Saving Seafood

Maine whale protection plan doesn’t go far enough, feds say

February 13, 2020 — Federal regulators don’t believe a Maine plan to reduce risk to endangered whales goes far enough, and that means fishermen in the state could face more restrictions.

Maine officials submitted a plan to the federal government designed to meet a requirement to better protect rare North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in lobster fishing gear. The whales number only about 400 and can die if ensnared in the gear, which is used to trap one of Maine’s best known and most valuable natural resources.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified the state in a Jan. 10 letter that its proposed package of measures would result in no more than a 52% reduction in risk to the whales. The required goal is 60%, said the letter, which was written by Michael Pentony, regional administrator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Maine says its plan to protect whales from lobster gear is better than feds think

February 13, 2020 — Maine believes its right whale protection plan isn’t getting enough credit for reducing risk to the critically endangered species.

The state Department of Marine Resources believes that its right whale plan, with its range of lobster fishing restrictions meant to avoid gear entanglements, clocks in right around the 60 percent risk reduction target sought by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Federal regulators – who  determined that the state plan reduced risk by just 52 percent – failed to give Maine credit for all its proposed protection measures, as well as those enacted since the last federal right whale review in 2014, Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher said Wednesday.

Keliher spelled out his concerns with the federal evaluation of Maine’s plan during a meeting with members of the Lobster Advisory Council Wednesday evening and in a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service that he sent earlier in the day asking for additional risk reduction credit.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine’s plan to protect whales falls short, regulators say, raising prospect of federal rules

February 12, 2020 — Maine’s plan to protect right whales does not go far enough to reduce the risk of entanglement in lobstering gear, according to federal regulators.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded that Maine’s plan to use a combination of weak rope and a 25 percent reduction in the number of buoy lines in state waters achieves, at best, a 52 percent risk reduction, while federal regulators are demanding a 60 percent reduction.

“Because your proposal does not meet the 60 percent risk reduction target, we will be obligated to consider additional measures through our federal rulemaking,” said Michael Pentony, regional administrator of NMFS’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

New England council puts out Amendment 23 proposals

February 7, 2020 — Amendment 23 to the Northeast groundfish management plan will go out to public hearings this spring, featuring its unexpected possibility of 100 percent at-sea monitoring.

The New England Fishery Management Council says that number is just a starting point to discuss the costs of improving catch reporting — with onboard observers, or increasingly with electronic monitoring by onboard cameras looking over fishermen’s shoulders.

On Wednesday the council outlined the menu of alternatives that will be presented at those hearings, likely to be scheduled for late March and early April. The council will take in comments from that process to help it make final decisions at its June 23-25 meeting in Freeport, Maine.

The goal of the amendment is “to improve the reliability and accountability of catch reporting in the commercial groundfish fishery to ensure there is precise and accurate representation of catch,” including both landings and discards, according to the council.

Boosting at-sea coverage could be achieved by placing more observers on all trips, or alternatively with electronic monitoring, or EM as NMFS officials now refer to it.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

3 more right whale calves spotted

February 6, 2020 — Three more right whale calves have been spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

A 28-year-old mother named Calvin was spotted swimming off Georgia with her calf, the statement says. In 2000, Calvin was found entangled off the coast of Cape Cod and was disentangled by the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response Team.

A 24-year-old mother named Echo was seen with her calf off Atlantic Beach in Florida, and an 18-year-old mom called Arrow was spotted with her calf off Amelia Island in Florida.

These sightings bring the total number of right whale calves this season to nine, up from seven seen all of last year, according to a statement from the Center for Coastal Studies.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NOAA holds off on whale rules

February 5, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service will hold off on announcing new rules aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales from entanglement with fishing gear, including Maine lobster fishing gear, until at least July.

The agency, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), had been expected to release proposed rules by late last fall or possibly in January. But in a filing with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., last week, Jenifer Anderson, an assistant regional administrator at the NFMS Greater Atlantic Regional Office in Gloucester, Mass., said the delay was the result of fisheries managers from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts submitting proposed state-specific lobster fishing rules to the agency for review later than expected.

According to Anderson, NMFS anticipated receiving proposals from the states last fall, but the Maine Department of Marine Resources didn’t file its proposals until Jan. 3. Those proposals differed, she said, from proposals the state tentatively agreed to last April at a meeting of the agency’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team. According to Anderson, Massachusetts and New Hampshire were expected to file their plans “on or about” Feb. 1.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Gulf of Alaska cod to lose sustainability certification by March, MSC confirms

February 5, 2020 — Pacific cod from the Gulf of Alaska is expected to lose its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability certification in the coming months due to a decline in the stock, according to the organization.

“The Gulf of Alaska Pacific Cod fishery is currently undergoing an expedited audit against the MSC fisheries standard following new information from the National Marine Fishery Service showing that the Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod stock had declined to less than B20,” said MSC Senior Public Relations Manager Jackie Marks. “This resulted in closure of the federal Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod fishery by federal fisheries managers, effective January 2020. This information triggered an expedited audit of the fishery’s MSC certification status, which is currently being undertaken by the conformity assessment body.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Modifications to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan

February 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Framework 8 includes 2020-2021 Specifications and increased seasonal possession limits for the wing and bait fisheries to provide additional flexibility to fishermen. We propose to:

  • Increase the annual catch limit for the skate complex to 32,715 mt from 31,327 mt in 2019.
  • Increase total allowable landings of skate wings to 11,879 mt from 10,499 mt in 2019.
  • Increase the total allowable landings of skate bait to 5,984 mt from 5,289 mt in 2019.
  • Increase the bait fishery Season 3 possession limit to 25,000 lb from 12,000 lb.
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 1 possession limit to 3,000 lb from 2,600 lb.
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 2 possession limit to 5,000 lb from 4,100 lb.
  • Increase the barndoor skate possession limit in the wing fishery from 650 lb to 750 lb in Season 1, and from 1,025 lb to 1,250 lb in Season 2.

To get all the details on these proposed modifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today.

We are accepting comments through March 6, 2020.

Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA, 01930.

Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for Skate Framework 8.”

Lawsuit Launched to Save Alaska’s Cook Inlet Beluga Whales From Harmful Oil Exploration

February 3, 2020 — Conservation groups Friday threatened to sue the Trump administration for approving oil exploration in Alaska’s Cook Inlet after new federal data found a dramatic decline in the area’s population of endangered beluga whales.

The formal notice of intent to file an Endangered Species Act lawsuit asks the National Marine Fisheries Service to revoke its authorization of oil and gas activities in the area until a new legally required consultation is completed.

The administration relied on higher beluga whale numbers when, in 2019, it approved rules allowing Hilcorp Alaska LLC to harm belugas and other marine mammals as it expands offshore oil and gas operations in Cook Inlet. But on Tuesday the Fisheries Service announced the population of whales was estimated at 279, a significantly smaller and more quickly declining population than the agency had thought.

“Since we pressed for listing the Cook Inlet Beluga whale as endangered in 2008, the drive for corporate profits and complacent government bureaucrats have conspired to stifle progress for this dwindling stock,” said Bob Shavelson, advocacy director for Cook Inletkeeper. “Hilcorp should do the right thing and abandon its plans for new drilling in Cook Inlet.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Native News

One of four North Atlantic right whale calves spotted so far this breeding season struck by ship

January 21, 2020 — One of just four North Atlantic right whale calves spotted off the southeast coast of the United States so far this winter was discovered last week to have suffered deep propeller wounds to both sides of its head.

Barb Zoodsma of the National Marine Fisheries Service told the Associated Press that the injured calf was photographed by an aerial survey team about 8 miles (12.8 kilometers) off the coast of the state of Georgia while swimming with its mother on January 8. The survey team didn’t notice the calf’s injuries until later, when the photograph was viewed at full size.

The two S-shaped gashes observed by the survey team were most likely caused by the propeller of a boat, but humans will probably not be able to intervene and help the calf. “[I]t’s highly unlikely that we can fix this animal,” Zoodsma said.

Read the full story at Mongabay