Saving Seafood

Fishermen Encouraged to Watch Out for Bright Orange SAILDRONES in Eastern Gulf of Maine Beginning August 28, 2023

August 18, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Fishermen who work in the eastern Gulf of Maine will want to be on the lookout for two wind-propelled surface vehicles that will be operating in the area from August 28 through October 18, 2023.  These vehicles, called SAILDRONE VOYAGERs, are bright orange.

NOAA Fisheries has asked the New England Fishery Management Council to help inform fishermen about the presence of these uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) in order to prevent interactions with fishing gear.  NOAA Fisheries and Saildrone Inc. are using the USVs for research purposes to collect high-resolution seafloor bathymetry and backscatter data along predetermined survey tracklines.

 
 
NOAA Fisheries and Saildrone said, “Fishing vessel operators who use fixed gears should avoid setting gear in areas planned for survey to help limit any risk of entanglement between the SAILDRONE VOYAGERS’ sound velocity profile casts and vertical lines.”
 
SAILDRONE VOYAGERs are equipped with radar, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), and cameras.  They operate at speeds between 2-4 knots, moving between a series of predetermined waypoints.  Vehicles are monitored remotely 24/7 by the Saildrone Mission Control Team.
 
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:  Anyone with questions about this NOAA Fisheries research project should contract Heather Coleman at heather.coleman@noaa.gov.
 
SAILDRONE QUESTIONS:  Questions about the SAILDRONE VOYAGERS should be directed to:
 
 
 
Additional information is available in the flyer, which states, “Vessels are requested to transit the (eastern Gulf of Maine survey) area with caution and remain greater than 500 meters away from the USVs.”
 

Opinion: NOAA’s catch quotas rely on inaccurate data

June 9, 2023 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is convinced that fish stocks in New England are declining, and they’re regulating fishermen into oblivion as a result. 

There’s no evidence that they’re right. In fact, NOAA doesn’t have any reliable evidence at all. The agency has not completed a full survey of New England fish stocks in four years. The government’s recent attempts to jump start the process are floundering. 

I’m leading a new coalition of lobstermen, fishermen, and fishing-adjacent businesses called the New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA). We launched this advocacy group, which is open to all industry stakeholders and friends of fishing and the marine environment, because federal regulators are grossly mismanaging our fisheries and pose a lethal threat to fishermen and the oceans. NOAA’s ham-handed effort to gauge the health of the biomass in New England is one such example. 

As National Fisherman readers probably know, NOAA sets quotas for particular species based on data it collects from its research vessels. NOAA’s research vessel for the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic is the Henry B. Bigelow, homeported in Newport, R.I. The ship is currently conducting the northeast spring bottom trawl survey. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Cate O’Keefe named executive director for New England council

June 5, 2023 — Catherine “Cate” O’Keefe, a scientist with more than 20 years of experience in Northeast fisheries research and management, was named executive director of the New England Fisheries Management Council to replace the retiring Thomas Nies.

A resident of South Dartmouth, Mass., O’Keefe has a deep resume reflecting two decades of working with the fishing industry on and off the water. She is the owner and principal consultant of  Fishery Applications Consulting Team, a firm that has provided technical, research, and facilitation services to a wide range of clients, including the New England council for scallop and monkfish projects.

O’Keefe’s work in recent years included studies of the socioeconomic impact of offshore wind power development on the fishing industry, and compensatory mitigation for the scallop fleet and other fisheries that will be affected. Fisheries Applications has  also has provided services to offshore wind energy companies, fishing industry organizations, global consulting firms, academic institutions, and research organizations. O’Keefe currently serves as vice chair of the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee.

O’Keefe earned her doctoral degree at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST). Her dissertation was titled: “An incentive-based, collaborative approach to maximize yield by avoiding bycatch in the U.S. sea scallop fishery.” She earned a master’s degree through the Boston University Marine Program in Woods Hole and a bachelor of arts in biology and fisheries from Hampshire College.

O’Keefe replaces longtime executive director Thomas Nies, a 26-year veteran of the council staff who rose to the director’s position in 2013. With Nies announcing his retirement in January 2023, the council initiated a nationwide search for a new executive.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Atlantic sea scallops at lowest biomass in over 20 years — what that means for New Bedford

September 30, 2022 — A Scallop Survey Report presented at the New England Fishery Management Council meeting Tuesday showed the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is facing its lowest biomass in over 20 years.

From a peak of more than 250,000 metric tons in 2017, to under 100,000 in 2022.

“There has been a decline since 2018 due to a large harvest and natural mortality,” Jonathon Peros, an NEFMC staffer, told the Council. “Biomass in 2022 is the lowest since 1999.”

Throughout NEFMC jurisdiction, the survey estimated a biomass decrease of almost 30%. The Georges Bank region saw the largest drop, around 36%.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Division, scallop catch had been on an upward trajectory following its 1998 nadir of 5,564 metric tons.

Read the full article at South Coast Today

Draft Biological Opinion on 10 Fishery Management Plans Released for Feedback

January 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we shared our draft Biological Opinion that examines the effects of 10 fishery management plans on threatened and endangered species in the Greater Atlantic Region and also examines the effects of the New England Fisheries Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2 on these species. The purpose of sharing the draft Opinion is to allow interested parties, including the New England Fishery Management Council, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, to provide feedback on the Biological Opinion.

We are accepting feedback on the draft Biological Opinion until February 19, 2021. For more information, please read our information bulletin.

Send feedback (or questions) to: nmfs.gar.fisheriesbiopfeedback@noaa.gov

Massachusetts Fishermen, State Leaders Fighting At-Sea Monitoring Proposal

September 8, 2020 — Massachusetts fishermen are not sitting back quietly as the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) considers a policy shift that would require 100% at-sea monitoring of commercial groundfish vessels. Fishermen, along with some state leaders, are raising concerns and making their opposition to the measures known.

Amendment23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan would require groundfishing vessels to implement 100% at-sea monitoring or a combo of at-sea monitoring and electronic monitoring. And while the goal of the proposal is to improve catch accountability in the fishery, fishermen argue that it’s “overly burdensome and unnecessary.” In addition, with no vaccine available for COVID-19, there are also continued concerns about being able to properly social distance while at sea.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Fishermen, state leaders push back against at-sea monitoring proposal

September 3, 2020 — Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) has joined local fishermen and his legislative colleagues to push back against a proposed policy shift that would require 100% at-sea monitoring of commercial groundfish vessels.

The New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) is considering Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that would require groundfishing vessels to implement 100% at-sea monitoring or a blended approach of at-sea monitoring and electronic monitoring.

The proposed change seeks to improve catch accountability in the fishery, but fishermen argue this particular proposal is overly burdensome and unnecessary to achieve the stated goal, a press release from Montigny’s office states.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken also co-signed a letter to the New England Fisheries Management Council opposing Amendment 23 to Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Maine’s lobster season has slow start as industry faces challenges

July 30, 2019 — The 2019 lobster season in the U.S. state of Maine has been off to a slow start, partially the result of the industry facing a number of challenges,

According to a story in the Associated Press, Maine lobstermen are reporting that their season so far hasn’t picked up as quickly as the past few years. Typically, the season is in full swing by July, but so far the catch has remained relatively stagnant.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Potential slash of herring quota could lead lobstermen to sit out season

October 1, 2018 — A proposal by the New England Fisheries Management Council on 25 September to make large changes to the herring fishery could lead to many Maine, U.S.A.-based lobstermen to sit out the next season.

The NEFMC’s Amendment 8, which was in the works for years, will lead to multiple changes to the region’s herring fishery. Boats using midwater trawl gear will be banned from within 12 nautical miles, and a new control rule was created that takes into account the herring fishery’s impact on other fisheries in the region.

Most importantly from the perspective of the lobstermen, however, was the drastic cut in quota that the new decisions represented. The quota has fallen from north of 100,000 tons to just under 50,000 tons, with the proposal potentially setting the future quota at just over 21,000 tons.

That massive reduction was criticized at the hearing by Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

“There’s no one that has more at stake,” she said during the hearing. “The lobster industry will bear the brunt of all the decisions that are made here.”

The lobster industry was already seeing a bait shortage on the horizon. As early as July, the industry was anticipating a bait shortage, according to reports in the Portland Press Herald.

“The price of herring for bait is already high,” Port Clyde, Maine lobsterman Gary Libby told the Press Herald in July 2018. “A lower quota will only create more hardship for lobster fishermen because the price of bait is the biggest expense, and with projected lower catch of lobster in the next few years we will need bait at a cost that will help fishermen maintain their businesses that helps the local economy.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CHRIS BROWN & BOB DOOLEY: Electronic monitoring will help restore trust to fishery

June 13, 2018 — Two years ago in the pages of The Standard-Times we delivered some straight talk about New England’s fisheries and the opportunities that groundfish fishermen and regulators will realize when they embrace comprehensive catch monitoring. As the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) prepares to meet this week, we felt it was important to communicate again how critical “full accountability” is to the successful stewardship of this fishery.

“It is based on the straightforward idea that fishermen need to keep track of their catch, both the fish they bring to the dock and any unwanted ‘bycatch’ they may discard at sea. Why? Because in the absence of comprehensive catch monitoring, there is no basis upon which fishermen and (government) scientists can establish a productive level of trust and cooperation. This means that fishery managers often assume the worst when they estimate fish stocks and are required, under federal law, to take very conservative approaches in order to account for that uncertainty when they set catch limits and allocations. Completing the negative feedback loop, fishermen interpret low allocations as bad science and the cycle of mistrust rolls on.”

That cycle of mistrust is what the NEFMC is addressing as they consider alternatives for establishing catch accountability, particularly whether and how to advance electronic monitoring (EM) in the New England groundfish fishery from pilot project to widespread implementation. What we said two years ago is precisely what we would say to the council today.

“In fisheries where catch monitoring is in place, an entirely different … feedback loop is established. Reliable catch and discard data from fishermen, combined with scientific survey results, give fishery managers not just critical and complete information, but the ability to eliminate a major source of uncertainty and to set catch limits with confidence. Over time, as more-reliable and verifiable data comes in, confidence grows and cooperation develops between fishermen and managers.”

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times