Saving Seafood

Spring 2019 Pacific Islands Fishery Newsletter

June 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council at its 177th Meeting held on April 12, 2019, recommended revised fleet-wide sea turtle interaction limits along with new individual trip-based interaction limits. A recent draft biological opinion (BiOp) developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) provided managers with basis for new limits for loggerhead and leatherback turtle interactions, potentially allowing the fishery to be reopened this year. The fishery closed on March 19, 2019 due to interactions with 17 loggerhead turtles, all of which were released alive.

Every vessel for every trip of the Hawai‘i-based shallowset longline fishery for swordfish has a federal observer who ensures accurate monitoring of interactions with protected species. The North Pacific loggerhead population is growing annually at 2.4 percent, but a court settlement in May 2018 reduced the fishery’s allowable interaction with the species from 34 to 17. The cap of 17 may be modified when NMFS finalizes the new BiOp for the fishery and issues new regulations based on the Council’s recommendations.

In June 2018, the Council recommended annual limits of North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback turtle interactions consistent with what was set forth in the upcoming BiOp. The draft BiOp released on March 28, 2019 (originally promised in October 2018), requires NMFS to set an annual limit of 36 loggerhead turtles and 16 leatherback turtles for this fishery. The Council recommended these limits to be implemented under regulations for the Council’s Pacific Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) and further recommended that the existing turtle interactions occurring from Jan. 1 to March 19, 2019, apply toward the new limits, essentially allowing the fishery to re-open.

Read the full newsletter here

Former NMFS chief replaces McGinty in EDF’s top oceans role

June 18, 2019 — The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has hired Eric Schwaab, the one-time head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to serve as the new leader and senior vice president of its oceans program.

He replaces Kathleen “Katie” McGinty, a former US Senate candidate who held the post for less than a year after serving as an environmental advisor to former vice president Al Gore and president Bill Clinton, an EDF spokesperson confirmed to Undercurrent News. Johnson Controls, a $32 billion multi-national conglomerate specializing in electronics and HVAC equipment with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, announced last week that it had hired McGinty to serve as its head of global relations.

Schwaab rose through the ranks at the US state of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources to become its deputy secretary in early 2007, serving three years in the position before being named assistant administrator of fisheries for NOAA in February 2010, a position he held for almost two years.

EDF’s press release credits Schwaab for leading a transformation at NMFS, including the “widespread adoption of science-based catch limits and catch shares,” efforts advocated for by EDF.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

NOAA Announces Determination Not to List Alewife or Blueback Herring Under the Endangered Species Act at This Time

June 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of our joint responsibility with U.S Fish and Wildlife Service for implementing the Endangered Species Act, we review whether species require protections under the Act.

We have completed a comprehensive status review and found a low risk of extinction for alewife and blueback herring throughout their range as well as for four alewife distinct population segments (DPS) and three blueback DPSs along the east coast of the United States.

After careful review of the status of both these species and of the identified DPSs, we have determined that listing alewife or blueback herring, or any of the seven identified DPSs under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered is not warranted at this time.

While river herring have declined from historical numbers, recent fisheries management efforts in place at the federal and state levels help to reduce the risks from fishing mortality for these species. Although some areas within the range continue to struggle, robust populations of these broadly distributed species are found in other portions of their ranges, with some areas supporting populations in the millions or hundreds of thousands.

With continued management and additional efforts to improve habitat connectivity, populations in areas of the range that are at low levels may also see improvements in the future.

Find Out More

Read the Listing Decision and download the Status Review Report

Find out how we’re reopening rivers for fish migration, read a recent story about native fish returning to a Massachusetts river after nearly 200 years, and get the latest on a recently completed river restoration in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Read the full release here

Environmental Group Sues Over Ice Seal Habitat Decision

June 17, 2019 — An environmental group sued the Trump administration Thursday for failing to designate critical habitat for two species of seals that rely on sea ice off Alaska’s northwest coast.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Department of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service for not designating critical habitat for threatened ringed and bearded seals. Agency spokeswoman Julie Speegle said by email the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Designation of critical habitat for a threatened species is required by the Endangered Species Act a year after a listing. Federal agencies that authorize activities such as oil drilling within critical habitat must consult with wildlife managers to determine if threatened species will be affected.

Center for Biological Diversity attorney Emily Jeffers, who drafted the lawsuit, said by phone from Oakland, California, that additional protections are needed for ringed and bearded seals, which already are losing habitat because of climate warming.

“It’s where the rubber hits the roads in terms of actual protections,” she said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Courthouse News Service

The Coastal Squeeze: Changing Tactics for Dealing with Climate Change

June 17, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Protecting Essential Fish Habitat

One of the things we do in the Habitat Conservation Division is consult with other agencies who are doing projects that might affect fish species and their habitats. If, for example, the Army Corps wants to give the state of New York a permit to dredge a river or build a bridge, they consult with us to determine how they can minimize the effects on the most important fish spawning, nursery, and feeding areas that are deemed “essential fish habitat.” Without essential fish habitat, of course, we lose fish.

Climate Change is Happening Fast in the Northeast

We’ve been seeing the signs of climate change for decades. Sea levels and sea-surface temperatures have risen throughout the world. But, here in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, we are seeing surprisingly fast changes compared to other parts of the world.

  • The average sea-surface temperature on the Northeast Shelf has increased by about 2.3°F since 1854, with about half of this change occurring in the last few decades.
  • In particular, the waters of the Gulf of Maine are warming dramatically in recent years– faster than 99 percent of the global ocean between 2004 and 2013.

Read the full release here

Training Future Leaders in Marine Science and Conservation

June 14, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The well-lit room boasts two slow cookers on a small mobile table; two deep sinks with ample counter and cabinet space; two walk-in freezers large enough to fit king-size beds; and a central, hip-high table that could easily hold multiple adult boars for roasting.

If not for the overwhelming putrid scent, the room could pass for an unfinished kitchen of a new restaurant.

“This is the worst it’ll smell,” Taylor Williams says as she loads small bones into the slow cookers, unphased by the stench that, at times, is a cross between manure and rotting animal flesh. “Well, the worst until the bones start boiling.”

This is certainly no restaurant and Williams is no master chef concocting a new and exotic (albeit smelly) culinary masterpiece in her decked-out kitchen. Rather, the marine biology college senior is an intern with the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) and her task is to boil the meat off of turtle humerus bones in the sea turtle necropsy (animal autopsy) lab. The gruesome work is part of a project led by Williams’ mentor Shawn Murakawa to determine the age of deceased sea turtles by counting rings within the bones (similar to tree rings).

“I do all the dirty work for that project,” Williams explains, adding that the other tasks of her internship include taking care of PIFSC’s rehabilitating sea turtles, responding to after-hours sea turtle strandings, entering data, and conducting her own research project using the humeri.

Read the full release here

Deck Equipment: Rise of the Machine

June 14, 2019 — Cameras start to take over for live observers on deck: What does it mean for owners and operators across the country?

Electronic monitoring programs are on the rise as a way to reduce observer costs, avoid the problems of having another person onboard, and increase data gathering. After testing and implementing several programs, NOAA is developing criteria for EM hardware producers and service providers.

“We hope to have standards by the end of the year,” says Brett Alger, electronic technologies coordinator at NMFS. “Once we lay down the framework, it could allow EM to expand greatly.” In February 2019, Alger spoke at a conference in Bangkok that explored the potentials of electronic monitoring. Presenters talked about the real-time upload, via satellite or cell signal, of video from boats, which could be reviewed by artificial intelligence. “We’re hoping to automate review,” says Alger. “We’re looking at machine learning that could identify and measure fish in a split second.”

According to Alger, the idea of monitoring things like bycatch, discards and quota by putting cameras onboard has been around for 20 years, and the Pacific whiting fishery has used electronic monitoring for 15 years. But establishing EM programs is much more complicated than just hooking up cameras and connecting them to a hard drive.

Among EM service providers, two leaders — Archipelago Marine Research and Saltwater Inc. — have broken ground with several programs around the U.S. coasts. Archipelago provides a complete package of cameras, hard drives and review services. Saltwater offers software and some hardware, and a number of services, including developing a vessel monitoring plan and video review.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

River Herring May Be Added to Endangered Species List

June 14, 2019 — A decision to add two species of river herring to the federal endangered species list is due from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) later this month, and it could have significant implications for southeastern New England.

Alewives and blueback herring, collectively called river herring, were once abundant in rivers and nearshore waters from Canada to South Carolina, but dams, climate change, and overfishing have contributed to their decline by as much as 98 percent.

“Historically, they used all the big and small rivers on the entire Atlantic Seaboard,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, who has been advocating for increased management of the species for years. “They were the fish that fed the settlers; they were everywhere. There’s even a story of General Washington feeding the troops with alewives.”

But, she added, the species have been at historic lows for decades.

Read the full story at EcoRI

ALASKA: Feds still working on plan for $56M in disaster relief funds

June 12, 2019 — Alaska fishermen are still awaiting disaster relief funds for the 2016 pink salmon run failure that was the worst in 40 years.

Congress approved $56 million that year for Alaska fishermen, processors and communities hurt by the fishery flop in three Alaska regions: Kodiak, Prince William Sound and Lower Cook Inlet.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and National Marine Fisheries Service finalized plans and procedures for payouts last August. Since then, the paper push has stalled on various federal agency desks.

NMFS missed a promised June 1 sign off deadline and now says the funds will be released on the first of July, according to Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak, who has been tracking the progress.

“It affects all the cannery workers all the processors, all the businesses in the community,” she said. “This has a big trickle-down effect.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

2019 Northeast Sea Scallop Survey Underway

June 12, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The 2019 Northeast sea scallop survey has been underway since May 15 aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp surveying at stations in the Mid-Atlantic and on Georges Bank. This survey uses both a dredge and a towed vehicle known as the HabCam, which is fitted with a number of sampling instruments including cameras that photograph the ocean bottom.

On June 6, the HabCam was being towed in the Great South Channel and hit an uncharted object in about 130 feet of water. The weak link in the tow cable broke, as intended when tension is too great. This limits damage to both the instrument and the ship’s tow winch. The HabCam was separated from the ship, but a sound-emitting locator attached to it signaled its location.

The vessel, crew, and researchers continued dredge sampling while planning HabCam recovery operations. On June 10 commercial divers arrived at the scene. The object struck was a rock, estimated to be about 25 feet high and about 40 feet wide. The divers and ship’s crew attached a recovery line to the vehicle and hauled it safely back onto the Sharp.

The vehicle was inspected and minor repairs made, before deploying this morning. The HabCam initially operated as usual, but soon encountered power problems.

Dredge operations will continue today, taking advantage of good weather ahead of the storms in the forecast for Thursday. The Sharp will come shoreside tomorrow to make HabCam repairs. We plan to complete as much of the remaining survey as we can after the repair.

This third and final leg of the 2019 survey is scheduled to conclude on June 15, and a summary of the cruise results will be released soon after.

Read the full release here