Saving Seafood

Am. Samoa Cannery Opposes Reducing Tuna Data Collection

April 7, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International, operator of Samoa Tuna Processors cannery in American Samoa, has called on the federal government for more “rigorous data” collection of imported frozen tuna loins, which are from fish typically caught in distant waters and off loaded into foreign ports.

The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s call was in response to the US National Marine Fishery Service seeking public comments on proposed rule-making dealing with a number of issues on trade monitoring procedures for fishery products, and permit requirements for importers and exporters. The comment period has already closed.

Among the proposed changes in the rule-making are reduced data sets pertaining to importation of frozen cooked tuna loins used in cannery operations and tuna products in airtight containers (or tuna cans) manufactured in American Samoa and imported into the United States or Puerto Rico.

According to NMFS, the reduced data set is, among other things, intended to prevent duplicative reporting for the companies that import the tuna products and that already submit required information to the Tuna Tracking and Verification Program (TTVP) via monthly reports.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

ALABAMA: Red snapper season could be an all-time low

April 7, 2016 — Alabama anglers could be faced with the most restrictive red snapper quota ever in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly just six days, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne said Wednesday.

Byrne, R-Fairhope, is a frequent critic of the federal government’s handling of regulations for the annual snapper season for commercial and recreational fishing. Deep-sea fishing is a multimillion-dollar tourism draw in Alabama, and the coastal region touts itself as the top snapper spot in the world.

This year’s limits are set to be revealed in coming weeks. Byrne, however, warned that they may be even lower than those prompting public protest in 2014 and 2015.

Based on estimates from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Service, this year’s season for recreational fishing will be capped at “six to nine days,” Byrne said. The 2015 season was 10 days, up one day from 2014’s record low of nine.

The commercial charter/for-hire season will be from 30-56 days, Byrne added. The 2015 season was 44 days.

“It’s very disappointing,” Byrne said. “It’s very much like what we had last summer. … This derby season is not good for anybody and it could be dangerous.”

Read the full story at Al.com

NMFS Partially Approves Herring Framework Adjustment 4: Empty Fish Hold Provision Not Adopted

April 6, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) partially approved Framework Adjustment 4 to the Federal Herring Fishery Management Plan—the final rule published today, April 4th. The empty fish hold provision, which was recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council and provisionally adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in Amendment 3 to the Interstate FMP, was not approved. The justification for not approving this provision is provided in the following excerpts from the final rule. The final rule can be found at: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-07583.

NMFS could not approve the empty fish hold provision because “…there is insufficient support in the record to conclude that herring vessels are harvesting excess fish and discarding unsold fish at sea. The costs associated with a herring trip, including fuel, crew wages, and insurance, are substantial, so it is unlikely that vessel operators are making herring trips to harvest fish that will ultimately be discarded.”

In addition, NMFS determined “Framework 4’s proposed waiver provides no way of verifying the amount of fish reported relative to the amount of fish left in the hold. Therefore, NMFS does not believe that this measure contains a viable mechanism to verify whether harvested fish that are left in the hold were reported by the vessel.”

Ultimately, “Because the measure lacks a mechanism to verify or correct the amount of fish reported on the VTR, the measure is unlikely to improve catch monitoring in the herring fishery. In contrast, the compliance and enforcement costs associated with the measure may be high.”

As stated in Amendment 3, implementation of the empty fish hold provision is contingent on federal adoption. Since NMFS did not approve this provision, ASMFC will maintain status quo measures on this issue. Under status quo there is no requirement to empty vessel holds of fish prior to a fishing trip departure. Amendment 3 was updated to reflect this information and can be obtained at: http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//57042f26Amendment3_RevisedApril2016.pdf.

Conservation efforts show results as status of eight green sea turtle species changes

April 6, 2016 — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has changed the status of some green sea turtle species from endangered to threatened in its latest report. Credit should be given to conservation efforts carried out by different wildlife preservation organizations across the world. Work of law enforcers and agencies has also been praised by the latest report.

On Tuesday, the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) have changed the status for few species which have seen recovery in their population. Experts said that there are many types of green sea turtles and the legislation is applicable on the ones found in the United States and Mexico.

During the conservation efforts and project, the conservators divided the species in 11 segments. Out of them, three remain as endangered and the other eight have been changed to threatened species. With the division, specialists will be able to keep a track on the turtles’ development and to come up with better conservation strategies.

Though threatened is not the best scenario, it is the first step in the right direction. Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, said, “Successful conservation and management efforts developed in Florida and along the Pacific coast of Mexico are a roadmap for further recovery strategies of green turtle populations around the world”.

Read the full story at Mainer News Online

Feds make West Coast ban on new forage fisheries official

April 5, 2016 — SEATTLE — Federal officials finalized rules Monday for a West Coast ban on catching forage fish, the small fish that larger species, seabirds and marine mammals depend on for food.

The ban on new commercial fisheries will protect little schooling fish that play a critical role in the marine food web but that are not actively fished or managed, the National Marine Fisheries Service said. It marks the first action under a new approach to fisheries management that considers how one species affects others in the ecosystem.

The ban does not affect existing fisheries for forage fish, such as sardines and anchovies. It covers species including Pacific sand lance, silversides and certain varieties of herring, smelt and squid. The restrictions apply to federal waters from 3 to 200 miles off Washington, Oregon and California, and do not affect fishing authorized by tribes.

Fishermen generally do not target forage fish in federal waters, and no West Coast fishing boats are known to be considering efforts do so.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Oregonian

Feds: Habitat, dams, hatcheries keys to saving Maine salmon

April 4, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Gulf of Maine’s endangered salmon will need restored habitats, removal of dams, aggressive hatchery programs and other conservations actions if its population is to rebound, according to a federal government plan to save the fading and iconic fish.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine salmon, listed as endangered in 2000, that is intended as a roadmap to sustainability for a fish whose populations have plummeted since the 1800s.

Recovery will take time and patience — the plan estimates 75 years and $350 million, which would have to come from some combination of federal, state and private money. The wildlife service estimates 100,000 adult salmon returned to the Penobscot River each year in the 19th century, and less than 750 of the fish returned to spawn in Maine rivers last year.

Maine’s salmon face numerous threats, and one of the biggest is the continued presence of dams that prevent them from spawning, said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said there are 400 dams in the state in areas that affect salmon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times

Aggregated Large Coastal Shark and Hammerhead Shark Management Groups Reduced to 3 Sharks per Trip

March 30, 2016 — The following was released by the National Marine Fisheries Service:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is reducing the retention limit for the commercial aggregated large coastal shark (LCS) and hammerhead shark management groups for directed shark limited access permit holders in the Atlantic region from 36 to 3 large coastal sharks (other than sandbar sharks) per vessel per trip as of 11:30 p.m. on April 2, 2016. As agreed upon by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Coastal Sharks Management Board (in December 2015), the Commission will follow NMFS for in-season changes to the retention limit.

NMFS takes this action because 24% or 6.6 mt dressed weight (dw) of the available quota for the hammerhead shark fishery has been harvested. If the average catch rate continues, it is projected that landings would reach 80% of the quota by mid-May. The LCS management group is affected because the quotas for the LCS and hammerhead shark management groups are linked.

The retention limit for the LCS and hammerhead shark management groups will remain at 3 large coastal sharks (other than sandbar sharks) per vessel per trip in the Atlantic region (federal and state waters) through the remainder of the 2016 fishing season or until NMFS announces via the Federal Register that another adjustment to the retention limit or a fishery closure is warranted. As previously stated, NMFS intends to increase the commercial retention limit around July 15, 2016, as this was the date used for recent prior season opening dates. However, any future change in the retention limit will not be made unless deemed appropriate.

Read the ASFMC release

NORTH CAROLINA: Tighter cobia regs may hit charter boats

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (March 28, 2016) — Local recreational fishing experts say recent federal and state regulation changes for cobia may deal a blow to charter fishing this year.

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced March 11 that the cobia fishery will close on Monday, June 20, for the Atlantic migratory group, which includes North Carolina.

In addition, late this February, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced the Marine Fisheries Commission reduced the recreational creel limit for cobia from two per person, per day to one.

According to a Feb. 24 DMF press release, the reduction in the creel limit was to try to extend the recreational cobia season by a few days and avoid a closure next summer.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

Habitat Designation Key to Right Whale Recovery

February 2,2016— There is reason to be optimistic that the recent move by the federal government to expand the protected habitat of the North Atlantic right whale will protect the endangered species without harming its equally at-risk ocean neighbor, the commercial fishing industry.

The mammals and fishermen have historically been at cross purposes. The whales were given their name because they were the “right” whale to kill, thanks to their proximity to shore and the fact that they floated when dead, allowing them to be easily towed behind a whaler. The modern fishing industry no longer targets the whales, of course, but the mammals can get tangled in lost or discarded fishing line and gear, which often leads to their death.

 Commercial whaling decimated the once-thriving right whale species in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Just a few decades ago, only 300 or so remained. Over the last three decades, however, conservation efforts have brought the number to around 500.

“We have made progress,” David Gouveia, the marine mammal and sea turtle conservation coordinator for the Greater Atlantic Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, told the Associated Press. “We are on a positive trajectory but there is still plenty of work to be done.”

Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it was expanding its list of right whale habitat, adding calving grounds off the coast of the Carolinas and feeding grounds off New England. The move designates more than 30,000 square nautical miles as critical.

The designation, set to go into effect at the end of the month, means projects that require federal permits — such as dredging or building oil rigs or wind farms — will now be measured at least in part on how they affect the whales’ habitat.

“It’s a very important move,” Charles “Stormy” Mayo, director of right whale habitat studies at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, told the Boston Globe. “It’s pretty tough to put a small box around a wild animal, especially a whale that travels many thousands of miles each year of its life. … What we have here is an adjustment that recognizes the wide use of the environment that supports these whales.”

The measure is not expected to affect fishing or lobstering operations. Both industries have scrapped with the federal government in the past over how best to help the whales rebound while keeping hundreds of small businesses afloat. Those negotiations have often been complicated by lawsuits from environmental groups looking to force a solution, generally at the expense of fishermen.

“It’s a very real fear among the fishing industry,” Patrice McCarron of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association told the Bangor Daily News. “The right whale issue has been a very litigious issue — period.”

Read the full editorial at Gloucester Daily Times

 

Conservation group sues to stop commercial salmon farms

November, 5, 2015 — SEATTLE (AP) — The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a lawsuit Wednesday against federal environmental and fisheries managers for allowing commercial salmon farms in Puget Sound.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle says that infectious viruses in salmon farms are threatening wild fish in the region.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded in 2011 that commercial salmon farms are not likely to have an adverse effect on wild salmon, the lawsuit said.

But the following year, it said, there was an outbreak of an infectious virus at a commercial salmon farm at the south end of Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound. The outbreak occurred while wild juvenile salmon were migrating through the area and likely had a significant impact on the wild fish, the group said.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would force federal officials to reconsider commercial salmon farms in Puget Sound in light of the outbreak.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Connecticut Post