Saving Seafood

$300K Tuna Sold at Final Tsukiji Fish Market Heads to NYC Sushi Chain

January 19, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The 890 lb. bluefin tuna sold for $323,195 at the final New Year’s auction at Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market has made its way to New York City.

The fish was bought by the Onodera Group, which has 11 restaurants in seven cities around the world, including London, Paris, Shanghai and Los Angeles. Sushi Ginza Onodera, located on 5th Avenue in New York City, is the lucky restaurant to score the fish for its diners. This week they’re serving sushi made from the massive bluefin tuna – and at no extra charge. However, there is a catch. The restaurant only offers its sushi in an “omakase setting,” which means that the course selection is in the hands of the chef. And it can get pricey. While the restaurant does not list prices online, guests on yelp say that lunch can range from $100 to $150 per person, while dinner can reach $400 per person.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

States seek exemptions from Trump’s offshore drilling plan, citing economic value of fisheries

January 18, 2018 — Newly released plans for an expansion of domestic offshore drilling from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could come at a significant cost to the country’s seafood industry, according to  environmental advocates and public officials.

As the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public comment meeting in an Annapolis, Maryland hotel on Tuesday, 16 January, those opposed to the plan met at the same hotel.

William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, reiterated his opposition to leasing drilling rights in Maryland waters and elsewhere. The bay is a critical nurturing ground for blue crabs.

“One oil spill at the wrong time at the wrong place could wipe out an entire year’s class of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs, several hundred million dollars worth, and all the jobs that associate with it,” Baker said at the rally, according to the Capital Gazette.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke unveiled the administration’s proposal, which would open nearly all the country’s coastal waters for oil and gas drilling over a five-year period. Proponents of offshore drilling say it would create new jobs and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign oil supplies.

The first public meetings to receive input into the plan were held Tuesday, 16 January in Annapolis and Jackson, Mississippi. According to the Associated Press, the Mississippi meeting drew a small crowd due to snowy conditions.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

New York’s Gov. Cuomo to Trump: Oil drilling off NY coast would kill economy, wildlife

January 17, 2018 — Oil slicks off Coney Island. Disruptions at the largest container port on the East Coast. Empty nets for New York’s fishing industry.

With these scenarios in mind, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a formal request on Monday for New York to be exempted from the Trump administration’s proposed plan to expand offshore oil drilling to every coastal state.

Cuomo said New York state’s coastal economy generates tens of billions of dollars in economic activity and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs, all of which would be threatened by toxic chemicals released during drilling and from oil spills. There are currently no oil wells off the Atlantic coastline.

Cuomo’s letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke comes a week after Zinke said the Trump administration would allow the state of Florida to be exempted from the controversial plan, called the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

According to the Associated Press, after a short meeting between Zinke and Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott at a local airport, Zinke said oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would be “off the table” because of Florida’s reliance on tourism. Other coastal states immediately clamored to be exempt as well.

In his letter to Zinke issued on Monday, Cuomo wrote in part, “Your decision to remove Florida from consideration of any new oil and gas platforms before your department has even concluded its public fact-finding process appears arbitrary. Nevertheless, to the extent that states are exempted from consideration, New York should also be exempted.”

Cuomo said that an oil spill offshore New York’s Atlantic coast “would cripple the state’s ocean tourism economy and devastate coastal ecosystems, and toxic chemical releases associated with day-to-day drilling operations and pipeline leaks would negatively impact marine and other wildlife.” He added that just this week two of the world’s 450 remaining North Atlantic Right whales were observed off Montauk.

Read the full story at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

 

MAFMC: NEFMC to Hold Mid-Atlantic Port Meetings to Gather Public Input for Independent Program Review

January 5, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is currently undergoing an independent review to: (1) assess past performance; (2) gather feedback on strengths and weaknesses of the Council process and operations; and (3) identify potential areas for improvements. Twelve port meetings and one webinar meeting were held in November and December to gather public input.

Two additional port meetings have been scheduled in the Mid-Atlantic region:

  • Monday, January 8, Montauk, NY – Montauk Playhouse Community Center, 240 Edgemere Street, 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, January 9, Cape May, NJ – Rutgers University, 1636 Delaware Ave., 5 p.m.

Stakeholders can also provide input through an online survey, which is available HERE.

More information can be found at Council Program Review.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976.  The Council has primary responsibility for twelve species of fish and shellfish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between 3 and 200 miles off the Mid-Atlantic coast.  Member states include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.  Visit our website for more information.

 

Outsiders to eyeball fisheries council

January 4, 2019 — It staged a rolling tour of a dozen port meetings at the end of 2017 that would have made the Grateful Dead proud and now the New England Fishery Management Council continues to urge fishing stakeholders to weigh in on what the council does well and where it needs to improve.

The council embarked on its external review in November, visiting port cities up and down the northern Atlantic coast — with two port meetings remaining next week in New York and New Jersey — and continues to conduct a webinar that allows stakeholders to make their cases online.

The website address for the online survey is http://bit.ly/2AiZkMn.

This week, the council selected the six individuals — three fishery managers and three scientists — to serve on the independent review panel. The panel, according to the council, is set to meet March 13 to 16 at the Hilton Garden Inn at Boston’s Logan Airport. The meetings will be open to the public.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Massachusetts: Battling Ice On A New Bedford Fishing Boat

January 3, 2018 — The normally bustling docks along New Bedford harbor were practically deserted Tuesday as an arctic cold front kept some boats off the water.

On one pier, a deckhand heaved a sledge hammer against the ice-caked roof of the Gabby G, a fishing boat on the New Bedford pier. Ice covered practically every exposed surface of this 105-foot dragger.

The boat’s captain, Mario Gonsalves, said he wanted to get another run in before a snow storm that’s predicted to hit Thursday.  But first, the crew had to de-ice the boat.

“You’re seeing a lot of ice build-up from spray from the ocean,’’ he said. “The boat goes up and down and the spray from the waves…just freeze(s) instantly, almost. This is what happens when you fish and it’s really cold out.’’

Gonsalves and his five-member crew fish for squid and whiting, also known as Silver Hake. Once they catch the fish they store them in boxes with packing ice – not to keep the fish cold, he said, but to stop them from freezing.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio 

 

New York: New Law Creates Seafood Task Force To Boost Industry

January 3, 2018 — A law designed to support New York’s local fishermen, aquaculturalists and related small businesses has recently been signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The New York Seafood Marketing Task Force Act of 2017, sponsored, in part, by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, creates a Seafood Marketing Task Force composed of individuals from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, the New York Sea Grant Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension, in addition to seafood wholesalers, processors, aquaculturalists and retailers.

As part of its function, the task force will promote the economic and environmental sustainability of the New York seafood industry through marketing initiatives, incentives and educational programs. The task force will seek to prevent mislabeling of seafood products and will work to block illegally caught seafood from New York markets. The task force will begin meeting in 2018.

Read the full story at 27 East

 

ASMFC: States Schedule Hearings on Draft Addenda XXVI & III to the American Lobster and Jonah Crab FMPs

January 2, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

States from Maine through New Jersey have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on American Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum III. The details of those hearings follow.

Maine Department of Marine Resources

January 10, 2018; 6 PM

Scarborough Middle School Cafeteria

21 Quentin Drive

Scarborough, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

January 11, 2018; 6 PM

Ellsworth High School

24 Lejok Street

Ellsworth, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

January 16, 2018; 7 PM

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road

Portsmouth, NH

Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries*

January 19, 2018; 1PM

Resort and Conference Center of Hyannis

35 Scudder Avenue

Hyannis, MA

Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

* The MA DMF hearing will take place at the MA Lobstermen’s Association Annual Weekend and Industry Trade Show

Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 17, 2018; 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, RI

Contact: Conor McManus at 401.423.1943

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 18, 2018; 7 PM

CT DEEP Boating Education Center

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, CT

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York Department of Environmental Conservation

January 9, 2018; 6:30 PM

NYSDEC Division of Marine Fisheries

205 N. Belle Mead Road

East Setauket, NY

Contact: Jim Gilmore at 631.444.0430

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 8, 2018; 6 PM

Wall Township Municipal Building

Lower Level Community Room

2700 Allaire Road

Wall Township, NJ

Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020

The Draft Addenda seek to improve harvest reporting and biological data collection in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. The Draft Addenda propose using the latest reporting technology, expanding the collection of effort data, increasing the spatial resolution of harvester reporting, and advancing the collection of biological data, particularly offshore.

Recent management action in the Northwest Atlantic, including the protection of deep sea corals, the declaration of a national monument, and the expansion of offshore wind projects, have highlighted deficiencies in current American lobster and Jonah crab reporting requirements. These include a lack of spatial resolution in harvester data and a significant number of fishermen who are not required to report. As a result, efforts to estimate the economic impacts of these various management actions on American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries have been hindered. States have been forced to piece together information from harvester reports, industry surveys, and fishermen interviews to gather the information needed. In addition, as American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries continue to expand offshore, there is a greater disconnect between where the fishery is being prosecuted and where biological sampling is occurring. More specifically, while most of the sampling occurs in state waters, an increasing volume of American lobster and Jonah crab are being harvested in federal waters. The lack of biological information on the offshore portions of these fisheries can impede effective management.
 
The Draft Addenda present three questions for public comment: (1) what percentage of harvesters should be required to report in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries; (2) should current data elements be expanded to collect a greater amount of information in both fisheries; and (3) at what scale should spatial information be collected. In addition, the Draft Addenda provide several recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for data collection of offshore American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. These include implementation of a harvester reporting requirement for federal lobster permit holders, creation of a fixed-gear VTR form, and expansion of a biological sampling program offshore. 
 
The Draft Addenda, which are combined into one document that would modify management programs for both species upon its adoption, is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/LobsterDraftAddXXVI_JonahDraftAddIII_PublicComment.pdf or on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input).Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI).

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.

 

New England fishermen worry that wind turbines could impact their catch

December 26, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — East Coast fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry.

In New Bedford, fishermen dread the possibility of navigating a forest of turbines as they make their way to the fishing grounds that have made it the nation’s most lucrative fishing port for 17 years running.

The state envisions hundreds of wind turbines spinning off the city’s shores in about a decade, enough to power more than 1 million homes.

‘‘You ever see a radar picture of a wind farm? It’s just one big blob, basically,’’ said Eric Hansen, 56, a New Bedford scallop boat owner whose family has been in the business for generations. ‘‘Transit through it will be next to impossible, especially in heavy wind and fog.’’

Off New York’s Long Island, an organization representing East Coast scallopers has sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to try to halt a proposal for a nearly 200-turbine wind farm. Commercial fishermen in Maryland’s Ocean City and North Carolina’s Outer Banks have also sounded the alarm about losing access to fishing grounds.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

 

States Schedule Public Hearings on Draft Addendum XXX Board Seeks Input on Regional Management Options for Black Sea Recreational Fisheries for 2018 and Beyond

December 22, 2017 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Comission:

Atlantic states from Massachusetts through Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XXX to the Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The details of those hearings follow:

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

January 9, 2018 at 6 PM

Bourne Community Center, Room 2

239 Main Street

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531

Rhode Island Division of Fish & Wildlife

January 17, 2018 at 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420

Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 10, 2018 at 7 PM

Marine Headquarters

Boating Education Center (Rear Building)

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, Connecticut

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

January 11, 2018 at 6 PM

Division of Marine Resources

205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1

East Setauket, New York

Contact: John Maniscalco at 631.444.0437

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 4, 2018 at 6:30 PM

Galloway Township Branch of the Atlantic County Library

306 East Jimmie Leeds Road

Galloway, New Jersey

Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020

Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control

January 3, 2018 at 6 PM*

DNREC Shoreline & Waterway Services Facility

901 Pilottown Road

Lewes, Delaware

Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914

* Facility doors will not open until 5:30 PM

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

January 8, 2018 at 6 PM

Ocean Pines Library

11107 Cathell Road

Berlin, Maryland 21811

Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

January 16, 2018 at 6 PM

2600 Washington Avenue

4th Floor Conference Room

Newport News, Virginia

Contact: Rob O’Reilly at 757.247.2248

Draft Addendum XXX was initiated to consider alternative regional management approaches for the recreational fishery, including options for regional allocation of the recreational harvest limit (RHL) based on historical harvest and exploitable biomass. The Draft Addendum also includes an option for coastwide management of black sea bass recreational fisheries should a regional approach not be approved for management.

In recent years, challenges in the black sea bass recreational fishery have centered on providing equitable access to the resource in the face of uncertain population size, structure, and distribution. Since 2012, the recreational fishery has been managed under an ad-hoc regional management approach, whereby the states of Massachusetts through New Jersey have individually crafted measures aimed at reducing harvest by the same percent, while the states of Delaware through North Carolina have set their regulations consistent with the federal waters measures. While this approach allowed the states flexibility in setting measures, some states expressed concerns about equity and accountability in constraining harvest to coastwide catch limits. Additionally, the 2016 Benchmark Stock Assessment provided information on the abundance and distribution of the resource along the coast that was not previously available to include in the management program.

Draft Addendum XXX proposes two approaches for regional allocation of the RHL in the black sea bass recreational fishery: (1) allocation based on a combination of stock biomass and harvest information, or (2) allocation based solely on historical harvest. The regional allocation options offer advantages over coastwide regulations by addressing geographic differences in the stock (size, abundance, and seasonality) while allowing for more uniformity in measures between neighboring states. The Draft Addendum also proposes an option for evaluating harvest and adjusting measures against the annual catch limit, which aims to reduce year to year changes in management measures.

Anglers and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXX either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/BSBDraftAddendumXXX_PublicComment.pdf and can also be accessed on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input. To aid the submission of public comment, please refer to the decision tree found in Appendix III on PDF page 23, which outlines the management options being considered. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XXX).

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.