Saving Seafood

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

Bumble Bee

Gulf of Maine Research Institute receives $790K grant to study impact of warming ocean on key species

March 6, 2019 — The National Science Foundation awarded the Gulf of Maine Research Institute a $789,659 grant to examine the impact of a warming climate on growth and population patterns in cod and lobster in the Gulf of Maine.

The study will also document marine habitat shifts across the northwest Atlantic caused by rising temperatures, according to a March 4 news release issued jointly by the offices of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine.

The funding will aid the institute in its work to better understand and mitigate the impacts of changing ocean conditions on Maine communities, marine ecosystems and economy, King and Collins said in the release.

The grant was awarded through the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

 

VIMS: Antarctic krill declines as South Atlantic Ocean warms

February 4, 2019 — When biological oceanographer Deborah Steinberg bundles up and steps onto the deck of the Laurence M. Gould research vessel, this is what she sees: ice, ice and more ice.

“I see icebergs, I see sea ice, I see crabeater seals floating by on ice floes, the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula,” Steinberg said in a shipboard phone interview Friday. “It’s gorgeous.”

But it’s what she can’t see, what lies beneath the icy waters of the South Atlantic Ocean off northwestern Antarctica, that concerns Steinberg and an international team of marine researchers: krill.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

National Science Foundation grant to continue work on key fishery management issues

January 24, 2019 — A cooperative research center that brings together seafood industry leaders and academic experts has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work on a number of issues that impact sustainable fisheries.

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) will use the federal money to study four issues, including how climate change affects fisheries and how to settle differences between offshore energy producers and the fishing community.

Other research the center will perform as part of the grant will focus on management practices that keep catch limits below levels that reduce jobs and inhibit economic growth. According to a press release from the center, the key focus will be to reduce uncertainty for the commercial industry.

According to the NSF, the grant is worth USD 100,000 (EUR 88,021). Work is expected to start on 1 March and last for five years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Continues Work with New National Science Foundation Grant

January 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

Following the completion of its initial 5-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) has been awarded a new Phase 2 grant by the NSF to continue its work. SCeMFiS will use the new grant to further its track record of quality, collaborative research with its fishing industry and academic partners.

The grant is part of NSF’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) program, which was developed to initiate long-term partnerships among industry, academia, and government. SCeMFiS is the only Phase 2 IUCRC program dedicated exclusively to fisheries and marine science research.

“Our new Phase 2 grant will allow SCeMFiS researchers to continue our collaborative work with the fishing industry,” said Center Director Dr. Eric Powell, of the University of Southern Mississippi, one of the academic members of SCeMFiS. “The Phase 2 grant will enable SCeMFiS to continue to fund the groundbreaking research necessary to maintain healthy fish stocks and healthy fisheries at a time when reliance on the best available science is increasingly critical.”

As it moves into Phase 2, SCeMFiS will focus on reducing scientific uncertainty; 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.

“Our priorities for Phase 2 reflect the biggest challenges in the future of the fishing industry,” said Center Site Director Dr. Roger Mann, of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, another SCeMFiS academic institution. “To meet these challenges, the industry and fisheries managers will need the kind of innovative research that SCeMFiS has regularly produced over the last 5 years.”

In its first 5 years, SCeMFiS has done groundbreaking research on finfish and shellfish. Among other projects, the Center produced the first age-frequency distributions for ocean quahog, one of the longest-lived species in the ocean. SCeMFiS scientists conducted the first benthic survey on important ocean habitat east of Nantucket, and mapped the shifting range of surfclams, documenting how climate change is beginning to affect the species.

SCeMFiS has also designed a pelagic survey for Atlantic menhaden and provided recommendations to improve port sampling for the species, carried out the only scientific work to date on Atlantic chub mackerel, and carried out an economic analysis for longfin squid.

All of these projects were reviewed, approved, and funded by the industry members on our Industry Advisory Board, who rely on sound science for the health of their fisheries and businesses.

“Fisheries management is only as good as the science it’s based on,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association and a member of SCeMFiS’ Industry Advisory Board. “That’s why it’s so important for the fishing industry to maintain its partnership with SCeMFiS. We need to promote the best available science.”

WHOI Center for Oceans and Human Health to Receive $6.9M in Grant Funding

September 19, 2018 — WOODS HOLE, Mass. — The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will receive nearly $7 million in grant funding to continue the operation of its Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health.

The collaborative award from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will be dispersed over 5 years.

The funding will benefit three centers and four projects aimed at improving public health by investigating the ways oceanic processes affect the distribution and persistence of human pathogens or the products of toxin-producing algae.

“These projects bring together scientists doing basic research on the oceans and Great Lakes with those in biology and human health to study processes that affect millions of people,” said Hedy Edmonds, a program director in NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences, which co-funded the awards.

Read the full story at CapCod.com

 

Trump’s pick to head White House science office gets good reviews

August 2, 2018 — The long wait for a White House science adviser is over. President Donald Trump announced today that he intends to nominate meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier, a university administrator and former vice-chair of the governing board of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to be director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The OSTP director traditionally, but not always, also holds the title of the president’s science adviser.

The move caps a search process of record-setting length—nearly 560 days, double the longest time taken by any other modern president to name an OSTP director. Many in the research community had lamented the delay. But the wait may have been worth it: Droegemeier, a respected veteran of the Washington, D.C., policymaking scene, is getting positive reviews from science and university groups.

“He’s a very good pick. … He has experience speaking science to power,” says environmental policy expert John Holdren, who served as science adviser under former President Barack Obama and is now at Harvard University. “I expect he’ll be energetic in defending the R&D budget and climate change research in particular.”

Maria Zuber, a planetary geophysicist and vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, agrees that Droegemeier will stand up for climate science. “He always has. I see no reason why he wouldn’t now.” But she says his style is not confrontational. “He’s a good old boy. He wears cowboy boots. … He’s a personable guy.” She adds that “he’s got solid conservative credentials,” noting that his web page is emblazoned with “God Bless America!!!”

“He is an excellent choice,” says Tobin Smith, vice president for policy at the Association of American Universities in Washington, D.C. “He has a strong understanding of issues of concern to research universities.”

“Kelvin is a solid scientist, excellent with people, and with deep experience with large bureaucracies,” says Cliff Mass, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle. “A moderate voice that won’t politicize the science.”

Droegemeier, who has served on the faculty of The University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman for 33 years and been the school’s vice president for research since 2009, has long been rumored to be in the running for the OSTP job, which entails advising the president on technical issues and overseeing coordination of federal science policy. He is no stranger to Washington, D.C.; then-President George W. Bush named him to the National Science Board, which oversees NSF, in 2004, and Obama reappointed him in 2011. He served as the board’s vice-chair from 2014 to 2017.

Read the full story at Science Magazine