded to include K-3 classes in the Mashpee School District. In addition, NOEPS lessons and core educational materials are available for download by teachers.

Read the full story at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center unearths unusual catches

February 4, 2017 — Fishermen have been telling stories of the strange and unusual things they find in their nets for years.

On Saturday at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center fishermen from around the area had the opportunity to share their deep-sea findings and figure out, with the help of several maritime archaeologists, what their findings were and when they were made.

“Over the years I’ve heard about all the crazy stuff people have pulled up from torpedoes to human body parts to airplane wings to fossils,” New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center’s executive director Laura Orleans said.

“Everything. Even including a kitchen sink,” she said.

At the first annual Unusual Catch Day, fishermen were welcomed to bring in their deep-sea treasures and put them on display for the public and have them examined by maritime archaeologists.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: A civil exchange of fish numbers

February 5, 2017 — Every now and then, the discussion of fisheries management breaks the stranglehold of graphs and numbers and jargon and entries into the Federal Register that read as if they were compiled by a computer whose native tongue is Drone-on.

Now and then, the discussion distills into rational conversation between two people who find themselves on opposite sides of the regulatory equation. It may happen in person or by email. It doesn’t matter. They are moments to be celebrated.

One such moment happened last week, when life-long (and highly respected) Gloucester fisherman Rick Beal penned a letter ostensibly to the New England Fishery Management Council, but really meant for all fisheries regulators.

He thanked the council for its Jan. 25 action nearly doubling the grey sole quota for 2017 and said he was “particularly encouraged” by comments of NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard and Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce regarding the importance of industry input.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Gorton’s brings back its fisherman

February 2, 2017 — The Gorton’s fisherman, on sabbatical since about 2010, is back and the iconic marketing figure now will be at the center of a social media-centric campaign by the Gloucester-based frozen seafood company.

The new campaign kicked of this week with the release of “Coach,” a video vignette directed by “Saturday Night Live” director Mike Bernstein that projects a humorous side to the slicker-clad Gloucester fisherman while still reinforcing — Gorton’s hopes — the coveted image of ruggedness and serious custodianship of the ocean.

The video spots, according to Gorton’s Vice President of Marketing Chris Hussey, have been tailored for presentation on a variety of different social media platforms and not as traditional television advertising spots.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center presents The Working Waterfront Photography of Peter Pereira

February 1, 2017 –New Bedford, MA — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce the opening of The Working Waterfront Photography of Peter Pereira.  An opening reception will take place on Thursday, February 9th at 6:00 p.m. during AHA. The exhibit will run until April 2, 2017.

Like New Bedford, Peter Pereira’s life has been tied to the ocean.  Many in his family have served on ships, sailing the seas as officers and deckhands.  At the age of five, he crossed the equator twice with his family as a passenger on one of his father’s ships.  Peter says, “The seeds had been planted for my perpetual fascination and respect for those who leave everything behind to be surrounded by the solitary embrace of the ocean.”

An award-winning photojournalist, Peter has spent years documenting the New Bedford fishing community.  This exhibit provides a look at those who work on the waterfront, both on shore and at sea.  From preparing their vessel for a fishing trip to the off loading of the catch upon their return, his photographs capture the work of those who make their living from the ocean.

Peter’s images have graced the pages of Time, Newsweek, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, The Standard Times and various other national and international media outlets. In 2016, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Infante D. Henrique by the President of Portugal, Anibal Cavaco Silva. Peter has won the New England Newspaper & Press Association – Photographer of the Year award eight times. His photographs can be seen daily in The Standard Times.

This event is free and open to the public. The Center is located at 38 Bethel Street in New Bedford’s historic downtown and is handicap accessible through the parking lot entrance. Free off-street parking available.

For more information, please contact the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center at: info@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

New video system may hold promise for cod surveys

February 1, 2017 — Researchers at UMass-Dartmouth continue to refine a new video survey system they believe holds promise for providing more accurate assessments of the beleaguered Gulf of Maine cod stock.

The developers of the system, which employs high-resolution video cameras in an open-ended commercial trawl net to count the number of fish and identify their species as they enter the net, put it through another rigorous test last week and came away pleased with the results.

“This was definitely the best trip yet,” said Travis Lowery, chief scientist and technician on the project along with UMass-Dartmouth professor Kevin Stokesbury and graduate student Nick Calabrese. “We’ve been moving more toward using Go-Pro cameras and the images were crystal clear. It all worked really, really well.”

For six days, the researchers performed 31 survey tows on Stellwagen Bank, about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester, and said they found Atlantic cod aggregating over much of the open fishing grounds.

The test also included a number of closed tows so researchers could collect biological samples to measure the length and weight of the captured fish. In the biggest closed-trawl haul, researchers collected 345 cod in a half-hour, with the largest measuring up to about 33 inches.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA science director steers a new course

January 30, 2017 — It was last Halloween when Jon Hare took over as Science and Research Director for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole. He was aware he was jumping into a cauldron but it hasn’t spooked him yet.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge and that’s why I was interested in it,” the career NOAA scientist said.

Hare does understatement well.

The director’s job description includes managing “the living marine resources of the Northeast Continental Shelf Ecosystem from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras,” according to the NOAA website.

If that in itself were not sufficient, these resources include commercial fisheries, and in New England that is synonymous with controversy.

Federal fishery management in general, and the efficacy of NOAA’s survey work on fish stocks in particular, have been heavily criticized by fishermen in the Northeast, almost without cessation for the past 15 years and the NEFSC has been at the sharp end of much of this disaffection.

Since his appointment Hare has launched himself upon these troubled waters with energy and candor, reaching out to industry stakeholders at every opportunity in the belief that there is common ground.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New England effort to research declining shrimp is underway

January 29, 2017 — Portland, Maine — A group of fishermen selected to help study New England’s declining commercial species of shrimp is beginning its work.

The states of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire tapped eight shrimp trawlers and five shrimp trappers to collect shrimp to provide biological data about the fishery.

 The fishery has been shut down for four years in a row, and scientists say the Northern shrimp species has been hit hard by warming waters.

Fishing regulators say some of the trawlers began their work in the middle of January. The trappers and some more of the trawlers are scheduled to begin during the week that starts on Monday.

Read the full story at The Daily Progress

UMass Dartmouth cod survey takes a technical leap with high-def video

January 27, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Scientists at the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology are reporting a major advance in a new technology to use video to survey the fish stocks in the fishing grounds of the North Atlantic.

Dr. Kevin Stokesbury’s team surveyed the entire Stellwagen Bank, a fishing ground in the Gulf of Maine about 15 miles south of Gloucester and 6 miles north of Provincetown. They found large numbers of cod, whose stock assessments have been sharply reduced in recent years because of surveys done by NOAA fisheries. The reduction has caused a chain reaction in the fishing industry as abundant species cannot be caught if too much cod is hauled in as bycatch.

Four years in the making, Stokesbury’s video apparatus has now been equipped with high-resolution video that enables the identification of every fish that passes through the open-ended trawl net used to count fish without harming them.

“The seven-day cruise was very successful,” Stokesbury said in a news release. “Atlantic cod were observed over much of the bank, and the largest tow collection was of 345 cod in a half hour, with individuals measuring up to 83 centimeters. The idea is to increase the amount of sea floor sampled per sea day without killing more fish.”

Chief scientist and graduate student Travis Lowery told The Standard-Times that the big improvement over past versions of the video apparatus is the addition of a GoPro camera that enables the identification of every fish in high definition. Prior versions relied entirely on a tethered black and white video camera.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

UMass’s award-winning dining halls serving up tasty dogfish as chefs reject ‘trash fish’ moniker

January 27, 2017 — AMHERST, Mass. — It may not have the tastiest name, but a University of Massachusetts chef says dogfish is becoming a popular fish on campus.

All the dining commons serve the fish — 400 to 500 pounds of it — as part of a fish fry every Friday night.

Bob Bankert, chef de cuisine for UMass Dining, said UMass began seeking alternatives to cod several years ago, and began serving dogfish in the fall.

“Cod is way over fished,” Bankert said.

Before arriving at dogfish, the dining halls also began serving other so-called “trash fish” such as pollock and redfish.

But Bankert rejects the “trash fish” moniker — born from the practice of fisherman tossing such species out instead of bringing them to market — and instead calls fish like dogfish “under loved.”

Bankert said people don’t have problems with the idea of eating catfish — but some balk at the name “dogfish.”

A spiny dogfish swims along a stretch of sandy seafloor. UMass-Amherst serves the fish during a weekly fish fry. Matthew Lawrence, NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Dogfish — a shark species also known as “cape shark” — is native to New England waters. But, about 90 percent of the harvest has been sent to England for that country’s fish and chips, Bankert said.

He’s hoping that through word of mouth and focus on the fish, more people will try it and be able to find it at markets.

Read the full story at MassLive