Saving Seafood

NOAA to Require Commercial Reef Fish Harvesters to Give Advance Notice of Landings

June 14, 2018 — The following was released by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council:

NOAA Fisheries announces new measures affecting commercial reef fish fishermen. The purpose of this action is to improve compliance and increase management flexibility in the Gulf of Mexico individual fishing quota (IFQ) programs.

WHAT THIS MEANS:

  • All owners or operators of a commercial reef fish permitted vessel landing any commercially caught, federally managed reef fish from the Gulf of Mexico will be required to provide an advance notice of landing at least 3 hours, but no more than 24 hours, prior to landing. This applies even if the reef fish landed are not part of the IFQ program. Landing must occur at approved landings locations.
  • Any shares contained in IFQ accounts that have never been activated since January 1, 2010 will be returned permanently to NOAA Fisheries.
  • If needed, NOAA Fisheries will be allowed to withhold the distribution of IFQ allocation equal to the amount of an expected commercial quota reduction on January 1, the beginning of the fishing year, but will distribute that allocation if the expected reduction does not take place by June 1 of that year.

WHEN THIS RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

  • The actions to return non-activated shares and withhold quota in the event of an anticipated quota decrease will be effective July 12, 2018.
  • The advance notice of landing requirement will be effective January 1, 2019.

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER:

83 FR 27927, published June 12, 2018

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Why are landing notifications being required for all commercial trips landing reef fish species, not just IFQ species?

  • One issue identified in a 5-year review of the red snapper IFQ program was additional enforcement efforts are needed to deter violations in the program.
  • Extending the landing notification requirement to all commercial reef fish trips should help to deter fishermen from illegally landing IFQ species or reporting IFQ species as another species (e.g., red snapper reported as vermilion snapper).
  • With this requirement, law enforcement and port agents can be alerted in advance of all reef fish trips returning to port and can meet vessels to inspect landings.

What information needs to be in the landing notification?

  • The landing notification must provide the vessel identifier (name and official vessel registration), date and time of expected landing, expected landing location, and certification that there are no IFQ species on board the vessel.
  • Landing locations must be on NOAA Fisheries’ pre-approved landing location list.
  • This does not change the landing notification required by the IFQ program.

When and how are landing notifications made?

  • Landing notifications can be made through the vessel monitoring system (VMS) required for federally permitted commercial reef fish vessels.
  • Notifications can be submitted by other NMFS-approved methods in the future (e.g., by phone) if they are developed.
  • Landing notifications need to be made at least 3 hours, but no more than 24 hours, prior to landing.

What are the landing notification time requirements?

  • A vessel can land anytime during the day and night, provided that a landing notification has been given between 3 to 24 hours prior to landing.
  • A vessel must landwithin 1 hour after the arrival time given in the landing notification. If a vessel is going to be more than 1 hour after the arrival time, a new notification with an updated arrival time must be submitted. The captain is not required to wait an additional 3 hours if only one superseding landing notification has been submitted for the trip.
  • Vessels are allowed to land prior to the 3-hour landing notification time of arrival if an authorized officer is present, is available to meet the vessel at the landing site, and authorizes the owner or operator of the vessel to land early.
  • Fishers only need to notify law enforcement in advance of landing, not offloading.

How do I find out if my landing location is pre-approved and what do I need to do to get a landing location approved?

  • A list of currently approved landing locations and a map can be foundhere (select view landings locations).
  • If your landing location is on this list, you do not need to submit a new one.
  • If your landing location is not on the list, then you must submit a new landing location.
    • Landing locations must be submitted by mailing a form to  263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701.
  • The landing location must contain a contact name and phone number, a location name, and the location’s street address, unless there is no street address on record.  If a particular landing location has no street address on record, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates for an identifiable geographic location must be provided in decimal degrees.
  • Landing locations must be publicly accessible by land and water.  No conditions may impede free and immediate access to the site by an authorized law enforcement officer or port agent.  Examples of which include, but are not limited to:  A locked gate, fence, wall, or other barrier preventing 24-hour access to the site; a gated community entry point; a guard animal; a posted sign restricting access to the site; or any other physical deterrent.  Other criteria may also be used by the Office of Law Enforcement when approving locations.
  • New landing locations will be approved only at the end of each calendar-year quarter.  To have a landing location approved by the end of the calendar-year quarter, it must be submitted at least 45 days before the end of the calendar-year quarter.  Quarters end on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.

Why must pre-approved landing locations be used?

  • Landing locations must be approved in advance to ensure the sites actually exist and law enforcement agents can access these sites.  The landing notification requirement is intended to provide law enforcement officers the opportunity to be present at the point of landing so they can monitor and enforce IFQ requirements dockside.
  • Landing locations are approved by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement.

Which IFQ share accounts are being returned to NOAA Fisheries?

  • Shares in accounts that have never been activated since January 1, 2010, will permanently be returned to NOAA Fisheries on July 12, 2018.
  • The amount of shares in accounts that have not been activated since January 1, 2010, is small.
  • Because all the share accounts have not been activated, this means that not all the allocation is being harvested and the entire commercial quota cannot be caught.
  • The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council intends to redistribute these shares to IFQ program participants through a mechanism determined in Amendment 36B to the to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico, which is currently under development.

Why does NOAA Fisheries need to hold back some of the quota?

  • Sometimes a quota needs to be reduced quickly to address overfishing (too many fish being caught), or a change in status is detected through a recent scientific assessment of the population.
  • Under the IFQ programs, annual allocation is distributed to IFQ shareholders on January 1, and most IFQ program participants begin to use or transfer their allocation early in the year.
  • After shareholders begin transferring or landing allocation, it would not be possible to go back and withdraw allocation from shareholder accounts if a quota decrease became effective afterJanuary 1.
  • This action allows NOAA Fisheries to anticipate a decrease in the quota of any IFQ species or multi-species share categories after the start of a year and distribute a portion of the annual allocation to shareholders on January 1.

What if NOAA Fisheries is not able to reduce the quota in a timely fashion?

  • NOAA Fisheries understands that fishermen need time to plan to fish or transfer IFQ allocation.
  • If the quota decrease cannot be completed by June 1, then the withheld quota will be distributed back to IFQ participants that hold shares for the given share category at the time of distribution.
  • If the quota decrease is not effective by June 1, the distribution of allocation for the next year will be based on the reduced quota.

Read the full release at the Fishing Wire

Fishing for White, Brown, and Pink Shrimp is Open Off South Carolina in Federal Waters

June 14, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

WHAT/WHEN:

  • Federal waters adjacent to South Carolina state waters are open to fishing for white, brown, and pink shrimp as of 4:15 p.m., local time, June 13, 2018.
  • South Carolina state waters remain closed until the state determines an appropriate reopening date.  
WHY THIS REOPENING IS HAPPENING:
  • South Carolina closed its state waters to all shrimping on January 10, 2018, due to a prolonged period of water temperatures at or below 9°C in the region.
  • South Carolina requested NOAA Fisheries close federal waters off South Carolina to shrimping. The federal closure was effective January 17, 2018.
  • The purpose of the closure was to protect the white shrimp spawning population.
  • Observations of mature white shrimp, as well as evidence of recent and current spawning, provided by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, suggest the federal waters should be reopened off South Carolina to allow for harvest.
  • South Carolina officials will continue to monitor the white shrimp population to determine when it is appropriate to allow shrimp fishing to resume in state waters.
This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register.

NOAA eyes expanding reporting rules for lobstermen

June 14, 2018 — Federal fishing managers are asking for comments about potential changes to the way the U.S.’s lucrative lobster fishing industry is monitored.

The American lobster fishery is based in New England and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is looking to craft new rules about the way fishermen report their catch.

The NOAA is considering a recommendation to require all federal lobster permit holders to report on catches for each fishing trip. It’s also looking at expanding its own offshore sampling program.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com

NOAA law enforcement researches sexual harassment, assault among fisheries observers

June 13, 2018 — National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s office of law enforcement officials presented a report about sexual harassment of observers to a meeting of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council in Kodiak.

The report shared preliminary data from an ongoing survey and although the sample size is small, just 21 women and 31 men responded from the 2016 cohort and 21 females and 26 males from the 2017 cohort, the survey reveals stark differences between the experiences of female and male observers.

Jaclyn Smith, a special agent for the NOAA office of law enforcement in Anchorage, presented some of the data compiled through an anonymous survey sent out to observers deployed in Alaska in 2016 and 2017.

About 400 observers are employed in Alaska in any given year.

“There were 20 questions that were asked about either safety or harassment. I phrased it in ways that didn’t come up with conclusions,” Smith said. “I didn’t ask them if they were sexually harassed rather I asked them  if they ever received unwanted, unwelcome comments of a sexual nature or I asked them if they ever feared for their physical safety.”

North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Fisheries observers are expected to accurately record sampling data, write reports, make observations of violations and report suspected violations.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

NOAA awards USD 50 million Northeast Fisheries Observer Contract to AIS Inc.

June 12, 2018 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on 11 June that Marion, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based AIS Inc. has been awarded a five-year, USD 50 million (EUR 42.4 million) contract to provide fisheries observers for federal monitoring programs.

The contract will cover an area on the U.S. East Coast from Maine to North Carolina. AIS previously held the same contract from 2002 to 2012, and supported the contract beginning in 2016.

“We’ve been actually doing the Northeast section of the contract since October 2016,” AIS Senior Vice-President Rick Usher said.

Fisheries observers work on-board vessels alongside fishermen during trips. They collect information on catch, both kept and discarded, as well as biological data and information on gear and fishing operations over a range of commercial fisheries.

“These data are used extensively by researchers and fishery managers to better understand the condition of fishery stocks, fishing businesses, and fishing operations,”  NOAA wrote in a release announcing the contract.

Typically, the observers are provided with living quarters, food, and amenities comparable to crew on board the ship as they observe the operation to collect unbiased data.

“Good data prevent overregulation and ensure the sustainability of our fisheries and the observation of protected species populations,” NOAA said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Commercial Closure for Gray Triggerfish in South Atlantic Federal Waters on June 13, 2018

June 11, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of gray triggerfish in South Atlantic federal waters will close at 12:01 A.M., LOCAL TIME, ON JUNE 13, 2018. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of gray triggerfish in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational sector is open.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

* The 2018 January through June commercial catch limit is 156,162 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the January through June commercial catch limit on JUNE 13, 2018. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

AFTER THE CLOSURE:

* The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper.

* The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for gray triggerfish does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 A.M., LOCAL TIME, ON JUNE 13, 2018, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

* The commercial gray triggerfish July through December fishing season in the South Atlantic will open on July 1, 2018, with a catch limit of 156,162 pounds whole weight.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register.

The ‘dark fleet’: Global Fishing Watch shines a light on illegal catches

June 11, 2018 — New data is being used to expose fleets of previously unmonitored fishing vessels on the high seas, in what campaigners hope will lead to the eradication of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

Global Fishing Watch (GFW) has turned low light imaging data collected by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) into the first publicly available real-time map showing the location and identity of thousands of vessels operating at night in waters that lie beyond national jurisdiction.

More than 85% of the “dark fleet” detections include smaller vessels that are not fitted with transponders and larger ones that have switched off their tracking systems to avoid detection, according to GFW, which launched the map on Friday to mark World Oceans Day.

The data, collected by the NOAA’s visible infrared imaging radiometer suite, is being used to track a fleet of about 200 mostly Chinese vessels at the edge of Peru’s economic exclusion zone.

The monitoring, conducted by GFW, a non-profit organisation campaigning for greater transparency in the fishing industry, and the conservation group Oceana, reveals that about 20% of the Chinese vessels are not broadcasting via automatic tracking systems, raising suspicions they are operating illegally.

The report on the high seas activity coincides with the launch by GFW of the first ever real-time view of transshipment, which enables fishing boats to transfer their catch to refrigerated cargo vessels and remain at sea for months, or even years, at a time but still get their catch to the market.

Read the full story at The Guardian

New Lobbying Group Formed by East Coast Fishing Industry to Address Wind Power Concerns

June 11, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A new lobbying group, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, has been formed by the East Coast Fishing industry to represent seafood interests in discussions and permitting around offshore wind development.

One of the criticisms by the industry of offshore development of wind power was that with a localized permitting process, there was no way for the overall fisheries impact of multiple projects to be recognized.

“The current, splintered approaches to engaging fishing communities in the offshore wind leasing process are ineffective and inefficient, and the result is that critical fishing industry expertise is not being considered,” said Anne Hawkins, legal and scientific counsel for RODA. “Fisheries need a unified effort to ensure they get the best possible offshore outcomes.”

Hawkins is a lawyer with Kelly Drye, the firm that has long represented scallopers and other fishing interests in New Bedford and elsewhere along the East Coast.

One of RODA’s first priorities is exploring partnerships with NOAA and the Atlantic states to develop collaborative scientific research. This research would address the lack of peer-reviewed information on the effects of offshore development to fisheries and fish populations. It would also be used to inform offshore developers and regulators in planning sites, awarding leases, designing operations plans, and developing mitigation strategies.

Another principal in the effort is Robert Vanasse, communications and media advisor to RODA. Vanasse founded Saving Seafood, and also works on other East Coast fisheries issues such as Omega Protein’s menhaden fishery.

“The industry needs to speak as one,” said Vanasse. “The offshore wind energy industry, and regulators at the federal, state, and local levels need to hear clearly the concerns of participants in our domestic fisheries.  We will work to foster the productive dialogue among those parties that is urgently needed and sorely lacking.

Specifically, RODA will coordinate engagement between offshore development and affected fisheries to guide the planning of future offshore development sites, and to implement effective operations and mitigation programs for existing sites. By creating a united effort from fishing communities, RODA will facilitate more informed development of shared offshore resources.

This article originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

NFI’s Connelly: NOAA’s silence giving rise in US to third-party certifiers

June 11, 2018 — John Connelly, the president of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), used his opportunity in front of US representative Rob Bishop, chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee, to light a fire under the federal government’s top fisheries regulator to better promote its quality work.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) “regulation of seafood sets a global standard for success, but it needs to do a better job of explaining that”, said Connelly, whose group most significantly represents seafood processors, wholesalers and importers, according to a statement.

“…Communicating about its successes raises NOAA’s profile, while a sea of third-party certifiers jockey for recognition in the commercial landscape,” he continued.

“Fisheries managed by NOAA shouldn’t need a third party to come in and certify that they’re doing a good job. We spend more than 800 million taxpayer dollars on fisheries management annually, the least NOAA can do is talk about it.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

HAWAII: Sleuthing leads to new findings about opah

June 8, 2018 — The fish buyer noticed something different about the large, colorful, disc-shaped opah waiting to be sold at the auction house in Honolulu. Among the differences: One fish had a bigger eye than the other.

His curiosity set in motion DNA testing and more sleuthing that led to the identification of three new species of opah — a peculiar deep-diving fish recently found to be the first fully warmblooded fish.

“The more we looked, the more differences we could pull out,” said Karen Underkoffler, lead author of a recently published paper in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa that describes the anatomical characteristics of the different species of opah, including one marked by its big eyes and a purple tongue.

In all, the team of scientists with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries identified five distinct species of opah, revealing that there isn’t a single global species. Three are newly identified, one was already named and researchers better identified another that had been previously described.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Honolulu Star Advertiser