Saving Seafood

BILL COCHRANE: Snappers Wars not exactly what columnist argued

July 7, 2016 — In response to Charlie Everts’ guest column “Snapper fight about who owns the Gulf, its bounty” (The Daily News, June 30): His first statement is very telling. He says the snapper issue “pits commercial fishermen against recreational fishermen.” That’s true, but the snapper fishery is not set up that way, for this very reason.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, many, many years ago decided that, to be fair, the snapper should be divided equally between the commercials that supply Americans with fresh Gulf seafood, and boat owning recreational anglers. Simply put, the commercials have their fishery, and the recreationals have theirs. Both should mind their own business.

The National Marine Fisheries Service realized that there needed to be accountability on both sides. Since there were only about 100 commercial permits, they decided to stop issuing any more permits. Then they developed a system to manage the commercial fishery called Individual Fishing Quotas. This system tracks every commercial trip, maintains a real-time data system that counts each harvest, and gives law enforcement the ability of meeting each boat that unloads.

Of course, the recreational fishery in the Gulf consists of thousands and thousands of fishermen.

The recreational fishery is managed by daily bag limits and size limits. The federal daily limit is two snapper and minimum size of 16 inches.

As more and more recreational fishermen catch more and more snapper, the season gets shorter and shorter.

Read the full op-ed at The Daily Courier of Galveston County 

ALASKA: Center for Biological Diversity: Fracking will harm endangered beluga whale

June 23, 2016 — JUNEAU, Alaska — A national environmental group on Wednesday asked federal fisheries officials to block an oil company’s plans for offshore hydraulic fracturing underneath Alaska’s Cook Inlet because of the threat to the inlet’s population of endangered beluga whales.

The Center for Biological Diversity in a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service said fracking increases risks of spills, earthquakes and toxic pollutants to belugas, which were declared endangered in 2008.

“Offshore fracking poses a grave and imminent threat to critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales,” said center attorney Kristen Monsell.

The chief executive officer of the company, BlueCrest Energy, said he doesn’t even consider the plans to be offshore drilling.

Fort Worth, Texas-based BlueCrest’s well will be on shore, said CEO Benjamin Johnson. The company will drill horizontally up to four miles to reach deep oil deposits and create fractures of about 200 feet, said CEO Benjamin Johnson.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

An Unlikely Alliance Forms to Save Whales From Deadly Entanglements

June 21, 2016 — An unusual coalition of lobster fishers, marine scientists, and rope manufacturers is banding together to save the whales—and catch more lobsters.

The idea is to come up with buoy lines to mark submerged lobster traps that will break loose when a whale becomes entangled in them, which can seriously injure or even kill the animals.

The effort to find the right balance was launched by the 109-member South Shore Lobstermen’s Association about two years ago after the National Marine Fisheries Service closed a 3,000-square-mile area off the coast of Massachusetts to fishers from February to April, when whales frequent those waters.

Many of the animals are North Atlantic right whales, the world’s most endangered great whale species. According to the Fisheries Service, 83 percent of these whales bear signs of entanglement in fishing gear, which killed or seriously injured an average of 3.4 right whales per year from 2009 through 2013.

Read the full story at Take Part

Herring Industry Scores a Victory in Long-Running Battle

June 17, 2016 — The following piece was authored by Shaun Gehan, counsel for the Sustainable Fisheries Coaltion:

The Atlantic herring fishery has been under constant litigation since 2011. Each major management action since Amendment 4 to the herring fishery management plan was adopted has been challenged by EarthJustice, a Pew Foundation-funded law firm, representing environmental and sportfishing interests. These suits are part of Pew’s multi-year, multi-million dollar “forage fish” campaign.

In what the herring industry hopes augurs an end to this cycle of litigation, Senior Judge Gladys Kessler of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia handed EarthJustice a sound defeat in its latest case. At issue, in essence, were plaintiffs’ contentions that quota was set too high and that NMFS failed to give due consideration to alternative quota-setting methods, including one developed by a Pew-funded group known as the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force.

Judge Kessler called the approach NMFS took in setting catch targets to be “clearly permissible.”  She also noted that herring’s role as forage was explicitly taken into account by fisheries scientists when assessing the stock’s status. Currently, the Atlantic herring population is roughly twice the long-term average size generally sought to be obtained through traditional fisheries management.

EarthJustice claimed that the Pew-funded research constituted the “best available science for managing forage fish.” Use of the “best scientific information available” in managing fisheries is legally required. As the court noted, however, not only did NMFS consider the reports advocated by plaintiffs in setting quotas, but that as the expert agency, determining what constitutes the best science is squarely in its discretion. The plaintiffs, Judge Kessler noted, “fail to explain why” the studies they prefer “are clearly the ‘best available science.’”

This lawsuit represents the latest skirmish in a long running conflict between Pew/EarthJustice and the fishing industry over herring management. The Sustainable Fisheries Coalition, a group comprised of herring fishermen from New Jersey to Maine, processors and bait dealers, intervened in this lawsuit. While pleased with this result, industry members recognized that significant threats to their livelihood still exist.

For instance, there remains pending a challenge to herring Amendment 5 dealing with issues of monitoring and bycatch. That case was stayed as the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Councils – federally-created bodies charged with developing fishery rules – consider measures to address these concerns.

The herring fishery has one of the lowest rates of bycatch – incidental harvest of non-target species – in the nation, as SFC has repeatedly noted. To improve on this record, herring fishermen have established a “bycatch avoidance network” in conjunction with partners from academic institutions and support of some states. Through this network, vessels communicate areas of high incidental catch so that others may avoid them.

Nonetheless, the Pew-funded Herring Alliance, also represented by EarthJustice, is seeking to impose a requirement that 100 percent of all herring trips be monitored by government observers at industry expense. Such a measure was included as part of Amendment 5, but was rejected by NMFS on the basis that it lacked the funds to fulfill the mandate. It was this decision, among others, that are the subject of EarthJustice’s pending case.

Various federal laws forbid a governmental agency from incurring unfunded obligations or shifting money appropriated for other uses. At the time it rejected these provisions, NMFS noted that even with industry cost sharing, additional at-sea monitors and data collection would impose financial obligations on the government it could not cover. Notably, like all federal fisheries, the herring fleet is required to carry observers in order to collect statistically rigorous data. The issue is thus about monitoring above levels necessary to gather precise and accurate information.

The new measure currently under development would establish a framework under which fishermen could be required to pay additional monitoring costs. Such monitoring could be done by observers on vessels, via electronic means such as cameras, through dockside inspections, or a combination of methods. Additional industry-funded data collection, however, could only occur when NMFS has funds to cover its share of the costs.

Nonetheless, in a letter to both Councils the Herring Alliance this week advocated for mandatory coverage on all trips made by the largest herring vessels. The practical effect of this proposal would be to cause these vessels to cease fishing, save for a handful of routinely observed trips. SFC participants believe this option is unlawful as it would result in an inability to harvest most of the allowable herring catch each year. There is support among fishermen, however, for increased monitoring so long as the costs are reasonable. Herring fishing is capital-intensive and profit margins are small.

The parties to the Amendment 5 lawsuit are set to report to Judge Kessler in early July on how they want to proceed with the case. It is likely EarthJustice will ask the judge to continue the stay while the Industry-Funded Monitoring amendment works its way through the process. In the meantime, the herring industry is savoring a small, but important victory. Counsel for the SFC notes that this decision makes it more likely that the next herring action – quota specifications for the next three years – will be the first herring measure in half a decade not to wind up in court.

 

Fishing Monitors To Accompany Fewer Trips

May 2, 2016 — After protesting for months about having to pay for the government observers who monitor their catch, the region’s fishermen are catching a break.

The National Marine Fisheries Service on Friday approved a measure that will ease the financial burden on fishermen by reducing the number of times observers must accompany them to sea.

They will now have to take monitors on only 14 percent of their fishing trips, down from nearly a quarter of all trips.

“With the experience and data from five years of monitoring, we have determined that the lower coverage levels in this rule will allow us to effectively estimate discards,” said Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman for the Fisheries Service in Gloucester.

The move comes after federal regulators last year decided to end the multimillion-dollar subsidy that paid for the observer program, passing the cost to the fishermen.

A federal report found the new costs could cause 59 percent of the boats in the region’s once-mighty groundfishing fleet to lose money. Many of the estimated 200 remaining fishing boats are already struggling amid reduced quotas of cod and other bottom-dwelling fish.

“The agency has used better statistical methods every year to create a more most efficient monitoring system,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, which represents the fishing industry. “This year’s regulations are a reflection of an effort to make the system as efficient as possible.”

“This should be something that’s applauded by both the environmental community and the fishing industry,” he added.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Flounder Are Vanishing

April 29, 2016 — With winter flounder said to be almost nonexistent, Anne McElroy of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences asked the East Hampton Town Trustees at a meeting on Monday to endorse the collection of data this summer in Napeague Harbor to find out why.

Ms. McElroy said not only were recreational landings of adult winter flounder in New York’s inland waters almost nonexistent but mortality for juveniles appears higher in Long Island waters than elsewhere. The study being planned would be funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service and include a random survey of waterways from Napeague to Jamaica Bay. The goal, she said, is to incrementally rebuild the stocks.

Genetic studies in 2010 and 2011 had found that winter flounder in Long Island waters come from a very small parental stock, she said. As few as 1,200 fish contributed to the individuals at six study sites across the island, with fewer than 200 contributing in some bays. “This was very troubling. The more diversity in the gene pool, the more ability to respond to changes in the environment,” she said.

The Stony Brook team is to count and measure all winter flounder to estimate mortality and to take samples from up to 50 fish to assess responses to stress, among other factors affecting the fishery. A caging study in three areas of Shinnecock Bay will collect up to 450 additional fish in an effort to determine optimum locations for caged fish, an effort to shield juveniles from predators. Mortality rates in and outside the cages will be measured, along with dissolved oxygen, salinity, and temperature.

Read the full story at the East Hampton Star

Feds expected to weigh remapping of regional fishing areas

April 29, 2016 — Federal consideration of a remapping of off-limits fishing areas is expected to cross a hurdle in the next couple of months, according to a fishing advocacy group.

Bob Vanasse, executive director of the group Saving Seafood, said the National Marine Fisheries Service will likely begin a process of formally considering the plan in May or June. He said the plan was advanced last year by the New England Fisheries Management Council.

The move would increase from about 40,000 to 42,000 the amount of square miles in the Georges Bank area that would be off-limits to fishing gear boats use on the seafloor, according to Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney who represents clients in the Atlantic scallop fleet.

Vanasse and Minkiewicz told the News Service the adjustments stemmed from 10 years of deliberations and more than 100 meetings where compromise was reached between different fisheries and other groups.

In addition to scallop boats, Georges Bank is fished by the groundfishing fleet, which uses trawlers to catch cod, flounder and other species.

The plan would also do away with restrictions on large areas that cycle between being open to trawling and closed, known as mortality closures, according to Vanasse.

Read the full story in the Cape Ann Beacon

U.S. Tuna Industry Objects To New Proposed Labeling

April 29, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International, whose local operations include a tuna cannery, and National Fisheries Institute (NFI) both contend that the new interim final rule by the federal government on dolphin safety labeling is due to a recent sanction of the US by the World Trade Organization in a long standing case which pits the US against its neighbor, Mexico. They say it is an unfair and unproductive burden to U.S. seafood companies that does not resolve the protracted WTO litigation, nor improve on the existing dolphin-safe operational performance.

Industry officials told Samoa News that the new interim final rule (or IFR) will only increase operational costs for the US tuna canneries, who are already faced with stiff global competition, and that the US canneries have been adhering to dolphin safe labeling standards set by the federal government for many years.

This was echoed by NFI president, John P. Connelly in an Apr. 22 letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), who is seeking public comment on the IFR for “enhanced document requirements and captain training requirements to support use of the dolphin safe label on tuna products.”

“Consumers purchasing canned and pouched tuna from Bumble Bee Foods, Chicken of the Sea, and StarKist should be confident that the ‘dolphin-safe’ label the retail packaging bears means just that,” Connelly wrote.

The three canneries are the major US producers of tuna products.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

CALIFORNIA: Increased pulse flows for fish begin on Stanislaus River

April 27, 2016 — Agencies that control flows on the Stanislaus River below Tulloch and New Melones reservoirs began increased releases Monday from Goodwin Dam.

The increased flows are intended to supplement spring fish flow requirements set by a National Marine Fisheries Service 2009 biological opinion, according to federal Bureau of Reclamation staff. 

The Bureau of Reclamation is acting in conjunction with Oakdale Irrigation District and South San Joaquin Irrigation District to increase flow releases from Goodwin Dam in the Stanislaus River. 

Goodwin Dam is downstream from Tulloch and New Melones dams. 

As of Monday, Tulloch Reservoir was holding 60,005 acre-feet, 90 percent of capacity, and New Melones was holding 637,441 acre-feet, 27 percent of capacity. 

Increased flows from Goodwin are scheduled between midnight and 10 a.m., “to minimize public impact,” Bureau of Reclamation staff said. The flows are expected to range from 1,400 cubic feet per second to 3,200 cfs. 

Flows from Goodwin are expected to begin ramping down by Thursday and return to 1,400 cfs by Saturday. 

People in and along the Stanislaus River downstream from Goodwin Dam to the confluence of the Stanislaus and the San Joaquin River are advised to take safety precautions due to the increased flows.

Read the full story at The Union Democrat

WEST COAST SALMON SEASON DATES SET

The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

April 14, 2016 — VANCOUVER, Wa. – The Pacific Fishery Management Council today adopted ocean salmon seasons that provide recreational and commercial opportunities coastwide. The adopted salmon fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington achieve conservation goals for a multitude of individual salmon stocks and provide for freshwater fisheries.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 1, 2016.

“It has been difficult for the Council, its advisors, fishery stakeholders and the public to balance fishing opportunities on harvestable Sacramento and Columbia River fall Chinook stocks with the severe conservation needs we are facing with many coho stocks and Sacramento River winter Chinook,” said Acting Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy. “But the Council has recommended commercial and recreational ocean salmon seasons in Washington, Oregon, and California this year that provide important protections for stocks of concern.”

“We have made the tough decisions and implemented fishery restrictions to give salmon stocks their best chance of rebounding from the effects of the drought and El Niño,” said Council Vice-Chair Herb Pollard.

Washington and Northern Oregon (North of Cape Falcon)

Fisheries north of Cape Falcon (near Nehalem in northern Oregon) depend largely on Columbia River Chinook and coho stocks. Columbia River fall Chinook returns are expected to return at high levels, and Columbia River coho are expected to return at reduced but moderate levels in 2016. However, coastal Washington and Puget Sound coho abundance is dramatically reduced from recent years, and some wild coho stocks are expected to return at very low levels. In response, the Council has been challenged with shaping fisheries to provide access to relatively abundant Chinook stocks while protecting natural coho populations.

North of Cape Falcon, there is an overall non-Indian total allowable catch of 70,000 Chinook coastwide (compared to 131,000 last year) and 18,900 marked hatchery coho in the area off the Columbia River (compared to 170,000 last year).

Recreational Fisheries

The recreational fishery north of Cape Falcon does not include a mark-selective Chinook season this year, but opens to all salmon on July 1 and ends in late August or when Chinook or coho quotas are reached. Recreational fisheries in all port areas will have access to 35,000 Chinook (compared to over 50,000 Chinook last year), but coho retention is only allowed in ocean areas off the Columbia River with a modest quota of 18,900 (compared to 150,800 last year). For details, please see the season descriptions on the Council website at www.pcouncil.org.

Commercial Fisheries

Tribal and non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries are designed to provide harvest opportunity on strong Chinook returns primarily destined for the Columbia River while avoiding coho stocks of concern. Coho retention is prohibited in all commercial fisheries north of Cape Falcon this year.

Non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries north of Cape Falcon include traditional, but reduced, Chinook seasons in the spring (May-June) and summer (July-August), and any coho caught in the commercial fishery must be released. The Chinook quota of 19,100 in the spring is approximately half of the 2015 quota, while the summer season Chinook quota is similar to last year at 23,400 Chinook.

Tribal ocean Chinook fisheries north of Cape Falcon are reduced from 2015 levels with a quota of 40,000 fish (compared to 60,000 last year).

California and Oregon South of Cape Falcon, Oregon

An expected abundance of roughly 300,000 Sacramento River fall Chinook (compared to 650,000 last year), combined with modest coho expectations for the Columbia River, will support recreational and commercial opportunities for ocean salmon fisheries off Oregon and much of California. The 2015 Columbia River coho abundance forecast in 2016 is over 500,000 fish (compared to over 800,000 last year) and will allow for recreational coho opportunities this summer.

The Klamath River fall Chinook abundance forecast for 2016 is substantially lower than recent years and the primary reason for fishery constraints in Oregon and California. Long running drought conditions, coupled with suboptimal ocean conditions, have raised serious concerns for Sacramento River winter Chinook salmon, which are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and have experienced very low survival as juveniles in 2014 and 2015. Fisheries south of Point Arena, California, particularly recreational fisheries in the greater Monterey Bay region, will continue to experience late-season reductions to minimize interactions with winter Chinook.

Recreational Fisheries

Recreational fisheries in California and southern Oregon are primarily focused on Chinook salmon and include openings in May, June, July, August, and the Labor Day weekend, in the Brookings/ Crescent City/Eureka area. Fisheries further south all opened on April 2 and will continue through November 13 in the Fort Bragg area, through October 31 in the San Francisco area, through July 15 from Pigeon Point to Point Sur, and through May 31 south of Point Sur.

Recreational fisheries off the central Oregon coast will allow Chinook retention from March 15 through October 31. Coho fisheries consist of a 26,000 mark-selective coho quota fishery in mid-summer from Cape Falcon to the Oregon/California border (compared to 55,000 last year) and a 7,500 non-mark selective coho quota fishery in September, open from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain (compared to 12,500 last year).

Commercial Fisheries

Commercial fisheries from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain, Oregon opened on April 8 and will run through October 31 with intermittent closures to reduce impacts on Klamath fall Chinook. Fisheries in the Humbug Mountain-to-California-border area willbe open April 8 through May, with Chinook quota fisheries in June (720) and July (200). Fisheries from the California border to Humboldt South Jetty will open on September 9 with a 1,000 Chinook quota (compared to 3,000 last year).

Between Horse Mountain and Point Arena (in the Fort Bragg area), commercial Chinook salmon fisheries will be open June 13 to 30, August 3 to 27, and September 1 to 30.

In the area from Point Arena to Pigeon Point (San Francisco), the season will be open May 6 to 31, June 13 to 30, August 3 to 28, and during the month of September. From Pigeon Point to the Mexico border (Monterey), the Chinook season will be open in May and June. There will also be a season from Point Reyes to Point San Pedro, open October 3 to 7 and 10 to 14.

Management Process

The Council developed the management measures after several weeks spent reviewing three season alternatives. The review process included input by Federal and state fishery scientists and fishing industry members; public testimony, and three public hearings in coastal communities. The Council received additional scientific information and took public testimony before taking final action. The decision will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval and implementation.

In addition, the coastal states will decide on compatible freshwater fishery regulations at their respective Commission hearings.

Council Role

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3-200 miles offshore of the United States of America coastline. The Pacific Council recommends management measures for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.