Saving Seafood

New England waters are teeming with fish species. The problem is we eat too few of them.

June 22, 2022 — Jared Auerbach stands with a box of monkfish livers at his feet. They are pale pink and streaked with blood, each one packed in plastic and nestled on ice.

Behind him on the processing floor at the Boston Fish Pier, an ice machine releases an avalanche of cubes at two-minute intervals. Dozens of gloved and aproned workers mill about, offloading, packing, and filleting. They work with the usual suspects: blue mesh bags of oysters, live scallops, and lobsters with banded claws in plastic crates.

But plenty of other local species fill the floor. There’s the monkfish, of course, plus a box of conch. There are halibut bellies and skate wings and whole black sea bass.

“On our busiest day, we unloaded 376 different boats,” says Auerbach, who founded fish distributor Red’s Best in 2008 to connect fishermen with wholesalers and retailers. He deals that catch around the world — to buyers as close as the Boston Public Market and as far as South Korea.

The shellfish stand a good chance of staying within New England, he says, finding a home at a local restaurant or fish market. But the finfish may still have a long journey ahead of them.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Why everyone should eat more ugly seafood

June 13, 2022 — Monkfish are low in calories and fat, packed with vitamins and have dense, firm flesh, which makes them relatively easy to cook. They can be cut into chunks, marinated with egg whites, cornflour and seasonings, then briefly blanched in boiling water. Monkfish tail can even be stir-fried without breaking apart, as more delicate fish tend to do. In fact, there is only one problem with monkfish: they are hideous.

With their bulging eyes and wide mouths lined with rows of sharp teeth, they are nightmarish. In Dutch monkfish are called zeeduivel (“sea-devil”); fishermen who caught them used to throw them back. They are still usually sold without their heads, but the days of chucking them overboard are long gone. Japanese diners love the fatty liver; while Italians may still derisively call them “toad tails”, that does not stop them from eating the fish. Fishermen’s associations have been encouraging others to overcome their aversion and eat more monkfish, as well as other unsightly creatures—the better to ensure more diverse, sustainable fisheries.

Read the full story at The Economist

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Tuesday, June 7, 2022 – Research Priorities, Monkfish, Groundfish ABC Control Rules, Climate Plan

June 3, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will meet by webinar to discuss the Council’s 2022-2026 Research Priorities and several other important issues.  The public is invited to listen live.  Here are the details.

WHEN:  Tuesday, June 7, 2022

START TIME:  1:00 p.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live.  There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.  The Remote Participation Guide is posted here.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (631) 992-3221.  The access code is 827-025-783.  Please be aware that if you dial in using this number without joining the webinar at the link above, you will be unable to speak during opportunities for public comment.  Your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

  • Review the draft list of 2022-2026 Council Research Priorities and Data Needs and provide feedback;
  • Review the draft 2022 Monkfish Fishery Performance Report and provide comments;
  • Receive an update on the development of acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule alternatives under consideration for the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan;
  • Receive a presentation and provide comments on the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Climate Regional Action Plan; and
  • Consider other business as necessary.

MATERIALS:  All documents for this meeting are posted on the SSC June 7, 2022 meeting webpage.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492, ext. 101, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Monkfish: Council Initiates Framework 13 with Fishing Year 2023-2025 Specifications and Other Management Measures

April 15, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council initiated Framework Adjustment 13 to the federal Monkfish Fishery Management Plan when it met April 12-14, 2022 in Mystic, Connecticut. This was a hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote participation by webinar.

Framework 13 will include specifications for the 2023-2025 monkfish fishing years and consider the development of alternatives for:

  • Revising days-at-sea allocations and possession limits, including the incidental possession limit
  • Management measures to reduce monkfish discards in the Southern Fishery Management Area
  • Requiring 12” mesh for monkfish gillnets; and
  • Requiring vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) across the monkfish fishery.

Gillnet usage is more prevalent in the southern management area. In the north, monkfish tends to be caught more often in trawl gear.

Read the full release from the New England Fishery Management Council

‘There’s no fish that you can’t make delicious’

April 6, 2022 — Walking into Fearless Fish, a small market in Providence specializing in local seafood, is like walking into Tiffany’s. The showcases dazzle the eye.

There’s familiar fare, like Atlantic salmon, haddock, and sea scallops. There’s also a riveting range of fish that are relatively mysterious, curios like scup, butterfish, pollack, Acadian redfish, conger eel, and monkfish. While abundant in our waters, these so-called “underutilized” species — less known to New Englanders, less tasted, less in demand — are often exported to countries that apparently appreciate them much more than we do.

Most of the region’s Atlantic dogfish, for instance, goes to England for fish and chips. “It’s crazy,” said Chris Cronin, the chef at Union Flats Seafood in New Bedford, who prefers “unique” fish to the familiar. “Dogfish is pretty mild, slightly sweet with a flakey texture comparable to haddock. It takes on other flavors, and I like to serve it with citrus notes.”

Since Fearless Fish opened in early 2019, owner Stuart Meltzer’s main aim has been to try and broaden the consumer palate. “We want to help people become more confident, to try new fish,” he said one noontime, as mostly younger customers streamed through the door. The pandemic-driven interest in local foods has been good for sales, he noted, inspiring more daring in home kitchens. Skate piccata? Roasted mackerel with chimichurri? The store’s online recipes and cooking lessons help to demystify lesser-known fish, as does its disclosure of catch site and means. “Fluke, Pt. Judith, dragger.” “Monkfish, Gulf of Maine, dragger.”

“It’s important to me, and shared by customers, that the product is local,” said Meltzer.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

NOAA Fisheries Approves Monkfish Quotas for 2021

March 11, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective May 1

NOAA Fisheries is implementing monkfish quotas for the 2021 fishing year based on specifications approved by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. There were no overages in 2020, and there is no new biological information, so we are now finalizing the 2021 quotas that were previously announced in September 2020. The quotas are the same as the 2020 quotas and are in place until April 30, 2022.

Table 1.  Monkfish Specifications for Fishing Year 2021

All other requirements remain the same.

For more details, read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Questions?

Industry: Contact Allison Murphy, Regional Office, 978-281-9122

Media: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175

MAINE: Conservation success or pests? Seals spark passionate debate

October 5, 2020 — Nick Muto has fished up and down the New England coast and there is nothing that gets his blood boiling more than the sight of a seal.

Muto, whose two boats fish for groundfish such as skate and monkfish as well as lobster, is among a growing group of anglers, beach goers and local officials who are quick to blame everything from disease to depleted fisheries to increased shark sightings on the exploding seal population.

“Areas that we used to traditionally fish that were as close to guarantees as you could get have been strip mined of fish, and the fish have been driven out of there by seals,” Muto said. “They have eaten fish out of our nets. They have been caught in our nets. They are everywhere.”

The debate over seals was reignited after the death in July of a swimmer killed by a great white off Harpswell, Maine. Seals are often shark prey, and experts believe Julie Dimperio Holowach may have been mistaken for a seal.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

NOAA Fisheries Approves Framework Adjustment 12 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan

September 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries approved Framework Adjustment 12 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan, including the 2020 annual catch limits and total allowable landings limits for both the Northern and Southern Fishery Management Areas. We are also projecting quotas for 2021-2022.

No changes are being made to day-at-sea allocations or possession limits.

This rule also includes two regulatory clarifications:

  1. To the interactive voice response system, requiring monkfish vessels to call in a trip no more than an hour in advance of leaving port.
  2. To the monkfish whole weight incidental possessions limits in the Northeast multispecies exempted fisheries, applying the current tail-to-whole-weight (landed) conversion factor of 2.91.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register , the bulletin and supporting documents on the Council’s website.

Read the full release here

NEFMC Discusses Skates, Atlantic Herring, Red Hake, EBFM, Habitat, and Research Priorities at June Meeting

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met June 23-25, 2020 by webinar. In addition to the news already released about groundfish, monkfish, and scallops, here’s an overview of the other issues the Council worked on during this meeting.

Research Priorities: After considering input from its various fishery-related committees and the Scientific and Statistical Committee, the Council agreed to submit an updated list of Research Priorities and Data Needs for 2020-2024 to NOAA Fisheries.

Skates: At the end of last year, the Council tasked its Skate Committee with defining a clear problem statement, goals, and objectives for Draft Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The amendment is being developed to consider whether limited access is appropriate for the skate wing and/or skate bait fisheries. The committee worked on this task in late-March using additional data provided by the Skate Plan Development Team. The Council reviewed the new problem statement, along with an additional objective, and discussed whether it wanted to continue pursuing the development of a limited access program for skates. The Council did not approve the problem statement but agreed to have the committee continue to work on its initial tasking.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Framework Adjustment 12 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan

June 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

NOAA Fisheries is proposing Framework Adjustment 12 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan, including the 2020 annual catch limits and total allowable landings limits for both the Northern and Southern Fishery Management Areas. We are also proposing projected quotas for 2021-2022.

This rule proposes two clarifications:

  1. To the interactive voice response system, requiring vessels to call in a trip no more than an hour in advance of leaving port.
  2. To the monkfish whole weight incidental possessions limits in the Northeast multispecies exempted fisheries.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register and supporting documents on the e-rulemaking portal (link).

The comment period is open through July 30, 2020.

You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2020-0064, through the e-rulemaking portal (link).

Read the full release here