Saving Seafood

NEW JERSEY: Black sea bass: We’ll make more

December 8, 2015 — New Jersey is very interested in a new federal grant program designed to create more black sea bass habitat and also to answer scientific questions about what this particular fish needs to thrive in mid-Atlantic waters.

Black sea bass are both a popular fish for anglers in New Jersey and an important catch for commercial fishermen. For a type of fish that relies on underwater structure, which ran range from a shipwreck to a natural rocky outcrop, a key question is whether building artificial reefs creates new black sea bass or simply concentrates ones already in the ocean.

“That would be a great question to ask. We’d absolutely be interested in that,” said Lisa Havel, a coordinator for the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership or ACFHP.

The partnership, through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is offering grants of up to $225,000 for projects that restore black sea bass habitat or qualify as research projects to learn more about the habitat needs of a fairly strange fish species, known for, among other things, the ability to change sexes (hermaphrodite transition) as needed.

The restoration or research proposals are for a region that runs from Long Island Sound to Cape Hatteras. While black sea bass range from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, there is a distinct population in the Mid-Atlantic region the study wants to address.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

 

Marine Resource Education Program to Kick Off 2016 Series in Norfolk, Va.

December 9, 2015 — The following was released by the Marine Resource Education Program:

The 2016 series for the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) kicks off in Norfolk, VA next month. “If you are someone with an investment in healthy fisheries,” says John Williamson, F/V Sea keeper, National Coalition of Fishing Communities member, and co-founder of MREP, “then the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) is for you.”

Organized and delivered by members of the fishing community, in partnership with NMFS, the Fishery Management Councils, ASMFC and research institutions, MREP brings together fishermen, scientists, managers, and other marine resource professionals to share professional expertise in a neutral setting. The curriculum offers insights into fishery science and stock assessments, delivered in plain English; participants learn the when, where and how to effectively engage in the fishery management process.

2016 workshop schedule:

  • MREP Fishery Science 100 – January 5-7 – Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Norfolk, VA
  • MREP Fishery Management 100 – February 23-25 – Norfolk Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, VA
  • MREP Ecosystems 200 (NEW) – March 15-16 – Ocean Place Resort, Long Branch, NJ
  • MREP for Recreational Fisheries (NEW) – January 19-21 – Wyndham Peabody Court, Baltimore, MD

For more information and to submit an online application: www.gmri.org/MREP-NEapply

To submit an application by phone, call Patty Collins, Gulf of Maine Research Institute (207) 228-1625.

Lodging, meals and travel expenses are covered for MREP participants.   Qualifying commercial fishermen are eligible for an additional $125/day reimbursement for vessel tie-up costs.

Seating is limited, apply today.

For more information about MREP curriculum and goals please contact:

John Williamson (207) 939-7055 john@seakeeper.net

Mary Beth Tooley (207) 837-3537 mbtooley@live.com

Alexa Dayton (207) 228-1645 adayton@gmri.org

“As good as the science is it could be better. Fishermen’s information is key to improving stock assessments.” – MREP participant

“When you know what’s going on, you can make better decisions for the future.” – MREP participant

 

NEW JERSEY: Fish cops issue striped bass warning

December 2, 2015 — Federal fishing officials are warning anglers and commercial fishermen it is illegal to catch striped bass in waters outside three miles.

The ban on catching stripers is in an area called the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” or EEZ, which runs from 3 to 200 miles offshore and is under federal jurisdiction. The ban, which dates back to 1990, is not in place in state waters that are inside three miles.

In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies to enforce the ban. NOAA Fisheries Special Agent Jeffrey Ray said in New Jersey the agency will be working with the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife to enforce the ban.

The effort runs from November through February and could include dockside or at-sea inspections as well as aerial reconnaissance.

“There’s a lot of striped bass activity and we want to make sure the information is out there that people cannot catch striped bass in the EEZ. There will be patrols in the EEZ,” said Ray.

In the past the efforts have included putting undercover agents posing as patrons on party and charter boats to make sure they stay within three miles. There have been dozens of cases brought against captains that fished in the EEZ, including one against a charter boat operator based in Avalon several years ago.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

 

Bills could make striped bass New Jersey’s state fish

November 19, 2015 — There is a movement to have striped bass designated as the official saltwater fish of the state of New Jersey. The two bills that could make that a reality are sitting in the both state houses waiting on a vote.

The Assembly bill (A4563) was introduced in June and the companion Senate bill (S3192) followed in October. Fishermen are now urging legislatures to pass them.

“There are several reasons do it,” said Ray Dziadul, the conservation officer for the Raritan Bay Anglers Club. “It is the premier fish that fishermen fish for. It generates a lot of money for our economy.”

Just as important to Dziadul said is the benefit it would provide for striped bass, which have been in a recent population dive according to fishery managers.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Garden State Seafood Association Fisheries Workshop and Holiday Party

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — November 18, 2015 — The Garden State Seafood Association will host a Fisheries Workshop on December 11, 2015 at the Jacques Cousteau Coastal Center in Tuckerton, NJ. The GSSA will also host its annual Holiday Party later in the evening at the Tuckerton Seaport. The GSSA Board and Staff will all be in attendance, as well as local officials. For more details contact Greg DiDomenico at 609-675-0202 and Heather Larson at 940-642-2806.

View a PDF of the Fisheries Workshop Draft Agenda

View a PDF of the Holiday Party invite

 

New nationwide coalition seeking to unify commercial fishing interests

November 16, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group with strong New Bedford ties is creating a national coalition of commercial fishing interests to boost outreach and communication for the industry, which supporters claim often can be overmatched by unified environmental groups that promote competing interests.

“America’s fishing communities and seafood industry have been maligned by special interest groups working in collusion, who have slandered hard-working Americans with outrageous claims and misrepresentations,” Bob Vanasse, a New Bedford native and executive director of Saving Seafood, said in a Monday news release. “We’re aiming to bring the entire supply chain of fishermen, shoreside businesses, processors, markets and restaurants together to join this effort to move the national conversation in a positive direction.”

The Saving Seafood release said the nonprofit, formed in 2009, is conducting a membership drive for its new National Coalition of Fishing Communities (NCFC). Vanasse said the coalition, so far, has about 60 members across the country, including New Bedford’s Harbor Development Commission.

The NCFC will formally launch in Washington in January, during the next U.S. Conference of Mayors event. Vanasse said New Bedford Mayor Mitchell will be chairman of the coalition’s mayors’ group, reaching out to municipal leaders in Seattle, Honolulu, Atlantic City and other cities with strong commercial fishing ties. Coalition members already include commercial fishing associations from Hawaii, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey and more.

“I believe there needs to be a stronger voice for fishing communities in the halls of Congress,” Mitchell said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard -Times

 

NEW JERSEY: Massive school of fish fights off predators in Raritan Bay

November 16, 2015 — A group of New Jersey fishermen pulled their boat into a breathtaking scene last week and captured video of massive numbers of menhaden schooling to avoid the jaws of predator bluefish.

“My father and his friend have a combined 120 or so years of experience on the water and they had never seen anything like that,” said Nick Kita, 22, of Manville, who shot the video and posted it to Youtube. Kita also provided the video to NJ.com.

A professional photographer, Kita used both a submerged GoPro camera and an overhead drone to capture dramatic footage of the fish.

Read the full story at New Jersey Advance

 

Fishermen’s Energy Loses Bid for Wind Farm Leases Off LBI

November 10, 2015 — The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held an offshore land lease sale for the purposes of developing future wind farms on Monday, Nov. 9.  Although a locally held company, Fishermen’s Energy, participated in the auction, it lost out to two other concerns.

US Wind Inc. won the right to develop the Wind Energy Area off Ocean and Atlantic counties by bidding$1,006,240 for 183,353 acres, Outer Continental Shelf Lease Area 0499. RES America Developments Inc. won the right to develop the 160,480 Wind Energy Area acres from Atlantic City south to Cape May County, paying $880,715 for Lease Area OCS-A 0498.

The New Jersey Wind Energy Area starts about 7 nautical miles offshore and extends roughly 21 nautical miles seaward. To see a map of the New Jersey Wind Energy Area, go to boem.gov/New–Jersey.

Each lease will have a preliminary term of one year, during which the lessee will submit a site assessment plan to BOEM for approval. A site assessment plan describes the activities (installation of meteorological towers and buoys) a lessee plans to perform for the assessment of the wind resources and ocean conditions of its commercial lease area.

Fishermen’s Energy Chief Operating Official Paul Gallagher was not available for comment on Tuesday.

Fishermen’s Energy was developed in 2007 by a consortium of eight commercial fishing and dock facilities along the East Coast from Massachusetts to Virginia. In New Jersey, Viking Village in Barnegat Light, Atlantic Cape Fisheries and Cold Spring Fish and Supply Co. are some of the partners.

The idea was to take a leadership role in building wind energy farms that would be sensitive to fishing areas and the marine environment.

Read the full story at The SandPaper

 

Feds auction 340,000 acres for offshore wind power

November 9, 2015 — Two energy firms will spend more than $1.8 million to potentially develop wind farms in federal waters off the coast of New Jersey, officials announced Monday.

The companies — RES America Developments and U.S. Wind Inc.— won the rights in a lease auction on Monday. Combined, the firms bought up leases for nearly 344,000 acres of space, the Department of Interior announced.

If the area is fully developed, the Department of Energy predicts it could provide enough electricity to power 1.2 million homes.

In a statement, officials said the lease sale is designed to spur renewable energy development under President Obama’s climate agenda. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called the sale a “major step in standing up a sustainable offshore wind program for Atlantic coast communities.”

“We are pleased to see continued commercial interest in the offshore wind industry, as demonstrated by today’s lease sale,” Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement.

Read the full story at The Hill

 

ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Board Sets 2016 Specifications for Horseshoe Crabs of Delaware Bay Origin

November 5, 2015 — ST. AUGUSTINE, Fl. – The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved the harvest specifications for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay origin. Under the Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework, the Board set a harvest limit of 500,000 Delaware Bay male horseshoe crabs and zero female horseshoe crabs for the 2016 season. Based on the allocation mechanism established in Addendum VII, the following quotas were set for the states of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, which harvest horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay origin:  

 

Delaware Bay Origin Horseshoe Crab Quota (no. of crabs)

Total Quota

State

Male Only

Male Only

Delaware

162,136

162,136

New Jersey

162,136

162,136

Maryland

141,112

255,980

Virginia*

34,615

81,331

*Virginia harvest refers to harvest east of the COLREGS line only

The Board chose a harvest management program based on the Technical Committee and ARM Subcommittee recommendation. The ARM Framework, established through Addendum VII, incorporates both shorebird and horseshoe crab abundance levels to set optimized harvest levels for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay origin. Previously the horseshoe crab abundance estimate was based on data from the Benthic Trawl Survey conducted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute, however, due to the Benthic Trawl Survey not having been conducted in recent years, a composite index of the Delaware 30ft Trawl Survey, New Jersey Delaware Bay Trawl Survey, and New Jersey Ocean Trawl Survey was used instead. Funding has been secured for the Benthic Trawl Survey to be conducted in 2016.

The Horseshoe Crab Technical Committee, Delaware Bay Ecosystem Technical Committee, and the ARM Subcommittee also recommended the ARM Framework be reviewed and updated in 2016. The Board agreed with this recommendation, with specific interest in re-considering the thresholds to allow the harvest of female horseshoe crabs, as well as the recent listing of red knot as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ARM subcommittee will develop specific recommendations to the Board on changes to the ARM Framework in 2016.

For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, FMP Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or krootes-murdy@asmfc.org.