Saving Seafood

Project to study pandemic impacts on Alaskan salmon season

June 29, 2020 — The following was released by Penn State:

Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the world’s largest commercial sockeye salmon fishery, attracting thousands of fishermen, crews, and seasonal workers and tripling the region’s population. Running from early June to late July, the short salmon season is facing a new challenge this year, the coronavirus pandemic.

Penn State is part of a research team conducting surveys with fishery participants and residents to better understand the costs and benefits of varied mitigation policies and is developing pandemic preparedness scenarios. This collaborative project is being funded by a $200,000 National Science Foundation RAPID Response grant.

The concern for this year’s fishing season stems from the 13,000 commercial fishers, crew, and fish processor workers who are descending upon the Bristol Bay region. The largest hospital in the region only has 16 beds and two ventilators and, as of May 2020, was not prepared for an outbreak of coronavirus.

Because the overall economic value of the fishing season is estimated to be around $1.5 billion dollars and the region is dependent on the fishing industry, canceling the season is not economically feasible.

Read the full release here

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Funds Over $173,000 in New Research

June 8, 2020 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

At its spring meeting, the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) approved 6 new research projects and awarded $173,547 in funding. Coming as the fishing industry continues to deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, the projects funded by the Center deal with some of the most economically important issues for the future of the industry.

These projects include efforts to study how offshore windfarms impact marine life; how to improve stock assessments for one of the largest fisheries in the country; and how to better use shellfish byproducts as commercial products. All projects were approved by the SCEMFIS Industry Advisory Board (IAB), which is composed of Center members in the finfish and shellfish industries. The SCEMFIS IAB encourages companies with an interest in promoting sustainability in the industry to consider joining.

SCEMFIS is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program, a federal initiative to bring together academic researchers and industry members to fund projects improving our understanding of economically important issues.

The following projects were approved at the spring meeting:

  • Wind energy development team supporting fisheries – As offshore wind farms continue to expand, they will increasingly interact with critical fish species and ocean habitats. Understanding these interactions and assessing their impacts is essential to future coexistence between offshore wind and fisheries. The project, by Dr. Eric Powell (University of Southern Mississippi), will assemble a wind energy team with diverse areas of expertise to advise SCEMFIS members on potential environmental impacts for offshore development. ($20,200 in funding)
  • Could federal wind farms influence continental shelf oceanography and alter shellfish larval dispersal? A literature review – With over 1.7 million acres of federal waters under lease for wind energy development, new wind energy structures have a significant potential to interfere with ocean conditions, including in critical areas such as how shellfish larvae are dispersed. The project, by Dr. Daphne Munroe of Rutgers University, will review existing literature to determine how wind energy development has affected different oceanographic conditions, and prepare a report on these findings for the public. ($17,791 in funding)
  • Developing process and procedures for the refinement of surfclam and ocean quahog shells into calcium carbonate – Calcium carbonate is an important shellfish byproduct, used in animal feed, biomedical products, and other applications. Because of their chemical composition, quahog and surfclam shells are an especially good source of calcium carbonate compared to other shellfish, such as oysters. The project, by Dr. Alireza Abbaspourrad (Cornell University), will develop a process to tailor the carbonate byproduct to its other uses. ($50,000 in funding)
  • Evaluation the impact of plus group definition on the Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden stock assessments –Atlantic and Gulf menhaden are, by volume, two of the largest fisheries in the U.S. But one major source of uncertainty in its stock assessments are the number of older fish in the population. These fish are inadequately assessed by current surveys. The project, from Drs. Genevieve Nesslage (University of Maryland), Robert Leaf (University of Southern Mississippi), and Amy Schuler (National Marine Fisheries Service), will create a new model to simulate how different levels of these older fish would impact the results and accuracy of the menhaden stock assessments. ($53,414 in funding)
  • Atlantic menhaden stock review – The project, by Dr. Steve Cadrin (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), will provide a technical review of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s stock assessment for Atlantic menhaden, as well as provide a new analysis of estimated rates of menhaden natural mortality, and the percentage of the population that is allocated for ecosystem needs. ($3,520 in funding)
  • Retention of Expertise in SS-III and evaluation of past and predictive modeling of future stock status – Stock assessments for ocean quahog and surfclams rely on a specific modeling tool, the Stock Synthesis V3. The project, from Drs. Eric Powell (University of Southern Mississippi) and Roger Mann (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) will recruit a Ph.D. student to train to use the model, with the goal of maintaining scientific expertise in using and understanding it. ($28,622 in funding)

University of New England Shares NSF Grant on Lobsters and Climate Change

April 7, 2020 — A study on how warming ocean water impacts the early life stages of lobster will bring together two undergraduate colleges, a premier research institution, and a state agency.

The University of New England applied for the $860,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and intends to share it with Hood College in Maryland, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Warming Gulf of Maine waters may be stunting lobster growth

April 2, 2020 — The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans. And the trend may be having an impact on Maine’s most valuable commercial fishery, if temperature affects lobster larvae and their success in growing to adulthood, scientists say.

The University of New England in Biddeford, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, the Maine Department of Marine Resources and Hood College in Frederick, Md., have received an $860,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study that impact.

“We’ll be studying how temperature influences how larvae settle, where they settle and how successfully they settle,” Markus Frederich, a UNE marine science professor helping to lead the project, said in a news release Tuesday. “The findings of this project will help us make more specific predictions of how many lobsters there will be in the Gulf of Maine in the future.”

Maine’s lobster catch was valued at $485.4 million last year, when Maine lobster harvesters landed 100.7 million pounds. It was a 17% decline compared with 2018, but landings still topped the 100-million-pound mark for the ninth year in a row.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Takes On Climate Change, Bycatch, and Menhaden in 2020

January 24, 2020 — Three of the thorniest issues in the seafood industry will be looked at by the industry-academic group Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) this year. SCeMFiS researchers will have over $191,000 in funding for three projects involving climate change, bycatch, and Atlantic menhaden.

SCeMFiS is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program which brings academia and industry together to find solutions to urgent problems. Funding and research priorities are determined by both SCeMFiS scientists and industry members.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Science Center for Marine Fisheries heads into 2020 with $190,000 in funding for new projects

January 23, 2020 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) has approved over $191,000 in funding for new research projects in 2020. SCeMFiS researchers from across the country will kick off the decade tackling some of the most pressing issues affecting our oceans, including the effects of climate change, marine mammal interactions, and bycatch.

SCeMFiS, part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program, brings together scientific institutions and their partners in the fishing industry to address urgent needs in finfish and shellfish science. All funding and research priorities are determined on a collaborative basis between SCeMFiS scientists and participating industry members.

The following 2020 research projects were approved at the Center’s 2019 fall meeting.

  • Evaluation of the degree of co-occurrence of surfclams and ocean quahogs at fishable concentrations – Climate change is beginning to affect how fisheries are managed, and regulators will increasingly need to modify existing rules in order to adapt to it. In the case of surfclams, climate change is pushing them out of their traditional habitats, where they are beginning to overlap with ocean quahogs. Since neither species can be harvested together, this overlap has the potential to negatively impact both fisheries. The study, led by Drs. Eric Powell (University of Southern Mississippi) and Roger Mann (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), will examine the extent to which surfclam and quahog habitats currently overlap, and the extent to which this overlap is relevant for management. ($85,899 in funding)
  • Evaluation of gray seal-fishery interactions in US waters of the western North Atlantic – Limiting bycatch and interactions with marine mammals is critical to many fisheries in the northeastern U.S. The study, led by Dr. Doug DeMaster (Marine Analytical Consultants), will develop a new, cross-jurisdictional seal population dynamics model to help the National Marine Fisheries Service determine the extent of gray seal fishery interactions, as well as recommending other research priorities for gray seal management. ($57,420 in funding)
  • Mid-Atlantic discard analysis – Bycatch remains a persistent issue in several Mid-Atlantic fisheries, and understanding the factors that may contribute to bycatch is a top priority for both fishermen and regulators. The study, from Dr. Robert Leaf (University of Southern Mississippi), will examine four fisheries—scup, Loligo squid, black sea bass, and fluke—and determine which factors may correlate to higher rates. ($43,439 in funding)
  • Atlantic Menhaden stock assessment review – By weight, Atlantic menhaden is one of the largest fisheries on the East Coast, supporting both a large bait and marine ingredients industry. The study, from Dr. Steve Cadrin (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) will undertake a review of the menhaden assessment by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, providing a non-technical summary for stakeholders in the menhaden fishery to support science-based management of the fishery. ($4,400 in funding)

About SCeMFiS
SCeMFiS utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries. SCeMFiS develops methods, analytical and survey tools, datasets, and analytical approaches to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass estimates. SCeMFiS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, University of Maryland, and University of Rhode Island.

The need for the diverse services that SCeMFiS can provide to industry continues to grow, which has prompted a steady increase in the number of fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment working groups. Targeted research leads to improvements in data collection, survey design, analytical tools, assessment models, and other needs to reduce uncertainty in stock status and improve reference point goals.

Sens. Ed Markey and Dan Sullivan introduce bipartisan bill to boost ocean health

October 28, 2019 — Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska on Friday introduced the Ocean, Coastal and Estuarine Acidification Necessitates (OCEAN) Research Act, which boosts investment in research that could improve ocean health and protect the seafood industry.

The senators said in a news release Friday that the bill would lead to greater research and monitoring of ocean acidification, which occurs as a consequence of carbon dioxide forming acids when dissolved in seawater. The process harms shellfish, coral reefs and other marine life essential for healthy ecosystems and coastal economies.

In coastal areas, acidification may interact with warming waters, harmful algal blooms and low-oxygen “dead zones” with severe impacts. Southern Massachusetts and Narragansett Bay have been identified as “acidification hotspots,” jeopardizing the $500 million-plus Massachusetts shellfish industry.

The bipartisan bill introduced Friday would reauthorize the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act, which lapsed in 2012 and provided funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation. The bill calls for engaging with coastal communities and the seafood industry through an advisory board and research grants.

Read the full story at MassLive

Committee Approves FY2020 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill

October 3, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations bill. Committee member Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) secured a range of initiatives to improve research and technology in the Arctic, strengthen public safety in rural Alaska, and ensure Alaska’s fisheries continue to thrive. This legislation, which funds the U.S. Department of Commerce and Justice, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other agencies, now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

“I continue to hear from Alaskans about the need for improving public safety, especially in rural communities. I’m proud the Committee was able to come together to find bipartisan solutions to build on my ongoing efforts to address the high rates of violence experienced in far too many of Alaska’s communities,” said Senator Murkowski. “Alaska’s world-class fisheries are a fundamental part of our state’s culture and the lifeblood of our economy. The work we’ve done to recover and protect Alaska’s wild salmon stocks and to ensure our fisheries remain the most abundant and sustainably managed in the nation is so important. We’ve also invested significant federal resources into research initiatives to strengthen our ability to respond to natural disasters, help us more fully understand the impacts of climate change, and protect our marine environments—all significant items for a state like Alaska.”

With maximum input from Alaskans, Senator Murkowski has helped steer the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) budget in a manner that sustains the research and scientific investments needed to manage Alaska’s resources properly and responsibly. This bill includes language directing NOAA’s National Ocean Service to submit a plan to conduct comprehensive coastal survey work in Alaska, including information gaps and estimated costs. In an effort to improve travel and safety for mariners throughout Alaska’s waters, the bill also includes language that provides funding to ensure 80 percent data availability for the National Data Buoy Center’s buoy network and directs NOAA to include a schedule for restoring existing data buoy operability, and its strategy to minimize outages.

Senator Murkowski pushed to establish federal funding and frameworks to improve American’s ability to understand and have a say on our developing priorities in the Arctic Region. This legislation includes $8.3 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as language directing the NSF to consider the impact of the opening of the two transarctic sea routes and the proximity to deep-water U.S. ports. The bill also includes $160 million for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which includes $6 million to help us better understand the complex and rapidly changing Arctic region. Building on previous efforts, the bill also contains language to address Hydrographic Survey Priorities in the Arctic.

Public Safety

Senator Murkowski has been working hard to improve public safety in Alaska, including in Alaska’s rural communities. In crafting this bill, she advocated for the largest possible Victims of Crime Act Fund (VOCA) set-aside for Native Communities who disproportionately face violence and often have extremely limited access to services and helped secure $497.5 million for Violence Against Women Prevention and prosecution programs. The bill also includes $38 million for state and local law enforcement and Tribal assistance and $245 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, an initiative to increase the number of police officers and ensure they are properly trained, that Murkowski has long-supported.

Fisheries

Alaska’s commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries are at the heart of coastal Alaska and the economic livelihood for tens of thousands of Alaskans who are employed in the industry. In support of Alaska’s seafood

industry, Murkowski helped secure $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund which helps maintains Pacific Salmon populations and supports both the recovery and protection of all declining stocks. $34.5 million, an increase of $19 million, is also included for salmon management activities, including implementing the Pacific Salmon Treaty terms across the Northwest states.

The bill also includes an amendment by Senator Murkowski and her colleagues to direct increased funding for Fisheries Data Collections, Surveys and Assessments to maintain historic survey coverage in Alaska and the Pacific, a significant provision for areas where fish distribution is changing due to climate change, including Alaska where survey coverage has been on the verge of being eliminated.

Oceans & Coastlines

Senator Murkowski helped secure various priorities to keep our oceans and shorelines healthy and to capitalize on the world’s quickly growing ocean economy. Also, $7 million is provided for the North Pacific Observer Program, which plays a critical role in the management and conservation of the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Gulf of Alaska. $12 million is included in the funding bill to help understand the growing impacts of ocean acidification on our ocean resources and coastal communities. The funding bill includes $75 million for the National Sea Grant Program which focuses on outreach activities, education, and research that will support the growing coastal community utilization of key Sea Grant services within their numerous focus areas.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

National Science Foundation awards two prestigious research internships to SCeMFiS graduate students

August 22, 2019 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) is proud to announce that two of our graduate students, Laura Solinger and Kathleen Hemeon, have been awarded non-academic research internships with the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The internships, valued at about $45,000 each, will support each student for a 6-month position at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. There they will be working on surfclam and ocean quahog research, two of the most valuable shellfish fisheries in the U.S.

“The NEFSC is thrilled to host Laura and Kathleen and support their burgeoning careers while conducting good science,” said Dr. Mike Simpkins, Division Chief at NEFSC. “This is a win-win for NEFSC, as a scientific agency and a member of SCeMFiS, these internships are the best of both worlds for us.”

The internships are part of NSF’s mission to promote a globally competitive and diverse research workforce, and to advance American scientific and innovation skills. SCeMFiS, which, as an industry/university cooperative research center (I/UCRC), is partially funded through an NSF grant, is also part of that mission.

“Receiving two NSF internships in 2019 demonstrates the quality of graduate student participants in SCeMFiS research,” says Dr. Eric Powell, Director of SCeMFiS. “We are particularly excited in expanding our collaboration with scientists at the NEFSC, while providing important career training for our most promising graduate students.”

SCeMFiS works with its industry partners to fund groundbreaking research around pressing scientific issues in finfish and shellfish fisheries, including a recent study examining how surfclams have adapted to climate change. We are pleased that two of our graduate students will now be able to conduct similar research in their internships with NSF.

“Providing our students with the opportunity to work across the spectrum from science theory to practical application in management is critical as we strive to responsibly and sustainably manage critical fishery resources,” said Dr. Roger Mann, SCeMFiS Site Director at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “These awards are at the leading edge of that spectrum.”

“The research conducted by SCeMFiS graduate students provides essential knowledge for many critical fisheries,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association and Chairman of the SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board. “The industry is proud to support their work, as well as the work of our scientific partners at the NEFSC.”

About SCeMFiS

SCeMFiS utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries. SCeMFiS develops methods, analytical and survey tools, datasets, and analytical approaches to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass estimates. SCeMFiS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, University of Maryland, and University of Rhode Island.

The need for the diverse services that SCeMFiS can provide to industry continues to grow, which has prompted a steady increase in the number of fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment working groups. Targeted research leads to improvements in data collection, survey design, analytical tools, assessment models, and other needs to reduce uncertainty in stock status and improve reference point goals.

SCeMFiS Members Attend Seafood Expo North America Following Second National Science Foundation Grant

March 15, 2019 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) brings together industry and academia to conduct groundbreaking fisheries research, and is the only research center funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) dedicated exclusively to fisheries science. As a result of its research track record, NSF awarded SCeMFiS a “Phase 2” second 5-year grant to continue its work. This funding shows that SCeMFiS met the high expectations of NSF for Phase 2 approval, a feat that not every Phase 1 center accomplishes.

Industry members of SCeMFiS will attend this year’s Seafood Expo North America and are available to be interviewed.

Factors that contributed to NSF’s determination that SCeMFiS merited a Phase 2 award included:

  • Successfully undergoing a vigorous 5-year NSF review that included external reviewers;
  • Ongoing solid support from contributing industry member companies and organizations;
  • An extremely high retention rate of contributing members;
  • The exemplary quality of research conducted by SCeMFiS principal investigators.

With its newly approved grant, SCeMFiS plans to use the next 5 years to focus on ways to reduce scientific uncertainty in fisheries science; the effects of climate change on fish stocks and fishing communities; resolving issues between fishing and offshore energy interests; and developing sound ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Since its founding in 2013, SCeMFiS has been at the forefront of finfish and shellfish research. Working with members of the fishing industry, SCeMFiS scientists have conducted innovative studies, including producing the first age-frequency distributions for ocean quahog, and being one of the only institutions to study species like chub mackerel and longfin squid.

“The work of our academic partners at SCeMFiS has been vital in improving our understanding of the species we harvest,” said Jeff Reichle, CEO of Lund’s Fisheries, which was one of the original members of the SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board. “The more we know about these species, the better we’re able to harvest them sustainably.”

The SCeMFiS industry members attending the Seafood Expo are committed to continuing this scientific partnership. Industry members on the SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board review, approve, and fund all SCeMFiS projects, which are selected to fill gaps in data and meet the industry’s unfilled scientific needs.

“In the last five years, we’ve been able to study and improve the understanding of some of the most pressing scientific issues facing the fishing industry,” said Center Director Dr. Eric Powell, of the University of Southern Mississippi, one of the academic members of SCeMFiS. “We are looking forward to continue our collaborative partnerships and tackle the scientific questions affecting fishermen the most.”

SCeMFiS members will be at the following locations at Seafood Expo North America:

Lund’s Fisheries: Booth 951

Sea Watch International: Booth 423

The Town Dock: Booth 2133

Seafreeze Ltd.: Booth 2407

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