Saving Seafood

‘Ropeless’ Lobster Fishing Could Save The Whales. Could It Kill The Industry?

February 22, 2021 — By using this technology, Martin eliminates the need to use vertical ropes which can be deadly for North Atlantic right whales diving for food. Rope entanglement is a leading cause of death for the mammals that can weigh as much as 70 tons. In fact, more than 85% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once, the majority multiple times, according to a report from the New England Aquarium.

Today, with an estimated 370 North Atlantic right whales remaining, the species is classified by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered, one step from extinction.

To save the whales from the brink, state authorities have instituted seasonal fishing closures in waters off New England. More protections from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, which some fishermen consider burdensome, are still pending.

Conservationists hope that fishermen like Rob Martin can prove ropeless fishing can save both the whales and the lobster industry.

Many lobstermen, though, say they prefer the closures to the technological leap they would have to make to adopt ropeless fishing.

Read the full story at NPR

N.J.’s sinking fishing industry nabs $11M life raft from state

January 29, 2021 — Nearly a year after being approved by federal lawmakers, financial relief is being handed out to New Jersey’s battered fishing industry.

Gov. Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced Friday that $11.3 million in grants are being distributed to Garden State fishermen, and the businesses that support them.

“Our fishing communities and seafood industries are important parts of our New Jersey identity, and crucial components of our state’s economy,” Murphy said in a statement. “The grants our administration is making to our partners in fishing industries will help the business and communities impacted by this public health emergency. I continue to encourage our New Jersey family to support our fishing industry by buying from local seafood suppliers and enjoying fishing through our local charter boat operations and bait and tackle shops.”

Read the full story at NJ.com

NOAA considers moving Miami headquarters amid budget cuts

June 29, 2017 — The federal agency that oversees hurricane research and manages fisheries along the nation’s southeast coast faces an overhaul and potential downsizing that could cripple partnerships that have made Miami a leader in the world of marine and atmospheric science.

While unrelated, the timing of the two moves — possibly relocating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries headquarters from Virginia Key to St. Petersburg and pending budget cuts to the climate science program there — amount to a double whammy for the research hub and a brain drain for the region.

“It’s a big hit,” said Ben Kirtman, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and director of NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies or CIMAS. Kirtman fears a “tyranny of distance” would all but end collaborations that began when the Fisheries headquarters opened across the street from the university in 1965.

“In science, it’s very difficult to do interdisciplinary work. It’s a real challenge because you speak difference languages. And that’s where a lot of the big breakthroughs come from,” he said. “When you’re separated by floors in the same building, it’s hard to collaborate, let alone if you’re across the state.”

Built at a time when ocean science was rapidly expanding, the Fisheries headquarters on the scrubby island represented years of collaboration between the agency and Rosenstiel. After the university started a marine lab in 1943, federal fisheries officials opened offices first on the Coral Gables campus, then followed the school labs to Virginia Key. In 1972, a partnership was struck for the cooperative institute, which along with 13 other such agreements around the country provide the basic research for NOAA missions. In 2015, NOAA awarded $125 to CIMAS, which includes Florida International University and other university programs in South Florida, to continue its efforts that include weather research for the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research program.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald