Saving Seafood

Engaging Anglers to Improve Catch and Release Practices and Restore Reef Fish in the Gulf

June 14, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Deepwater Horizon restoration partners at the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission selected three new partners to conduct studies on reef fish restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. They were chosen through a competitive process, and the awards total approximately $690,000.

These studies are contributing to a $30 million project to encourage anglers to use fish descending devices. These devices increase survival of reef fish experiencing barotrauma in the Gulf’s recreational fisheries approved by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustees.

Barotrauma is damage caused by the rapid expansion of gases in fish that are caught in deeper water and quickly brought up to the surface. As the gases expand, they can damage the eyes, stomach, and other parts of the fish. This makes it difficult for them to swim back down and survive once released. Descending devices help fish by quickly releasing them at their normal depth, reducing the number of reef fish that die from catch and release fishing.

Read the full release here

Regulators are using underwater drones to enforce lobster trap rules

June 14, 2021 — The enforcement of lobster trap rules far offshore is getting increased attention from state and federal regulators, who are turning to new technology to inspect gear for compliance with requirements that aim to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from deadly entanglements.

Michael Henry, a top fisheries enforcement officer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration here in the Northeast, said physically inspecting bulky gear out in federal waters dozens of miles off Maine can be a daunting and time-consuming task.

“It’s been a challenge for us for a long time to be able to effectively haul lobster gear offshore — just the environmental challenges, the safety challenges,” he said.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Fishing Report: US agencies take on wind farm fish surveys

June 14, 2021 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have joined forces to address fish survey challenges presented by offshore wind farms. The NOAA and fishermen have expressed concern about the ability to do fish surveys in wind farm lease areas.

The aim of this joint BOEM/NOAA program is to mitigate the impact of not doing surveys in areas that have traditionally been studied.

NOAA Fisheries’ scientific surveys are essential for setting quotas for commercial and recreational fishermen, as well as monitoring and assessment for recovery and conservation programs for protected species and essential fish habitats.

The program will address impacts from exclusion of NOAA Fisheries’ sampling platforms from the wind development area due to operational and safety limitations; impacts on the random-stratified statistical design that is the basis for scientific assessments, advice and analyses; as well as alteration of benthic and pelagic habitats and airspace in and around the wind energy development. A timeline for initial actions will be developed as part of the program.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

PACIFIC DAILY NEWS: US must hear out territories on coral critical habitat designation

June 14, 2021 — It’s important for the United States to protect endangered species and their habitats, but it’s also important for the federal government to talk to and work with states and territories before it makes far-reaching decisions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Services plans to impose coral critical habitat designation on Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The reason is that seven coral species, several of which are found in the waters of these territories, have been listed under the Endangered Species Act. The federal law requires the designation of critical habitat for listed species within the U.S., if “reasonable and prudent.”

Read the full opinion piece at the Pacific Daily News

Alaska pollock giant American Seafoods lands former top NOAA fisheries official

June 11, 2021 — Alaska pollock supplier American Seafoods has hired Chris Oliver, a former top administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as special advisor on government affairs in the company’s regulatory division.

Oliver has has a long career in fisheries. In 2017, he was designated by presidential appointment as Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at NOAA, where he was responsible for the management of commercial and recreational marine fisheries and protected species throughout the US Exclusive Economic Zone, which encompasses the Alaska pollock fishing grounds.

Oliver worked at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council — the government agency charged with managing the Alaska pollock fishery and setting its annual catch quotas– for more than 30 years, as a fisheries biologist, a deputy director, and finally as executive director for 16 years.

Read the full story at IntraFish

Comment on Proposed 2021-2023 Small-mesh Multispecies Specifications and Management Measures

June 11, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing the New England Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch specifications for the 2021-2023 small-mesh multispecies fishery. These proposed catch limits would increase annual quotas for southern whiting and both red hake stocks, and decrease the quota for northern silver hake. Specifications for fishing years 2022 and 2023 are projected to be the same as the proposed 2021 limits.

This proposed rule would also increase the possession limit for whiting (silver hake and offshore hake) on trips using gear with less than 3-inch mesh to 15,000 lb, and reset the in-season adjustment trigger for northern red hake to 90 percent of the annual quota from the current trigger of 37.9 percent to reduce regulatory discards.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today. The comment period is open through June 28. Submit your comments through the e-rulemaking portal.

Read the full release here

National Geographic adds 5th ocean to world map

June 11, 2021 — National Geographic announced Tuesday that it is officially recognizing the body of water surrounding the Antarctic as the Earth’s fifth ocean: the Southern Ocean.

The change marks the first time in over a century that the organization has redrawn the world’s oceanic maps, which have historically only included four: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans.

“The Southern Ocean has long been recognized by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognized it,” National Geographic Society geographer Alex Tait told the magazine.

“It’s sort of geographic nerdiness in some ways,” Tait said. “We’ve always labeled it, but we labeled it slightly differently [than other oceans]. This change was taking the last step and saying we want to recognize it because of its ecological separation.”

The Southern Ocean stretches from Antarctica’s coastline to 60 degrees south latitude, excluding the Drake Passage and the Scotia Sea, according to the National Geographic. The newest body of water makes it the second-smallest, after the Arctic.

Read the full story at NBC News

$210M federal award to fund UH research focused on how ecosystems are changing

June 10, 2021 — A small trap sits on the coral reef for four months, imprisoning tiny particles for environmental DNA analysis. These findings give researchers a snapshot in time of the microhabitats of our oceans, and in the long-term, a sense of how our ecosystems are changing.

This is just one of the many research projects developed by students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa through the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research — a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Last week, NOAA set plans to continue their 44-year-old partnership, awarding $210 million to the University of Hawaii — more than double the amount of previous funding. The money will go toward the next five years of research for NOAA’s new institute: the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research.

According to deputy director of NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Tia Brown, CIMAR “will help NOAA achieve our mission to better understand the ocean and atmosphere, which depends on all the research that we do … as well as the data and information to make sound decisions for healthy ecosystems, communities and a strong blue economy.”

In fiscal year 2022, CIMAR will continue the work of JIMAR while expanding to eight new research themes: ecological forecasting, ecosystem monitoring, ecosystem-based management, protection and restoration of resources, oceanographic monitoring and forecasting, climate science and impacts, air-sea interactions, and tsunamis and other long-period ocean waves.

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

Fishing Memories: Meet Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator

June 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In honor of National Fishing and Boating Week, Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, shares his fondness for recreational fishing.

What is your earliest fishing memory?

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, so fishing was all around me as a kid. My earliest fishing memory was entering a fishing contest when I was probably 6 years old. We fished in this little pond in Manasquan, New Jersey, and I won the contest for my age group. (Probably because I was the only kid who actually caught a fish.)

After we moved from Manasquan over to Point Pleasant, I spent a lot of time fishing at the Manasquan Inlet. My friends and I would ride our bikes to fish at the Point Pleasant Canal. With just a simple spoon, we could do pretty well fishing for bluefish, which I would bring home and my mom would grill up with tomatoes, lemon, and bacon. I also had a few crab traps and we’d ride our bikes down to the river beach, hop a fence, and catch a few blue crabs to bring home for dinner.

Learn more about his fishing memories in our web story.

NOAA Fisheries Offers More Ways to Receive News and Updates About the New Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program

June 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Regional Office continues to look for and offer ways to communicate news and updates related to the Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting program.  Fishermen may now sign up for three new fishery bulletins specific to where they fish.  These bulletins are designed for this program and all Southeast federal for-hire/charter boat permit holders.  They will contain important information not covered in the other bulletins you may already be receiving.

More Information on How to Sign-Up:

  • NOAA Fisheries has created three new fishery bulletin groups:
    • For-Hire Electronic Reporting General Interest Updates: information relevant to all program participants
    • For-Hire Electronic Reporting Gulf of Mexico Updates: information relevant to Gulf of Mexico program requirements only
    • For-Hire Electronic Reporting South Atlantic Updates: information relevant to South Atlantic program requirements only
    • You may sign up for one or all of the bulletin groups.

To sign up for these bulletins, go to: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNOAAFISHERIES/subscriber/new.

Once you are on the sign up page follow these directions:

  • Bulletins are listed under the Regional Updates subscription topic.
  • Under the Southeast Updates sub-topic, click the + sign to expand the list,
  • Check the boxes for the bulletins of interest,
  • Then click submit

NOAA Fisheries implemented the Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting program in January 2021.  This program is expected to provide more timely catch, effort, and discard information from federally-permitted for-hire vessels, be used in future fish population assessments, and inform management decisions.

Please call our customer service hotline with any questions (available Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:30, EST) at 1-833-707-1632 or email us at ser.electronicreporting@noaa.gov.

To access additional information, such as tool-kits and instructional videos, go to: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/recreational-fishing-data/southeast-hire-electronic-reporting-program.