Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Implements Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

January 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is implementing an amendment recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council to establish an Atlantic herring acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule and prohibit the use of midwater trawl gear in inshore waters from Canada to Connecticut.

Acceptable Biological Catch

The ABC control rule is intended to ensure sustainable herring harvest and account for herring’s role as forage in the ecosystem. The control rule sets herring ABC for 3 years, but allows ABC to vary year-to-year with projected estimates of biomass.

Prohibiting Midwater Trawl Gear Inshore

This amendment prohibits the use of midwater trawl gear inshore of the 12-nautical mile territorial sea boundary from the U.S./Canada border to the Connecticut/Rhode Island border and inshore of 20 nautical miles off the east coast of Cape Cod (see map).

The year-round inshore midwater trawl restricted area will reduce midwater trawl vessel overlap with other user groups (i.e., commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, ecotourism) that rely on herring as forage. The restricted area may also reduce catch of river herring and shad, reduce fishing pressure on the inshore herring stock, and help ensure herring are available to predators.

Read the full release here

Looking Ahead: NOAA Fisheries Science and Management Priorities for 2021

January 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we are sharing two messages from our leadership team that wrap up 2020, recognize some of the successes and challenges we encountered, and look ahead at both our science and management priorities for 2021.

  • Look Ahead at Science Priorities and Challenges by Cisco Werner, Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor. “If we’ve learned any lessons, we’ll likely hold on to some newly-discovered efficiencies, such as using uncrewed technologies for survey work, cooperative research with the fishing industry, the inclusivity of virtual meetings, and more.”
  • Look Ahead at Management Priorities and Challenges by Sam Rauch, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs. “Despite the anticipated challenges of COVID-19 through 2021, we will continue our commitment to our core mission as we balance changes to safety protocols with getting the job done.”

Questions?

Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Critical Habitat for Ringed and Bearded Seals in U.S. Arctic

January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to designate critical habitat in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population of bearded seals. Both species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The ESA requires that NOAA Fisheries designate critical habitat for listed species in areas within the jurisdiction of the United States. Critical habitat identifies geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of a listed species.

Designating critical habitat does not create a preserve or refuge, and would not affect subsistence harvest of ringed or bearded seals by Alaska Natives.

Read more.

NOAA Fisheries Science Helps Maine’s Pioneering Sea Scallop Farmers

January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A trait fishermen and scientists share is adaptability: the trait required to think on your feet, be comfortable with uncertainty, and repurpose resources when necessary.

“Adaptable” is a word that perfectly describes Marsden Brewer, a third-generation commercial fisherman, who is also a scallop farmer and owner of PenBay Farmed Scallops. Brewer’s business is the result of his 20-year effort, as well as techniques learned through Maine’s enduring friendship with its sister state, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His three-and-a-quarter acre Stonington, Maine, farm is the first of its kind in Penobscot Bay.

“Princess” Scallops: A New England Locavore’s Delight

The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of the most valuable in the United States. While wild caught scallops have shells four inches across or larger and you only eat the adductor muscle, Brewer sells a smaller, whole-animal product. He offers three sizes:

  • “Princess” scallops are two inches across and can be grown in just 18 months
  • Medium scallops are about 2.75 inches and take 2 years
  • Large scallops are about 3 inches and take 3 years to grow.

Whole scallops are a delicacy prepared by chefs at restaurants in Maine and as far away as Colorado and Arizona. Brewer is not competing with the wild scallop fishery, but bringing a new local seafood to market. He has led other fishermen to farm scallops as a way to diversify their income in a changing environment.

Read the full release here

Cooperative Research: Facing the Challenges of COVID-19

January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

About

The novel coronavirus has presented many challenges to researchers and fishermen, who often work in close quarters at sea and shore-side. However, some of our cooperative research partners have developed strategies to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and continue their work safely. To share what has been learned, the NEFSC Cooperative Research Branch is hosting two, 1.5 hour WebEx virtual workshops on February 25 and March 4, 2021. The first webinar in this series will focus on how cooperative research field work was adapted to ensure safe operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second webinar in this series will focus on  how fishermen worked with researchers to independently collect scientific data during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it may be used to bridge data gaps.

More Information

In August and September 2019, the NEFSC Cooperative Research Branch (CRB) hosted a series of stakeholder engagement sessions in eight ports along the Mid-Atlantic and New England seaboard. Regional partners identified priorities and challenges for scientific research conducted in collaboration with commercial fishermen. In response to recommendations made during those sessions, CRB planned to host two summits in 2020 to facilitate regional coordination of cooperative research and development of new partnerships. These summits have been postponed as part of the national effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. In the interim, the Cooperative Research: Facing the Challenges of COVID-19 virtual meetings will carry on the conversation among the network of researchers and industry partners, focused on contemporary challenges.

Read the full release here

Fall Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey Wraps Up

January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The COVID-19 pandemic and typical fall weather conditions were challenges, but the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey team and industry partners wrapped up a successful season in early November.

“Every single person on the bottom longline survey team worked incredibly hard to get the survey completed this fall,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the Cooperative Research Branch. “From building new software to installing new camera systems, from repeated COVID-19 testing to careful quarantining, from new work flows to new hardware, it was a true team effort.”

The survey targets groundfish at 45 stations across the Gulf of Maine using tub-trawl bottom longline gear. The survey plan focuses on rocky bottom habitat, where fish are difficult to sample with trawl gear.

New Data Collection System Used

This year’s survey is the first to use a new data collection system developed by the branch. This next generation of software and hardware significantly upgrades digital data collection and catch processing at sea.

A tablet-based application replaces paper logs for most data types, improves operational efficiency, consistency, and data quality control for recording catch data and biological samples. Digital scales, electronic fish measuring boards, and barcode scanners now wirelessly communicate with the tablets. This keeps the system compact and agile for use on small commercial fishing vessels.

Both vessels were also newly equipped with electronic monitoring cameras. Adding cameras provides a way to get detailed information on the condition of bait or fish on hooks as the vessel retrieves the gear. This “hook status” information gives analysts a measure of hook availability—how available the hook is to fish that the gear encounters—which will improve understanding of catch rates.

Read the full release here

NOAA proposes new round of whale protections

January 6, 2021 — A proposed rule released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Dec. 30 aims to lower North Atlantic right whale entanglements in commercial fishing lines. Its release follows two years of research, public meetings and comment.

Federal regulators found the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) proposal submitted last January to be lacking — by 8 percent.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service seeks a 60 percent risk reduction to whales while the Maine DMR plan would only achieve a 52 percent reduction, NOAA informed Maine DMR in January 2020. Both proposals increase the number of traps per trawl line to reduce the number of vertical lines in the ocean, allow for gear marking to identify which state a whale fatality occurred in, require weak links in lines that would allow an entangled whale to break free and provide for seasonal closures in one lobster management area (LMA).

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Use of ocean resources changed as Dungeness crab fishing industry adapted to climate shock event

January 6, 2021 — An unprecedented marine heat wave that led to a massive harmful algal bloom and a lengthy closure of the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery significantly altered the use of ocean resources across seven California crab-fishing communities.

The delayed opening of the 2015-16 crab-fishing season followed the 2014-16 North Pacific marine heat wave and subsequent algal bloom. The bloom produced high levels of the biotoxin domoic acid, which can accumulate in  and render them hazardous for human consumption.

That event, which is considered a “climate shock” because of its severity and impact, tested the resilience of California’s fishing communities, researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Washington and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center found.

The study is the first to examine impacts from such delays across fisheries, providing insight into the response by the affected fishing communities, said James Watson, one of the study’s co-authors and an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Economic and Social Well-Being of Northeast Commercial Fishing Fleets Displayed in New Web-based Application

January 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Social scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center have found a new way to tame an old problem: how to put the data we collect into a form that’s relevant not only to fellow researchers, but also to a wider public.

“For years we’ve put out a lot of data on the health and well-being of fish stocks. Now we can put forth similar data  for our commercial fishing fleets and communities, and our new tool makes it easy for anyone to see the results,” said John Walden, an economist in the science center’s Social Sciences Branch and a leader of the project.

While there are other places where similar kinds of data are already available, this is the first to aggregate the information by fishery management plan. Users can see the information in graphs and charts that render on demand and update annually, with options to download the data for use in other applications.

Read the full release here

Dungeness Crab Fishing Industry Response to Climate Shock

January 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Fishermen contend with regulations, natural disasters, and the ups and downs of the stocks they fish, along with many other changes. As a result, fishing communities are quite resilient. That is, they can withstand, recover from, and adapt to change.

But how much pressure can they stand? The 2014–2016 North Pacific marine heatwave, known as the Blob, led to a harmful algal bloom of unprecedented scale. It necessitated substantial delays in the opening of the 2015–16 U.S. West Coast Dungeness crab fishery. The fishery is vital to West Coast communities. It produces around 26 percent of all annual fishing revenue and supports more than 30 percent of all commercial fishing vessels.

Understanding Impacts from Climate Shocks

Previous studies have documented the devastating economic impacts from the 2015–16 event on Dungeness crab fishermen. Members of affected coastal communities attest that these socioeconomic effects rippled through associated industries and coastal communities. But can changes in fishing practices in response to this significant climate shock be quantified?

“We wanted to examine the extent to which the Dungeness crab fishery delays affected participation in other fisheries, and the duration of those changes,” said Mary Fisher, a doctoral student at the University of Washington. Fisher did the work as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Internship Program Fellow at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Fisher and her colleagues at NOAA Fisheries, University of Washington, and Oregon State University studied the impacts on more than 2,500 vessels across seven California fishing communities. The researchers wanted to see how a climate-related shock (like the heatwave and associated harmful algal bloom) can impact communities’ use of ocean resources.

Read the full release here