Saving Seafood

New Report Reveals Economic Impact of Recreational Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries

January 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In November, NOAA Fisheries released the findings of two studies on the economic impact of recreational fisheries targeting Atlantic highly migratory species. When combined with other NOAA Fisheries research, these reveal that HMS recreational fishing contributes an estimated $510 million to the U.S. economy each year.

Atlantic tunas, sharks, billfish, and swordfish—together known as HMS—are popular targets for anglers. In 2018, we issued more than 20,000 HMS angling permits to fishermen living across the country. There were also more than 200 tournaments targeting Atlantic HMS that year.

To understand how this robust industry impacts our national economy, we asked 1,806 anglers to break down their fishing trip expenses. We also collected cost and earnings information from 73 tournament operators and spoke with 104 tournament fishing teams. Both surveys were conducted in 2016.

Anglers reported spending an average of $682 for a day of fishing for Atlantic HMS outside a tournament. Daily expenses were highest in the Gulf of Mexico. We estimate they spent $300 more on average there than in New England. Regardless of where they fished, though, anglers say boat fuel was their largest expense. Bait costs came in as a distant second, followed closely by groceries.

Read the full release here

Marine Recreational Information Program Updates Implementation Plan

January 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Since the Marine Recreational Information Program’s inaugural implementation plan was published in 2008, annual reports have tracked its efforts to provide the high-quality recreational fishing statistics needed to assess and manage U.S. fish stocks. In 2020, the state-regional-federal partnership will prioritize the tactics that will help its partners implement the recreational fishing survey designs that meet their science and management needs, while providing national guidance around survey and estimation methods.

Program Accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2019

We advanced the use of electronic reporting in recreational fisheries data collection by adopting a tablet-based data collection program along the Atlantic coast, evaluating the uses and limitations of opt-in angler reporting apps, and co-hosting a workshop to explore the essential elements of an electronic logbook-based for-hire reporting program.

We supported the deliberate transition toward regional implementation by reviewing design alternatives to the Hawaii Marine Recreational Fishing Survey, certifying the design of Florida’s Gulf Reef Fish Survey, and publishing a process to facilitate the smooth implementation of new survey designs.

We increased stakeholder understanding of the program by participating in a multi-day Fishing Effort Survey workshop with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, increasing our involvement in regional fishing shows and Marine Resource Education Programs, and publishing a new program brochure.

We achieved transparency in program operations with the detailed documentation of current and former recreational fishing surveys, estimation methods, and internal operating procedures.

Read the full release here

Pink salmon disaster relief finally on the way

January 22, 2020 — It’s been a long time coming, but payments should soon be in hand for Alaska fishermen, processors and coastal communities hurt by the 2016 pink salmon run failure, the worst in 40 years. The funds are earmarked for Kodiak, Prince William Sound, Chignik, Lower Cook Inlet, South Alaska Peninsula, Southeast Alaska and Yakutat.

Congress okayed more than $56 million in federal relief in 2017, but the authorization to cut the money loose languished on NOAA desks in Washington, D.C., for more than two years.

The payouts got delayed again last October when salmon permit holders, who share the biggest chunk at nearly $32 million, were finally able to apply to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for their checks.

But when it was discovered that the way in which the payouts were calculated was badly flawed, the commission put on the brakes.

“There was a big snafu because a lot of the crew was under-reported by the skippers. So Pacific States said that until everything gets squared away, no one is going to get any checks,” said Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) who has been watchdogging the payouts since the pink fishery was declared a disaster.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

The “Why” of WHICEAS, the Winter Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey

January 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Cetacean researchers from the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center are embarking on a winter research cruise. It’s called the Winter Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (WHICEAS, pronounced “why-sees”). They will study cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and seabirds around the main Hawaiian Islands aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette from January to March. This is a time of year they haven’t previously studied.

This winter survey provides an opportunity to focus on baleen whales such as humpback whales that generally migrate into Hawaiian waters during that period. It will also allow us to examine changes in density of other species between winter and summer. We will use traditional cetacean survey methods such as visual observations and acoustic detections.

The Sette will traverse along a systematic survey grid, but will also deploy Drifting Acoustic Spar Buoy Recorders. These recorders are attached to hydrophones nearly 500 feet (150 meters) deep. These buoys passively drift with the currents and collect acoustic recordings. They provide more detailed records of cetaceans even after the ship has moved to other portions of the study area. The depth of the hydrophones improves our ability to detect beaked whales since they spend much of their time at depth. It also helps us detect the low frequency calls of baleen whales that are missed by our towed hydrophone array.

Read the full release here

NOAA finalizes TED rule for shrimp skimmer trawls

January 21, 2020 — Three years after it was proposed, NOAA has adopted a rule to expand sea turtle excluder requirements in the U.S. shrimp fishery – but has decided to spare about 80 percent of shallow water fishermen who could have been affected.

Turtle excluding devices, or TEDs, have been required for years on shrimp otter trawls, and the new rule will impose that on boats 40 feet and over pulling skimmer nets.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source

NOAA’s Laurel Bryant: US seafood industry, regulators should be proud of achieving “gold standard”

January 21, 2020 — Laurel Bryant, the chief of external affairs in NOAA Fisheries’ Communications Office, retired at the end of 2019.

In 1989, Laurel Bryant began her career working for the United States House of Representatives Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, the predecessor to the House Natural Resources Committee. By 1994, she joined the National Marine Fisheries Service where among other positions, she served as the executive director to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, and launched a number of key initiatives to provide more timely information about agency science and stewardship mission, including the weekly electronic newsletter FishNews, and the seafood web interface FishWatch. As chief of external affairs, Bryant focused on building strategic partnerships for the agency to strengthen communications with a broader spectrum of stakeholders involved with the seafood supply chain and coastal fishing communities, and building greater familiarity and public support for U.S. responsibly managed fisheries and seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood industry awaits details before celebrating ‘phase one’ US-China deal

January 17, 2020 — The US and China may have reached the interim trade agreement that loosely promises to commit China to purchasing more US seafood products, but the seafood industry is keeping its party hats and noisemakers in the drawer.

In a ceremony held Wednesday at the White House, US president Donald Trump and China vice premier Liu He signed the so-called “phase one” trade deal that has been described as hitting the pause button on a two-year trade war that has devastated the US agriculture and seafood industries.

The deal, which is expected to take effect in mid-February and spelled out in an 86-page document, commits China to buying $200 billion worth of additional US products, goods and services over the next two years, reducing the US’ bilateral trade deficit in goods, which hit $420 billion in 2018. It removes planned US tariffs on Chinese cellphones, toys and laptops, as well as halving the existing tariffs on approximately $120bn worth of Chinese goods, the Financial Times recounts.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

MAINE: Rising seas could require $4.8 million in retrofits in Rockland alone, study estimates

January 16, 2020 — The cost for Rockland to protect its waterfront properties near Harbor and Buoy Parks from rising seas will cost more than $4.8 million, a study says.

These estimates do not include the cost to prepare other municipal shorefront properties or private property in Rockland.

These are the findings of a report commissioned last year by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The city received the report this month.

The study looked at single sites in 10 communities along Penobscot Bay.

The Maine Coastal Program, part of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, received a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct the study in Rockland, Camden, South Thomaston, Lincolnville, Belfast, Searsport, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Castine and Stonington.

For Rockland, the report – developed by Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. of Portland – focused on the middle pier next to Buoy Park, the harbor master’s building at Harbor Park, the sewage treatment pump station at Buoy Park, and the Maine Lobster Festival’s lobster cooker.

Read the full story from The Courier-Gazette at The Portland Press Herald

Investigating the Effects of Ocean Acidification on Atlantic Sea Scallops

January 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On a gray December day, students, faculty, and NOAA scientists packed Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s aquaculture lab. They worked shoulder to shoulder to answer high-stakes questions. The eight-week experiment, led by NOAA research chemist Shannon Meseck, was the first to directly measure the response of juvenile Atlantic sea scallops to ocean acidification.

Modeling studies have projected the effects of ocean acidification on the sea scallop fishery, but these analyses depended on data collected from other shellfish species. “Research is beginning to show that shellfish have species-dependent responses to ocean acidification. This experiment will give more definitive results that can be used to determine the effects on the fishery,” explained research chemist Matt Poach.

Partnering with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy

The project required coordination between NOAA’s Milford Lab and the Academy, including many trips shuttling people, samples, and algal cultures between Cape Cod and Connecticut. Students at the Academy—called cadets—cared for the animals, grew algae to supplement their diet, and took frequent water samples.

While the research team conducted similar experiments on surfclams and oysters at the Milford Lab, raising sea scallops requires cooler temperatures and oceanic, rather than estuarine, conditions.

“The location of the Academy on Buzzards Bay was ideal for sea scallop experiments because of the availability of pumped, unfiltered seawater in the right temperature and salinity range,” noted Milford Lab Director Gary Wikfors.

Research chemist George Sennefelder and technician Dylan Redman built two ocean acidification exposure systems at the Milford Lab. They also designed and built a smaller system to fit the Academy’s aquaculture lab.

The lab sits by the dock, in the shadow of the training vessel TS Kennedy. “The Aquaculture and Marine Sciences Laboratory is a surprisingly adaptable space for hard science,” observed Professor William Hubbard, who headed up the partnership for the Academy. “Seawater, electricity, aging pipes, and New England weather challenge the lab, but NOAA easily installed their customized system and it runs well.”

Read the full release here

Growing body of evidence makes case for offshore mussel farming

January 16, 2020 — Calling it “an opportunity too good to ignore,” NOAA scientists are giving a thumbs-up to offshore mussel farming in the Northeast United States based on new research and a trove of data. The news signals a step forward on how to chip away at the $15 billion US seafood trade deficit.

Serial entrepreneur Phil Cruver claimed “first mover” status in the space in 2012 when he founded the 100-acre Catalina Sea Ranch off Long Beach, California. Despite waves of publicity since, regulatory and funding concerns have given entrepreneurs the jitters such that only research trial farms have followed.

But this new strong scientific basis for offshore mussel farming could be the first step in changing all that.

The researchers at the Milford Laboratory, part of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, have authored a series of papers—including one yet-to-be-published—that give prospective aquaculture entrepreneurs “fundamental knowledge” for farm planning, as well as a broad overview of environmental, economic, and social issues.

Read the full story at Aquaculture North America