Saving Seafood

Another New Bedford Scallop Boat Affiliated with Carlos Rafael Caught Cheating on Scallop Landings

January 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — According to information posted by the Massachusetts environmental police, on Sunday January 28, they conducted a marine fisheries inspection aboard a federally permitted scallop vessel in New Bedford.  After observing the offload of the permitted limit of scallops, the police confirmed with the captain and crew that all sea scallops had been offloaded from the vessel.

During a subsequent inspection, police located five additional bags of shucked sea scallops hidden below a foot of ice and food stores.  The violation was documented and forwarded to NMFS.  The illegal sea scallops were held for disposition by NMFS.

Subsequent reporting was that the vessel in question was the FV Dinah Jane, permit #320244, owned by Leeanne & Noah Fishing LLC.  This permit was ordered revoked by NOAA on January 10th, with a 30 day deadline for the owners to appeal the notice of violation.

The owners of the F/V Dinah Jane also owned the F/V Hercules together with Carlos Rafael, and were cited for filing false landing reports.

The vessel Dinah Jane and its permit was cited in count 15 of the NOVA sent by NMFS to Carlos Rafael, for filing false records with Sector IX, which was cited in count 20.  Sector IX is currently under suspension by NOAA for failing to properly account for catch overages and false reporting.  However, scallop fishing is not subject to the sector allocations under the New England multi-species groundfish management plan, so the vessel was able to continue to fish.

The proposed permit revocation would take effect on February 10th at the earliest.  The vessel was still legally able to harvest scallops until then.

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

 

Report detailing enforcement abuses barred from fisherman’s trial

January 29, 2018 — The first criminal trial of a Long Island fisherman charged in connection with a federal probe of a controversial fish-auction program is set to begin, but a report detailing fisheries enforcement abuses by the government has been barred from the trial.

Lawyers for Northport fisherman Thomas Kokell, charged in a multi-count indictment with overharvesting fluke, argued in pretrial motions that a 2010 federal inspector general’s report detailing abuses and “overzealousness” by the National Marine Fisheries Service was vital to the defense.

The Environmental Crimes unit of the U.S. Department of Justice has reached plea agreements with seven Long Island and New York City fishermen and fish dealers in connection with the six-year probe.

Most have been charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and false reporting crimes. Five received prison time or home detention, including a 74-year-old Mattituck fisherman charged with taking $78,000 in illegal fish. Fines and restitution have ranged from $150,000 to $932,000 and most lost their fishing or dealer permits.

In November 2016, Kokell was charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and falsification of federal records in connection with the illegal harvest of more than $400,000 worth of fluke. He is the first to fight the charges in court. The trial is set to begin next month.

His lawyers have argued that Kokell’s case should be handled as a civil, not criminal, case, citing findings from the inspector general’s report and the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs the fisheries.

Kokell, who was fined $120,000 in a 2006 case involving overfishing, had been a vocal critic of the marine fisheries agency‘s enforcement and legal practices.

He and his wife appeared with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a Port Washington dock to demand action against the fisheries agency, a unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

First dead right whale of 2018 found off Virginia

January 26, 2018 — A whale carcass tangled in fishing line that was reported off Virginia Monday is confirmed as the first documented death of a North Atlantic right whale this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The imperiled right whales, which lost nearly 4 percent of their total population last year in Canadian and U.S. waters, and with only five documented births, faces significant man-made threats from both fishing gear and ship strikes, according to researchers.

“This isn’t just a crisis, this is a countdown to extinction,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which has an office in Plymouth.

A stranding response team with the Virginia Aquarium received notice and a photo of the carcass Wednesday, at which point the whale was identified as a North Atlantic right whale that appeared to show it was was alive and swimming when it ran into the line.

Entanglements of whales in ropes prevents them from surfacing for air, leading to drowning, or creates a drag that hampers feeding, movement and reproduction, and reduces energy stores, according to scientists.

NOAA requested a drift analysis from the Coast Guard to determine where the carcass might be, and to determine if it can be towed to shore for a necropsy.

The sex and identify of the dead whale has not be determined.

“Disaster, depressing,” said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, who directs right whale research at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said of the latest whale carcass. “These are our whales, the humans who live along the Gulf of Maine. We are obviously not doing a very good job as stewards. Something’s got to change soon.”

In addition to a voluntary ship slow-down announced this week for 30 miles south of Nantucket, NOAA announced Thursday another voluntary slow-down 100 miles east-southeast of Virginia Beach, where a U.S. military ship crew had seen the carcass and four other live right whales.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

Red Snapper’s Overfishing Threat Triggers Records Suit

January 25, 2018 — BALTIMORE — Worried about regulatory changes that will exacerbate overfishing of red snapper, conservationists claim in a federal complaint that the Trump administration is stonewalling their records request.

Represented by Earthjustice, the nonprofit group Ocean Conservancy says it invoked the Freedom of Information Act on June 19, 2017 — the same day that the red snapper fishing season was expanded for private anglers in the Gulf of Mexico to 42 days, up from just three.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration “admitted that the action would cause the private recreational fishing sector to substantially exceed the annual catch limit set for that sector and delay rebuilding for the overfished population of red snapper, in violation of a number of statutes,” the complaint states.

Ocean Conservancy says it wants access to the agencies’ records about the rule change so that it can understand why the rule was adopted and inform the public.

“The government has an obligation to the citizens of this country to manage our shared public resources in a transparent way, and it is unacceptable for them to withhold that information from us,” Meredith Moore, director of fish conservation at Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement on the group’s website. “By all indications, the red snapper decision was a politically motivated action that ignored science, contrary to the law. Their decision will cause long-term damage to the fishermen and communities that depend on this economically and ecologically important fishery.

Neither the NOAA nor NMFS has responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Read the full story at Courthouse News

 

Scallops poised to jump back on US casual restaurant menus

January 28, 2018 — MIAMI — Previously deemed to be saddled with prices too volatile to offer at casual restaurants in the US, look for scallops to come back on menus in 2018, predicts Sean Moriarty, vice president of sales for Blue Harvest Fisheries.

Good luck finding Atlantic sea scallops at the types of sit-down dining establishments Americans most often frequent, like Olive Garden, Applebee’s or Outback Steakhouse.

The price of the shellfish have proven too lofty and volatile for such major chains to take the risk. But that could change soon as the global supply of scallops promises to reach an epic high in 2018, pushing prices to a more affordable range.

“I think the domestic consumption should continue to increase,” said Moriarty Wednesday during a panel on bivalves at the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) Global Seafood Market Conference, in Miami, Florida. “I think, especially in 2018, you’ll see a push to get back on the menu, not just in appetizers but in the center of the plate.”

Moriarty’s vertically integrated New Bedford, Massachusetts-based employer — one of the US’ top five producers of Atlantic sea scallops with 15 vessels operating in New England — will be among those rooting for more restaurants to join the scallop party.

Along with few abrupt changes in recent times – including a sudden drop that followed a glut of landings in May 2017 — scallop prices have grown overall since 2011, according to Urner Barry figures shared by Moriarty at the event.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Bullard: Seafood Farming Is Key for the Future of Seafood and Our Communities

January 24, 2018 — As I retire from NOAA Fisheries, I want to share my vision of a bright future where marine aquaculture is part of our collective strategy for ensuring economic and environmental resiliency in coastal communities.

If done responsibly — as it is in the United States — aquaculture is increasingly recognized as one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce fish protein. While world population is rising, the amount of wild fish is not. I am proud of the progress that NOAA, the fishing community, and conservation agencies made in dramatically reducing overfishing in the United States through science-based management practices. While wild harvest fisheries have always been our priority, we know that even with sound management, wild fish harvests cannot meet increasing seafood demand. However, by fostering aquaculture here and growing our seafood locally, this nation can ensure a safe, secure and sustainable seafood supply.

In our local coastal communities, farming the sea is gaining momentum as a way for fishing families to diversify income and to provide fisheries-linked professions that we can pass on to future generations.

Few things are more New England than bustling waterfronts filled with hard-working men and women making a living from the ocean, but many working waterfronts have disappeared as wild stocks declined and processing plants give way to waterfront condos. Aquaculture farms — including shellfish, salmon, and seaweed operations — provide a year-round source of high-quality jobs and economic opportunities in coastal communities that can supplement seasonal employment, such as tourism and fishing.

There are already good examples where jobs in aquaculture and seasonal employment are combining. On the Piscataqua River, fishermen collaborated with the University of New Hampshire to farm steelhead trout as a way to supplement their incomes. The New Hampshire-grown steelhead operation helps fishermen diversify their income and learn a new trade. These fish also provide New England chefs with an additional local source of healthy protein.

Aquaculture is much more than food production. Around the nation, scientists are studying how shellfish farming can benefit local ecosystems and water quality, energy agencies are exploring farming algae as a source of biofuel, and seaweed farmers are fighting ocean acidification with their crops. NOAA’s Milford Laboratory is a world leader in aquaculture science and, working alongside shellfish farmers, we are leveraging its more than 85 years of research to inform management for sustainable expansion seafood farming in the region.

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

 

US government shutdown ends with minimal damage to seafood industry

January 24, 2018 — The shutdown of the U.S. federal government lasted less than three days. However, the deal reached on Monday, 22 January to end it may have set up the stage for another one in less than a month.

Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on a short-term budget resolution that included long-term funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and a promise to bring an immigration bill up for a vote by 8 February. If that vote on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals bill doesn’t take place, or if it isn’t passed, the U.S. government might soon be in the same scenario it was on Monday.

Neither children’s health insurance nor DACA have a direct impact on the country’s seafood trade. However, if the federal government shuts down again, it could have far reaching implications for the agencies responsible for overseeing the industry.

On Monday morning, just hours before Congress passed the bill that reopened the government, the Commerce Department issued a statement indicating which of its operations would remain open even during the shutdown. That list included the National Marine Fisheries Service Seafood Inspection Program, fisheries quota management, and law enforcement activities.

Read the full story from Seafood Source

 

Supreme Court says bearded seal still threatened, despite legal battle

January 23, 2018 — While the federal government was shut down on Monday, the federal courts were still making decisions.

The U.S Supreme Court decided to keep the bearded seal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — rejecting an oil and gas industry challenge to the animal’s protection status.

The marine mammal was listed in 2012, due to melting sea ice. But the Alaska Oil and Gas Association or AOGA and the American Petroleum Institute thought the listing was premature.

Joshua Kindred, an environmental counselor at AOGA, said he was “disappointed” in the supreme court’s decision.

He said the National Marine Fisheries Service didn’t provide enough evidence to warrant a listing.

“They didn’t ever really show from a scientific point of view why the seasonal sea ice was so critical to their long-term health of the species,” he said.

Kindred said there also wasn’t sufficient guidance for a plan moving forward. He said excessive critical habitat designations can slow oil and gas development.

The Center for Biological Diversity has fought to keep the bearded seal’s protection status.

Read the full story at KTOO Public Media

 

Federal government failing to protect right whales from destruction, lawsuit alleges

January 22, 2018 — The federal government must do more to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from getting tangled up in lobster gear, a leading cause of death for the rapidly declining mammals, a lawsuit filed Wednesday asserts.

A coalition of environmental groups filed the suit in US District Court in Washington, D.C., against officials from the Commerce Department and National Marine Fisheries Service.

According to a 33-page civil complaint, there were only about 455 right whales in 2016, and at least 17 died last year, “pushing the species even closer to the brink of extinction.” Many of the whales have been spotted off Cape Cod.

The complaint says entanglement in commercial fishing gear has been the “primary cause” of right whale deaths in recent years, and the “lobster fishery is a U.S. fishery that frequently entangles right whales.”

In 2014, the complaint states, the fisheries service issued a “biological opinion” finding that the lobster fishery is likely to kill or seriously injure more than three North Atlantic right whales every year, yet the agency also concluded “the fishery is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of North Atlantic right whales.”

The suit alleges the fisheries service “is failing to ensure that its continued authorization, permitting, and management of the American lobster fishery does not jeopardize the continued existence of endangered North Atlantic right whales.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Oceana wins lawsuit against feds over anchovy quota.

January 22, 2018 — Anchovies may have fallen out of fashion as a food for humans, but they are a key food source for whales, dolphins, pelicans and a host of other creatures that make Monterey Bay one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world.

And Jan. 18, that ecosystem scored a huge victory: Oceana, a marine environmental nonprofit, and Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit that represented Oceana, won a lawsuit in the U.S District Court Northern District of California against the federal government. Their argument: that the National Marine Fisheries Service set the anchovy catch limit off the California coast at illegally high levels in October 2016.

The crux of Oceana’s case was this: In October 2016, NMFS set the catch limit at 25,000 metric tons annually for the California subpopulation of anchovies when the latest available science suggested the total biomass of that population was between 15,000-32,000 metric tons.

In other words, the annual catch limit was set within the estimated range of the total population.

Read the full story at the Monterey County Weekly

Saving Seafood covered Oceana’s legal challenge in a story posted November 29, 2016. It’s available here.

The full ruling is available here.

The following was released today by Oceana:

MONTEREY, Calif. — In response to a lawsuit brought by Oceana, as represented by Earthjustice, a federal judge struck down a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (Fisheries Service) to set a 25,000 metric ton (mt) catch level for the central population of northern anchovy for violating the nation’s fishery management law. The court rejected the Service’s reliance on decades-old data to manage this fishery off the California coast. The court found that the government’s annual catch limit was not based on the best scientific information available, and that the Fisheries Service did not adequately consider whether its management prevented overfishing. Instead of basing catch limits on the most recent scientific data showing that the anchovy population had reached a historic low of less than 32,000 mt, the Fisheries Service set the limits based on pre-1990s population estimates assuming a population of more than 733,000 mt.

“The law is clear: the agency can’t sweep inconvenient facts under the rug and rely on a bureaucratic preference to “set it and forget it” for the most ecologically critical fish on the West Coast,” said Andrea Treece, Staff attorney for Earthjustice. “The agency must develop modern, reality-based management measures that reflect the actual status of the anchovy population and ensure that enough of them stay in the ocean to feed pelicans, sea lions, salmon, and other marine predators.”

“This decision holds the Fisheries Service to fundamental standards intended by Congress, which require the government to sustainably manage our nation’s fisheries for the benefit of both fishermen and dependent species,” added Mariel Combs, Pacific Counsel for Oceana.

The decision strikes down the rule currently in place. Now the agency must promulgate new management limits based on the best available science.

“This decision is a huge victory for the ocean’s little fish, and in turn the larger fish and wildlife, that depend upon them,” said Geoff Shester, California campaign director and senior scientist for Oceana. “An abundant anchovy population also supports California’s coastal economy including sport fishing and whale watching. The court delivered an important win for science, marking a turning point that will force fishery managers to safeguard some of the most important fish in the sea.”