Saving Seafood

News for the Mid Atlantic Region

MID-ATLANTIC SCALLOP ACCESS AREA CLOSES AUGUST 4 FOR LIMITED ACCESS GENERAL CATEGORY FLEET

July 31, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop fleet on Tuesday, August 4. The fleet has used its 2015 fishing year allocation of 2,065 trips into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.
Under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, once this fleet reaches the Mid-Atlantic Access Area trip limit, we are required to close the area to the fleet for the remainder of the 2015  fishing year (through February 29, 2016) to prevent overharvest.
Vessels that complied with the observer notification requirements, declared a trip into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and crossed the VMS demarcation line before 12:01 am on August 4, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.
Read the Federal Register notice as filed on July 31, or get more information from the permit holder bulletin.
Questions about this action? 
Contact Shannah Jaburek, Regional Office, at 978-282-8456 or Shannah.Jaburek@noaa.gov.

Maryland DNR Creates New Position to Give Seafood Industry More Input

July 29, 2015 — EASTON MD — Former Queen Anne’s County commissioner and waterman George O’Donnell has been brought onto the Department of Natural Resources’ payroll as a seafood industry and fisheries stakeholders liaison, of sorts.

O’Donnell has been in the position since July 8, and according to Maryland Watermen’s Association President Robert T. Brown, he’s already been working with the commercial industry to find solutions to their issues.

“We’ve finally got a friend up there,” Brown said.

O’Donnell’s official title at DNR is the fisheries customer relations manager.

It’s an outreach position to ensure that fisheries stakeholders’ views are communicated to state departments and policymakers for consideration.

“The administration believes that through outreach a better understanding can be reached to benefit the user groups as well as our marine resources,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said that Gov. Larry Hogan, in his quest for the state government to provide better “customer service” to the people of Maryland, wants to make sure that any industry area of the state that feels underserved has a voice in Annapolis.

Read the full story at The Star Democrat

Reef protections aim to grow fish stocks

July 28, 2015 — Fishing practices that disturb the sea floor will soon be banned in a 38,000-square mile swath of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to protect fragile East Coast coral reefs.

While the new rules will mean fishermen are catching less in coral zones, officials say the effort could grow fish populations, keeping customers from having to pay more for seafood.

In mid-June, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to establish “deep sea coral zones” from waters off the northern North Carolina border through New York. Trawls, dredges, bottom long lines and traps would be prohibited in the protected area, which starts at about the 450-feet depth point and extends 200 miles out to sea.

The rule still needs to be approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, but it would complement protections passed in 2010 by sister organization the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to safeguard coral zones from Southeastern North Carolina through Florida.

Read the full story at Star News Online

NOAA Fisheries Announces Common Pool Area Closure in Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic

July 28, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

We are closing the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder Trimester TAC Area to common pool vessels using trawl and sink gillnet gear for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31.

The area will reopen at the start of Trimester 2 on September 1.

We are required to close this area because the common pool fishery has caught over 90 percent of its Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Southern New England/ Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder.

Read the permit holder bulletin.

Questions? Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103 or allison.ferreira@noaa.gov.

The Chesapeake Bay Is Turning Into Plastic Soup

July 22, 2015 — They’re in the oceans, in the Great Lakes, and now it turns out they’re fouling the Chesapeake Bay—microplastics, the remnants of unrecycled products that are damning the world’s water to seemingly eternal pollution.

The presence of microplastics—from broken-up containers to ingredients in bathroom products—has been established in four Bay tributaries by researchers at the University of Maryland, NOAA, and elsewhere. “Microplastics were found in all but one of 60 samples, with concentrations ranging over 3 orders of magnitude (<1.0 to >560 g/km2),” they write in Environmental Science and Technology. “Concentrations demonstrated statistically significant positive correlations with population density and proportion of urban/suburban development within watersheds.”

One can deduce that with more growth around Baltimore and Washington, D.C., we can expect to see yet more microplastics. See, and maybe eat, too, as scientists recently discovered the stuff’s being consumed by plankton and passed up the food chain. That’s bad news for marine animals, which can starve on the nutrientless substances or die of stomach obstructions, and possibly for humans, as plastics leach chemicals into fish with unknown impacts on our health. (They might also affect that treasured Chesapeake delicacy, blue crabs, as crabs both eat and breathe in microplastics.)

Read the full story at CityLab

 

Success of scallops gives hope to fisheries managers

July 20, 2015 — Now, as part of its scallop population survey to plan the rotating closure of dredging grounds, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has found an underwater realm nearly the size of South Jersey with at least 10 billion sea scallops – and it’s just 50 miles off the Jersey Shore.

Scallop fishermen are hoping for a sustainable harvest of 50 million pounds a year for a decade. That would ensure one of the region’s most important non-tourism industries remains robust.

The management of the scallop fishery is a great example of what’s possible when public and private interests collaborate and natural resources cooperate. It should give fisheries managers the encouragement to persevere in restoring more challenged species such as summer flounder.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

NEW JERSEY: Christe Administration Announces $2.1 Million in Federal Grants to Help Fishing-Related Businesses Impacted by Superstorm Sandy

July 16, 2015 — The Christie Administration announced that 266 fishing-related businesses will share more than $2.1 million in federal grants to help them recover some costs resulting from damages sustained as a result of Superstorm Sandy.

The grant program focused on helping smaller businesses. Owners of bait-and-tackle shops, commercial dealers, commercial fishermen, for-hire party and charter boat operators, marinas and those involved in shell-fish aquaculture businesses were eligible to apply to the DEP for grants of up to $10,000 to help offset some of the costs of the storm on their operations.

“The DEP and our Marine Fisheries staff have worked tirelessly since Sandy to help these businesses get back on their feet,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “Our economically vital commercial and recreational fishing industries are coming back after the devastation caused by Sandy. This grant program will help our smaller fishing-related businesses recover some of their losses.”

Grants were provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of a federal fishery disaster declaration for states impacted by Sandy.

Applicants had to document a minimum of $5,000 in losses as a result of Sandy. Grants were awarded to help with repair or replacement of equipment that was not covered by other programs. Activities already paid for out-of-pocket as part of a business’ or individual’s recovery effort also were eligible.

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

 

 

NEW YORK: Governor Cuomo Calls For Fair and Gradual Changes to Summer Flounder Fishery

July 16, 2015 — Governor Cuomo called on the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council to reevaluate a potential 43 percent fluke harvest reduction for New York in 2016. The potential reduction would negatively affect both commercial and recreational fisheries in New York State.

“The fishing industry is an important part of this state’s economy and a swift and severe cut in fluke harvests would be devastating to these hard working New Yorkers,” Governor Cuomo said. “This administration has long worked with its federal partners to ensure these livelihoods, as well as our natural resources, are protected. If the science indicates harvest reductions are necessary, they should be implemented in small steps over several years and not through a drastic one-year measure.”

The potential reductions are based on several consecutive years of lower than average reproductive success and not as a result of overharvest in New York or elsewhere on the coast.

Read the full story at LongIsland.com

 

Mid-Atlantic Council Seeks Applicants for Trawl Survey Advisory Panel

July 16, 2015 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) is soliciting applications from qualified individuals to serve on the Northeast Trawl Survey Advisory Panel. The objectives for the panel are to understand existing NEFSC trawl survey gear performance and methodology, evaluate the potential to complement or supplement current NEFSC surveys, and to improve understanding and acceptance of NEFSC survey data quality and results.

The panel will identify concerns about regional research survey performance and data, identify methods to address or mitigate these concerns and promote mutual understanding and acceptance of results. The panel will consist of 16 members including members of the Councils and the Atlantic States Fishery Commission, industry experts, non-federal scientists and Northeast Fisheries Science Center scientists. Panel members are expected to serve for three years.

The Council is seeking applications to fill five positions:

  • Three fishery stakeholder representatives
  • Two academic or non-academic scientists

Anyone interested in serving on this advisory panel may apply online or download an application at www.mafmc.org/forms/advisory-panel-application. Applications can also be obtained by calling the Council office at (877) 446-2362 or by emailing jsaunders@mafmc.org. Completed applications should be submitted using one of the following methods:

Please include “TRAWL SURVEY ADVISORY PANEL” in the subject of your fax or email.

Completed applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2015. 

All nominees are subject to an additional level of review by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement and may be declined membership because of a marine resource violation.

 

JERRY SCHILL: Lessons from Menhaden & More

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — July 16, 2015 — The following op-ed appeared this week in The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its author, Jerry Schill, is President of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a member of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition.

In 2012 North Carolina’s General Assembly banned the purse-seining of menhaden off our coast, in part, due to a stock assessment that was less than ideal. Three years later, we find that the stock assessment was incorrect and menhaden are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.

A 2009 stock assessment claimed speckled trout had been overfished for the past 18 years leading to drastic restrictions. In 2014 we found the assessment was incorrect and speckled trout had never been overfished and overfishing had never occurred, moving the fish from the bottom category of “depleted” to the best category of “viable” in this year’s stock status report.

Twice in the last few years through the actions or recommendations by the Marine Fisheries Commission, (MFC), we banned one type of commercial fishing and restricted the other based upon bad information.

Now comes southern flounder, the most economically important commercial finfish fishery in our state. Since 1979, 28 conservation measures have been put in place in that fishery, including increased size limits and numerous gear changes and closures. Yet, the commercial landings have remained steady. Two of the three peer reviewers for the most recent flounder assessment stated it could not be used for management purposes. What in the world is going on?

After menhaden and speckled trout, is it any wonder that North Carolina Fisheries Association, (NCFA), questions the efforts of the MFC to rush into draconian measures……again?

Our position has been consistent: we believe the MFC should be working on an amendment to the fishery management plan for southern flounder. A supplement is too quick and too easy to once again make a major mistake at the expense of commercial fishing families and consumers. The supplement process avoids the public participation and the regulatory oversight that comes with an amendment. The MFC is using the supplement in an effort to avoid that oversight and push an agenda that includes a ban on large mesh gillnets. They are circumventing the process established by the General Assembly; so we have suggested that legislators apply the brakes!

It’s been suggested by some very credible sources that the MFC has violated the Open Meetings Law in this process. The process now is so skewed that Allyn Powell, a retired fisheries biologist with 30 years at the National Marine Fishereries Service Beaufort Lab, resigned from the science seat on the MFC because he felt the decisions being made were agenda-based that usurped science!

Mr. Sneed of the CCA cited the 2014 Stock Status Report that classified 15 of the 29 species of finfish managed by the state as either “of concern” or “depleted”. However, the 2015 report shows improvement with 12 of those categories, and more importantly, those listed in the top category as “viable”, went from nine to 13!

There is a segment of commercial fishermen who claim nothing is wrong with southern flounder and nothing should be done. Likewise, there are those recreational fishermen who espouse banning the nets, regardless of the data. Both are wrong. The southern flounder plan should be amended, and had the MFC made that decision back in February, they would be well along in that process.

We believe that organizations like ours should strive to assure the process is served as the General Assembly intended. We shouldn’t be using the end to justify the means. Shame on the CCA and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, who not only are very open about their wish to ban large mesh gillnets, but who have members sitting on the MFC who do their bidding.

As one who sat through hundreds of hours of meetings during the deliberations of the Moratorium Steering Committee deliberations in the 90s and attended the signing of the Fisheries Reform Act by Governor Jim Hunt in 1997, I know the legislators’ intent with the passage of that law. It was to establish a very deliberative process with extensive public input and regulatory oversight. The proposed supplement for southern flounder avoids much of that, and the MFC obviously needs some assistance in understanding its role in the process.

Read this op-ed online at The News & Observer