Saving Seafood

News for the Mid Atlantic Region

ACFHP Seeks Nominations for Melissa Laser Fish Habitat Conservation Award

August 25, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic Costal Fish Habitat Partnership:
                                                                                                                                 
The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership is seeking nominations for its Melissa Laser Fish Habitat Conservation Award, which is bestowed upon individuals deemed to further the conservation, protection, restoration, and enhancement of habitat for native Atlantic coastal, estuarine-dependent, and diadromous fishes in a unique or extraordinary manner. The award was established in memory of Dr. Melissa Laser who passed away unexpectedly on April 27, 2010.  Melissa was a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources where she worked tirelessly to protect, improve and restore aquatic ecosystems in Maine and along the entire Atlantic Coast. Nominations will be accepted until September 16. For more information, please visit http://www.atlanticfishhabitat.org/acfhp-seeking-nominations-for-melissa-laser-fish-habitat-conservation-award-3/.              
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                      

Seafood technology: When ‘net’ means more than catching fish

August 24, 2015 — For generations Maine’s fishermen have used nature — both their own internal sense of navigation and measurements like water temperature — to find rich fishing grounds. But with increasing competition, broader distribution, more government regulations and a desire by customers to trace food sources, the seafood industry is turning to technology to help automate tasks from the boat through the dock, processors, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and onto the consumer’s plate.

“Boat to Plate” is one such nascent effort by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and other collaborators. The goal is within a few years to create a database including the boat, fisherman, catch, distribution and other information so the seafood can be traced if there’s a food safety issue, and so consumers can download an app to learn about the fish on their plate using a QR or quick response code, the two-dimensional code that contains and retrieves more information more quickly than a traditional bar code.

“We’re thinking of ways to get more value out of fish and catch more fish,” explains Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association in Brunswick. “Farmers are successful [in the farm-to-table movement]. Until recently, we haven’t been.”

Read the full story at Mainebiz

NEFMC Asking for Additional Comments on Herring Amendment 8

August 24, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council is in the process of preparing an environmental impact statement for Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 8 would specify a long-term acceptable biological catch control rule for the herring fishery and consider alternatives for this control rule that explicitly account for herring’s role in the ecosystem. The Council recently decided to expand the scope of Amendment 8 to include consideration of localized depletion in inshore waters. During this comment period, the Council is only seeking comments on the expanded scope of Amendment 8.
 
DATES: Written scoping comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., local time, September 30, 2015.
 
ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments may be sent by any of the following methods:
• Email to the following address: comments@nefmc.org;
• Mail to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; or
• Fax to (978) 465–3116.
• Please indicate ‘‘Herring Amendment 8 Re-Scoping Comment’’ on your correspondence.
Requests for copies of the Amendment 8 scoping document and other information should be directed to Sherie Goutier, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone (978) 465–0492, ext. 102. The scoping document is accessible electronically via the Internet at www.nefmc.org/library/amendment-8-2.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Coast Guard aids fishing vessel southeast of Nantucket

August 24, 2015 — Crews aboard two Coast Guard cutters brought an 83-foot fishing vessel safely to anchorage off Nantucket at approximately 8 p.m. Sunday.
Watchstanders at the First Coast Guard District Command Center, were notified at 11:30 a.m. Saturday that the scallop fishing vessel Chaz’s Toy lost propulsion during a living marine resource boarding by the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba crew 120 miles southeast of Nantucket.

The crew of the 270-ft Escanaba issued a marine assistance request broadcast for Chaz’s Toysoliciting commercial or good Samaritan assistance for the vessel, which went unanswered.

The cutter took the vessel in stern tow at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The following morning, the crew of the 110-foot Tybee relieved the Escanaba crew and continued to bring the vessel toward shore.

Read the full story at the Inquirer and Mirror

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Notice

August 24, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Section members from the states of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are meeting via conference call on August 26, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss “days out” effort control measures for the 2015 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season from June 1 to September 30 (Trimester 2).

The 2015 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit is 30,290 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the 2013 carryover, 3% Herring Research Set-Aside awarded in 2015, and 295 mt fixed gear fishery set-aside. The Section set the seasonal split as 72.8% allocated from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% allocated from October 1 – December 31. As of August 13, the cumulative catch for 1A has reached 12,597 mt, representing 41.59% of the quota.

Fishermen and other interested parties are welcome to listen in and participate at the Chair’s discretion. Join the conference call by dialing 1.888.394.8197 and entering the passcode 499811 when prompted and register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5681527693678231297 .

Please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or aharp@asmfc.org for more information.

A New York City Legacy: Louis Rozzo and a Century’s Worth of Fish Dealing

August 21, 2015 — On a gleaming summer morning, Louis Rozzo steps out the door of a four-story stuccoed building on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. The neighborhood has since transformed from its mid–19th-century beginnings as the epicenter of the city’s meat, produce and dairy industries, and today the street, lined with apartment buildings, coffee shops and restaurants, seems an unlikely location for a wholesale seafood operation. But this exact spot has been the headquarters of F. Rozzo and Sons  since Rozzo’s great-grandfather Felix moved his eponymous business here in 1924.

On the sidewalk just outside, Rozzo greets neighbors by name as they pass by on their way to work, and when two elderly women wander onto the wet cement floor in the front workroom, curious about buying some fish, he urges them inside.

A few guys, wearing yellow floor-length plastic aprons and waterproof boots, are still at work cleaning, scaling and portioning salmon into heavy-duty brown cardboard boxes. It’s close to 10 a.m. but Rozzo and his crew are nearing the tail end of a full day’s work, one that started in the wee hours of the morning. “I love what I do,” Rozzo tells the Voice, “but the hardest part of my job is getting out of bed.”

Read the full story at the Village Voice

 

Scallop Abundance Found off Southern New Jersey Coast

August 21, 2015 — There could be as much as 500 million dollars worth of scallops waiting to be harvested off the coast of New Jersey and Delaware.

“If they all grow up. It’s going to be worth a lot of money over several years,” said Dvora Hart, a mathematical biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Photo images taken by NOAA’s Habcam this spring revealed the high density of scallops located in the Elephant Trunk, a fishing ground offshore of the two states. Dvora estimates there could be as many as 7.9 billion scallops in a 1,200 square mile zone in the trunk.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

New Voluntary Right Whale Speed Restriction Zone

July 29, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) has been established 13 Nautical Miles East-Southeast of Boston to protect an aggregation of 3 right whales sighted in this area on August 1.

This DMA is in effect immediately and remains in effect through August 16. Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

This DMA is bounded by the following coordinates:

 

42 38 N

41 58 N

071 15 W

070 21 W

MAFMC: Trawl Survey AP Applications Due Tomorrow, August 4

REMINDER:

Mid-Atlantic Council Seeks Applicants for Trawl Survey Advisory Panel

 

Applications due August 4, 2015

 

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.

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.