Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford mayor calls offshore wind ‘generational opportunity’

April 12, 2021 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell is of two minds about Vineyard Wind, which after lengthy regulatory delays seems poised to finally get underway.

The mayor is excited about the potential for offshore wind farms to transform New Bedford the way they have many older European port cities, but he also worries that Massachusetts may be missing the boat when it comes to capturing the true value of the industry.

“Offshore wind is really a generational opportunity for a city like ours to leverage its competitive advantages in a way that brings in investment, creates jobs, and improves a city’s quality of life,” Mitchell said on The Codcast.

“We’re looking at roughly a $3 billion capital expenditure with this project,” he said. “That means a considerable amount of local procurement here in New Bedford from things as simple as hotel rooms and restaurant food to welders to any number of things. But it also means the more that the industry settles in here, the higher the likelihood that there will be investment in operating facilities and permanent enterprises. That really is, for us, the ultimate goal, to have an industry cluster here like we have with fishing.”

Mitchell said New Bedford, with its fishing port, is well-positioned to support the offshore wind industry, but it is unlikely to snare manufacturing operations because the city’s waterfront is so densely packed already. Even so, New Bedford has been expanding beyond the state-built New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal to provide more space for offshore wind development. The mayor also said he hopes to tap federal infrastructure funds proposed by President Biden to modernize the city’s port facilities.

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for April 22, 2021

April 9, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on April 22, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., to discuss days out measures for the 2021 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season. Days out measures can include specification of the number of consecutive landings days, weekly landings limits, and restrictions on at-sea transfers. The webinar and call information is included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
April 22, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/916881365. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (224) 501-3412 and enter access code 916-881-365 when prompted. The webinar will start at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

Federally-permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery at least 45 days prior to the start of the fishing season. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2021. States will send additional correspondence regarding the notification procedure.

The 2021 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 1,391 metric tons (mt). After adjusting for the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the Area 1A sub-ACL is 1,252 mt. There is no research-set-aside for 2021 because the participants in the RSA program will not continue their RSA project in 2021.

In October 2020, the Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2021 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2021.

Please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 or efranke@asmfc.org for more information.

A copy of the meeting announcement can be found at: http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerringApr2021DaysOutMeetingNotice.pdf

New Slow Zone East of Boston to Protect Right Whales

April 9, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a Slow Zone east of Boston. On April 8, 2021 an aggregation of right whales was detected east of Boston, MA by the NOAA North Atlantic Right Whale Sighting Survey. This right whale Slow Zone is in effect immediately through April 23, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

East of Boston, MA, April 8 – April 23, 2021 

42 39 N
41 54 N
070 08 W
071 06 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

New Slow Zone South of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

April 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a Slow Zone south of Martha’s Vineyard. On April 7, 2021 an aggregation of right whales was detected south of Martha’s Vineyard, MA by the NOAA North Atlantic Right Whale Sighting Survey. This right whale Slow Zone is in effect immediately through April 22, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

South of Martha’s Vineyard, MA, April 7 – April 22, 2021 

40 42 N
40 02 N
070 45 W
071 34 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Active Seasonal Management Areas 

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Cape Cod Bay, January 1 – May 15

Off Race Point, March 1 – April 30

Great South Channel, April 1 – July 31

November 1 – April 30

Block Island Sound 

Ports of New York/New Jersey

Entrance to the Delaware Bay
(Ports of Philadelphia and Wilmington)

Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay 
(Ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore)

Ports of Morehead City and Beaufort, NC

Within a continuous area 20-nm from shore between Wilmington, North Carolina, to Brunswick, Georgia.

Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.

Give Right Whales Room

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. 

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Read the full release here

Don’t Forget Fishermen in the Rush To Expand Wind Energy

April 8, 2021 — On April 6th, 1,665 members of fishing communities in every U.S. coastal state submitted a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) requesting a transparent and balanced national planning process for offshore wind development.

Offshore wind development poses direct conflicts with fishing and the current permitting process provides no meaningful opportunity to include the needs of sustainable seafood harvesting and production in strategies to mitigate climate change. Recent interagency announcements to fast-track offshore wind energy production have provided no commitments to address this transgression of the federal government’s public trust duties.

On the eve of the expected Record of Decision for the Vineyard Wind I project, which would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind energy project in U.S. federal waters, the signers request that BOEM adopt reasonable and consistently requested fisheries mitigation measures for the project if it is approved.

Read the full story at OCNJ Daily

Dock price: The cost of cutting access to healthy fisheries

April 7, 2021 — In the early 1980s, when I was fishing a dayboat dragger out of Ogunquit, Maine, a noise ordinance came before the town meeting under the terms of which, as we understood them, fishermen would not be able to start their engines before 7 a.m.

On the bait wharf, we viewed the proposal as the child of well-heeled folks from away who liked the idea of water views and fishing boats but drew the line at having to listen to diesel engines starting up before breakfast.

Talk of the ordinance created quite a stir in the run-up to town meeting, but not so much among the fishermen. We would fish on our schedule, noise ordinance or no.

But that was then. Tourism was not yet a year-round industry nor was new-home construction a way of life. Coastal communities were still home to “working class” families, and during winter it was common to find laid-off construction workers, restaurant help and others on the back deck of fishing vessels trying to earn a paycheck. As a result, the connection to fishing was not casual, but intrinsic. Fishing was woven into the fabric of coastal communities.

Much has changed, especially, for example, in New England’s groundfish ports. The wharves in Portland, Maine, and Gloucester, Mass., that I scrambled over in my youth are no longer jammed with trawlers rafting two or three deep, to say nothing of the chandleries, gear lofts and fuel boats that have disappeared.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Women in the Workplace, Women on Deck: Fisherpoets Virtual Round Robin Thursday, April 8th, 7:00pm

April 7, 2021 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center

Tune in to the Center’s Facebook page for a virtual event featuring female fisherpoets from around the country! These women will share stories, poems, and music related to their experiences in the fishing industry and community. This event will be led by Moe Bowstern and will feature Tele Aadsen, Meezie Hermansen, Kat Murphy, Alana Kansaku-Sarmientos, Billie Delaney, and Melanie Brown plus others to be announced! For more information on the performers, click here.

This event will take place on the Fishing Heritage Center’s Facebook page as a Facebook Live event. You can watch by visiting the Center’s Facebook page at 7:00pm EDT on Thursday, April 8th.

Women in the Workplace, Women on Deck is supported by a Bridge Street Scholarship from Mass Humanities. This program is part of Women’s Work, the Center’s series about women’s roles in commercial fishing, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Women’s Fisheries Network, Mass Cultural Council, and the New Bedford, Fairhaven, Dartmouth, Westport, Marion, and Mattapoisett Cultural Councils. The program takes place on April’s AHA! Night and is free and open to the public.

As New Bedford lags behind Massachusetts, Sen. Markey visits city to push vaccines

April 7, 2021 — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday exhorted New Bedford residents to get immunized against COVID-19, as the city’s vaccination rate remains well below the statewide average.

Home from Washington due to the Senate recess, Markey stopped in New Bedford to tour a federally funded vaccination clinic at the McCoy Recreation Center in the West End. The clinic, which is targeting senior citizens, received an extra supply of 1,000 Johnson & Johnson doses this week on top of its usual allotment of 600 Moderna shots.

“New Bedford is a little bit below the state average, so the message to the residents of New Bedford is very clear: we want to get you vaccinated,” Markey said.

Data reviewed by Target 12 shows all four cities in Bristol County are lagging behind the statewide pace of inoculations.

While 35% of all Massachusetts residents were at least partly vaccinated as of April 1, only 21% of New Bedford residents have gotten at least one shot. The rates were also below average in Fall River (22%), Attleboro (25%) and Taunton (25%).

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said “deep-seated” challenges are driving the comparatively low level of vaccinations in his city. He cited a lack of access to technology in order to make appointments online, language barriers, and jobs with limited flexibility.

Read the full story at WPRI

F/V Heritage: Nordic Fisheries builds an innovative and nimble 85-foot scalloper

April 5, 2021 — You can tell a healthy fishery when people are building new boats for it, and the Atlantic scallop fishery fits solidly in that column. Nordic Fisheries, the company that Roy Enoksen started in 1968 with the purchase of the venerable Sea Trek, is now in the process of replacing much of its extensive fleet. The latest addition, the 85-foot F/V Heritage, came out of Junior Duckworth’s yard, Duckworth Steel Boats, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., in early February 2021.

Junior Duckworth watched boats being built as a kid.

“There was a yard near where I grew up where they were building wooden boats, steaming the ribs in and all that,” says Duckworth. But when he got out of the Army in 1965, he went to work building steel boats at a local yard. “I learned a lot, and worked my way up,” he says, and in 1978, he launched his own company.

Duckworth builds his steel boats the old-fashioned way, stick built, fitting and cutting each piece of plate onto the frames.

“It takes a little longer, but you don’t waste as much material,” he says. Maine-based naval architects Farrell & Norton send Duckworth a set of offsets, and he lofts them full-size in a roofed section of his yard. Duckworth takes the three-dimensional shapes of the frames off the two-dimensional loftings, the same as the wooden boatbuilders he watched as a kid. “I do it the way we’ve always done it. I’m too old to learn all the computer stuff,” says Duckworth, 78.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Northeast herring: As catch limit screws tighten, bait dealers seek alternative sources

April 5, 2021 — New rules in the herring fishery aimed at improving sustainability for the important lobster bait fish are impacting fishermen, dealers and others.

The fishery, mostly centered in Massachusetts and Maine, grew in the 1960s but has been in decline since the 1980s. In 2018, 43,878 metric tons were landed. But by 2019, 12,998 mt (valued at $9.72 million) was landed. 2020 landings were 9,368.5 mt (valued at $6.77 million), according to NOAA economist Min-Yang Lee.

The 2021 fishing season started Jan. 1, with an annual catch limit of 11,571 mt, divided among four herring management areas. However, once Framework 8 to the herring management plan is implemented, the total ACL will be set to 4,128 mt. The 2020 stock assessment shows spawning stock biomass to be at its lowest value since the late 1980s.

Wayne Reichle, president of Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May N.J., calls the quota reductions “a disaster for the region’s herring fishery.” Reichle says fleet has stayed within quota the last few years, so the low biomass and poor recruitment is “attributable to the stress of a cold-water fish being challenged by a warming ocean.” Many say it is too early to predict to what extent herring supplies will impact prices, given the newest reductions. In mid-March, herring prices in Maine were about $250 per barrel at the docks.

Read the full story at National Fisherman