Saving Seafood

Expert Says Shark Numbers May Double

February 9, 2016 — WELLFLEET — It might not seem it by looking out the window, but the Cape is closing in on another beach season, and members of a working group tasked with improving public safety given an increasing number of great white sharks visiting our shores each summer, are well aware that it’s time to focus on what is doable in the next few months.

With the possibility that the population of great white sharks in Cape waters could eventually double current estimates the sense of urgency is also on the rise.

For the most part, high tech solutions, like drones, are out, and the focus is on education.“We’re going to change human behavior and keep people close to shore,” Leslie Reynolds, chief ranger for the Cape Cod National Seashore, told the group at a meeting Tuesday at the Wellfleet Council on Aging.

Park personnel are in the initial stages of making an educational video they hope to play on community TV access channels, online on town websites, in their own visitor center, at chamber of commerce information booths and elsewhere.

Her staff is working on a sign that would clearly spell out the shark danger to beachgoers in the off-season when lifeguards are no longer on duty, Reynolds said.

She unveiled a new purple flag with a great white silhouette that would fly every day at lifeguard stands warning visitors that sharks could be in the water.

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries shark researcher Gregory Skomal said the numbers of great whites coming to the Cape each year “continues to go up and it will continue to do so in the near future.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NOAA Issues Climate Warning for Scallops

February 9, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD — “Sea scallops have a high vulnerability ranking,” reads a Feb. 3 announcement from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, which operates in Woods Hole under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Negative impacts are estimated for many of the iconic species in the ecosystem including Atlantic sea scallop, Atlantic cod and Atlantic mackerel.”

The NOAA study, formally known as the Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment, said Atlantic sea scallops have “limited mobility and high sensitivity to the ocean acidification that will be more pronounced as water temperatures warm.”

Water temperatures in Buzzards Bay have risen 4 degrees over the past two decades, for example, according to a recent study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

Scallops are vital to New Bedford’s fishing industry. NOAA Fisheries announced last October that New Bedford, for the 15th year in a row, was the No. 1 port in the country in terms of dollar value of its catch. Much of that value, which totaled $329 million in 2014, comes from scallops.

The money has big local impacts. Eastern Fisheries captain Christopher Audette, for example, told visitors at an annual buyers’ tour in March 2014 that deck hands on his scallop boat had taken home more than $200,000 in 2013 — and that he had made even more than that.

Harbor Development Commissioner Richard Canastra, who has been instrumental to the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction since 1984, said this week that the scallop industry — and stock — continues to boom in New Bedford.

“The biomass has been increasing over the last 10 years, and there is no sign of it depleting because of the warmer waters,” Canastra said. “They’re talking a few degrees, and that’s not going to make much of a difference in terms of scallop population.”

Chad McGuire, associate professor of environmental policy at UMass Dartmouth, said that while the NOAA findings are not a surprise, they could be another “warning signal” for the industry.

“This study suggests that if you care about one of the largest economic drivers for this region, then you need to care about climate change,” said McGuire, whose work includes fishery management and climate change issues.

“We should be worried that this could greatly affect how many scallops we’re taking in the future,” he added.

Read the full story at New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Delving into the deep

February 5, 2016 — Maritime Gloucester has embarked on an ambitious slate of programs for 2016, many designed as teaching tools providing information on a variety of topics within the overarching themes of ocean planning and innovation on the waterfront.

The working museum and maritime education center on Harbor Loop built the schedule — including the MGTalks and HarborLAB series — to provide relevant information to Cape Ann residents from all sides on maritime topics of local interest, ranging from fisheries to ocean exploration, said Melanie Murray-Brown, Maritime Gloucester’s director of program information. 

“We decided that we didn’t want to shy away from controversial topics,” Murray-Brown said Thursday. “We’re not advocating for any particular side on these issues, but providing the information more as a public service.”

The MGTalks series kicks off next Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at Maritime Gloucester with a free panel discussion on who owns the ocean and balancing interests while managing ocean sprawl.

The panel, including Bruce Carlisle, director of the state’s Office of Coastal Zone Management, and Jack Clarke, a Gloucester resident who is director of public policy and government relations for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, will discuss the formation and goals of the Massachusetts Ocean Plan.

The discussion is expected to include the roles of specific stakeholders and the areas of dissent on issues stretching from sand and gravel mining to the ramping up of the exploration for gas and oil near entry points to the Gulf of Maine by Canadian public and private interests.

John Sarrouf of the Gloucester Conversations project will moderate the panel.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

Coast Guard aids disabled fishing vessel off Maine

February 5, 2016 —  BOSTON — The Jocka, a fishing boat with a crew of four aboard, had to be towed to port by the Coast Guard from 45 miles southeast of Portland, Maine, after the engine became disabled.

“It was a pretty rough night, but they’re almost in and everybody’s OK,” ship owner Terry Alexander said late Thursday afternoon. “They just had to sit it out because of the weather.”

At approximately 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, a crew member aboard the Jocka used a VHF-FM radio to contact Coast Guard watchstanders to report the ship’s engine was disabled and the crew needed assistance, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

The boat is owned by the corporation Jordan Lynn Inc. is which headed by New England Fishery Management Council member and former chairman Terry Alexander. The home address for the corporation is Harpswell, Maine, though Alexander said Thursday the Jocka’s hailing port is Boston. He said none of the crew was from Cape Ann.

Alexander said the boat, which is registered in Massachusetts and permitted for off-shore, non-trap lobstering, experienced general engine failure Wednesday and had to stay out on the water overnight because of the harsh weather conditions made it difficult for the Coast Guard to get a line to the 61-foot trawler.

The crew aboard the 110-foot Coast Guard cutter Ocracoke, homeported in South Portland, Maine, responded to the hail for help. Ocracoke had arrived on-scene at approximately 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, but, as Alexander said, was unable to get Jocka in tow due to the weather, the Coast Guard reported.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

Gloucester, Mass. investment in seafood expo is money well spent

February 3, 2016 — Of all the initiatives begun last year by then-interim Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, the return of the city to the international Seafood Expo North America in Boston was a no-brainer, given Theken’s deep ties to the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.

By all accounts, the endeavor was a success. The city’s booth stood out amid a sea of sterile, cardboard convention center displays, thanks to the presence of the mayor and Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Fishermen’s Wives, and a bubbling, aromatic pot of redfish soup. That end product — the food people actually put in their mouths — is as emblematic of the Gloucester fishing industry as its hard-working fleet or the Man at the Wheel. Gloucester fishes so people can eat. What better way to bring home the point than with 40 steaming gallons of fish stew?

The end result was an increased awareness of the Gloucester brand, and a series of meetings among city officials, waterfront businesses and potential clients from the United States and abroad. It’s exactly the kind of result one would hope for from a long weekend’s attendance at a trade expo.

Last year’s expo, in fact, is still paying off: On the Monday of this year’s event, the city will play host to potential buyers and trade representatives from more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Turkey, Mexico, Iceland, Taiwan, Morocco, Spain, Indonesia and the Netherlands. Those are real contacts.

Read the full editorial at Gloucester Daily Times

ASMFC American Lobster Board Approves Jonah Crab Draft Addendum I for Public Comment

February 4, 2016— The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved Draft Addendum I to the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes changes to the incidental bycatch limits for non-trap gear (e.g., otter trawls, gillnets) and non-lobster trap gear (e.g., fish, crab, and whelk pots). For non-trap gear, the Draft Addendum includes options to maintain, increase, or eliminate the bycatch limit, while options for non-lobster traps include establishing bycatch limits of varying size or maintaining no limit on these gears. The intent of the Draft Addendum is to cap incidental landings of Jonah crab while ensuring the inclusion of current participants in the Jonah crab fishery.

  The FMP currently prescribes a 200 crab per calendar day/500 crab per trip incidental bycatch limit for non-trap gear; however, concerns were expressed over the appropriateness of these limits. Data submitted by the New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries illustrate while 97-99% of trips from 2010 through 2014 were within the current limit, there were several trips above the limit. Furthermore, current bycatch landings were sufficiently low, accounting for approximately 0.1% of total landings.

 Bycatch limits for non-lobster trap gear were added as a second issue for consideration in the Draft Addendum to address concerns regarding the lack of effort controls on non-lobster traps and the potential for trap proliferation. Data submitted by NOAA Fisheries show between May 1, 2013 and August 31, 2015, 194 trips landed Jonah crab with whelk pots, crab pots, and fish pots. Of these, 80 trips landed 100 crab or fewer and 115 trips landed 200 crab or fewer.  Approximately 45 trips landed between 200 and 500 crab and 40 trips landed more than 450 crab.  Landings from Maryland show between 2012 and 2015, 33 trips landed Jonah crab with fish pots. All of these trips were under 200 pounds. Reports also indicated from 2014-2015, 36 trips landed Jonah crab with whelk pots. Average landings per trip with whelk pots were under 500 pounds; however, there is concern that these whelk pot landings may in fact be rock crab, a closely related species which is often misreported as Jonah crab.

 It is anticipated the states of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Maryland will be conducting public hearings on the Draft Addendum. The details of those hearings will be released in a subsequent press release. The Draft Addendum will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org(under Public Input) by February 10th. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on April 1, 2016 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at mware@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum I).

New quotas cut deep for fishing industry

February 3, 2016 — Fishermen and fishing stakeholders say the darkness that has descended on the Northeast groundfish fishery over the past three years is only going to grow deeper in 2016, with some fishing stakeholders envisioning the final collapse of the small-boat industry due to slashed quotas for species they believe are abundant.

“With these cuts, we will not have a fishery as we know it anymore,” said Vito Giacalone, the manager of Gloucester-based Northeast Fishing Sector 4 and the policy director at the Northeast Seafood Coalition. “The great shame to this is we’re going to have this entirely detrimental economic impact while the stocks are in great shape and no one in the government is listening. There is just no leadership.”

At the heart of the issue is the expanding difference between what fishermen say they are seeing on the water and the results from NOAA stock assessments used to produce the annual fishing quotas. Call it a watery Great Divide.

“The fish are in great shape and the only real constraint on catch is quota,” Giacalone said. “Fishermen are seeing that across the board on a lot of the species.”

The quotas, set for 2016 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the final groundfish framework, reflect a far different analysis by NOAA and its scientists. They include savage cuts to gray sole (55 percent), Georges Bank cod (66 percent), northern windowpane flounder (33 percent) and Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder (26 percent).

“We’ve never had a greater gap between what the fishermen are seeing on the water and what the scientists are saying,” Giacalone said. “Never.”

Gloucester fisherman Al Cottone said his personal sector contribution (PSC) for 2016 includes a slight increase in Gulf of Maine cod from the 1,800 pounds he was allotted in 2015, but cuts in several other species such as yellowtail flounder (down 25 percent to 2,400 pounds); American plaice (down 17.6 percent to 2,800 pounds) and gray sole (down 6 percent to 2,800 pounds).

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

 

Ensuring a Future for American Seafood and Fishermen

February 2, 2016— America’s commercial fishermen provide the public with some of the world’s best seafood: Alaska salmon and halibut, Maine lobster, Gulf red snapper, New England cod – names that make your mouth water. These are the fishermen who support our coastal economies and contribute to our food security, and continue to do so in the face of a growing number of challenges.

Increasingly, commercial fishermen face vast uncertainty about changing ocean ecosystems, complex state and federal management systems, and the staggering costs to enter America’s fisheries. These factors have contributed to a new challenge: declining numbers of young fishermen entering the commercial fishing industry. As a coastal community loses its next generation of fishermen, it also loses access to economic opportunity, food security, and its heritage.

As we work together to ensure the health of America’s incredible marine ecosystems, we must also find ways to sustain the next generation of fishermen tasked with putting that food on our nation’s table. Rather than see fishermen’s role in our food system further isolated and diminished, we should equip young fishermen to be successful food producers, responsible marine stewards and valuable additions to their local economies.

Farmers and ranchers had concerns for their own future generations, inspiring Congress to create a number of programs to support this next generation of agriculture, including the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Programand the Individual Development Accounts. Young farmers and ranchers have benefitted enormously from this federal support, ensuring a future generation is in place for this part of the U.S. food system.

Unfortunately, not a single federal program exists to provide support and resources to young commercial fishermen – the young men and women critical to the preservation of the culture, economy, community health, and food security in coastal America. This lack of support puts this important part of our food system in jeopardy, especially at a time when more consumers are looking for healthy protein sources that are locally sourced and sustainable. It reflects a massive oversight and a lost opportunity.

Read the full opinion piece at The Huffington Post

Fishermen await trial on NOAA monitors mandate

February 2, 2016 — HAMPTON — Local fisherman David Goethel said he hopes a court ruling comes soon to determine the legality of a new federal mandate, as he and other fishermen are fearful they will go under before the trial begins.

Goethel said he may sell his fishing boat after this summer if the trial isn’t resolved by then. He filed the lawsuit causing the trial, challenging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s plan to make fishermen pay for their own policing. He filed it in conjunction with a fishing sector based in Massachusetts.

Industry members estimate the observers would cost a given fisherman $700 for each day the observer joined them at sea. Observers are mandated to go with fishermen on 24 percent of their fishing days. Fishermen say their industry was already being devastated by strict restrictions on catch limits.

“I will not be able to pay for this,” Goethel said. “I keep saying over and over: This is the straw that will break the camel’s back.”

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald

Environmental Advocates, Fishermen At Odds Over Turning Cashes Ledge Into National Monument

February 2, 2016 — It’s clear from listening to fishermen that they’re ambivalent about the fisheries management process and the rules it produces. They feel like the rules are stacked against them, but they abide by the council’s decisions, because that is the process they have signed onto. The presidential order would fall outside that process.

Jackie Odell advocates for New England groundfishermen with the Northeast Seafood Coalition. She said the fisheries management process is public and transparent, and decisions are data-driven, goal-specific and reached through compromise.

“You know, there’s legislation that’s out there to protect this process,” she said. “And if we don’t want to use that process what are we doing and why? Why are all stakeholders — states, fishermen, NGOs, scientific community — all engaging in a process that in the end we are going to say, it doesn’t matter.”

But, she added, the fishing industry and environmental groups don’t have to be adversaries: Fishermen are also concerned about mining and natural gas exploration.

Witman, the longtime Cashes Ledge researcher, agrees.

“In the long run, I think we want the same thing. We both value a healthy resilient ocean that can support fisheries,” he said.

But the sticking point might be one of perspective.

Many fishermen, including Testaverde, entered this profession because it’s what their family had been doing for generations. They take immense pride in their work and their heritage. They fear a future in which their descendants won’t experience that.

Skerry, the photographer, fears a future in which one of Earth’s beautiful places is irrevocably damaged.

Read the full story at WBUR News