Saving Seafood

Observer Letter to NOAA Administrators

June 30, 2020 — Recently, Fishing Partnership Support Services reached out to federal administrators in regards to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and federal at-sea observers. The following is an excerpt from a letter addressed to Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator for NMFS,  and Dr. John Hare, Science and Research Director for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and safety of commercial fishing families throughout the Northeast. Given the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we are gravely concerned by your decision to reintroduce observers to fishing vessels at this time. For the safety of our fishermen and observers, as well as their families, we ask you to change course and extend the waiver until you can work with the fishing community and public health officials: 1) to analyze the risk of the observer program to safety at sea, and 2) to develop effective protocols that minimize transmission of Covid-19.

The CDC has been clear that older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are at highest risk of developing a severe illness from COVID-19. “Severe illness means that the person with COVID-19 may require hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they may even die.”

Read the full letter here

Northeast observer coverage resumes July 1; councils express worry

June 24, 2020 — NMFS will resume its usual at-sea observe coverage in the Northeast July 1, after a three-month hiatus when the agency waived requirements because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Jon Hare, science and research director for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, confirmed Monday that the agency and its observer providers will move ahead with the resumption, in the planning stages since May 29.

“The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Sampling Branch has been working through internal protocols and processes to ensure shoreside components of the program can operate,” Hare wrote in a letter to fishermen and other stakeholders. “They are also coordinating with observer providers to develop deployment plans that support the health and safety of observers, fishermen, and others in the fishing industry, in light of the covid-19 virus.”

But the Mid-Atlantic and New England fishery management councils reacted with dismay, reflecting worries in the industry that the observer program is being set back in motion before it is safe to do so.

“The council believes that deploying observers on fishing vessels at this time poses an unnecessary risk to the health and safety of fishermen and observers,” Mid-Atlantic council chairman Michael Luisi wrote in a June 23 letter to Hare and NMFS Northeast regional director Michael Pentony.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds extend waiver on monitors for some East Coast fisheries

April 7, 2020 — The federal government has extended a waiver on the requirement for at-sea monitors for some East Coast fisheries.

Fishing boats often carry human observers, or at-sea monitors, to gather data that is important to the management of fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the rule is waived in some northeastern U.S. fisheries until at least April 18.

NOAA said in a statement that it will “continue to evaluate the need for further extensions of this waiver on a weekly basis.” The waiver is a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

Maine lobstermen to federal regulators: We’re not killing whales

March 9, 2020 — Federal fishing regulators found themselves in the hot seat at this year’s annual Maine Fisherman’s Forum as the lobster industry sounded off about looming right whale rules that threaten to upend the country’s most valuable fishery.

Phillip Torrey, a sixth-generation lobsterman from Winter Harbor, told regulators it was unfair to ask Maine fishermen to give up any more than they already have to protect the endangered whale without proof that they are the ones causing them harm.

“If you could show us that we were killing right whales, we would do whatever you asked,” Torrey told regulators. “If it was a a court case, no district attorney in the world could put us to trial because they’d say they have no evidence against us, Maine fishermen.”

Torrey was one of more than 150 people who turned out to see the National Marine Fisheries Service field questions about its right whale policy, like why impose fishing restrictions on the $485 million-a-year lobster industry when data shows that it is Canadian fishermen and ships that are killing whales.

Fishing gear entanglement is the cause of most known right whale deaths or serious injuries, said Regional Administrator Michael Pentony. The agency is issuing draft regulations for the lobster industry this summer because it represents at least 90 percent of the gear in U.S. whale habitat, he said.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine whale protection plan doesn’t go far enough, feds say

February 13, 2020 — Federal regulators don’t believe a Maine plan to reduce risk to endangered whales goes far enough, and that means fishermen in the state could face more restrictions.

Maine officials submitted a plan to the federal government designed to meet a requirement to better protect rare North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in lobster fishing gear. The whales number only about 400 and can die if ensnared in the gear, which is used to trap one of Maine’s best known and most valuable natural resources.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified the state in a Jan. 10 letter that its proposed package of measures would result in no more than a 52% reduction in risk to the whales. The required goal is 60%, said the letter, which was written by Michael Pentony, regional administrator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine’s plan to protect whales falls short, regulators say, raising prospect of federal rules

February 12, 2020 — Maine’s plan to protect right whales does not go far enough to reduce the risk of entanglement in lobstering gear, according to federal regulators.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded that Maine’s plan to use a combination of weak rope and a 25 percent reduction in the number of buoy lines in state waters achieves, at best, a 52 percent risk reduction, while federal regulators are demanding a 60 percent reduction.

“Because your proposal does not meet the 60 percent risk reduction target, we will be obligated to consider additional measures through our federal rulemaking,” said Michael Pentony, regional administrator of NMFS’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Modifications to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan

February 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Framework 8 includes 2020-2021 Specifications and increased seasonal possession limits for the wing and bait fisheries to provide additional flexibility to fishermen. We propose to:

  • Increase the annual catch limit for the skate complex to 32,715 mt from 31,327 mt in 2019.
  • Increase total allowable landings of skate wings to 11,879 mt from 10,499 mt in 2019.
  • Increase the total allowable landings of skate bait to 5,984 mt from 5,289 mt in 2019.
  • Increase the bait fishery Season 3 possession limit to 25,000 lb from 12,000 lb.
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 1 possession limit to 3,000 lb from 2,600 lb.
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 2 possession limit to 5,000 lb from 4,100 lb.
  • Increase the barndoor skate possession limit in the wing fishery from 650 lb to 750 lb in Season 1, and from 1,025 lb to 1,250 lb in Season 2.

To get all the details on these proposed modifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today.

We are accepting comments through March 6, 2020.

Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA, 01930.

Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for Skate Framework 8.”

New England council will examine 100 percent at-sea monitoring

February 5, 2020 — Requiring 100 percent at-sea monitoring coverage for the Northeast groundfish trips is part of the Amendment 23 proposal the New England Fishery Management Council will take to public hearing in the coming weeks.

The council approved a surprise motion by NMFS regional administrator Michael Pentony Jan. 29 at its meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., to move the long-awaited changes to the groundfish plan.

Pentony stressed that achieving 100 percent coverage is not his goal, but to spur a broader public discussion about monitoring and other reforms – which Pentony said could help provide more fishing opportunity.

“I want it to be very clear that I’m not making this motion because it’s my opinion or the agency’s opinion,” Pentony told council members. Making 100 percent coverage the preferred option will “provide a sense of what’s possible,” and a “good framework for discussion during the public hearing process,” he said.

It’s also the only option that would make possible the elimination of management uncertainty buffers, and making more groundfish available to catch, Pentony said.

“This doesn’t commit the council to action in June,” he added.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Measures for Private Recreational Tilefish Vessels

January 29, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on proposed measures for private recreational tilefish vessels that were approved in Amendment 6 to the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. Proposed measures include requiring private recreational vessels that intend to target golden or blueline tilefish north of the Virginia/North Carolina border, to obtain a federal private recreational tilefish vessel permit through an online application on the Greater Atlantic Regional Office website. Proposed measures also include a requirement for private recreational tilefish vessels to fill out and submit an electronic vessel trip report within 24 hours of returning to port for trips where tilefish were targeted and/or retained.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

The comments due date is 02-28-2020.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

January 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This action would set specifications for the herring fishery for 2020-2021. The proposed specifications would reduce catch limits for 2020 and 2021 in response to estimates of herring biomass and recruitment.

This action would use status quo methods to set all other specifications, including catch caps for river herring and shad.

This action would update the overfished and overfishing definition for the herring stock. Updating these definitions is largely an administrative change that is not expected to impact commercial fisheries. Additionally, this action would suspend the carryover of unharvested catch for 2021. Suspending carryover is proposed because the amount of carryover from 2018 (just under 5,000 mt) and potentially 2019 is substantial relative to the reduced ACL for 2020 and 2021 (11,571 mt). If carryover is harvested in specific management areas early in the year, other areas that are typically fished later in the year may be constrained by the ACL such the sub-ACLs in those areas cannot be fully harvested.  It is also consistent with the Council’s conservative management due to the current status of the herring stock and the uncertainty surrounding estimates of biomass and recruitment.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator

Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA 01930

The comments due date is 02-12-2020.

Read the full release here