Saving Seafood

Wandering seal pup rescued at Yarmouth pizza shop

January 2, 2018 — YARMOUTH PORT, Mass. — A harbor seal pup seemed to have her heart set on an anchovy pizza when she wandered a couple of miles inland Friday night and wound up in the parking lot of Yarmouth Pizza by Evan.

Brian Sharpe, manager of Marine Mammal Rescue and Research for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, said it appeared the 6-month-old pup had followed winding White’s Creek inland from Grays Beach through a marsh and crossed Route 6A near Weir Road where the creek goes under the road.

“This does happen, especially with the younger ones,” said Sharpe. He and a veterinarian from IFAW responded to the pizza shop’s parking lot where the 3-foot-long, 40-pound seal had been placed into a box, then transferred to a pet crate by passerby who were concerned the animal would cross Route 6A again and get hit by a vehicle.

Although they were well-intentioned, Sharpe cautioned the public against approaching or handling marine mammals. The National Marine Fisheries Service guidelines ask people to remain at least 150 feet from seals.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Ocean perch stock rebuilt, could lead to more commercial fishing opportunities in 2019

December 21, 2017 — Federal restrictions designed to protect Pacific ocean perch from overfishing have worked well enough for the Pacific Fishery Management Council to consider the fishery “rebuilt,” meaning it will relax restrictions. Once the new rules take effect in 2019 it should have significant economic value to the coast, experts say.

“It’s a big deal for fisheries along the coast,” said Phil Anderson, who works with Ocean Gold Seafood in Westport and serves as chairman of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. “It’s another one in the line of species that were determined to be overfished here about a decade ago that has since been rebuilt.”

Pacific ocean perch have been overfished since the mid-1960s when foreign fleets targeted groundfish stocks, in particular Pacific ocean perch, off the U.S. West Coast. The mandates of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. fisheries management, eventually ended foreign fishing within 200 miles of the coast. The first Federal trip limits to discourage targeting and to conserve a U.S. West Coast groundfish stock were implemented for Pacific ocean perch in 1979. Rebuilding plans for Pacific ocean perch were adopted in 2000 and 2003.

Pacific ocean perch is one of many species of groundfish, managed and regulated by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The fish, which live near the bottom of the ocean, mingle and protection of the perch has constrained the West Coast trawl fishery for decades.

Read the full story at The Daily World 

 

Regulators consider whether Atlantic sea turtles are endangered

December 13, 2017 — Federal wildlife officials say they are reviewing the status of a sea turtle that lives in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean to see if it should be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The National Marine Fisheries Service says it is conducting the review of the Northwest Atlantic population of leatherback sea turtles. The turtles live all over the world, including off of the mid-Atlantic states, New England and Canada.

Leatherbacks are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The fisheries service says it’s collecting comments until Feb. 5 about whether the northwestern Atlantic’s population should be included on the U.S.’s endangered list.

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

New Bedford mayor pushes Chris Oliver for help with Sector IX

December 12, 2017 — The mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, traveled to Washington D.C. last week to ask Chris Oliver, the assistant administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to help get the fishermen of Northeast Fishery Sector IX back on the water.

Sector IX, comprised of 22 vessels manned by 80 fishermen, was barred from fishing for groundfish when the National Marine Fisheries Service withdrew approval of its operations plan on 20 November. The sector is mostly composed of vessels belonging to Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael, the former fishing magnate who pleaded guilty to falsifying fish quotas, tax evasion, and bulk cash smuggling.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell told South Coast Today that, in his meeting with Oliver on 5 December, he argued that NOAA’s action on Sector IX was harming fishermen and city businesses. The meeting was a follow-up to a letter sent to NOAA by Sector IX President Virginia Martins arguing for a reconsideration of NOAA”s action against the sector.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Another Important West Coast Groundfish Stock is Rebuilt

December 12, 2017 — PORTLAND, Ore. — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

An important West Coast groundfish stock that was formerly overfished has now been rebuilt.

Pacific ocean perch, which is managed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS or NOAA Fisheries), has constrained the West Coast trawl fishery for decades. Pacific ocean perch has been overfished since the mid-1960s when foreign fleets targeted groundfish stocks, in particular Pacific ocean perch, off the U.S. West Coast.  The mandates of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. fisheries management, eventually ended foreign fishing within 200 miles of the U.S. coast.  The first Federal trip limits to discourage targeting and to conserve a U.S. West Coast groundfish stock were implemented for Pacific ocean perch in 1979 by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and NMFS.  Rebuilding plans for Pacific ocean perch were adopted in 2000 and 2003.

Managing groundfish fisheries under rebuilding plans has been an immense challenge for the Pacific Council and the NMFS. These plans required sharp reductions in commercial and recreational fisheries targeting groundfish, and included widespread fishing closures through the establishment of Rockfish Conservation Areas off the West Coast and other measures.

“We are pleased to see that our management strategies have been successful in rebuilding this important groundfish stock, and want to acknowledge the industries’ cooperation and sacrifice in this effort,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson.  “We also want to recognize NMFS for committing the resources to monitor and research groundfish stocks to improve the science used to sustainably manage these stocks.”

Since 2003, managing overfished species through area closures such as the Rockfish Conservation Areas has helped to reduce fishing impacts and rebuild overfished groundfish species.  In addition, the groundfish fleet has had to limit fishing for other more abundant species to avoid unintentional catch of the overfished stocks. “It is remarkable that the rebuilding of Pacific ocean perch was accomplished 34 years ahead of schedule,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator of NMFS’ West Coast Region.  “It is the strong partnership between fishery managers and industry and the strong commitment to catch limitations that allowed it to happen.”

These strategies have been used to successfully rebuild eight groundfish stocks, including Pacific whiting, bocaccio, darkblotched rockfish, lingcod, canary rockfish, widow rockfish, petrale sole, and Pacific ocean perch.  Canary rockfish was declared rebuilt in 2015 and earlier this year, bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish were also declared rebuilt. These successes reflect the support and sacrifice of West Coast ports and fishermen who recognized the difficult actions and fishing cutbacks necessary to restore the stocks.

Only two overfished stocks—cowcod and yelloweye rockfish—continue to be managed under rebuilding plans.  Both have shown dramatic rebuilding progress, with cowcod projected to be rebuilt by 2019 and yelloweye rockfish as soon as 2027.  Improvements in the status of these two stocks, coupled with the successful rebuilding of the other eight groundfish stocks declared overfished in the past, will lead to increased fishing opportunities beginning in 2019.  The Pacific Council is scheduled to make their final decisions on 2019 and 2020 groundfish fisheries next June at their meeting in Spokane, Washington.

Process

The Pacific ocean perch assessment was developed by NMFS scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and was reviewed in the Council’s stock assessment review process with a final endorsement by the Council Scientific and Statistical Committee.  On December 11, NMFS formally determined the stock’s status as rebuilt.

Council Role

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3‐200 nautical miles offshore of the United States of America coastline.  Altogether, the Pacific Council manages more than 100 species of groundfish. The Pacific Council recommends management measures for groundfish and other ocean fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

On the Web:

 

Scallops: NEFMC Approves Framework 29 with 2018-2019 Specs Under Four Potential Habitat Amendment Outcomes

December 8, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council today approved a sweeping package of measures for Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The framework includes specifications for the 2018 scallop fishing year, which begins April 1, as well as default specifications for 2019. It also includes actions related to Closed Area 1 carryover pounds, the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area, and flatfish accountability measures, among others.

Several of the actions in Framework 29 are intertwined with the approval and implementation of the Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Amendment 2, which is under review by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The amendment may open EFH and groundfish closed areas that have been off limits to scallop fishing for many years. NMFS is expected to announce whether it has approved or disapproved all or part of the amendment by January 4, 2018. The comment period on the amendment closed December 5, but a final rule is not expected until later this winter or early spring.

The Habitat Amendment decisions for two areas in particular – Closed Area I and the Nantucket Lightship Area – will drive the eventual outcome of Framework 29. A substantial biomass of harvestable scallops exists in both the “sliver” portion of Closed Area I and in the western portion of the Nantucket Lightship Area, one or both of which may reopen. Important to note is that even if these areas become available through the Habitat Amendment, they do not automatically become available to the scallop fishery without additional action in Framework 29 to convert them to scallop access areas.

Given this situation and the fact that the Council had to take final action on Framework 29 during its December meeting without knowing the Habitat Amendment outcome, it approved four preferred alternatives to cover all potential scenarios.

  • Closed Area 1/Nantucket Lightship West Scenario – If both of these areas become available, then 24 open area days-at sea and six access area trips:

o One to the reconfigured Closed Area I;

o Two to Nantucket Lightship West;

o One to Nantucket Light South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

Nantucket Lightship West Only Scenario – If only the Nantucket Lightship Area becomes available, then 31 open area days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o Two to Nantucket Lightship West;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

Closed Area 1 Only Scenario – If only Closed Area 1 becomes available, then 23 days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o One to the reconfigured Closed Area I;

o One to Closed Area II, including the Closed Area II Extension;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

No Change Scenario: If additional access to Nantucket Lightship and/or Closed Area I does NOT become available through the Habitat Amendment, then 26 open area days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o One to Closed Area II, including the Closed Area II Extension;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and If additional bottom does not become available under the Habitat Amendment, fulltime limited access scallopers would be allocated five access-area trips for the 2018 fishing year under the Council’s preferred alternative for this scenario – three trips in the Mid-Atlantic, one in Nantucket Lightship South, and one in Closed Area II with the Extension included, along with 26 open area days-at-sea. – NEFMC graphic

o Three to the MidAtlantic Access Area.

The Council approved an 18,000-pound possession limit for all full-time trips. Of the four scenarios described above, only one will be fully developed for implementation once the stage is set by the Habitat Amendment. The Council also voted to allocate the existing 1.64 million pounds of Closed Area I carryover if Closed Area I and/or Nantucket Lightship West are reopened. The carryover is a result of roughly 130 trips that were allocated to Closed Area I in 2012 and 2013 through a lottery system that fishermen did not take because of poor fishing conditions.

According to analyses conducted by the Scallop Plan Development Team, the alternatives that provide access to Nantucket Lightship West and/or Closed Area I generate the greatest benefits in terms of higher landings, higher revenue, and reduced impacts on habitat because the fleet will be able to work in areas with denser concentrations of scallops and catch their trip limits faster, thereby reducing the amount of bottom that is swept by dredges. Flatfish bycatch also is projected to be lower.

Framework 29 includes provisions to allocate 5.5% of the total access area allocations to the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fleet. The 5.5% is equivalent to 2,855 or 3,426 IFQ trips, which would be distributed proportionally to the available areas depending on which Habitat Amendment-dependent scenario is implemented. Unlike full-time, part-time, and occasional limited access scallop permit holders, LAGC IFQ permit holders are allocated a total number of fleet-wide trips rather than individual allocations. If Closed Area II becomes an access area, LAGC trips for that area will be redistributed evenly across other Georges Bank access areas since Closed Area II is difficult for many LACG IFQ boats to access given its distance from shore.

Flatfish Accountability Measures

The scallop fishery is subject to sub-annual catch limits (sub-ACLs) for four flatfish stocks. The Council uses accountability measures (AMs) to prevent or react to ACL overages and prevent overfishing. “Proactive” AMs are designed to avoid overages, while “reactive” AMs are triggered once an overage occurs. Framework 29 contains a new AM for northern windowpane flounder, as well as modified AMs for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail. The Council took action through this framework to streamline all of the reactive flatfish AMs in the scallop fishery and make them consistent with the current AM for southern windowpane flounder.

If an AM is triggered, scallopers will need to use modified dredges – configured with a five-row apron with a 1.5:1 maximum hanging ratio – to fish in designated GRA areas.

The duration of an AM is dependent on the magnitude of a sub-ACL overage as follows:

  • Small AMs – These are triggered if a quota overage is greater than 0% but less than 20%; and
  • Large AMs – These are triggered when overages exceeds 20% of the sub-ACL for a flatfish stock.

The Council approved identical reactive AMs for northern windowpane flounder and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. The Council took this step so that if an AM is triggered for either stock, the action will reduce the impacts of scallop fishing on both flatfish stocks. The reactive AMs for the scallop fishery are described as follows:

Northern windowpane flounder and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder:

o Small AM: If triggered, modified dredges will need to be used for six weeks from November 16 through December 31 in Closed Area II and the Closed Area II Extension; and

o Large AM: If triggered, modified dredges will need to be used year-round in Closed Area II and the Closed Area II Extension

The Council already has taken many steps to reduce flatfish bycatch in the scallop fishery, including: prohibiting possession of flatfish; requiring that dredges be constructed with a maximum of seven rows in the apron and 10” twine tops to allow flatfish escapement; and seasonally closing the Scallop Closed Area II access area from August 15 through November 15 to protect yellowtail flounder and windowpane flounder.

In order to continue reducing overall fishery impacts, the Council approved two measures in Framework 29 related to the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The measures stipulate that RSA compensation fishing will be: (1) prohibited once again in Closed Area II to help reduce potential bycatch of flatfish; and (2) capped in the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area at the total allowable catch level designated for the limited access fishery.

Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area

The Council voted to set the total allowable catch (TAC) for the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area at 200,000 pounds for the 2018 fishing year and 135,000 pounds for 2019 as a default.

The Council also voted to split the TAC between the limited access (LA) and LAGC components of the fishery with the first 70,000 pounds of the TAC going to the LAGC fishery and the remainder split 50/50 between the LA and LAGC components. Furthermore, the Council stipulated that the limited access portion of the TAC would be available for RSA compensation fishing only. Priority will be given to RSA projects that involve research in the Northern Gulf of Maine area.

More Information to Come

The Council voted to submit Framework 29 to NMFS – also called NOAA Fisheries – for review and implementation. The target date for implementation is April 1, 2018, which marks the beginning of the new fishing year.

The Council will distribute another news release after NMFS announces its decision on the Habitat Amendment. At that point, the Council will know which of its four preferred alternatives for limited access days-at-sea and access area trip allocations will advance in the scallop rulemaking process.

View the full release by the NEFMC here.

 

Massachusetts: Mitchell ‘Will do Everything we Can’ for Fishermen’s Families

December 7, 2017 — With the search called off for the two missing fishermen from the sunken Misty Blue, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell says the city and its residents will do all it can to offer solace to the families.

“We will do everything we can to support the families through this,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be hard, but there are other families who have experienced it who can certainly offer a shoulder to them.”

Mitchell made the comments during his weekly appearance on WBSM, although he was calling in from Washington, DC. The mayor was in the nation’s capital to speak with officials about issues that directly affect the fishing industry in New Bedford.

The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search for 44-year-old Michael Roberts of Fairhaven and 32-year-old Jonathan Saraiva of New Bedford Tuesday evening, after rescue efforts had failed to locate them following the Misty Blue’s sinking Monday evening.

“It’s unfortunate we need these kind of reminders of just how dangerous commercial fishing is,” Mitchell said. “It’s the most dangerous profession out there, and there are way too many families in greater New Bedford who have experienced what these families are experiencing today, and it’s an awful thing.”

The Fishermen’s Tribute Monument at Pier 3 has acted as a de facto gathering place in the past for families affected by fishing tragedies, something Mayor Mitchell knows personally.

Read the full story at WBSM

Florida Fishermen’s Group Sues Over 40% Cut in 2018 Golden Tilefish Allocation

December 6, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Florida fishermen are fighting an emergency ruling that would impose a 40% reduction in allowable golden tilefish harvests in 2018.

On November 29 the Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section (SFA-ECFS) filed the suit, which alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) “committed procedural and substantive violations of federal fisheries and administrative law.” The organization claims that NMFS used “flawed scientific methods” in their 2016 golden tilefish assessment.

“This was supposed to be a simple update – adding new data to the stock assessment model that was thoroughly vetted and peer-reviewed,” SFA-ECFS fisheries consultant Russell Hudson said in a press release. “Instead, NMFS made major model changes behind closed doors without required scientific, industry expert and public oversight required when such changes occur.”

NMFS’ 2016 golden tilefish assessment found overfishing. However, Hudson added that overfishing was not discovered using the original SEDAR 25 peer-reviewed model. The golden tilefish assessment for 2017, which was conducted in October, used “new ‘best’ methodology identified by NMFS.” SFA-ACFS says that the assessment “failed to produce any scientifically useful results.”

The government has 45 days to answer or seek dismissal.

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

 

Feds taking final comments on new ocean habitat plan

December 4, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government is closing the public comment period on a plan to change the way it manages ocean habitat off of New England.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is looking to change the way it manages the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England waters. The three areas are critical for commercial fishing operations and marine animals such as whales and dolphins.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Haven Register

 

Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section Sues Over 40 Percent Cut in Golden Tilefish Allocation for 2018

December 4, 2017 — ORLANDO, Fla. — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association: 

Fishermen of Florida filed suit in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. over an emergency rule imposing a forty percent reduction in allowable golden tilefish harvests next year. The suit alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) committed procedural and substantive violations of federal fisheries and administrative law.

The suit, filed on November 29, was brought by the Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section (SFA-ECFS). The SFA is an advocacy group for fishermen that has represented harvesters, dealers, and processors participating in Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regional fisheries for more than 60 years.

The rule being challenged was requested by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in June because it faced a looming 2018 deadline to end overfishing identified in a controversial 2016 golden tilefish assessment. Under federal law, fishery managers have two years from such a finding to adopt measures to end overfishing.

The suit alleges the 2016 assessment, which found overfishing and triggered the events leading up to the emergency rule, used flawed scientific methods that never should have been introduced. “This was supposed to be a simple update – adding new data to the stock assessment model that was thoroughly vetted and peer-reviewed,” said SFA-ECFS fisheries consultant Russell Hudson. “Instead, NMFS made major model changes behind closed doors without required scientific, industry expert, and public oversight required when such changes occur.” He also noted that the assessment runs using the original SEDAR 25 peer-reviewed model did not find overfishing.

According to the complaint, the use of emergency procedures to adopt the rule was also flawed. It alleges that NMFS failed to make a finding that there was “good cause” to waive the regular process of seeking public comment before making a rule final, a step skipped with the golden tilefish rule. It alleges that there was ample time between the Council’s June request for interim measures and the start of the 2018 golden tilefish fishing year to go through normal notice-and-comment rule making.

The 2016 “update” assessment that found overfishing has been subject to significant debate and criticism not only by the industry, but also by Council members and some of its scientific advisors. The biggest change it introduced was the use of a statistical methodology meant to account for potential bias. Since its use was accepted by the Council’s panel of experts on its Scientific and Statistical Committee, NMFS said that method had been superseded by another approach. The head of NMFS Beaufort Lab, which oversaw the assessment, Dr. Erik Williams, called this an “evolving” field of research.

In light of the questions raised about the 2016 update, the Council took the unusual step of asking for a revised update to the golden tilefish assessment to be conducted this year using the new “best” methodology identified by NMFS. That new assessment, conducted in October, failed to produce any scientifically useful results.

“While NMFS keeps focusing on this one issue it can’t seem to get right, the industry is concerned about a whole host of other changes that never should have been made in the 2016 assessment,” said Jimmy Hull, who heads SFA-ECFS. “An update is supposed to be a simple plug-and-play exercise. Instead, a small group of scientists incorporated a bunch of assumptions that don’t fit the real world. That wouldn’t have happened in a more thorough and open process.”

Shaun Gehan, an SFA attorney who brought the case, said that this is a matter that should be settled. “Both the industry and the Council believe there is no justification for the cuts made in the interim rule,” he said. “What should happen is that the SSC should be asked if the model runs that used the peer-reviewed model are the ‘best scientific information available.’ That would lift the overfishing finding and allow the Council to take measured steps without a legal hammer hanging over its head.”

Once the government is served with the suit, it has 45 days to answer or seek dismissal.

Learn more about the SFA by visiting their site here.