Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces Designation of Habitat Areas of Particular Concern for Deep-Water Coral and Associated Fishing Regulations in Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters

October 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries announces the final rule implementing Amendment 9 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coral and Coral Reef Resources in Gulf of Mexico U.S. waters (Amendment 9).  The final rule will be effective November 16, 2020.

The rule establishes 13 new habitat areas of particular concern with fishing regulations, designates 8 new areas without fishing regulations, and modifies the regulations in 3 existing areas.  These areas have been identified as having sufficient numbers and diversity of deep-water corals to be considered essential fish habitat.

Fishing regulations apply to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, including fishing for highly migratory species.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES:

For the changes below, except where otherwise stated, bottom-tending gear is defined as:  bottom longline, bottom trawl, buoy gear, dredge, pot or trap, and bottom anchoring by fishing vessels.  Buoy gear does not refer to highly migratory species buoy gear, which is not a bottom-tending gear.

The rule:

  • Establishes the following areas as habitat areas of particular concern with regulations prohibiting fishing with bottom tending gear: West Florida Wall, Alabama Alps, L&W Pinnacles, Scamp Reef, Mississippi Canyon 118, Roughtongue Reef, Viosca Knoll 826, Green Canyon 852, AT 047, AT 357, Harte Bank, and Southern Bank.
  • Establishes Viosca Knoll 862/906 as a habitat area of particular concern with regulations prohibiting fishing with bottom-tending gear, but allows royal red shrimp fisherman to keep their nets in the water, but off the bottom, in this area.
  • Within the current Pulley Ridge habitat area of particular concern, establishes a new habitat area of particular concern with fishing regulations prohibiting all fishing with bottom-tending gear, except for long line gear.
  • Establishes the following areas as habitat areas of particular concern without fishing regulation: South Reed; Garden Banks 299 and 535; Green Canyon 140/272,234, and 354; Mississippi Canyon 751 and 885.
  • An interactive map of existing and new areas can be found online at http://portal.gulfcouncil.org/coralhapc.html.

Additionally, the final rule modifies the prohibitions on “fishing with bottom-tending gear” to “deployment of bottom-tending gear” for habitat areas of particular concern in the Gulf of Mexico, including those established in Amendment 9.  “Deploy” is defined for the purpose of these prohibitions to mean that the gear is in contact with the water.

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER:  85 FR 65740, published October 16, 2020.

Read the full release here

Reminder: Vessel Trip Reporting Requirements for the Large Mesh Belly Panel Trawl

October 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On March 5, 2020, NOAA Fisheries created a gear code, “OBP” for use in Vessel Trip Reports (VTRs) to report use of the large mesh belly panel trawl. Vessels may choose to use the gear in a number of fisheries and as an approved selective gear for vessels using the sector small mesh exemption.

Please note that vessel operators must report the new gear code “OBP” in their VTRs whenever they use a large mesh belly panel trawl.

If you have used a large mesh belly panel trawl on a past trip and believe that you did not use the appropriate gear code on your VTR for that trip, please call 978-282-8418 or email us to request a correction.

Information on VTRs and other reporting requirements are available on the Vessel Trip Reporting page, including a downloadable instructions document. The document lists gear codes and other information to help industry ensure that their submitted VTRs are accurate.

Read the full release here

COVID funding plan OK’d for NJ fishermen; sea bass, tuna hit after storm

October 16, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved New Jersey’s spending plan for $11.3 million in federal aid for revenue losses to the commercial and charter fishing industry suffered as a result of the pandemic, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. said.

“This is another step in the right direction to ensure that New Jersey’s fishing industry gets the funding it needs to weather the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing economic storm,” Pallone said.

According to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, eligible fisheries-related businesses include commercial fisheries, aquaculture businesses, processors, dealers, and recreational fishery businesses, including for-hire businesses as well as bait and tackle shops.

An online application will be available starting Monday through the Department of Environmental Protection’s electronic grants management system, NJDEP SAGE.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Mississippi, Connecticut join list of states with approved CARES Act spend plans

October 15, 2020 — Mississippi and Connecticut have been added to the growing list of states that have received CARES Act spend plan approval from NOAA Fisheries.

The two states will receive an allocated portion of the USD 300 million (EUR 256 million) that was released in May in order to offset negative revenue impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of that sum, Connecticut will receive just over USD 1.8 million (EUR 1.5 million) and Mississippi will receive a little more than USD 1.5 million (EUR 1.3 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New Tools Available to Help the Public to Better Understand Fishing Impacts Associated with Offshore Wind Development

October 15, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has developed new tools and analyses that will help the public better understand fishing impacts associated with offshore wind development.

To help analyze how fishing operations may be impacted by offshore wind energy projects, NOAA Fisheries combined vessel logbook and dealer report data from 2008-2018 compared to current offshore wind energy project areas. We identified where and when fishing occurred relative to these areas and estimated landings and fishing revenue associated with each project area.

Based on this process, NOAA Fisheries developed reports of potential socioeconomic impacts from each offshore wind project area based on historic data.  These reports include information on the amount of primary species landed, revenue associated with landings, gear types used, and communities affected by each offshore wind development project area.  This will help estimate the potential impacts of such development on managed fisheries and associated fishing communities.

The public can access and download data used to generate these reports using a web-based tool developed by NOAA Fisheries. This tool allows users to access summary data based on species, gear, port, and state.  Users can also conduct a customized query by filtering the data for several fields, including year, wind energy area, species, or fishery management plan.

Both the socioeconomic impact reports and data query tool are now available online.  All data included in reports or available through the new web-based query tool have been aggregated, as necessary, to protect data confidentiality.

Read the full release here

Bold Initiatives Chart Course for Stronger, More Resilient Seafood Sector

October 15, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We all have a stake in a stronger, more resilient U.S. seafood industry. Seafood is an important source of protein and other nutrients that are essential for strong bones, brain development, and healthy immune and cardiovascular systems. The U.S. seafood industry is a powerful economic driver—supporting 1.2 million jobs and adding $69.2 billion to the gross domestic product in 2017. And for decades, the United States has been a global leader in sustainable seafood production. In short, U.S. seafood is good for your health, good for the economy, and good for the planet.

While the pandemic has created serious, ongoing challenges, NOAA Fisheries has taken a proactive role in monitoring and adjusting to COVID-19. Our actions are driven in part by our rapid economic assessments that identified immediate and long term impacts on the seafood industry. The United States recently reaffirmed its commitment to building a stronger seafood industry. We’re taking bold steps to expand sustainable production and make U.S. products more competitive in domestic and foreign markets. In May, the President signed an Executive Order that will serve as the map for several exciting initiatives, including the creation of 10 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas.

Growing our domestic aquaculture industry is critical to expanding and stabilizing the supply of sustainable seafood in the face of environmental and economic uncertainty. Aquaculture operations diversify seafood production and provide a year-round source of high-quality jobs and economic opportunities in coastal communities. These jobs augment seasonal tourism and commercial fishing.

The first two Aquaculture Opportunity Areas will ultimately be located somewhere within the federal waters off southern California and in the Gulf of Mexico. By tapping into existing regional industry and infrastructure, each of the final 10 areas selected through 2025 will support new commercial marine farm sites.

Also under the Executive Order, the Department of Commerce is co-chairing the newly-established Seafood Trade Task Force. The group is charged with developing a comprehensive interagency seafood trade strategy that will support fair market access for U.S. seafood products. While the strategy is being developed, fishermen and other producers impacted by retaliatory tariffs can apply for direct support through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Trade Relief Program.

Read the full release here

Collins calls on NOAA Fisheries to resume ‘usual operational tempo’

October 14, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should get back to its regular schedule of conducting fisheries research surveys, which have been cancelled since May due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and several colleagues.

Additionally, NOAA should identify and resolve any challenges created by the pandemic that prevented this year’s surveys to ensure surveys are safely conducted in 2021, the lawmakers wrote in a Sept. 30 letter sent to Dr. Neil Jacobs, acting administrator at NOAA. Among the members who joined Sen. Collins in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Doug Jones (D-AL).

“In May 2020, NOAA Fisheries started canceling research surveys to protect the health of its crews and personnel at sea on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we understand that the agency has yet to resume its usual operational tempo,” Sen. Collins and her colleagues wrote. “Fishermen and communities across the country rely on these surveys as a basis for their livelihoods.”

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

NEFMC Gives Go Ahead for Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan

October 14, 2020 — Last week, the New England Fishery Management Council signed off on Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

The amendment includes new measures to “better manage total scallop removals from the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area by all components of the fishery.” Along with expanding flexibility in the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery. The NEFMC noted that the amendment still needs NMFS/NOAA approval before it can be implemented.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Supports American Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet Led by Fishermen

October 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet, organized by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF), was established in 2013. It has collected biological data from nearly 160,000 American lobsters and about 90,000 Jonah crabs from the Gulf of Maine and south to the Mid-Atlantic.

In September, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center provided funding to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to support the research fleet’s work.

“I am thrilled that we were able to work with the Commission to provide support for the Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet,” says Anna Mercer, Science Center  Cooperative Research Branch Chief. “The project exemplifies the value of working with fishermen to address science needs and has tangible impacts on the stock assessments and management of these valuable species. I look forward to following along as this research continues and expands.”

Read the full release here

New Jersey gains CARES Act spend plan approval

October 13, 2020 — New Jersey has become the latest state to get approval for its CARES Act spend plan, opening up USD 11.1 million (EUR 9.6 million) in funds for the purpose of offsetting fishery losses from COVID-19.

Several other states have also received CARES Act spend plan approval, which was released in May. In total, USD 300 million (EUR 255.6 million) has been made available to states, territories, and tribes in the U.S. for the purpose of aiding aspects of the seafood industry in the wake of COVID-19 related losses.

Read the full story at Seafood Source