Saving Seafood

Collins proposes reforms to support Maine lobster industry, protect whales

September 23, 2019 — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) proposed changes to federal reforms that would protect whales and support the Maine lobster industry.

Sen. Collins joined her congressional colleagues from Maine in jointly responding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) call for input to develop modifications to the proposed regulations developed by NOAA’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT).

In a letter sent on Tuesday to the NOAA TRT team, the delegation recommended measures that would help reduce right whale fatalities without threatening the lobster industry, including more Maine-specific gear markings, improved monitoring, support for the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ proposal to preserve the current regulatory exemptions line, and the state’s plan to improve data collection.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

Marine heat wave dubbed ‘Blob’ resurges in Pacific; mass deaths of sea life feared

September 23, 2019 — Across vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean extending from Hawaii north to the shores of Alaska, and southeast to near California, a new marine heat wave is underway.

This event is widely referred to as ‘‘The Blob Part Two,’’ or just another ‘‘Blob.’’ The first event, which took place from 2014 through 2016, earned that odd moniker based on its bold red appearance on maps of ocean surface temperatures.

The new incarnation already has caused coral bleaching in the Hawaiian islands and may be tied to strandings of marine mammals along the California coast. If it intensifies and seeps into deeper waters, this marine heat wave could favor another drought in California by altering the jet stream flowing across the Pacific.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Massachusetts meeting could have big consequences for US groundfish harvesters

September 23, 2019 — The financial well being of groundfish harvesters in the Northeastern US could be heavily influenced by a four-day meeting that kicks off in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Monday, the Gloucester Daily Times reports.

Wednesday is the key day, the newspaper advises. That’s when the meeting, held by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) at the Beauport Hotel, is expected to spend an entire afternoon focused on groundfish, including Amendment 23.

Passed by the NEFMC and approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Amendment 23 is to improve the accuracy of multispecies groundfish catch reporting data by setting industry-funded minimum coverages.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

UMaine Orono receives $1.6M grant for sustainable aquaculture

September 20, 2019 — The University of Maine at Orono received a $1.6 million grant to advance sustainable aquaculture in Maine.

According to a release from the university, Maine Sea Grant researchers at the University of Maine were granted the money from the NOAA National Sea Grant to lead four projects in collaboration with the aquaculture industry, management, and community partners.

“Thousands of Mainers rely on marine industries for their livelihoods, and aquaculture is a promising area for growth,” said U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King.

According to NOAA fisheries, the United States imports 85% of its seafood, which has resulted in a $14 billion trade deficit- leading to new opportunities in aquaculture to meet demands of seafood consumption.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Feds propose major habitat protections for killer whales

September 20, 2019 — U.S. protections for the waters that a group of endangered orcas call home could soon expand beyond the Seattle area to encompass much of the West Coast, from the Canadian border to central California.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a proposal Wednesday to increase the critical habitat designation for southern resident killer whales by more than sevenfold under the Endangered Species Act.

Just 73 orcas remain in the Pacific Northwest population, the lowest number in more than three decades. They’re struggling with a lack of chinook salmon, their preferred prey, as well as toxic contamination and vessel noise.

The NOAA proposal calls for an additional 15,626 square miles (40,471 square kilometers) of federally protected habitat that would run from the border with Canada, down south to Point Sur, California.

The designation means federal agencies must ensure that activities they pay for, permit or carry out do not harm the habitat, but it does not generally affect approved recreational or commercial activity such as whale watching and shipping, said Lynne Barre, NOAA Fisheries’ recovery coordinator for the whales.

Read the full story at The Associated Press

Council to review groundfish monitoring issues

September 20, 2019 — The New England Fishery Management Council will convene in Gloucester next week with an agenda that includes a groundfish monitoring measure that ultimately could determine the financial fate of the Northeast groundfish fleet.

The council is set to meet Monday through Thursday at the Beauport Hotel Gloucester. But for groundfishermen throughout the region, Wednesday is the key day.

The entire afternoon is set aside for discussing groundfish issues — including the current draft of Amendment 23, which when passed by the council and approved by NOAA Fisheries will set industry-funded monitoring coverages for the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery.

“We can’t stress enough how important it is for industry, for groundfishermen, to go to the meeting to hear what they might be facing down the road,” said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition. “Whatever is decided, they will have to pay for it eventually.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Dead whale found in LI waters was last seen caught in fishing line, NOAA says

September 20, 2019 — The North Atlantic right whale whose decomposed body was found floating in the waters off Fire Island earlier this week was seen alive last month caught up in fishing line, officials said.

Wounds likely inflicted by plastic rope confirmed he was the rare leviathan seen in the August video. Scientists had previously named him “Snake Eyes” for the twin eye-shaped scars on his head, said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at Anderson Cabot for Ocean Life at Boston’s New England Aquarium.

The fishing line that may have ended the whale’s life — after he had swum in the Atlantic for more than four decades — ran through his mouth and possibly anchored his tail to the sea bed, Hamilton said.

Read the full story at Newsday

New Proposal for Expanded Killer Whale Critical Habitat Reflects Latest Science

September 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Research over the past decade has confirmed that endangered Southern Resident killer whales are truly a West Coast species. They feed on salmon as far south as California. Now NOAA Fisheries is proposing to expand their critical habitat based on information about their coastal range and habitat use.

The proposal would extend critical habitat for the whales along a roughly 1,000-mile swath of West Coast waters between the depths of 6.1 meters (20 feet) and 200 meters (about 650 feet). It would stretch from Cape Flattery, Washington, south to Point Sur, California, just south of Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay. The additional area covers roughly 15,626 square miles, or more than 10 million acres.

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comments on the proposal.

Research documenting the Southern Residents’ use of coastal waters included collection of prey and fecal samples. Genetic analysis of the samples showed that while frequenting the West Coast the whales prey on salmon from as far south as California’s Central Valley and as far north as the Taku River in Alaska.

“We now know more clearly that that the whales rely on a diversity of salmon stocks from different rivers up and down the West Coast,” said Lynne Barre, recovery coordinator for the Southern Resident killer whales in NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “The critical habitat proposal takes that all into account.”

Read the full release here

Study Looks at Vulnerability of Eastern Bering Sea Fish, Crab, and Salmon Stocks to Climate Change

September 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA scientists and partners have released a Climate Vulnerability Assessment for groundfish, crabs, and salmon in the Eastern Bering Sea. They looked at the potential impacts of changing climate, ocean temperatures, and other environmental conditions on 36 groundfish, crab and salmon stocks. Of these, four rockfish stocks, flathead sole and Tanner crab were determined to be the most vulnerable. Several other fish stocks were seen as potentially more resilient. This is because they may be able to move to areas with more favorable environmental conditions, such as more food and optimum water temperatures for growth and survival.

“Alaska fisheries are really important—they contributed 58% of U.S. landings and 29% of U.S. ex-vessel value in 2016, with the majority of Alaska landings and value obtained from the Eastern Bering Sea shelf,” said Robert Foy, director, Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “In the past few years water temperatures have been much warmer than average making the need for studies like this all the more imperative. Our science both in the field and in the lab is critical to monitor ecosystem changes and provide short-term and long-term forecasts to help commercial, recreational and subsistence communities anticipate and respond to changes that impact their way of life.”

Thirty-four scientists assisted with this stock analysis. They considered the likelihood of exposure to climate change, and the sensitivity and adaptability if exposed.

Researchers used existing information on climate and ocean conditions, species distributions, and species growth and development. They estimated each stock’s overall vulnerability to climate-related changes in the region.

Read the full release here

Right whale found dead this week identified as potentially ‘one of the great fathers of the population’

September 19, 2019 — The North Atlantic right whale found dead this week off Long Island, N.Y., has been identified as a 40-plus-year-old male who had been seen this summer entangled in fishing gear in Canadian waters.

The whale, known to researchers as “Snake Eyes,” was last seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in August, after being seen there free of gear in July.

“This is his first sighting since the entanglement,” said Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Scientists at the New England Aquarium called the whale Snake Eyes because of two bright white scars on the front of his head “that look like a pair of eyes when he swam towards you,” they said Wednesday.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe