Saving Seafood

NOAA marks Northwest salmon runs, Atlantic mackerel, bigeye overfished

August 5, 2019 — Pacific Northwest king (chinook) and silver (coho) salmon runs plagued by drought and warmer ocean waters are new additions to the overfished species list in the federal 2018 Status of U.S. Fisheries released Friday.

In the Atlantic, bigeye tuna joined the overfished list — reflecting the continuing inability of international regulators to rein in other nations’ fleets in the eastern Atlantic. For the first time, Atlantic mackerel between North Carolina and Maine are declared overfished, based on a first comprehensive assessment.

The good news, according to NOAA, is that rebuilding sustainable fisheries is still on its slow upward track since 2000, with 45 stocks now declared rebuilt. The latest is the Gulf of Maine smooth skate, after a 9-year rebuilding effort that included a prohibition on landings.

That success follows the 2016 rebuilding of barndoor skate in New England waters. “The renewed fishing opportunity and market for barndoor skate wings, following its rebuilt status, may lay the market foundation for a smooth skate fishery in the future,” the annual NMFS report noted.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Federal agencies, Vineyard Wind at odds over wind farm setup

August 2, 2019 — All three federal agencies that weighed in on Vineyard Wind’s construction and operations plan have coalesced around the east-to-west orientation of the 84 wind turbines.

The three agencies are supporting a distance of at least 1 mile between the turbines, which is a marked contrast to the company’s diagonal layout plan with less space between, according to the Times review of 349 public comments on the draft environmental impact statement.

National Marine Fisheries Service Regional Administrator Michael Pentony faults the draft statement with failing to fully analyze current data showing “clear patterns of east-west orientation of fishing activity throughout much of the lease area.”

While an east-to-west turbine layout “would not fully eliminate impacts to fishing operations, available information suggests impacts would be minimized for some fishing vessels, allowing them to continue to fish the area and thus reducing the negative economic impacts they incur,” Pentony said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Below Average Season Predicted for 2019 Gulf of Mexico Brown Shrimp Harvest

July 29, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Scientists at the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s Galveston Laboratory have prepared the following information on prospects for the 2019 brown shrimp season (July 2019–June 2020) in the western Gulf of Mexico.

According to NOAA fisheries, although local environmental factors (temperature, rainfall amounts, and tidal heights) should have contributed to favorable conditions for brown shrimp recruitment and growth in Texas, freshwater inflow into Galveston Bay (on which the forecast model is based) from the Trinity River watershed resulted in salinities near zero in much of the bay. Subsequently, the availability of suitable nursery habitat was limited to West and Lower Galveston Bay. Likewise, growth may have been affected by the lower salinities.

They add, similarly, early spring temperatures in Louisiana would have suggested favorable conditions for an average production. However, Louisiana was inundated with freshwater runoff due to unprecedented Mississippi River flows this spring. These freshwater events have offset the early spring favorable conditions to a much less favorable environment for brown shrimp production.

Overall, the western Gulf of Mexico could expect an annual brown shrimp production of approximately 40.6 million pounds during the 2019–2020 season.

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

Federal agency to assess oil and gas development’s impact on endangered species in the Gulf

July 29, 2019 — A federal lawsuit filed last year calling on the National Marine Fisheries Service to assess the impacts of oil and gas development on federally protected species and critical habitat in the Gulf of Mexico ended last week with a settlement agreement under which the service agreed to finish an assessment by November.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the fisheries service is required to gauge the impacts of federally authorized oil and gas operations on species listed as threatened and endangered, as well as habitat designated as critical.

It has been 12 years since the fisheries service did such an analysis of energy development in the Gulf, called a “biological opinion.” That opinion was intended to cover the five-year period from 2007 to 2012.

After the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in 2010, the Department of Interior requested that the fisheries service update its 2007 opinion, taking the huge resulting oil spill into consideration. The assessment process began in 2013, but an updated opinion still hasn’t been issued.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

Gulf of Mexico June Shrimp Landings Higher than in Previous Years; Overall Landings Still Down

July 26, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NMFS is reporting that shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico last month were slightly higher than in June last year and also in 2017 — but still below the 17-year historic average.

The Fishery Monitoring Branch of the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for June 2019 this week. The data showed June landings of 11.1 million pounds were higher than the 10.9 million pounds in June 2018 and June 2017, the Southern Shrimp Alliance said in a press release.

The 17-year historic average for June is 16.7 million pounds.

Although landings volumes appear to have recovered somewhat in June, the commercial shrimp harvest remains substantially below previous years for the year so far. Roughly 28.6 million pounds of shrimp have been landed in the Gulf of Mexico since January, 34 percent below the 17-year historic average of 43.4 million pounds. It is also the second lowest amount reported for a January-to-June time period since 2002.

For 2019 thus far, the landings in Louisiana,10.5 million pounds, and the west coast of Florida, 2.0 million pounds, are the lowest reported in the historic dataset maintained by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, while landings in Mississippi, 1.1 million pounds, are the second lowest total reported.

Last month, NOAA reported ex-vessel prices for just two count sizes of shrimp landed in the eastern Gulf (west coast of Florida) and just three count sizes of shrimp landed in the northern Gulf (Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi). The ex-vessel prices reported for shrimp landed in the western Gulf (Texas) were roughly in line with the ex-vessel prices reported for the same count sizes in June 2018.

NOAA’s monthly reporting of shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico continues to include the disclaimer that the summaries collected or estimated from federal port agents may not reflect individual states’ landings.

As noted, the numbers reported – and the ex-vessel prices that have not been reported – over the last several months by NMFS appear to indicate that port agents may have been unable to collect information in the same manner as they have done historically, the SSA said in the statement.

Ex-vessel prices for 26-30, headless/shell-on shrimp in June show prices roughly the same as the historical averages, but more than $2 a pound less than the high prices reported in June 2014. June ex-vessel prices for U15 shrimp show a general increasing trend for northern Gulf and west coast Florida shrimp but a roller coaster ride for shrimp from the western Gulf. Still, the average ex-vessel price for June for U15 shrimp was $9.52 a pound for both western and northern Gulf shrimp, according to the SSA report.

The full SSA shrimp landings and ex-vessel prices report can be found here:
http://www.shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/June-2019-Landings.pdf

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

2020-2021 Scallop RSA Competition Underway; September 20 Deadline for Project Proposals

July 25, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The federal competition for 2020-2021 awards through the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program is now open. The deadline for submitting full proposals is Friday, September 20, 2019 at 5 p.m.

The New England Fishery Management Council established the Scallop RSA Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Council sets research priorities for this program, while the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) administers the RSA competition, oversees award projects, and monitors set-aside harvest activities through the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO).

Read the full release here

Maine political leaders promise to press Trump for state’s lobster haulers opposed to new rules

July 23, 2019 — Mainers who haul lobsters for a living do not kill right whales.

That was the message from a rally at Stonington’s commercial fishing pier on Sunday attended by more than 500 people, including Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree.

At issue are pending federal regulations aimed at protecting the endangered right whale, which can be killed by getting tangled in lobster trap-lines, but would force state lobstermen to cut the number of lines they can put into the water by 60 percent.

Rally speakers said that the rule would devastate the state’s lobster industry, which contributes an estimated $1 billion to Maine’s economy, while doing nothing to protect the whales, which, as a recent scientific study shows, seldom stray into the lobstering waters of the Gulf of Maine.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, no right whales have died from entanglement in Maine fishing lines in many years, as increasingly rising ocean temperatures have driven the whales and the food they eat into Canadian territory.

Mills and the congressional delegation, plus speakers representing former Gov. Paul LePage and U.S. Sen. Angus King, told rally attendees that they would support the state’s approximately 4,500 lobstermen and continue to press President Donald Trump to oppose the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed new regulation.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Coast Guard finds federal fisheries violations aboard 5 recreational fishing vessels

July 17, 2019 — PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The following was released by the U.S. Coast Guard, along with a correction from a previous release:

Correction: the vessels found to be in violation by not having their Federal Fisheries Permit were recreational and not commercial fishing vessels.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fritch found five recreational vessels fishing for highly migratory species without Federal Fisheries Permits, a violation discovered during the routine boarding process over the weekend near Oregon Inlet, N.C. 

Recreational fishing in federal waters without the appropriate permit violates the Magnuson-Stevens Act.  Fishermen found in violation of this act can be subject to fines up $3,750.

“Applying for and maintaining a Federal Fisheries Permit and abiding by appropriate catch limits facilitates NOAA’s ability to regulate overfishing keeping the species healthy,” said Lt. Brittany Fifer, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fitch. “The Federal Fisheries Permit program levels the playing field for all fisherman.”

Information about fishing permits to include the acquisition process can be found on the National Marine Fisheries Service website. For any additional questions, please call 1-888-872-8862.

Conservation Group Sues NMFS Over West Coast Anchovies For a Second Time

July 8, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In this case, NMFS issued a final rule regarding management of the central subpopulation of anchovy off California, and the conservation group Oceana sued. NMFS applied best available science and approved policy to update the rule using recent biomass estimates, as directed by the Court, and re-filed it last month. Oceana sued again last week.

The lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service was filed over the agency’s “continued failure to prevent overfishing, use the best available science, or account for the food needs of ocean animals in managing anchovy,” Oceana said in a press release.

The rule established a multi-year, unchanging catch limit for anchovy that does not account for the frequent, and sometimes rapid, cycles of booms and busts in the size of this population, Oceana said. The final rule is a near carbon copy of an earlier proposal by the Fisheries Service in 2016 that was struck down in court because it did not use best available science and did not prevent overfishing.

Oceana, represented by Earthjustice, said NMFS continues to manage certain fish populations, including northern anchovy, by setting multi-year catch limits that stay in place regardless of the population’s status. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Court of California, claims that in failing to actively manage the anchovy population based on current population size, NMFS has again failed to use the best available science, prevent overfishing and ensure adequate forage fish for dependent predators, the press release said.

The recent NMFS final rule employed the same harvest policy as originally approved and updated the reference points based on recent years of anchovy biomass estimates. The new overfishing limit, which represents a long-term average maximum sustainable yield, is close to the original estimate. The acceptable biological catch and annual catch limit also conform with the original harvest policy, which is based on 25% of the OFL. The anchovy population is acknowledged to be close to historic abundance, which is why the numbers are similar, industry members say.

The NMFS acoustic trawl survey method on which the management levels are based is at the heart of the issue. Both the California Wetfish Producers Association and the West Coast Pelagic Conservation Group say the survey does not capture an accurate picture of the anchovy biomass; for example, it misses the nearshore areas that anchovy frequent as well as the upper 10 meters of the water column, the acoustic “dead zone.” The model used to estimate anchovy biomass also is missing critical age information from earlier decades.

“… despite Oceana’s claim that acoustic trawl surveys are ‘state of the art’ science, the 2018 Acoustic Trawl Methods Review down-weighted the AT survey biomass estimates to a ‘relative’ index of abundance because it omits a substantial portion of the biomass inshore of the existing survey tracks, as documented by our collaborative [California] Department of Fish and Wildlife aerial surveys,” CWPA Executive Director Diane Pleschner-Steele said in an email.

Both the CWPA and WCPCG have developed collaborative methods to survey the nearshore areas for forage fish utilizing exempted fishing permits. The groups are working with both state and federal researchers to get a fuller picture of the anchovy — and other pelagic species — stock.

Oceana representatives have said the acoustic trawl survey, with the state-of-the-art technological equipment, does represent the best available science. Industry members argue that the best equipment and a model that relies primarily on that data does not represent the “best science” since it cannot survey many areas where the anchovy spend much of their time.

“We remain frustrated that the Fisheries Service continues to ignore state of the art fish population surveys produced by their own scientists when deciding how many anchovies fishermen can catch on an annual basis,” Geoff Shester, Oceana California Campaign Director and Senior Scientist, said in a statement, noting that predators such as other fish, whales, pelicans, sea lions depend on anchovies and other forage fish species.

“Oceana has dismissed concerns industry has expressed about the survey, such as lack of data on the inshore components of the stock,” WCPCG member Mike Okoniewski said in an email. “While industry is actually working collaboratively with the science centers and state agencies to explore alternative survey methodology … , we wonder why Oceana would rather litigate, than collaborate with ongoing efforts the science staff and industry are undertaking to gain a better knowledge about the population size and behavior of our coastal pelagic stocks?”

Meanwhile, Pleschner-Steele said California fishermen have ben seeing abundant anchovy since 2015. At least now NOAA’s acoustic surveys are beginning to validate fishermen’s observations to a degree, but the still missing nearshore component is a problem that has been recognized as necessary to fully assess the central anchovy stock. The stock historically fluctuated between very high and very low abundance, even absent any fishing activity. The Pacific Fishery Management Council and NMFS have established a very precautionary management approach by capping the harvest at 25 percent of the estimated OFL. The harvest rule is based on a long-term average biomass, not a single-year stock assessment. Even with a 25,00 mt harvest cap, fishermen have landed far less, averaging only 8,000 mt per year or less.

“Industry will always have more ‘sea’ time than the survey or research ships. Our livelihoods depend on what we observe,” Okoniewski said. “While we are not scientists we do first hand surveillance of these stocks and their environment. This has motivated us to work more closely with the scientific staff, and in most cases this has been reciprocated by the science community. Coastal Pelagic stocks are difficult to survey and fishery observations often differ from scientific observations. We believe it is best to work together to resolve some of these differences in observation.”

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

US operator to slash Pacific tuna fleet, citing lack of gov’t support

July 3, 2019 — The South Pacific Tuna Corporation (SPTC), a major player in the US-flagged tuna fleet based in the US territory of American Samoa, will sell eight purse seiners and lay off a dozen captains by year-end, the company said.

The company will also make cuts at its corporate office in San Diego, California, as it cuts its fleet to six vessels.

Doug Hines, SPTC’s executive director, cited a lack of US government interest and support as the major drivers behind the decision.

“Our fleet reduction is due in part to the US government’s continued lack of support and the lack of interest in ratifying the 1988 South Pacific Tuna Treaty, renegotiated in 2016,” said Hines said. “Despite our efforts to work with the Trump Administration, the National Marine Fisheries Service has not reciprocated and continues its overly aggressive compliance and enforcement actions.”

SPTC suggested in a press release that the diminishing of the US fleet in the western Pacific will mean a decline in US influence in the region during a time when China, Korea, and Russia take a larger role.

“In the global priorities of the US Government, the Western Pacific has become an afterthought,” said Hines. “But as president Ronald Reagan recognized in 1988, the South Pacific Tuna Treaty is a critical step to ensuring American vessels and commerce continue to lead in the region and the world. The reduction of the U.S. fleet will be a devastating blow for the international policy community as well as the Western Pacific sustainable fishery ecosystem.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News