Saving Seafood

New England lobsters swim to Canada, bringing jobs with them

June 2, 2016 — Warming waters from climate change off the Atlantic coast are driving lobsters further north than ever before, disrupting fisheries and – for some – perhaps changing a way of life forever.

While the southern New England lobster fishery has all but collapsed, fishers in Maine, Prince Edward Island and even further north are benefiting from the crustaceans’ movement.

“I’ve seen enough of the charts to say the water’s warming, and if that’s climate change, it’s happening. It is happening,” says Beth Casoni, executive director of the Lobstermen’s Association of Massachusetts.

Casoni estimates some 30 fishers still trap lobster in southern New England, down from hundreds previously. The impacted areas include Southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

At the same time the lobster fishing in Maine and north has exploded. Maine is seeing historically high landings now, roughly five times higher than it was back in the 1980s and ‘90s.

It’s a similar story in P.E.I., where lobster landings have gone from a low of 17.6 million pounds in 1997 to a high of 29.7 million pounds in 2014.

Read the full story at the National Observer

East Coast Fishing Groups Unite in Opposition to Atlantic Monument

June 2, 2016 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

UPDATE: A previous version of this release mistakenly omitted a statement by the American Bluefin Tuna Association. Additionally, since the original release, the American Scallop Association has endorsed the ASMFC resolution. The release has been updated to reflect these changes.

WASHINGTON (NCFC) — The most valuable fishing port in the U.S. – New Bedford, Mass. – and eight major fishing groups from Florida to Massachusetts are backing an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) resolution opposing current proposals for a monument off the coast of New England. The fisheries most likely to be affected by a National Monument designation inside the continental shelf, including the valuable red crab, swordfish, tuna, and offshore lobster fisheries, have all come out in support of the ASMFC resolution.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, is in New Bedford today, where he will hear from regional stakeholders about the negative effects a monument would have on commercial fisheries.

Multiple environmental groups have been pushing the Obama Administration to use executive authority under the Antiquities Act to designate an offshore monument in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, the ASMFC unanimously approved a resolution urging the Administration to forgo a monument designation and instead allow the current management process protecting ocean ecosystems to continue. If the President decides to create a monument, the ASMFC resolution asks that it be seaward of the continental shelf, only prohibit bottom tending fishing, and that any plan be available for public review before it is implemented.

In a letter to the White House, the American Bluefin Tuna Association (ABTA) expressed concern that a monument designation would eliminate all forms of fishing in the protected areas. “Given that our fishing gear has no negative impact on deep sea coral, a proposed prohibition on the fishing methods we employ would be arbitrary, completely unnecessary and would result in significant negative economic consequences,” ABTA wrote.

A monument declaration may have devastating economic impacts on New Bedford as well. The mayor of New Bedford, Jon Mitchell, has come out strongly against a monument and praised the ASMFC resolution in a statement, saying he “applauds the ASMFC for asking the White House not to establish a marine monument off the coast of New England.”

East Coast fishing groups that may also be severely impacted by a monument designation, including many members of the National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC), are lending their strong support to the ASMFC resolution. One fishery that could suffer if it is prohibited from fishing in a monument area is the red crab fishery, valued at over $15 million.

“Rarely in the history of New England commercial fishing have we seen the entire industry and its regulatory bodies unite behind a single cause,” said the New England Red Crab Harvester’s Association in a statement. “Yet with its recent unanimous vote on the marine monument designation, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission joined industry leaders in sending a clear message to the Obama administration: the current monument process poses a serious threat to effective ocean management, and would have disastrous environmental and economic impacts.”

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), which represents members of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, supported the ASMFC resolution in a letter to the White House. FSF argued that a monument designation would contradict the President’s own Executive Order 13563, which states in part that regulations should be based on the best available science, involve public participation, and include coordination across agencies.

“Public areas and public resources should be managed in an open and transparent manner, not an imperial stroke of the pen,” FSF wrote.

Other groups that have publicly supported the ASMFC plan are the Garden State Seafood Association, Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, Southeastern Fisheries Association, North Carolina Fisheries Association, and American Scallop Association. All of these groups are members of NCFC, which provides a unified voice for fishing groups and businesses. Similarly, the Blue Water Fishermen’s Association, which is not an NCFC member, wrote to the White House opposing an Atlantic Monument.

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center seeks volunteers

June 1, 2016 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is looking for volunteers to help with day to day operations. A new non-profit organization dedicated to telling the story of the fishing industry past, present and future through exhibits, programs, and archives, the Center is located at 38 Bethel Street in the heart of New Bedford’s historic downtown, and will open to the public on Saturday, June 25, 2016.

Volunteer opportunities include: welcoming visitors, staffing the reception area and gift shop, assisting with educational programs, conducting research, and helping with special events.

For those with a fishing industry connection, we hope you will share your industry skills and knowledge with visitors by leading walking tours, demonstrating skills such as net mending, knot tying, or model boat making, or talking with school groups or the public about your work and life.

Volunteers are needed during Center operating hours (Thursday-Sunday 10-4) and for occasional evening programs and special events. Volunteer hours are flexible and can be scheduled according individual availability and particular areas of interest. The Center is wheelchair accessible. Free off-street parking is provided to volunteers.

STATE HOUSE NEWS: Fishing fleets turning to technology to meet monitoring mandate

June 1, 2016 — New England fishermen are starting to use digital cameras to document groundfish discards and prove they are fishing within established quotas, turning to technology for a method that may prove more cost effective than hiring human monitors.

With support from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, The Nature Conservancy is overseeing a new project, which launches on Wednesday, June 1 and is being hailed as a “new era in fisheries monitoring.”

Up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine Coast Community Sector and Cape Cod’s Fixed Gear Sector will use three to four cameras to capture fish handling activity on the decks of their vessels. After completing their trips, crews will send hard drives to third party reviewers who watch the footage and quantify the amount of discarded fish.

“Electronic monitoring is the only realistic solution for the small-boat fishery,” Eric Hesse, captain of the Tenacious II, of West Barnstable, said in a statement. “Even if some fishermen have managed to scrape together enough daily revenue to cover the cost of human observers, it won’t take much to undo that balance.”

In December 2015, the non-profit Cause of Action announced a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of the federal mandate requiring them to carry at-sea monitors on their vessels during fishing trips and to soon begin paying the cost of hosting the federal enforcement contractors. The suit was filed by Northeast Fishery Sector 13, which represents fishermen from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Cause of Action estimates the cost of human monitors at $710 per day.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

MASSACHUSETTS: South Shore ground fishermen skeptical of plan to use digital cameras for monitoring mandate

June 1, 2016 — A program to get New England fishermen using video technology instead of human monitors to track their adherence to catch limits and document fish discarded from boats is getting mixed reviews in South Shore fishing ports.

Longtime commercial fishermen from Marshfield and Scituate said the project to equip some groundfishing boats with digital cameras comes with numerous pitfalls, including cost burdens and concerns about how video footage would be used.

Beginning this week, up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine and Cape Cod will use three to four cameras to document fish handling on their vessels. At the end of each fishing trip, boat captains will send hard drives to third-party reviewers, who will view the footage and determine how much fish was discarded.

The Nature Conservancy is overseeing the project and hailed it Tuesday as a “new era in fisheries monitoring” that would be less costly than the current federal mandate, which requires having human monitors aboard boats on a percentage of fishing trips – at a cost to the fishermen of more than $700 a day.

Last December, South Shore fishermen threw their support behind a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Cause of Action on behalf of Northeast Fishery Sector 13, which represents fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire down to North Carolina. The federal lawsuit challenges the legality of the federal mandate and came in the aftermath of news that government funding to cover the cost of monitors was running out.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

NOAA recovers $450K scallop survey camera lost underwater last week

May 31, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Scientists and crew members aboard a NOAA-chartered research vessel have recovered a $450,000 scallop survey camera that was lost a week ago when it apparently snagged on an underwater shipwreck southeast of Delaware Bay, a NOAA spokesperson said.

“We are pleased, relieved, and preparing to move forward with our (scallop) survey for this year,” Susan Gardner, acting deputy director of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a press release.

The Science Center owns the instrument, a habitat mapping camera known as a “HabCam.”

The camera appears to have only “minimal damage” on its exterior and is being tested by scientists, NOAA said.

Government surveys affect future catch limits for scallops, which is the highest-value species, by far, in New Bedford’s $330 million fishing industry.

Teri Frady, spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said scientists aboard the Hugh R. Sharp research vessel were conducting scallop surveys about 75 miles southeast of Delaware Bay, which separates New Jersey from Delaware, when the HabCam “separated from the tow cable and the vessel” in about 80 meters of water May 20.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fishermen cited, boat seized after police find hundreds of illegal sea bass

May 31, 2016 — WAREHAM, Mass. — A fisherman was given a criminal summons and five others cited after Environmental Police found them with hundreds of illegal sea bass Sunday.

Police responded to Tempest Knob Boat Ramp in Wareham after the Wareham Harbormaster called to report a possible violation, said Environmental Police Major Patrick Moran.

They boarded the vessel in question and found 8 coolers filled with sea bass and scup. After sorting, measuring and counting the fish, police found 219 sea bass, 122 of which were undersized, Moran said. The legal possession for the vessel would have been 10 sea bass.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

NOAA fisheries center won’t relocate to New Bedford

May 31, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — NOAA won’t be relocating its Northeast Fisheries Science Center from Woods Hole to New Bedford or anywhere off Cape Cod, the agency decided this week.

After 50 years in its location, the Science Center is bursting at the seams, and NOAA is seriously considering rebuilding it at another location.

Mayor Jon Mitchell and about 50 other community leaders wrote to NOAA earlier this year, stating that moving the researchers closer to the fishing fleet that relies on their work would go a long way toward repairing the damaged relationship that the fishermen have with their regulators.

Drew Minkiewicz, attorney for The Fisheries Survival Fund, a nonprofit scallop industry group, said, “They should have looked harder. It doesn’t seem like they thought about it too much.” He said that the city offers “synergies with places like SMAST (The UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology).

Bob Vanasse of the industry group Saving Seafood said, “I do think the mayor was correct in moving the science center to a major seaport with the most economic value. It would have been a good move. It would have been good to have scientists in close proximity to the fishermen who rely on them.”

“I’m not surprised, though. I thought it was a long shot,” he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Governor Baker reshapes state fisheries board

May 27, 2016 — State environmental officials quietly replaced the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission members last Friday, after a disagreement last year over who should serve as the division’s director. The board blocked Governor Charlie Baker’s choice for the job, later choosing longtime division official David Pierce as director.

The Baker administration did not issue a press release on the personnel moves, and longtime fishing boat captains and several industry activists said they were unaware of the changes until contacted this week by the Globe.

Daniel Sieger, assistant secretary for the environment, said the administration was motivated by a desire to bring in new blood and said there were no concrete policy goals associated with the move.

“There’s people that have provided their viewpoint on that board for a long time, and we thought it was a good time to provide some additional perspective,” he said. All of the commissioners who were dismissed were serving past the length of their terms.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Cameras to be Used for Monitoring On Some New England Groundfish Vessels

May 27, 2016 — HARWICH, Mass.– A commercial fishing association says a group of fishermen from Massachusetts and Maine will use digital cameras instead of human monitors to collect data during trips at sea.

Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance says up to 20 fishermen who catch groundfish such as cod and flounder will use the cameras in a first-time program.

The fishermen are required to bring monitors on some fishing trips. Many fishermen say the cost of human monitors is prohibitive.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bristol Herald Courier