Saving Seafood

Recreational fishers want Louisiana’s biggest commercial fishery to back off nearshore waters

June 7, 2021 — A small silver fish was the topic of a nearly three hour discussion among fishers, environmental advocates and lawmakers at the Louisiana Capitol this week. At issue was House Bill 535, which would not allow menhaden fishing within a quarter mile of Louisiana’s shore.

Menhaden, also called pogies, are small bait fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico to be sold as animal feed, fish oil and bait. It’s the largest commercial fishery in the state by volume. More than 1.1 billion pounds of menhaden were netted in Gulf waters in 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But recreational fishers say that the boats used to catch the fish are coming too close to shore, and red drum and speckled trout are getting caught in their nets. Rep. Joseph Orgeron (R-Larose) introduced the bill at a Louisiana Senate Committee on Natural Resources meeting Wednesday. He said the legislation keeping menhaden fishers at least a quarter mile from shore was an attempt to compromise between pogie fishers, who want to continue to be able to fish closer to shore, and recreational fishers, who want to push the pogie boats a mile offshore.

Menhaden companies in Louisiana said that about 18% of the fish they catch are within a half mile of the coast. Orgeron’s bill initially proposed a buffer zone similar to Texas, but an amendment added to HB 535 during the committee hearing cut the buffer zone down from a half mile from shore to a quarter mile from shore. Still, companies said they would spend more time and money on fuel trying to catch fish further offshore.

The pogie industry has already shrunk because of economic difficulties, said Ben Landry, the director of public affairs for Omega Protein, one of three menhaden processors in the state. “It’s a little disingenuous to hear, ‘Well, they can just go someplace else and catch those fish, or it won’t hurt them,’” he said. Making up the 18% of catch caught in nearshore waters would be “awfully difficult,” he said.

While discussing the bill Orgeron said that a quarter mile buffer zone equates to 1,300 feet, about the distance from the state Capitol to the Mississippi River levee. Landry said that might seem like a small area. “But if I were looking for legislators this is where I’d go,” he said. “This is where menhaden are.”

Read the full story at the Louisiana Illuminator

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Input on Proposal to Close Commercial Salmon Fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Council recommended measure responds to court ruling requiring Federal management of EEZ waters in Cook Inlet

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comments on a proposal to amend the Fishery Management Plan for the Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska (Salmon FMP) to prohibit commercial salmon fishing in federal waters, also called the exclusive economic zone or EEZ, in Cook Inlet. The proposed action would not close any salmon fishing in State of Alaska waters.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council first developed the Salmon FMP under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act more than 40 years ago. The current Salmon FMP excludes designated federal waters in Cook Inlet. That has allowed the State of Alaska to manage commercial salmon fishing in the area.

Read more.

Read the full release here

North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization Meeting Concludes: West Greenland Measures Disappointing

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On Friday, June 4, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) concluded its 38th Annual Meeting (held virtually). NASCO is an intergovernmental organization formed to promote the conservation, restoration, enhancement, and rational management of wild Atlantic salmon stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean. NASCO’s members are Canada, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) (DFG), the European Union, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Representatives from a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also attended the meeting.

Participants discussed a number of matters critical to Atlantic salmon conservation and management, including a new regulatory measure for the mixed stock fishery that occurs off West Greenland. This fishery, which operates against the scientific advice, takes critically endangered U.S. origin salmon. As such, our highest priority during the meeting was to agree to a regulatory measure that reduced the catch in the fishery to the lowest possible level and ensured effective management and control.

While a new interim regulatory measure was adopted for the fishery off West Greenland, the United States is deeply concerned about many of its key provisions. In order to avoid allowing the fishery to operate outside of any international constraints, we stopped short of blocking consensus on this one-year measure. However, we expressed our extreme displeasure with several provisions including a 27 ton Total Allowable Catch (TAC), the failure to implement the required 10 ton reduction in the 2021 TAC to account for overharvest in 2020, and the lack of an overharvest payback provision applicable to any future overharvests. The European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom largely shared the U.S. concerns about the new regulatory measure. All indicated that the catch level was too high, especially without a requirement to ensure any overharvest of the TAC would be addressed. DFG, however, was not willing to change its position on the size of total TAC or the inclusion of the overharvest payback provision.

The new measure will maintain the prohibition on factory landings and exports of Atlantic salmon from Greenland, and require DFG to continue to implement previously agreed monitoring, control, and reporting measures. The new regulatory measure will apply to the fishery off West Greenland in 2021 only, and Parties agreed that they would meet before the 2022 NASCO annual meeting to continue discussions on the development of a longer-term measure. The United States looks forward to these discussions and to the adoption of a stronger measure at the 2022 NASCO annual meeting.

Visit our web page to read the Closing Statement from the U.S. Head of Delegation to NASCO, Kim Damon-Randall, Deputy Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Limited Openings of Recreational and Commercial Red Snapper Seasons in South Atlantic Federal Waters

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What/When:

Each year, NOAA Fisheries announces the season opening dates for red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic, in addition to the recreational season length.  For the 2021 season:

  • The recreational sector will open for harvest on the following 3 days:
    • July 9, 10, and 11, 2021 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) – The recreational season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 9, 2021, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 12, 2021.
  • The commercial sector will open for harvest at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 12, 2021, and will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022, unless the commercial annual catch limit is met or projected to be met before this date.
    • If the commercial sector closes before 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2022, NOAA Fisheries will announce it in the Federal Register and publish another Fishery Bulletin.

During the Limited Open Seasons:

  • The total annual catch limit is 42,510 fish.
  • The recreational annual catch limit is 29,656 fish.
    • The recreational bag limit is one red snapper per person per day. This applies to private and charterboat/headboat vessels (the captain and crew on for-hire vessels may retain the recreational bag limit).
  • The commercial annual catch limit is 124,815 pounds whole weight (12,854 fish).
    • The commercial trip limit is 75 pounds gutted weight.
  • There is no minimum or maximum size limits for the recreational or commercial sectors.

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: Museum To Host Conversation On Woods Hole Fisheries’ 150th Anniversary

June 4, 2021 — “Celebrating 150 Years of Science at the Woods Hole Fisheries Lab” will be the topic of Woods Hole Historical Museum’s online Conversation on Wednesday, June 9, at 7 PM with Jon Hare, science and research director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, founded as the U. Commission of Fish and Fisheries in 1871, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The Woods Hole Laboratory is the nation’s first marine research station, and is the founding laboratory of NOAA Fisheries, formally called the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Jon Hare has been the science and research director of the Woods Hole Fisheries since October 2016. He oversees science activities related to the Fisheries mission in the northeast region, including fisheries, aquaculture, protected species, habitat, and ecosystem science. He received a PhD in coastal oceanography from State University of New York Stony Brook. He was awarded a National Research Council Research Associateship in 1994 to work at NOAA’s Beaufort Laboratory and was hired by the agency in 1997.

Read the full story at The Enterprise

NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to the Cellular Electronic Logbook Program for Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Moratorium Permit Holders

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries is working to improve the quality of information available for the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery.  This bulletin provides federal shrimp permit holders with an overview of the new changes occurring with the Cellular Electronic Logbook Program.

Having appropriate and current data enables the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries to carry out responsive and timely fisheries management.  Since the implementation of the shrimp permit moratorium in 2007, NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center continues the required data collections through fishing regulations.

What is New to the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Permit (SPGM) Cellular Electronic Logbook (cELB) Program:

  • In November 2020, NOAA Fisheries sent a letter to Cellular Electronic Logbook Program participants that 3G cellular technology would no longer be available as of December 31, 2020.  This notification also asked participants to continue to power up the devices onboard the vessel when fishing.  The transmission of those data would no longer be sent via cellular technology; however, the devices would continue to collect data until NOAA Fisheries was able to retrieve the data manually.  Note that participants are still required to power up the devices while fishing.
  • Within the next few weeks, NOAA Fisheries will be providing SD card replacements to each Program participant currently assigned a device onboard the vessel associated with the selected Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Permit.
  • Selected participants will receive a letter with the enclosed step-by-step instructional guide, a new SD card to be swapped on the Cellular Electronic Logbook device, and a pre-paid envelope to return the previously used SD card back to the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center for data analysis.

While NOAA Fisheries explores options for the replacement of the current 3G units, we will continue to send, and ask you to install replacement SD cards.  The swap of SD cards allows the permit holder the ability to comply with the SPGM reporting requirement associated with this program.  The information collected from the SD card returned to NOAA Fisheries will allow us to determine whether your unit is working properly or if you may need a new antenna or unit.

Thank you for your past and future cooperation with these data collection efforts.  The information is critical for more responsive and timely management of the fishery.  All individual information provided is confidential.  These data collections are mandated by the final rule to implement actions in Amendment 13 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico

NOAA Fisheries Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Account Set-Up and Reporting

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Key Message:

This is a reminder: fishermen with Federal Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic/Atlantic For-Hire charter/headboat permits are required to comply with the Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting program.  Fishermen with these permits are required to create an account and begin reporting electronically through one of the approved reporting applications.

More Information:

Fishermen with Gulf of Mexico reef fish or Gulf of Mexico coastal migratory pelagic Federal charter/headboat permits are required to:

  • Submit an electronic declaration each time the vessel leaves the dock
  • Report logbooks electronically at the end of each trip before offloading any catch

Gulf of Mexico Federal charter/headboat holders will be required to have an active position reporting unit always transmitting the vessel’s location. The effective date for this will be announced in the future, with an anticipated start date for the end of 2021.

Fishermen with South Atlantic snapper-grouper, Atlantic coastal migratory pelagic, or Atlantic dolphin wahoo Federal charter/headboat permits are required to submit an electronic fishing report weekly (on Tuesday) following a fishing week.  For those weeks with no fishing activity, South Atlantic/Atlantic Federal charter/headboat permit holders are required to submit no fishing reports.

Accurate and timely reporting of logbooks is a requirement for maintaining and renewing your Federal charter vessel/headboat permits.

Please refer to the toolkit mailed in early December 2020 for information on the program and how to set up your account. You may also find information on the program requirements, electronic copies of the toolkit, and account set up on our website:  https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/recreational-fishing-data/southeast-hire-electronic-reporting-program

If you have any questions or if you have not received a toolkit, please contact the Southeast Electronic Reporting Customer Service line at (833)707-1632 or send an email to SER.electronicreporting@noaa.gov.

Meet Réka Domokos, Research Oceanographer

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What is your key responsibility?  

I am part of the Ecosystem Sciences Division at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. I work in the Pelagic Research Program, tackling a lot of questions in the pelagic realm. Part of my work is with the Bigeye Initiative, which focuses on learning all we can about bigeye tuna so that we can predict how the environment affects bigeye tuna and how the fishery will do in the future with natural variability and climate change. This species is the most economically important commercial fish for the deep-set longline fishery here in Hawai‘i. There are five focus areas  in the initiative. I am the lead on the bigeye habitat module within the habitat and human dimensions focus. We look at what habitat they use, the ecosystem they are part of, how the environment is affecting tuna, and the oceanographic drivers of the movement and distribution of the fish. I am also the lead for a Center-wide sampling plan that incorporates everything we do in situ within the pelagic region. I am designing our in-situ sampling strategy for the next 5–15 years. I am also the active acoustician, investigating distribution, movement patterns, and abundance of organisms. In my personal research, I am currently looking at the effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on the equatorial Pacific tuna fisheries. I am also doing research that uses active acoustics to understand how the environment affects micronketon, which is prey for most of the economically important top predators, including bigeye tuna, as well as protected species.

Where did you grow up?  

I grew up in Budapest, Hungary.

What is your educational background?  

I used to work as a professional photographer and videographer back in Hungary. When I came to the United States, I was already interested in ethology (the study of animal behavior) and the ocean and decided to go back to school. I earned my undergraduate degree in coral reef fish behavior at UC Berkeley. Then, I came to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa for my graduate work and received a master’s in marine biology, focusing on coral reef fish behavior. It was during this time that I realized I was really drawn to physics and math so I earned a second master’s degree in physical oceanography then a Ph.D.

Are you a member of a notable community organization, church, or volunteer/mentorship program?  

I was very involved in trying to get marriage equality in Hawai‘i many years ago. We had our own group, which was later joined by a national organization Human Rights Campaign. They sent members out to help with campaigning that really helped lay some groundwork. I am also a member of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Is there a book, quote, or person that influenced you to be the person that you are today?  

Konrad Lorens, a famous Austrian ethologist back in the early 1900s. I was still a kid when I read his book on imprinting in geese—he proved the concept of imprinting—and it really sparked my interest in animal behavior. I did short films on animal behavior as a photographer. I became fascinated and really interested in ethology and animals in general, which started my science career.

What does PRIDE Month mean to you? 

It’s nice to have the recognition. It is not that being gay is really about being proud of it but rather, that it is nothing to be ashamed of. I just am who I am. I believe the visibility PRIDE brings is good for the LGBTQ community. The more visible we are, the more understanding there will be, which leads to greater acceptance. Once people know we are just people, they realize that there is not much difference between us.

What does being a career civil servant mean to you?

The least we can do as humans is to increase our collective knowledge of our environment, because knowledge is power. If we know and understand our natural world, we can help preserve it longer for many of the generations to come.

What advice would you have for today’s youth interested in a federal government career?  

I think the best advice I can give is to go with your heart. Whatever you are interested in, just follow that. Don’t think about how much you are going to make or that you might get stuck in a particular field of work. Yyou can always change as you go along—the most crucial thing is to just start learning. I think it’s very important to do something you enjoy. I am sure all jobs have some negative parts, but if you are genuinely interested in the work you do, you will end up happier than having a job just to earn money.

More Information

NOAA Fisheries: It All Started in a Shed

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The first marine station in the United States started out small: in a borrowed shed. The value of the research conducted there was proven early on. However, getting a larger, permanent space required a leader with personality who was also a gifted scientist and persuasive administrator.

Original Lab (1871–1885)

The original lab for the U.S. Fish Commission was in a shed borrowed from the Lighthouse Board on the shore of Little Harbor in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The shed was renovated and expanded in 1875, with federal and private funds, into a more permanent, two-story laboratory with a windmill for pumping seawater for the research aquaria.

The first floor was focused on research on fish, the second for biologists studying invertebrates. A small part of the shed, unofficially known as the “Sharks Parlor,” was set aside for conversations, reading, and relaxation. A piano was often seen on the back of a carriage parked nearby.

Most research was conducted during the summer months, when students and university researchers would join the Fish Commission staff. Collecting species in local waters and studying them was a priority since many were unknown. Year-round operations continued on a much smaller scale under local resident Vinal Nye Edwards. Edwards was a naturalist and collector and the first federal fisheries employee.

A Permanent Home (1885 –1958)

As the scope of research activities and staff grew, a larger and more permanent facility was needed. Baird decided that the south coast of New England, specifically Woods Hole, was the best option for permanent facilities due to water quality and other factors. The other location under consideration was Newport, Rhode Island.

Baird used his many persuasive powers to convince local business leaders, scientists, and several colleges and universities to donate funds or land for the new research station. Collaborators included Old Colony Railroad, Isaiah Spindel and Company, John M. Forbes, Joseph Story Fay, Alexander Agassiz, Mrs. Robert L. Stuart, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, and Williams College. Baird had offered use of a research table and facilities at the proposed new lab to a researcher from each academic institution in exchange for their support. Land at the end of Water Street, owned by Fay, was deeded to the U.S. government.

Construction on the lab commenced in 1884, beginning with a seawall and refuge for small vessels. The cost: $52,000—about $1.4 million in today’s dollars—with $25,000 for construction, about $681,000 in today’s dollars. At the same time as excavation and dredging were underway for the piers, foundation work started on housing for personnel. Known locally as the Residence, the living quarters became a local landmark.

Read the full release here

Baird Station: The First National Fish Hatchery June 01, 2021

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Spencer Baird, founder of NOAA Fisheries, was aware of the need to research how and why fishery stocks could be depleted. His first trip to Woods Hole in 1863, before he was appointed as the first U.S. Fish Commissioner, was conducted partly as tourist, partly as fisheries researcher.

Once he became commissioner in 1871, Baird’s charge was to “ascertain whether any and what diminution in the number of food fishes of the coast and inland lakes has occurred.” The additional task of “supplementing declining native stocks of coastal and lake food fish through fish propagation” was added in 1872.

That same year, Baird hired fish culturist Livingston Stone and sent him to California to find a good source for chinook salmon eggs. Stone accomplished far more.

Livingston Stone and Baird Station

Livingston Stone was born in Boston in 1836 and graduated from Harvard in 1857. He became a church pastor, but health issues required him to spend as much time outdoors as possible. He turned to fish and fisheries. In 1870, he helped found the American Fish Culturists Association, which later became the American Fisheries Society.

Hatcheries and a Fish Park

With colleagues Myron Green and Willard Perrin, Stone soon established Baird Station, named after Spencer Baird, on northern California’s McCloud River. It was the first federal fish hatchery and California’s first freshwater fish station, focused on salmon.

With the help and collaboration of local Native American people—the Winnemem Wintu—salmon eggs were routinely gathered and shipped by railroad. They were sent to East Coast locations to stock streams, and for shipment overseas. The need to feed a growing population led to the decision to transplant established East Coast marine species—American shad, striped bass, eels, lobster, catfish, and Penobscot salmon—to the West Coast. Today the West Coast shad population is healthy and striped bass is a favorite sport fish.

Noting the decline of West Coast salmon stocks, Stone advocated for a national salmon park in Alaska. Established in 1892 on Afognak Island, it was rescinded in the 1930s, but it foreshadowed the creation of today’s marine protected areas.

Read the full release here