Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester group critical of NOAA quotas, methods

April 8, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. —  The city’s Fisheries Commission weighed in with public comments on proposed adjustments to the Northeast Fishery Management Plan, expressing concern about heavy cuts in 2016 catch quotas for some of the fishery’s most important species and frustration with the process for determining the size of fish stocks.

The commission’s comments, which significantly mirror comments generated by the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition on Framework Adjustment 55, are contained in a letter to John K. Bullard, regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The commission is supportive of the Northeast Seafood Coalition comments,” Commission Chairman Mark Ring wrote to Bullard. “Notably, the concerns raised by the NSC over the catch reductions slated for the 2016 fishing season, which are based on the 2015 Operational Assessment Update.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NEW JERSEY: Pike for salmon trade to continue

April 8, 2016 — The trade of fresh water species between the fish and wildlife departments of New Jersey and Massachusetts will continue this year.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife will ship its surplus northern pike fingerlings for 2,000 eight-inch Massachusetts-raised landlocked salmon.

The swap is usually made around the middle of May when the 2-3 inch pike fingerlings begin to crowd Hackettstown rearing tanks, according to N.J. Fish and Wildlife

The salmon will then be reared and stocked in freshwater lakes in the future as part of the Landlocked Salmon program, now in its 10th year.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

The Oozing Whale Skeleton of New Bedford

April 8, 2016 — In New Bedford, Massachusetts, the setting of Herman Melville’s story of the Great White Whale, there is a suspended whale skeleton that has been oozing oil for over 15 years.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is filled with cannibal forks, the world’s largest scrimshaw collection, canned whale meat, and 2,500 handwritten accounts of whaling voyages. Here the unusual is usual, including its collection of four whale skeletons hanging over the entrance. These giant marine mobiles include a humpback named Quasimodo, a fetal right whale and its mother Reyna, and the biggest — a blue whale called KOBO.

Read the full story at Slate

MASSACHUSETTS: Will Sea Bass Quota Go Up or Down?

April 7, 2016 — Last year, sea bass literally put some commercial fishermen in the black.

The black fish with the delicious pure white meat abundantly filled local waters and made up some financial losses for fishermen curtailed by otherwise stringent regulations on striped bass, cod, flounder and other lucrative species.

But that might change soon.

In a memo dated March 18 from the Division of Marine Fisheries in Boston, while regulations for striped bass, bluefish, fluke and scup will likely remain unchanged this year in Massachusetts, “Regulations for black sea bass have been amended to achieve a mandatory 23 percent harvest reduction.”

The Massachusetts regulatory agency says these revisions are being implemented along the entire Atlantic seaboard via “emergency rulemaking” to take effect prior to the onset of the 2016 season. Public hearings will be held to discuss proposals before changes are finalized.

Read the full story at Newport This Week

Feds: Fish companies on hook for not paying overtime

April 7, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The U.S. Labor Department has filed suit against two Gloucester waterfront businesses and their owner, seeking more than $200,000 in damages after the company failed to pay overtime to its workers over a three-year period.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston and announced this morning, targets Zeus Packing Inc. and Cape Ann Seafood Exchange, both based at 27 Harbor Loop, and their owner, Kristian Kristensen, is seeking $203,998 in liquidated damages for 132 workers, designed to compensate them for hardship they sustained by not having received the money they should have been paid, said Carlos Matos, the Labor Department’s wage and hour division’s Massachusetts district director this morning.

The suit says Zeus Packing Inc. and Cape Ann Seafood Exchange failed to pay the workers $203,998 in overtime wages due from October 2011 through September 2014 in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

While Kristensen and his companies paid the workers the $203,998 in back wages due in December 2015, Kristensen is contesting the liquidation damages payment, Matos said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

2016-2017 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Recommended Awards Announced

April 7, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the New England Fishery Management Council are pleased to announce that 15 research projects have been selected for support from the 2016 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) program. The projects address the council’s research priorities for the nation’s highest-valued single species commercial fishery.

Twenty-five researchers from nine different organizations will be awarded 2016-2017 research grants valued at $15.6 million. These projects are funded by proceeds from selling a portion of the annual sea scallop quota “set aside” for this purpose. Award recipients are located in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia and include universities, non-profit research and education organizations, and commercial fishing vessels and businesses.

Research set-aside programs are unique to federal fisheries in the northeast region. Under RSA programs, no federal funds are provided to support the research. Selected projects receive allocations “set-aside” within established quotas for this purpose under the particular fishery management plan. Successful applicants partner with the fishing industry to harvest their set aside award to generate funds for the research. There are active research set-aside programs for Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, and monkfish.

The New England Fishery Management Council established the sea scallop RSA program to address research that will support management of the scallop resource. The Council sets the research priorities and researchers compete for funding through a federal grant competition managed by NOAA Fisheries. All of the funds derived from quota sales are used to support research and compensate industry partners. NOAA Fisheries does not retain or use any of these funds.

This year, more than 30 proposals were received for consideration. Six of these are two-year projects. Proposals were evaluated and ranked for technical merit and responsiveness to Council research priorities.

Ten projects will address the Council’s highest research priorities, including intensive and broad-scale resource surveys, bycatch reduction, scallop meat quality, and scallop area management. Five projects focus on other Council priorities, such as sea scallop biology and productivity, habitat impact research, and reducing the risk of sea turtle interactions with the scallop fishery.

Proposals underwent a two-stage review – one for technical merit and one for responsiveness to management priorities.

Proposals for sea scallop surveys were evaluated and ranked by a technical panel that looked at merit as well as how the work met recommendations from a recent peer review of all sea scallop survey methods used in the region. All other proposals were each evaluated for technical merit by three subject matter experts. Each technical reviewer submitted scores and comments on each proposal. A management panel made recommendations on priority projects, based on current management priorities.
The technical review scores, in conjunction with recommendations from the management panelists, are the basis for RSA survey funding decisions.

Sea Scallop Resource Surveys Recommended for Funding

These surveys, combined with the annual NOAA Fisheries sea scallop survey, will provide a comprehensive picture of the scallop resource by the end of this summer. The data collected are expected to support the Council’s area management decisions for 2017 and beyond.

Arnie’s Fisheries Inc. will conduct an optical survey of the Elephant Trunk Access Area using the HabCam V3 instrument system, looking at scallop numbers, sizes, and density in order to generate harvestable biomass estimates.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) will conduct a fine-scale dredge survey of the Mid-Atlantic sea scallop resource from the Virginia/North Carolina border to Block Island, Rhode Island. VIMS will also conduct high-resolution abundance and distribution surveys in and around the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, and in Georges Bank Closed Area II and the surrounding area to the south, where secondary objectives include finfish bycatch species composition and catch rates; scallop product quality and disease research; and commercial and survey scallop dredge performance.

The Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution, as part of their habitat research on the northern part of Georges Bank, will conduct a high resolution HabCam survey to support near-term scallop area management decisions of this area that is undergoing considerable management changes. Lund’s Fisheries are co-principal investigators.

As requested by the New England Fishery Management Council, the survey technical review panel not only considered technical merit, but also the results of a recent peer review when evaluating proposals for sea scallop surveys. That review, conducted in 2015 by the Center for Independent Experts, examined all of the primary survey methods for assessing sea scallop abundance in the region, several of which are supported through the scallop RSA program. The technical panel ensured that proposals were responsive to the peer review findings.

Bycatch Mitigation Projects

For the fifth year, UMASS Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology will use their award to support a yellowtail flounder bycatch avoidance system.To address low allocations of yellowtail flounder in the scallop fishery, these researchers will work with the limited-access and general category scallop fleets to deploy the bycatch avoidance system in fishing grounds on Georges Bank and in southern New England.

Reducing bycatch through scallop dredge gear modifications is the focus of two projects proposed by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. The Foundation plans to design and test gear designed to reduce flatfish bycatch through modification to the dredge bag, and the use of a modified flounder sweep attached to the dredge bail, filming interactions to monitor the effectiveness of the gear modifications.

The Coonamessett Farm Foundation will also continue its seasonal bycatch survey on Georges Bank, collecting information on yellowtail flounder bycatch rates and other bycatch species relative to scallop meat yield. Data will also be used to evaluate sea scallop health and meat quality, provide maturity data for several flounder species, estimate the prevalence of a potentially significant parasite in yellowtail flounder, and examine lobsters for shell disease while also collecting biological data.

For the eighth Coonamessett Farm will tag up to 30 loggerhead sea turtles with water activated tags. They will also observe sea turtle behavior using a remotely operated vehicle, take biological samples, and collect length and weight measurements. This work provides information on sea turtle distribution and behavior in the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England, where there is overlap between sea scallop fishing activity and turtle distribution. Co-principle investigators include Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, and Roger Williams University.

Sea Scallop Biology, Meat Quality, and Productivity Projects

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science will study sea scallop age structure and growth rates over time. Under a separate grant, VIMS will develop a framework for mark-recapture studies to estimate natural mortality, growth and movement of scallops and the effects of scallop density on those factors.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth campus investigating scallop meat quality will focus on how the infection that causes “gray meat” in sea scallops is transmitted.

Researchers at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, with colleagues at Rutgers University, will study how a nematode parasite affects scallop meat quality and provide insight into how industry and management can assess and predict impacts to the scallop stock and meat quality.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation will demonstrate the feasibility of a seeding program to enhance and stabilize scallop recruitment while documenting the factors that affect seed survival.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will investigate the impact of scallop fishing in habitat management areas using the REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle.

For more information about these recommended awards and the Scallop RSA Program, please contact Ryan Silva (ryan.silva@noaa.gov, 978-281-9326), or Cheryl Corbett (cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov, 508-495-2070).

To learn more about work funded through the Sea Scallop RSA program, or through the NEFSC Northeast Cooperative Research Program, use our searchable project list.

2016-2017 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Projects 1

Project Organization Principal Investigators * Set-Aside Award
based on $12 per pound
R=research
C=compensation fishing
T=total budget
Optimizing the Georges Bank Scallop Fishery by Maximizing Meat Yield and Minimizing Bycatch Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. Carl Huntsberger, Jasper Leavitt, Rachel Simpson, Liese Siemann (CFF)
David Rudders (VIMS)
Heidi Henninger (AOLA)
Roxanna Smolowitz (RWU)		 R-$498,573
C-$1,495,719
T-$1,994,292
166,191 lb of scallops
Development of Ecosystem Friendly Scallop Dredge Bags: Tools for Long-Term Sustainability Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. Farrell Davis
Christopher Parkins
Melissa Campbell		 R-$394,050
C-$1,182,150
T-$1,576,200146,350 lb of scallops
A Modified Flounder Sweep for Flatfish Bycatch Reduction in the LAGC Scallop Fishery Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. Christopher Parkins
Farrell Davis		 R-$92,380
C-$277,140
T-$369,52030,793 lb of scallops
Understanding Impacts of the Sea Scallop Fishery on Loggerhead Sea Turtles Through Satellite Tagging Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. Samir Patel
Shea Miller		 R-$223,014.50
C-$669,044
T-$892,058.5074,338 lb of scallops
Drivers of Dispersal and Retention in Recently Seeded Sea Scallops Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc. Shea Miller
Liese Siemann
Jasper Leavitt		 R-$270,032
C-$810,096
T-$1,080,12890,011 lb of scallops
Optical Survey of the Scallop Resource in the Elephant Trunk Scallop Access Area – Year 2 Arnie’s Fisheries, Inc. Richard Taylor R-$146,635
C-$439,905
T-$586,54048,878 lb of scallops
Transmission of Apicomplexan Infection and Development of Gray Meat in Atlantic Sea Scallops Placopecten magellanicus (2 Years) University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Jennifer Koop
Susan Inglis		 R-$179,140
C-$460,646
T-$639,78653,315 lb of scallops
Scallop Fishery Bycatch Avoidance System 2016 University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Steve Cadrin R-$87,500
C-$225,000
T-$312,50026,041 lb of scallops
A Cooperative High Precision Dredge Survey to Assess the Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Resource Area (2 Years) Virginia Institute of Marine Science David Rudders
Sally Roman
Robert Fisher		 R-$395,870
C-$1,583,478
T-$1,979,346164,946 lb of scallops
An Assessment of Sea Scallop Abundance and Distribution in the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area and Surrounds (2 Years) Virginia Institute of Marine Science David Rudders
Sally Roman		 R-$178,389
C-$713,556
T-$891,94574,329 lb of scallops
An Investigation into the Scallop Parasite Outbreak on the Mid-Atlantic Shelf: Transmission Pathways, Spatio-Temporal Variation of Infection, and Consequences to Marketability (2 Years) Virginia Institute of Marine Science David Rudders (VIMS)
David Bushek
Daphne Munroe, Robert Fisher, Eleanor Bochenek (Rutgers University)		 R-$231,628
C-$713,794
T-$945,42278,785 lb of scallops
An Assessment of Sea Scallop Abundance and Distribution in Georges Bank Closed Area II and Surrounds Virginia Institute of Marine Science David Rudders R-$89,643
C-$358,572
T-$448,21537,351 lb of scallops
Scallop Mark-Recapture to Estimate Density Dependent Natural Mortality and Growth Virginia Institute of Marine Science David Rudders
John Hoenig		 R-$148,571
C-$445,713
T-$ 594,28449,524 lbs. of scallops
Age Structure and Growth Rate in the Sea Scallop Placopecten magellanicus (2 Years)  Virginia Institute of Marine Science Roger Mann
David Rudders		 R-$202,512
C-$411,161
T-$613,67351,139 lb of scallops
Impact of Disturbance on Habitat Recovery in Habitat Management Areas on George’s Bank (2 Years) Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Scott Gallager
Mike Purcell (WHOI)
Wayne Reichle
Jeff Kaelin (Lund’s Fisheries)		 R-$666,486
C-$1,999,458
T-$2,665,944222,162 lb of scallops

Total $ 15,589,853
1 CFF – Coonamessett Farm Foundation
VIMS – Virginia Institute of Marine Science
AOLA – Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association
RWU – Roger Williams University
WHOI – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

 

Seafood coalition skeptical of proposed new rules

April 6, 2016 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition has submitted public comments for the proposed rules for the Northeast Fishery Management Plan that reiterate its lack of confidence in NOAA’s current system of scientific assessments for groundfish.

The comments from the Gloucester-based NSC, submitted to NOAA Fisheries before Tuesday’s deadline, question the reported status of the witch flounder stock and sets the fishing advocacy group in opposition to the proposed allowable biological catch limit of 460 metric tons or the 2016 fishing season.

“NSC expressed concern with the reported status of witch flounder during the public process,” the coalition said in its comments, which also reference the group’s “expressed concern that catch rates within the fishery are completely inconsistent with the reported stock status from the assessment.”

That concern with the methodology and accuracy of the stock assessments by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a familiar refrain throughout the NSC comments.

“NSC has been an active participant over the years in the scientific assessments for groundfish stocks,” it said in its comments. “Direct engagement in the process, however, has made NSC leadership grow more leery of groundfish assessments.”

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

Global scallop supply limited in 2016, but rising in 2017

April 6, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — As the US east coast sea scallop fishing season ramps up, two of the world’s biggest scallops companies see prices at a plateau for now with tight supply in 2016 poised to ease soon after

Speaking to Undercurrent News at the headquarters of Eastern Fisheries, the world’s largest scallop firm, executive vice-president Joe Furtado said that decreased US scallop supplies are expected to keep prices elevated, at least for a little while.

“The overall outlook for this year is still down as a whole but the overall outlook for 2017 is a significant rebound from a supply perspective,” Joe Furtado, executive vice-president of Eastern Fisheries said. “So I think we’ve made some market corrections due to the reality that there’s just less scallops this year but in anticipation of a rebound in 2017, I think you’ll start to see receding pricing in the back half of this year.”

Eastern has two processing factories in New Bedford, another two in northeastern China, one of which is also used for flatfish processing, and a third recently opened in Staphorst, Netherlands that handles all of the company’s European scallops. The company is co-owned by two family businesses, O’Hara Corporation and Nordic Fisheries, which together own a fleet of 26 scallop vessels.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

MASSACHUSETTS: Push on to move science center to fishing hub of New Bedford

April 5, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The federal government is considering renovating one of the oldest and most influential marine science centers in the country, prompting some to lobby for the facility to relocate across the bay to New Bedford, the nation’s commercial fishing hub.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has been in the Falmouth village of Woods Hole since 1871. The current home was built in the 1960s and is surrounded by younger scientific organizations.

New Bedford is about 15 miles northwest of Woods Hole across Buzzards Bay but about 40 miles when traveling by land.

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering a renovation plan for the science center, which is aging, crowded and short on laboratory space. A consortium of local and state officials from the New Bedford area is lobbying for the center to move to the historic city, which is the country’s top ranking fishing port in dollar value.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Boston Herald