Saving Seafood

Nantucket group protests draft authorization for Vineyard Wind

July 11, 2019 — A Nantucket group wants to delay a key permit needed by Vineyard Wind to construct its 84-turbine wind farm south of the Islands.

ACK Residents Against Turbines, a group of more than 100 citizens, claims that federal regulators favor offshore wind over commercial fishing and intend to allow serious harm to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

“This process is moving too fast, and everyone needs to slow down and make sure we aren’t creating problems for the North Atlantic right whale that can’t be reversed,” Vallorie Oliver of ACK Residents Against Turbines said Tuesday. “This particular animal is clearly struggling, yet it appears that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, in their rush to clear the path for Vineyard Wind, are forgetting their obligation to protect the whale.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Why are so many whales washing up on West Coast beaches?

July 9, 2019 — The past year and a half has been harrowing for the world’s largest mammals, as an unusual number of gray whales have stranded on West Coast beaches this year, following excessive whale entanglements in 2018.

Gray whales have been washing ashore with alarming regularity, particularly in the San Francisco area and the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors, but also at some beaches in San Diego.

On March 29, San Diego lifeguards found a 30-foot-long dead whale off the shore near Mission Beach, just a day after another whale carcass was towed away from the coast off Torrey Pines.

As of June 27, a total of 171 whales have stranded on West Coast beaches off North America, with 85 of those turning up on the U.S. coastline and 37 beaching in California alone. Since most whales that die either sink or float out to sea, the beached whales represent just about 10 percent of total mortalities.

Gray whale deaths hit a peak in May, and continued through June. With whale carcasses drifting on shore, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on May 31 declared an “unusual mortality event,” which triggers heightened investigation and response to the strandings.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

LOUISIANA: Federal lawmakers join together to seek help for state seafood industry

July 9, 2019 — Our area’s Federal lawmakers in Washington DC are urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to help Louisiana’s fishermen.

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) and U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Ralph Abraham (R-LA) and Mike Johnson (R-LA) collectively urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to begin the process of implementing a federal fisheries disaster declaration in because of the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway earlier this summer.

By opening the spillway, hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of fresh water are pouring into Lake Pontchartrain every second, which is impacting aquatic life that are vital to our state’s seafood industry.

If the commerce secretary makes a determination to declare a fishery disaster, based on a NOAA Fisheries evaluation, Congress will then be allowed to appropriate funds for fishery disaster relief.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser have also contacted Secretary Ross with the same request in recent weeks.

Read the full story at The Houma Times

Scientists studying effects of hatchery-raised salmon on wild salmon

July 9, 2019 — Tens of millions of salmon spawned and raised in hatcheries are released into waterways like the Columbia River every year.

The goal is to increase the numbers of the endangered fish. It is no doubt an important effort. But some wonder if this tinkering with Mother Nature could be harming wild salmon.

Scientists with NOAA Fisheries spent the first part of the summer along the Columbia River in Kalama and are hoping to answer that question.

They collected samples of juvenile chinook salmon. Some were wild, spawned in natural waterways. Others were spawned in hatcheries like Fallert Creek, just a few miles up the Kalama River.

In May, the hatchery released close to two million juvenile salmon into the area.

So, why are these scientists now scooping some of them up?

“With the input of all the hatchery fish coming in, we’re not quite sure where that leaves the wild stocks,” said Regan McNatte, a NOAA Research Fisheries biologist.

Simply put, they want to find out once and for all if the hatchery-raised fish are hurting the wild salmon in this area by competing too much with them for things like food and habitat.

Read the full story at KUTV

Diversifying New England’s Seafood Marketplace

July 8, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Many wild seafood species can be found in waters off the Northeast coast, but consumers don’t see that same variety at their local seafood market.

Supporting the sustainable harvest of seafood, knowing where food comes from and how to care for it, and providing access to affordable seafood are among the goals of a growing number of non-profit and community-based seafood programs.

In Warren, Rhode Island, the non-profit Eating with the Ecosystem’s mission “to promote a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood” brings together marine scientists and commercial fishermen, chefs, seafood businesses, and local seafood consumers in a system “that supports the region’s marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them.”

“Our work focuses on five anchors:  proximity, symmetry, adaptability, connectivity and community,” said Kate Masury, program director for Eating with the Ecosystem. “That means finding wild seafood from a marine ecosystem close by, balancing our diet with a variety of seafood, and trying new species that enter an ecosystem as that ecosystem changes. It also means stewardship, caring for our habitat, and learning where our seafood comes from.”

Restaurant chefs, fishermen and seafood supply businesses, and marine science researchers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are affiliated with the effort, including Mike Fogarty, John Manderson, Maria Vasta, and Sharon Benjamin from NOAA Fisheries. Benjamin and Vasta serve on the organization’s board, while Manderson and Fogarty are members of the advisory network.

Read the full release here

Groundfish managers to review catch share system

July 5, 2019 — In 2010, the New England groundfish fleet began fishing under a new catch share system when federal fishing regulators established the sector system that remains in place today in the Northeast Multispecies groundfish fishery.

Now, nine years after implementation, the New England Fishery Management Council is embarking on a review of the first six years of the commercial groundfish catch share system and is using a series of nine meetings in fishing ports from Maine to New York to elicit public comment.

One of those meetings is scheduled for Gloucester on July 25 at the Sawyer Free Library on Dale Avenue. The meeting is set to run from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

“Most of our fishermen in this fishery now fish in a sector, so we thought it would be a good time to review the program after having it in effect for a while,” said Janice Plante, spokeswoman for the council.

The review actually is mandated by NOAA Fisheries, though in a rather oblique manner. The agency said management councils should periodically review — “no less frequently than once every seven years” — catch share programs to evaluate whether they meet the objectives of the fishery management plan.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Immediate Action Needed to Save North Atlantic Right Whales

July 5, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whale species, with only about 400 whales remaining. The situation has become even more alarming with the recent discovery of six North Atlantic right whale deaths and one entanglement in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. Four deaths were mature females. With fewer than 95 breeding females left, protecting every individual is a top priority. Right whales cannot withstand continued losses of mature females—we have reached a critical point.

Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two greatest threats to these whales, and to make matters more complex, their habitat overlaps with commercially important areas. As right whales live and travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding grounds off the Canadian Maritimes and New England to the warm coastal waters off South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida, it is the responsibility of the governments of the United States and Canada as well as the fishing and shipping industries in both countries to ensure that these whales have a safe place to live, feed, and reproduce for their survival.

The United States has endeavored for many years to reduce the risks to North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships, and we continually refine our management measures to support recovery of this critically endangered population. In 2008, we adopted ship strike reduction measures that include seasonal speed restrictions near shipping lanes when right whales might be present. Since 1997, we have worked with stakeholders on the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to reduce the impacts of commercial fishing gear on right whales. We are currently expediting measures to reduce an additional 60 percent of serious injuries and lethal entanglement risks as recommended by our Take Reduction Team in April 2019.

Read the full release here

Six Right Whale Deaths In One Month: ‘Panicking Seems Appropriate’

July 3, 2019 — Five North Atlantic right whales have been found dead in the past week, and six in the last month. With just over 400 remaining and calving rates low, that’s a death toll the critically endangered population can’t afford.

“Panicking seems appropriate, yes,” said Peter Corkeron, who leads the large whale research program at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

The whales’ death toll is similar to that of the summer of 2017, when there was one death in early June, and then, later in the month, five deaths in the span of a week, all in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That summer went on to become catastrophic for the whales, with a total of 12 documented fatalities in Canadian waters and another six in U.S. waters.

There are notable differences, as well, though. In 2017, some whales were hit by ships, but many of the deaths were due to whales getting tangled in fishing gear. This year, ship strikes seem to be the primary problem.

Large numbers of North Atlantic right whales have been sighted in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent summers. Corkeron says that may be because of a subtle shift in where the animals are spending their time. Right whales have only started showing up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in significant numbers in the past few years, a change in their migration patterns that researchers attribute to climate change.

Read the full story at WGBH

NOAA Announces 2019 Recreational Measures for Summer Flounder

July 2, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For the summer flounder recreational fishery, we are continuing “conservation equivalency.” This means we waive the federal recreational bag limit, minimum fish size, and fishing season, and vessel owners are subject to regulations in the state where they land.

Please contact your state for information on summer flounder regulations that apply to you.

Note that black sea bass and scup recreational measures for 2019 are unchanged from 2018.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register today, and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.

Get Ready to Take LEAPS for Atlantic Salmon and Journey to the Rivers and Coasts of New England – with Agents of Discovery!

June 28, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

To celebrate the International Year of the Salmon, NOAA Fisheries has collaborated with the educational tech app, Agents of Discovery, to launch Sea-Run, GO!, a game that teaches youth and the young at heart about wild Atlantic salmon and other migratory fish that inhabit the rivers and coasts of New England.

Become a Special Agent

Similar to the popular Pokémon GO app, Agents of Discovery provides educational “missions” with unique geo-triggered “challenges,” where players learn on the go. On our Sea-Run, GO! “mission” players become special agents who investigate the world of wild Atlantic salmon and migratory fish.

Get Moving

Using a specially adapted curriculum, teachers and informal educators can use this educational app to bring Sea-Run, Go! to their classroom setting. Similar to other mobile games, Sea-Run, Go! gets students moving and learning. They discover facts about endangered fish, fish life cycles, local ecosystems, and learn how they can become active participants in endangered species conservation as they move around the classroom completing each challenge. To find out more about how to incorporate Sea-Run, Go! into your educational setting, check out the lesson plan.

Read the full release here