Saving Seafood

Alaska requests disaster relief for struggling Gulf cod fishery

March 22, 2018 — Alaska Governor Bill Walker and other state officials sent a letter earlier in the month to the federal government to request a disaster declaration for the Kodiak-based Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska.

The declaration would free up federal funds for people affected by low cod numbers in the gulf, where biologists turned up an 83 percent drop in the population from 2015, prompting the National Marine Fisheries Service to slash the fishery’s quota by 80 percent and making it eligible for disaster relief.

The letter, which was also signed by Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallet and U.S. senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, will go to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for review.

“Due to poor fishery performance and low catch limits, value of the 2018 Pacific cod harvest is expected to be USD 7 to 8 million [EUR 5.7 million to 6.5 million], or an 81 to 83 percent decline in revenues from the most recent five-year average,” the letter read.  “Throughout the Gulf of Alaska, direct impacts will be felt by vessel owners and operators, crew, and fish processors, as well (as) support industries that sell fuel, supplies, and groceries. Local governments will feel the impact to their economic base and the State of Alaska will see a decline in fishery-related tax revenue.”

Biologists believe warmer waters associated with the marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean have contributed to declining cod stocks. Studies show that warmer water temperatures boost the metabolism of the cod, making it hard for them to reach their energetic demands.

With the warm water mass known as The Blob moving on, some experts are cautiously hopeful that Pacific cod in the Gulf will make a comeback.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Feds say red hake stock is overfished

March 21, 2018 — BOSTON — Federal fishing regulators say a species of food fish caught by U.S. fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean has become overfished.

The National Marine Fisheries Service says red hake have become overfished in its southern Georges Bank and mid-Atlantic stocks. The service has informed the New England Fishery Management Council that it needs to craft a plan to end the overfishing and rebuild the stock.

Red hake is a species of whitefish that has been brought to land from Maine to North Carolina over the years. The catch has fallen from more than 3.6 million pounds in 2001 to about 1 million pounds in 2016.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Herald

Halibut Catch Limits for Alaska Made Official Today

March 21, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Alaska’s halibut fishermen can be forgiven if they’re confused about catch limits for the season starting this Saturday, March 24.

The final numbers are published today in the Federal Register and they are lower than last year, but — in Alaska — exactly at the levels recommended by the U.S. Commissioners of the International Pacific Halibut Commission last January.

The commercial catch limits, by regulatory area, are as follows.

Area 2C (Southeast Alaska) — the commercial IFQ is 3.57 million pounds, down 15.2% from last year’s commercial quota of 4.21 mlbs.  The charter sector received810,000 lbs. this year, down 12% from last year’s charter allocation of 920,000 in Area 2C.

Area 3A (Gulf of Alaska) — the commercial quota is 7.35 mlbs, down 5% from last year’s commercial quota of 7.74 mlbs. For the 3A charter sector, the quota dropped 5% to 1.79 mlbs. from last year’s 1.89 mlbs.

Area 3B (Kodiak, Western Gulf) — 2.62 mlbs. compared to 3.14 mlbs. last year. A drop of 16.6%.

Area 4A (Bering Sea) — 1.37 mlbs. compared to 1.39 mlbs last year. Down 1.4 %.

Area 4B (Aleutian Islands) — 1.05 mlbs. compared to 1.14 mlbs. last year, a 7.9% decline.

Area 4CDE (Bering Sea) — 1.58 mlbs. compared to 1.7 mbls. last year, a drop of 7.1%.

Total Alaskan commercial quota this year (not including sports charters) of 17,540 mlbs. is a 10% drop from last year’s 19.32 mbls.

The catch limits for Washington, Oregon, and California are not yet finalized. Washington State has asked for a readjustment of the .69 mlbs. recommended by the U.S. Commissioners in January to a higher number. The final catch limit is expected to be published on Monday March 26, but effective on the season opening date of March 24. Regulatory Area 2A, which encompasses waters off those three states, won’t open until later in the year.

The Alaska catch limits reflect the recommendations made by the U.S. Commissioners but those recommendations were not reflected in the initial NMFS Rule of March 9 or in the IPHC’s Rule Book that was mailed out to stakeholders last week.

Earlier versions of the catch limits also referred to catch share plan totals, which included sport catch, and some version reported Total Constant Exploitation Yield, which included wastage, bycatch, and subsistence removals.

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

 

Shark bill could resolve debate over domestic fin market

March 20, 2018 — It’s fair to say that if the press release is coming from Oceana, it’s not going to have anything nice to say about the fishing industry. This is an outfit that seems to glory in perpetuating the misconception that reports on global fisheries apply equally to U.S. fishermen, fleets and practices as they do to foreign industry players.

That’s why when I saw Oceana had collaborated in the launch of Global Fishing Watch, I knew something outside of the worthy mission of combating IUU fishing was likely to come of it. We saw that in late February with the release of an article in Science that based its data on Global Fishing Watch.

Granted, if you look at the maps of aggregate data, you’ll see that U.S. coastal waters are not covered with the traffic Oceana deems damning. But not many average readers have time to dig that far or ask these kinds of questions about data sets. They see the headlines and condemn all fishing en masse.

The misconception that our fishing industry is just a small part of a globally mismanaged fishing industry is a perpetual grind against our highly regulated U.S. fleets.

Fishing is the seventh most regulated industry in the country, just barely outranking fishing is commercial air travel. And right behind it? Oil and gas extraction.

“I fish in North Carolina, and I’m regulated by the South Atlantic council, the Mid-Atlantic council, NMFS, the Atlantic States [Marine Fisheries Commission] and the state of North Carolina,” said Dewey Hemilright, a 2012 NF Highliner from Wanchese, N.C., and a supporter of a new bill that would preserve U.S. shark fishing.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2018 (H.R. 524) is a bipartisan bill that aims to create a formal and transparent certification program for countries seeking to import shark products into the United States. Foreign nations would apply for certification from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce confirming that they have an effective prohibition on shark finning and have shark management policies comparable to ours.

Read the full story at the National Fisherman

 

Don Cuddy: Reidar’s — like others — part of Sector IX collateral damage

March 19, 2018 — It was just before Thanksgiving that NOAA shut down Sector IX after Carlos Rafael had been found guilty and sent to jail and, three months later, none of the boats or crews from the sector are any closer to going back to work. “There has been a lot of talking but not much action,” Tor Bendiksen told me. A number of suggestions have been out forward about how to resolve the issue but there is a notable absence of leadership, and throwing local business owners under the bus because one of their customers gamed the system is rough justice, to say the least.

Tor is now on the board of Sector IX and earns his living in the family business, Reidar’s Trawl-Scallop Gear and Marine Supply. It was started by his father, Reidar Bendiksen in 1986 on the Fairhaven side and its reputation for excellence extends the length of the Eastern seaboard. This family, like the fishing families of Sector IX, who like the rest of us have mortgages, monthly bills and kids in college, deserves more from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“A business like ours relies on revenue coming in all the time. Usually you get paid sixty days after the job. So when you lose the December, January and February billing because the draggers aren’t going it’s a problem because you are relying on that constant turnover. We operate on small margins so it takes a lot of volume to actually make a profit. Now we’re scraping just to keep up with the bills.” They have to order the net-making gear and supplies they need months in advance and their suppliers are not going to wait months for payment so they are drawing on their reserves to keep going, he said.

The scallop season begins April 1 this year and some work is now coming into the shop from the scallop fleet. “But they won’t pay us until May,” he said. The winter fishing season has now passed the sector boats by and all of the shoreside businesses that service the groundfish fleet have taken a hit. “Essentially we all have a share of the fish in Sector IX. We get paid when the boats come in, sort of like in the whaling days,” Tor said. The continued closure of Sector IX is causing far more damage on the waterfront than is being acknowledged or reported, he believes.

With a new fishing season set to open in May, and with it a new allocation of quota, the sensible option now is to allow these boats to go fishing under the direction of the new board of directors in Sector IX. NMFS taking so much time to actually do something to resolve this serves no one.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

NEFMC: Council Update – March 19, 2018 – Scallops, Herring, Groundfish, more

March 19, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

ATLANTIC SEA SCALLOPS:  The 2018 scallop fishing year will begin on April 1.

  • The New England Fishery Management Council developed Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which contains 2018 fishery specifications and other measures. Visit “Related News” and “Framework 29” on the Council’s Scallop Webpage. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) currently is reviewing the framework for approval and implementation.
  • Northern Gulf of Maine measures are expected to be in place by April 1. The proposed rule is available at NGOM Framework 29 measures. NMFS will publish the final rule soon.
  • The remainder of Framework 29 will not be in place by April 1. Therefore, the 2018 scallop default measures implemented through Framework Adjustment 28will kick in. NMFS’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) published a side-by-side comparison of the measures at Defaults vs. Framework 29 Guide.
  • On March 15, NMFS published the proposed rule containing the remainder of the Framework 29 measures, meaning everything exceptthe NGOM actions. The agency is collecting public comment through March 30. Visit Framework 29 proposed rule for details.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: In addition to Framework 29, the scallop fleet must wait for the Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 final rule to be published before being able to access the new Closed Area I and Nantucket Lightship-West Visit the New England Council’s Habitat Webpage and NMFS Approves “Majority” of Council’s Habitat Amendment for more information.
  • The New England Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel (AP) will meet March 21, 2018 in Providence, RI. The Council’s Scallop Committee will meet the following day at the same hotel in Providence. Details and documents are available at Scallop Committee March 22, 2018 meeting.

ATLANTIC HERRING:  Effective March 14, NMFS prohibited Atlantic herring midwater trawl vessels from directed fishing in the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Area after projecting that the fishery’s river herring/shad catch cap had been harvested. The herring midwater trawl possession limit is 2,000 pounds in this area for the remainder of the 2018 fishing year, which ends December 31.

  • ATLANTIC HERRING DETAILS: Additional details and a map showing the Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England Catch Cap Closure Area can be found at NMFS herring fishery bulletin.
  • ATLANTIC MACKEREL FISHERY: The Atlantic mackerel fishery, which is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Council, also reached its river herring/shad catch cap. Effective February 27, NMFS prohibited federally permitted mackerel vessels from possessing more than 20,000 pounds of mackerel per trip through December 31. Learn more at NMFS mackerel fishery bulletin.
  • The New England Council’s Herring Committee and Herring AP will meet jointly on April 4 in Boston to, among other things, discuss the implications of the river herring/shad catch cap accountability measures (AMs) being triggered in both the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fisheries. The Committee and AP also will review a draft white paper considering the addition of river herring and shad as “stocks in the Atlantic herring fishery.” The meeting notice is available at April 4 Herring Committee/AP meeting. Related documents will be posted on this same page as they become available.

GROUNDFISH:  Effective March 1, NMFS extended its previous emergency action to remove the 2017 southern windowpane flounder AMs for non-groundfish trawl vessels. The emergency action will run through April 30, the end of the 2017 fishing year.  Read the notice at emergency action extension. A map of the area is available at bulletin.

  • The New England Council’s Groundfish AP will meet March 26, 2017 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Logan Airport in Boston. The Groundfish Committee will meet the following day at the same location primarily to discuss Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23 and work-to-date on 2018 groundfish priorities.  The meeting notice is available at March 27, 2018 Groundfish Committee Meeting. Related documents also will be available on this page shortly.

GROUNDFISH RECREATIONAL:  At the request of the New England Council, NMFS published a new control date that may be used to determine future participation in the Northeast multispecies charter/party fishery. The new control date is March 19, 2018. This replaces the previous March 30, 2006 control date, which many members of the industry considered to be “stale” and not reflective of current conditions in the fishery. NMFS is collecting public comment on the new date through April 18. The notice is available at March 19, 2018 control date. Learn more about the New England Council’s recent recreational actions at January 31 decision-making.

RED HAKE:  NMFS has notified the New England Council that the Southern Georges Bank/Mid-Atlantic stock of red hake is now subject to overfishing and overfished based on the recent 2017 assessment. As such, the Council will be working to develop measures to end overfishing and rebuild the stock.  Read the Federal Register notice and visit the Council’s Small-Mesh Multispecies Webpage.

DOGFISH, MID-ATLANTIC SPECIES:  Spiny dogfish is jointly managed by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils. The Mid-Atlantic, which has the administrative lead over the Spiny Dogfish FMP, is soliciting applications from qualified individuals to serve on the Dogfish Advisory Panel.

  • The application deadline is April 20, 2018.
  • All current advisory panel members must reapply in order to be considered for reappointment.
  • The Mid-Atlantic Council also is accepting applications for seven other advisory panels, which are the: River Herring and Shad AP; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass AP; Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish AP; Surfclam and Ocean Quahog AP; Tilefish AP; Bluefish AP; and Ecosystem and Ocean Planning AP.
  • Additional information and an application form are available at serve on an advisory panel.

Learn more about the NEFMC by visiting their site here.

 

Alaska Gov. calls for Pacific cod disaster declaration

March 16, 2018 — Alaska’s Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott signed a letter last week asking the federal government to declare the 2018 Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska a disaster.

This year’s Pacific cod quota was reduced by 80 percent from 2017 — from 64,442 metric tons in 2017 to 13,096 metric tons — in response to a declining stock.

In October, a NMFS survey reported a 71 percent decline in Pacific cod abundance in the gulf since 2015 and an 83 percent decline since 2013.

According to the letter, that deep cut to the quota is expected to be accompanied by revenue drop of 81 to 83 percent of the most recent five-year average.

“Throughout the Gulf of Alaska, direct impacts will be felt by vessel owners and operators, crew and fish processors, as well as support industries that sell fuel, supplies and groceries. Local governments will feel the impact to their economic base, and the state of Alaska will see a decline in fishery-related tax revenue,” reads the letter. “We believe these impacts are severe enough to warrant this request for fishery disaster declaration for this area.”

Barbara Blake, senior adviser to Walker and Mallott, told Alaska Public Media that crossing that 80 percent threshold makes the fishery eligible for a disaster declaration and that the request will go to the secretary of commerce for a decision.

“How we’ve seen this come about in the past is that request goes in along with other natural disasters, and that’s how we end up getting the appropriations for that, is they roll it into natural disasters like hurricane relief and things of that nature,” said Blake.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Lawsuit aimed at protecting humpback whales filed against Trump administration

March 16, 2018 — Several conservation groups have joined together to file a lawsuit that claims the Trump administration has failed to protect humpback whales from fishing gear, ship strikes and oil spills.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Wishtoyo Foundation announced Thursday they have sued the Trump Administration for “failing to protect humpback whale habitat in the Pacific Ocean.” The lawsuit was filed in the federal district court in San Francisco.

The nonprofit groups hope the lawsuit will force the National Marine Fisheries Service to follow the Endangered Species Act’s requirement to designate critical habitat within one year of listing a species as threatened or endangered, and not authorize actions that would damage that habitat, according to a release.

Two Pacific Ocean humpback populations were listed as endangered and a third as threatened in September 2016.

“The federal government needs to protect critical humpback habitat that’s prone to oil spills and dangerously dense with fishing gear and ship traffic,” Catherine Kilduff, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “These whales need urgent action, not more delays.”

Read the full story at the Orange County Register

 

States: US government to rewrite 2 endangered species rules

March 16, 2018 — NEW ORLEANS — The Trump administration will rewrite rules governing how to choose areas considered critical to endangered species to settle a lawsuit brought by 20 states and four trade groups, according to state attorneys general.

The endangered species director for an environmental nonprofit says that’s terrible news. Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity says the administration has “shown nothing but hostility toward endangered species.”

The attorneys general for Alabama and Louisiana said in news releases Thursday that the administration made the agreement Thursday to settle a lawsuit brought by 20 states and four national trade groups, challenging two changes made in 2016.

According to the lawsuit, the rules are now so vague that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service “could declare desert land as critical habitat for a fish and then prevent the construction of a highway through those desert lands, under the theory that it would prevent the future formation of a stream that might one day support the species.”

A spokeswoman for Fish and Wildlife referred a request for comment to the U.S. Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to phoned and emailed queries. A NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman did not immediately respond Thursday.

“We are encouraged that the Trump administration has agreed to revisit these rules, which threaten property owners’ rights to use any land that the federal government could dream that an endangered species might ever inhabit,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in his news release. “These Obama-era rules were not only wildly unreasonable, but contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act.”

Greenwald said, “Their case didn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times

 

Western Pacific council hopes to build up aquaculture around US-controlled islands

March 16, 2018 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRMC) took initial action on March 15 to establish an aquaculture management program for the exclusive economic zone of the US Pacific islands.

“Supplementing the harvest of domestic fisheries with cultured product would help the United States meet consumers’ growing demand for seafood and may reduce the dependence on seafood imports,” said Kitty Simonds, the council’s executive director.

The aquaculture plan would establish a regional permitting process and provide a comprehensive framework to regulate activities so as to protect wild fish stocks and fisheries. Requirements would include a federal permit that is renewable and transferable, an aquaculture operations plan, prohibition areas, allowable species, and record-keeping and reporting.

The council is expected to take final action on the plan during its next meeting, scheduled for June 12 to 15, 2018, in Honolulu, Hawaii, pending completion of a programmatic environmental impact statement by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News