Saving Seafood

NMFS Must Consider Climate in Turtles Plan

September 2, 2015 — WASHINGTON –The National Marine Fisheries Service erred by not considering the impact of climate change when it drafted a biological opinion on loggerhead turtles in the northwest Atlantic, a federal judge ruled.

But in his August 31 ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said over all the agency’s biological opinion on the impact of seven east coast fisheries on turtle populations is not arbitrary, as greens had charged.

Friedman granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgment filed by Oceana Inc., challenging the agency’s determination that seven fisheries it studied are not jeopardizing the existence of loggerhead sea turtles, and sent the opinion back to the fisheries service for certain clarifications.

In an “incidental take” report on seven east coast fisheries, the agency calculated the numbers of sea turtles that might be caught in specific types of fishing devices, and of those how many might die.

By the agency’s calculations, approximately 483 loggerhead turtles will be caught annually, 239 of which might die.

Oceana had challenged the agency’s report, saying it uses five year study intervals in its calculations, which is too long, and doesn’t take into effect the shorter-term effects of global warming.

Friedman agreed with Oceana that the “incidental take” report doesn’t explain how the agency will monitor whether the take limits have been exceeded, and that the agency’s reasons for why it only monitors the turtles every five years aren’t clear.

While the court isn’t in a position to say that the agency’s five year monitoring cycle is “per se arbitrary and capricious,” as Oceana had claimed, Friedman found that, “there is apparent ‘tension’ between the regulatory mandate and the infrequency with which NMFS measures take estimates against the take limit … and this dissonance places an onus on the agency to adequately explain the reasonableness of the approach.”

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

 

2016/2017 Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program – Proposals Due October 31, 2015

September 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NMFS, in coordination with the New England Fishery Management Council, is soliciting Atlantic Sea Scallop research proposals to utilize scallop Total Allowable Catch that has been set-aside by the Council to fund scallop research endeavors through the 2016/2017 Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program. No federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and compensate vessels that participate in research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.

Click here for Information about this opportunity. To apply for this NOAA Federal Funding Opportunity, go to www.grants.gov, and use the following funding opportunity #: NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004548.

Questions? Contact Olivia Rugo, Regional Office, at 978-675-2167 or Olivia.Rugo@noaa.gov.

U.S. Determines that Mexico’s Measures to Reduce the Bycatch of Sea Turtles are Insufficient

August 19, 2015 — Mexico was identified for bycatch of a protected living marine resource (PLMR) in the 2013 Biennial Report to Congress. For a number of reasons, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decided not to make a certification decision on the 2013 PLMR bycatch identification in the 2015 Biennial Report.

First, Mexico made meaningful progress late in 2014 to develop a draft regulatory program to address loggerhead sea turtle bycatch, which culminated in the December 5, 2014, publication of a proposal to establish a refuge area within the Gulf of Ulloa for the conservation of this species. Second, the Government of Mexico gave assurances that this program would be adopted by April 1, 2015. Although the 2015 Biennial Report stated an intention to issue the final certification determination in May 2015, this determination was delayed as NMFS did not receive the adopted regulatory program from Mexico until April 10, 2015. NMFS now issues the PLMR bycatch certification determination for Mexico in this Addendum to the 2015 Biennial Report to Congress.

For the reasons explained below, NMFS has determined that Mexico should receive a negative certification concerning its actions, to date, to address the issues raised in the 2013 bycatch identification. Basis for Mexico’s 2013 Identification for Bycatch of PLMRs. In 2012, Mexican fishing vessels in the gillnet fishery in Baja California Sur incidentally caught North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles, a PLMR shared with the United States. In October 2012, the Mexican Fisheries Research Institute published a report on bycatch reduction trials conducted earlier in 2012 in the gillnet fishery in Baja California Sur.

Read the full story at the Yucatan Times

 

NOAA announces plan for endangered Hawaiian monk seal

August 11, 2015 — Federal fisheries authorities want to more than double the small population of endangered Hawaiian monk seals in the state’s main islands.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service on Tuesday released a draft management plan for the endangered species, of which approximately 200 live in the main Hawaiian Islands.

There are approximately 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals total, with most of them living in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The species was listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1976.

NOAA’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator Rachel Sprague said that while the population of monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands has been increasing, the overall population continues to decline.

“The main Hawaiian Islands have a fairly small portion of the overall monk seal population,” Sprague said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “If climate change or sea level rise or infectious disease did get into the population, they could be really catastrophic for such a small population. Rather than thinking about trying to really do a lot of active interventions, we’re more trying to set up a situation for the future to support the monk seal population growing to a level where they could be considered recovered.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

NMFS Moves to Add Marine Mammal Rules Similar to Turtle Excluder Laws; May Ban Some Seafood Imports

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton — August 11, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries has published a notice in the Federal Register today about rules for foreign seafood exporters regarding marine mammals.

Although there is a five year window for implementation, the new rules would require certification for any export fishery that interacts with marine mammals. Unless the foreign country had a program certified as effective by NMFS for reducing marine mammal bycatch mortality, exports from that fishery would be prohibited into the US.

The operation of the program appears similar to the Turtle Excluder Laws, which require tropical shrimp producing countries to certify the use of turtle excluders for wild shrimp, if they intend to export such shrimp to the US.

Over the years, exports have been suspended from some countries for failure to comply, with the most recent being Mexico whose wild shrimp exports were suspended for a year.

Fisheries that interact with marine mammals include yellowfin tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, where dolphins are at risk, many longline fisheries that have marine mammal bycatch; large scale driftnet fisheries, and even potentially pot fisheries like lobster.

In the US, lobster gear has been modified to reduce whale interactions, and entanglement is recognized as the leading cause for marine mammal bycatch globally.

In order to export to the US, once the rule is fully in effect, a foreign country would have to meet the following qualifying conditions before a fishery that interacts with marine mammals could export to the US:

1. Marine mammal stock assessments that estimate population abundance for marine mammal stocks in waters under its jurisdiction that are incidentally killed or seriously injured in the export fishery;

2. An export fishery register containing a list of all vessels participating in an export fishery under the jurisdiction of the harvesting nation, including the number of vessels participating, information on gear type, target species, fishing season, and fishing area for each export fishery;

3. Regulatory requirements (e. g., including copies of relevant laws, decrees, and implementing regulations or measures) that include:

(a) A requirement for the owner or operator of vessels participating in the fishery to report all intentional and incidental mortality and injury of marine mammals in the course of commercial fishing operations; and

(b) A requirement to implement measures in export fisheries designed to reduce the total incidental mortality and serious injury of a marine mammal stock below the bycatch limit. Such measures may include: Bycatch reduction devices; incidental mortality and serious injury limits; careful release and safe-handling of marine mammals and gear removal; gear marking; bycatch avoidance gear (e. g., pingers) ; gear modifications or restrictions; or time- area closures.

4. Implementation of monitoring procedures in export fisheries designed to estimate incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in each export fishery under its jurisdiction, as well as estimates of cumulative incidental mortality and serious injury for marine mammal stocks in waters under its jurisdiction that are incidentally killed or seriously injured in the export fishery and other export fisheries with the same marine mammal stock, including an indication of the statistical reliability of those estimates;

5. Calculation of bycatch limits for marine mammal stocks in waters under its jurisdiction that are incidentally killed or seriously injured in an export fishery;

6. Comparison of the incidental mortality and serious injury of each marine mammal stock or stocks that interact with the export fishery in relation to the bycatch limit for each stock; and comparison of the cumulative incidental mortality and serious injury of each marine mammal stock or stocks that interact with the export fishery and any other export fisheries of the harvesting nation showing that these export fisheries: (a) Does not exceed the bycatch limit for that stock or stocks; or

(b) Exceeds the bycatch limit for that stock or stocks, but the portion of incidental marine mammal mortality or serious injury for which the exporting fishery is responsible is at a level that, if the other export fisheries interacting with the same marine mammal stock or stocks were at the same level, would not result in cumulative incidental mortality and serious injury in excess of the bycatch limit for that stock or stocks.

The next step will be a formal comment period, after which NOAA will issue the final rule.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

Gulf of Alaska Groundfish to Reopen After NMFS Allocates 1600 Additional Chinook Salmon as Bycatch

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] — August 10, 2015 — NMFS has given Gulf of Alaska groundfish trawlers in the non-rockfish program Sector an additional 1,600 Chinook salmon to their prohibited species catch (PSC) allowance in an emergency ruling.

The implementation of the emergency decision was done after the North Pacific Management Council (NPFMC) recommended an emergency rule in a 10-1 vote during its June meeting. On May 3, the Gulf of Alaska groundfish sector was forced to close after fishermen unexpectedly reached its annual 2,700 Chinook salmon allowance in the Western and Central Gulf of fishery.

According to NMFS the additional limit of 1,600 Chinook salmon PSC is likely to restore a substantial portion of the forgone groundfish harvest and associated revenue made unavailable by the closure. It will allow the sector to harvest its recent average amount of groundfish for the remainder of 2015, while keeping the total Chinook salmon PSC well below the annual threshold for all Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries.

“NOAA Fisheries has determined that an emergency exists because the early closure of the Non-Rockfish Program CV Sector’s groundfish fisheries is causing significant economic detriment to harvesters, processors and the community of Kodiak,” NMFS said in a press release on Friday.

A previous PSC management action, Amendment 93 to the FM was approved in June 2011 to limit Chinook salmon PSC to 25,000 Chinook salmon in the Western and Central GOA pollock trawl fisheries.

Because the Western and Central GOA non-pollock trawl fisheries were without a Chinook salmon PSC limit prior to 2014, the Council recommended that Chinook salmon PSC limits be extended to these fisheries under Amendment 97 to the FMP.

Amendment 97 to the FMP limits Chinook salmon PSC to a total of 7,500 Chinook salmon for the Western and Central GOA non-pollock trawl fisheries – 2,700 for the Non-Rockfish Program CV Sector, 3,600 for the Catcher/processor Sector, and 1,200 for the Rockfish Program CV Sector.

New data has shown that previous estimates of PSC for this sector were not representative of recent PSC use.

The additional allocation of 1,600 Chinook salmon would be consistent with the overall goals of Chinook salmon PSC management in the GOA trawl fisheries and would not substantially increase Chinook salmon PSC use relative to established limits NMFS said.

Based on current and anticipated incidental catch of Chinook salmon in the GOA trawl fisheries, NMFS anticipates that total Chinook salmon PSC by GOA trawl vessels is unlikely to exceed 32,500 Chinook salmon, well below the annual threshold of 40,000.

This temporary rule will mitigate the costs of the closure to participants in the fishery while the Council develops an FMP amendment to permanently address this situation.

This emergency rule is effective upon publication in the Federal Register today and will last until December 31, 2015, or until the new PSC limit of 1,600 Chinook salmon is reached by the Non-Rockfish Program CV Sector.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule to Modify Lobster Area 4 Seasonal Closure

August 5, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing a modification to the Lobster Conservation Management Area 4 seasonal closure at the recommendation of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which leads the management for American lobster.

Under the proposed rule, the Area 4 closure would be changed from February 1-March 31 to April 30-May 31.

This measure is designed to better reduce fishing effort on the Southern New England lobster stock, which is in poor condition. This area closure shift has already been implemented by states adjacent to Area 4.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register.

The comment period is open through September 4. Submit your comments online through Regulations.gov or by mailing your comments to:

John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator
NMFS,Greater Atlantic Regional Office
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

Please mark the outside of the envelope: Comments on American Lobster Proposed Rule.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Gulf fishermen react to bill that would transfer Red-snapper control to states

July 20, 2015 — Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge) on Thursday introduced legislation that would transfer control of Gulf of Mexico red-snapper stocks from the National Marine Fisheries Service to a consortium established by the five Gulf states.

Graves said similar protocols have been successfully implemented along the East Coast and in Alaska, adding that “state-based management will result in more frequent stock assessments and improved regional collaboration in the collection and use of timely fishery data.”

Fisheries directors from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have grown displeased with federal red-snapper management, and began a concerted effort earlier this year to wrest control of the fishery from NMFS.

Gulf of Mexico recreational anglers have seen their access to booming red snapper stocks dwindle in recent years. In 2015, the private-boat recreational season stretched only 10 days, even though the overall harvest quota was the largest in history.

Read the full story at The Times Picayune

 

Group Petitions to Save a Prehistoric Fish From Modern Construction

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — July 21, 2015 — The Atlantic sturgeon is among the oldest of fish species, dating from the time of the dinosaurs. It is the longest-living fish in the Hudson (up to 60 years), the largest (up to 14 feet) and the strangest-looking, with bony plates that make it look armored.

But looks can be deceiving, and the sturgeon is also endangered. Now, environmentalists say construction of the $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge here is killing scores of the fish. Most of them — both Atlantic sturgeons and the smaller shortnose sturgeons, also endangered but more plentiful — have been found dead along the shore, with injuries like long gashes and severed heads, suggesting impacts from boat propellers.

“They call them living fossils,” said Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, the environmental group devoted to the Hudson, “and we can’t be the generation that does them in.”

This month, the group, which is represented by the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service, a federal agency responsible for offshore living marine animals and habitats, asking it to study the problem and take immediate action.

Read the full story from The New York Times