National Marine Fisheries Service Archives

WPRFMC Managers Recommend Changes to Swordfish Longline Fishery in Light of Turtle Interactions

June 14, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Federal fishery managers recommended measures to manage sea turtle interactions in the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery targeting swordfish this week in Hawaii.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended amending the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) for the Western Pacific Region to establish a framework that consists of:

a) annual fleet-wide limits on the number of North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback interactions. Once either of these interaction limits is reached, the fishery closes for the remainder of the year; and

b) individual trip interaction limits for loggerhead and leatherback turtles. When a vessel has reached the limit on a trip, the vessel would be required to return to port and may resume shallow-setting upon providing the required 72-hour notice to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for observer placement.

The North Pacific loggerhead population in Japan has been increasing at about 9 percent annually. Mike Seki, director of NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, characterized the population as “robust.”

NMFS has reinitiated formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the continued operation of the Hawaii shallow-set fishery. The Council anticipates NMFS will complete consultation and issue a new biological opinion for the fishery by Oct. 31, 2018.

Based upon the current NMFS biological evaluation to support this consultation, the Council anticipates the new opinion will authorize the take of no more than 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks. Accordingly, the Council recommended an annual fleet-wide limit of 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks, effective Jan. 1, 2019, and an individual trip limit of five North Pacific loggerhead turtles. The Council did not recommend specifying a leatherback turtle trip limit at this time. The effectiveness of the loggerhead turtle trip limit and potential need for leatherback turtle limit would be monitored annually, the Council said in a press release.

At the same time, the Council recommended a sea turtle interaction avoidance pilot program be established utilizing an industry-led fleet communication system. It also requested NMFS conduct further research on the sea turtle issue for this fishery, including research to minimize trailing gear on released loggerhead and leatherback turtles to further reduce post-hooking mortality rates.

Last week, the WPRFMC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee noted the Hawaii shallow-set fleet likely poses less biological risk to turtle populations than other fleets operating in the region, the SSC said in a statement. The industry and managers have recognized this in the past, when lawsuits forced the swordfish fishery to close completely or for part of the year.

The Hawaii Longline Association, NMFS and Turtle Island Restoration Network and other plaintiffs agreed to a settlement agreement in May to close the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery for the rest of this year.

Hawaii vessels must adhere to numerous regulatory measures, such as the interaction caps, mandatory observers on all trips to monitor protected species interactions, mandatory use of circle hooks and mackerel-type bait to reduce the risk of hooking sea turtles and mandatory equipment for and training in the safe release of live turtles — some other countries do not adhere to such strict regulatory measures.

The SSC also noted that North Pacific loggerhead nesting beach trends in Japan were much higher in the last decade than in previous years.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ALASKA: Pollock ‘B’ Season Opens With 1% Quota Increase

June 12, 2018 — Bering Sea fishermen are now trawling for one of Alaska’s most profitable catches.

Pollock “B” season opened Sunday with a total quota of 731,804 metric tons.

That’s about one percent higher than last year, according to Krista Milani, a groundfish manager for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“It’s a very small difference, so I don’t know that it necessarily means there’s a big upward trend,” she said. “But at least, it indicates that there’s a healthy stock.”

Milani said pollock biomass has been up in recent years, helping the species to maintain its status as the cornerstone commercial fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

“Pollock’s been one of our most sustainable fisheries in Alaska, for sure,” she said. “Probably one of the most sustainable fisheries in the country.”

Read the full story at KUCB

Group Threatens Lawsuit Over Habitat Protection for Orcas

June 7, 2018 — A conservation group wants the federal government to move forward with protecting offshore areas along the U.S. West Coast to help endangered killer whales.

The Center for Biological Diversity told the National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday that it plans to take legal action if the agency keeps delaying a designation for offshore habitat where the Puget Sound orcas would be protected.

The fish-eating whales typically spend summers in inland waters of Washington state and winters foraging along the coast. They have struggled with food shortages, pollution, and noise and disturbances from boats. There are now just 76 of the animals, a 30-year low.

Most inland waters of Washington state, including Puget Sound and the waters around the San Juan Islands, received protection as critical whale habitat in 2006. Coastal and offshore areas in the Pacific Ocean weren’t included at that time.

In 2014, the conservation group petitioned the fisheries service to expand habitat protection. It asked the agency to add an area from Cape Flattery, Washington, to Point Reyes, California, extending about 47 miles (76 kilometers) offshore.

Satellite tagging surveys have shown that the whales forage for food along the coast in the winter, some traveling down to Northern California.

The fisheries service said in 2015 that it would move ahead with revising the orcas’ critical habitat and collecting and analyzing more data to develop a rule in 2017.

The group said in its letter Wednesday that the agency is violating U.S. law by not taking action in a reasonable time to protect habitat for the population of southern resident killer whales.

“The southern residents desperately need protected foraging areas full of salmon to feed them through the winter,” Catherine Kilduff, an attorney and marine scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. “Without swift federal action, these whales will continue their steep slide to extinction.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Liz Mitchell: In defense of observers

May 30, 2018 — I was shocked that NF would publish such an inflammatory opinion piece as the recent editorial, “A hard look at NOAA’s observer program” (Dock Talk, NF March ’18, p. 7). This kind of rhetoric only serves to divide. Observers have always unfairly been the brunt of frustrations that fishermen experience between their own self-interests and that of the National Marine Fisheries Service management.

Like it or not, these are public resources, and NMFS has a responsibility to manage these resources not just for the benefit of current fishermen, but also for future generations. The agency faces the difficult and challenging task of balancing these interests. There are numerous factors that influence how NMFS balances these interests, but observers should not become a political scapegoat when fishermen become angry with a management decision. Observers provide a critical role in collecting independent, third party data for use in stock assessments. The very reason observers came to be was to provide independent and objective data because fishermen could not be trusted to look beyond their own self-interest. Observers provide unbiased data, but it is not up to them how the agency or public uses this data. I would like to respond to several erroneous statements and mischaracterizations in this article:

Observers shouldn’t have to degrade themselves by “looking for a ride.” There are many ways NMFS could support the professionalism of observers. Observers shouldn’t have to “look for a ride.” They should be randomly assigned and, yes, if you refuse, you should definitely be fined or not allowed to fish. How a vessel is chosen should not fall on the observer. For an observer to have to walk the docks at 4 in the morning is dangerous, degrading to the observer, full of bias and indicates a fly-by-night operation. Vessels should be notified by NMFS and the observer arrangements made between NMFS, the vessel and the observer provider.
To protect the resource, it has to be monitored continuously. The author clearly does not understand the concept of monitoring a fishery. You can’t just go out one time and apply it to future extractions. The ocean is rapidly changing, so a continual input of what is being removed and the collection of biological life history information is needed to monitor long-term population changes. It’s critical to protecting the resource.

Read the full op-ed at National Fisherman

Alaska: One month into the season, Bristol Bay halibut fishermen harvest a quarter of the quota

May 30, 2018 — Bristol Bay fishermen have landed 8,700 pounds of halibut so far. This year’s quota for area 4-E is 33,900 pounds, significantly less than last year’s quota of 58,800 pounds.

“It is a reduction,” said Gary Cline, the regional fisheries director at BBEDC. “It’s basically because there appears to be less halibut abundance in the Pacific, not just in area 4-E, but stretching down to southeast and throughout the Bering Sea. And, because of this concern, the regulatory agencies have adopted a more restrictive catch limits for 2018.”

Those regulatory agencies include the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The decrease in halibut could stem from a variety of factors, including fishing efforts, competition for the same prey by other species such as the Arrowtooth flounder, and water temperature.

Read the full story at KDLG

Oregon: Sea lions continue to eat endangered fish

May 29, 2018 — All the time, money and sacrifice to improve salmon and steelhead passage in the Willamette River won’t mean a thing unless wildlife managers can get rid of sea lions feasting on the fish at Willamette Falls.

That was the message Tuesday from Shaun Clements, senior policy adviser for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who met at the falls with Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and Suzanne Kunse, district director for U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

The group watched as several sea lions patrolled the waterfalls and nearby fish ladders. Clements said there could be as many as 50-60 sea lions in the area on any given day in April or early May, and the animals are responsible for eating roughly 20 percent of this year’s already paltry winter steelhead run.

As of May 22, ODFW has counted just 2,086 winter steelhead at Willamette Falls. That’s less than half of the 10-year average and 22 percent of the 50-year average.

ODFW applied in October 2017 to kill sea lions from Willamette Falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, though Clements said he does not expect a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service until the end of the year. The department also tried relocating 10 California sea lions to a beach south of Newport earlier this year, only to see the animals return in just six days.

Read the full story at the Capital Press

Zinke says Interior reorganization still on track in speech at Fort Peck

May 22, 2018 — FORT PECK, Mont. — It wasn’t a Sunday sermon, but those who skipped church to hear Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speak at Fort Peck Dam nonetheless received a parable — of two fish.

Zinke, a former Montana U.S. representative, told attendees that changes were underway to stop government agencies from offering differing views on matters like the environment or wildlife, differences that sandbag permitting of federal projects.

The fish, a trout and salmon, have become staples of the story, which Zinke, a Republican, has been telling since announcing a reorganizing of the Department of Interior.

“Imagine if you have a salmon and a trout in the same stream. Upstream you have a dam. Downstream you have irrigation and that stream passes by a Forest Service holding,” Zinke said. “It happens all the time. This is how our government manages our resources: The trout is managed by Fish and Wildlife Services through me. The salmon is Department of Commerce through NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). Upstream the water flow and temperature is often Army Corps of Engineers, except sometimes it’s BOR (Bureau of Reclamation).”

The government agencies pile up as the stream threads through a national forest and beyond.

Read the full story at the Billings Gazette

Report: Number of overfished US stocks hits all-time low

May 18, 2018 — The number of U.S. fish stocks listed as overfished has reached an all-time low, according to NMFS’s annual Status of U.S. Fisheries report.

The overall number of stocks included as overfishing risks remains near an all-time low as well.

At the end of 2017, the overfishing list included 30 stocks (9 percent) and the overfished list included 35 stocks (15 percent). The number of stocks rebuilt since 2000 increased to 44 from 41 in the 2016 report. NMFS tracks a total of 474 stocks or stock complexes within 46 fishery management plans.

A stock is on the “overfishing” list when the harvest rate — a direct result of fishing activities — is too high. A stock is on the “overfished” list when the population size of a stock is too low, whether because of fishing or other causes, such as environmental changes.

“Ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks provides two key benefits for the American people,” said Chris Oliver, NMFS director. “First, it strengthens the value of U.S. fisheries’ contribution to the economy, which in 2015 exceeded $208 billion dollars. Second, it supports the communities and marine ecosystems that depend on healthy fisheries.”

According to the report, three stocks off the West Coast were rebuilt to healthy levels in 2017 — Bocaccio, darkblotched rockfish and Pacific ocean perch.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

House committee passes act giving FWS authority over certain endangered species

May 18, 2018 — A U.S. House of Representatives committee has given its approval to a bill that proponents claim would eliminate redundancies in the Endangered Species Act and put the Fish and Wildlife Service in charge of safeguarding fish that migrate between fresh and ocean waters.

The Federally Integrated Species Health (FISH) Act passed the Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, 16 May by a 22-14 vote. It now proceeds to the House floor.

Currently, endangered species responsibilities are shared between FWS, which resides in the Interior Department, and the National Marines Fisheries Service, which is under the purview of the Department of Commerce. U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-California), the bill’s primary sponsor, said it doesn’t make sense for two agencies to share oversight.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pacific Whiting Fishery Opens Today to Same Harvest Levels as in 2017

May 16, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Pacific whiting fishery opens today and the National Marine Fisheries Service has released the final harvest specifications and tribal allocatons.

Based on the most recent stock assessment and negotiations with Canada, the U.S, total allowable catch (TAC) for this year is 441,433 mt. The harvest specifications are identical to 2017.

Tribal allocation, 77,251 mt; research and bycatch set-aside, 1,500 mt; harvest guideline, 362,682 mt.

The HG s further allocated to the trawl sectors as: catcher-processors, 34 percent, 123,312 mt; motherships, 24 percent, 87,044 mt; and shoreside, 42 percent,152,327 mt.

NMFS said it will add Pacific whiting to shoreside quota share accounts this week.

U.S. and Canadian scientists and fishery managers met earlier this year to discuss the stock assessment and joint TAC. Last year, Canada caught more than 50 percent of its quota. The U.S. had a productive year as well, catching more than 80 percent of its quota. Bycatch was not as much of a problem in 2017 as it had been in 2016, they said.

Year classes from 2010 and 2014 continue to contribute to the high TACs and success of the fisheries.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.