Saving Seafood

Invasive Asian carp getting a new name, image makeover to draw more foodies, fishing fans

February 9, 2021 — Care for a plate of slimehead? How about some orange roughy?

It’s the same fish, but one sounds much more palatable than the other. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service gave the slimehead a rebranding in the late 1970s in an effort to make the underused fish more marketable.

Now, Illinois officials and their partners want to give the invasive Asian carp threatening the Great Lakes a similar makeover. The goal: To grow the fish’s image as a healthy, delicious, organic, sustainable food source — which will, in turn, get more fishermen removing more tons of the fish from Illinois rivers just outside of Lake Michigan.

Markets such as pet food, bait and fertilizer have expanded the use of invasive Asian carp in recent years. But “it’s been hard to get the human consumption part of this because of the four-letter word: carp,” said Kevin Irons, assistant chief of fisheries for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

A full-on media blitz is coming later this year to change that. The proposed new name for the fish is being kept tightly under wraps for a big rollout in June, prior to the Boston Seafood Show in mid-July. But other aspects of the “The Perfect Catch” campaign will point out that the invasive Asian carp species — silver, bighead, grass and black carp — are flaky, tasty, organic, sustainable, low in mercury and rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

“To us in America, we think of carp as a bottom-feeding, muddy-tasting fish, which it is sometimes,” said Dirk Fucik, owner of Dirk’s Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago, who has had success with occasional serving of Asian carp to customers and is participating in the rebranding effort.

Read the full story at the Chicago Sun Times

CALIFORNIA: Fishful Future: A New Collaborative Community Project to Move San Diego Toward a Zero Waste Seafood Supply Chain

February 9, 2021 — The following was released by Fishful Future:

The Fishful Future project is a newly launched collaborative effort joining seafood processors, fishery scientists, local fishermen, and renowned chefs. Supported by an award from the competitive National Marine Fisheries Service’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, the project explores opportunities for San Diego’s fishing, seafood processing, and culinary industries to move toward a zero-waste seafood supply chain by fully using each fish.

Around 50 percent of each fish by weight generally remains after processing for the fillet market. This half of the fish is often discarded, or sold for cents on the pound, despite the valuable proteins and nutrients contained for a wide range of applications.

To encourage the use of the entire fish, the team explores the value in each part. The Fishful Future project addresses local food security by empowering home chefs to prepare less familiar secondary cuts with culturally diverse recipes, partnering with community groups in food insecure areas, and working with project chefs to develop new restaurant presentations.

The project also brings together entrepreneurs from a broad range of businesses in a new collective approach to increase sustainability by using what is currently considered to be waste. Seafood processing byproducts find valuable applications in bait, fertilizer, pet foods, bio-pharmaceutical, bio-medical, and artistic fields.

“More complete use of the fish means greater economic value and opportunity for fishermen, processors, and everyone who enjoys seafood,” said Dave Rudie, Catalina Offshore Products founder and president. “We owe it to the fish and to our customers to make the most complete use of each fish that is taken out of the ocean.”

Leading the culinary approaches are four San Diego chefs: Davin Waite, Karen Barnett, Christina Ng, and Rob Ruiz. These chefs are not only vocal, active contributors in their community but also wildly creative, committed to respecting their ingredients, and embody the goals of the project in their cookery and daily lives.

The multidisciplinary team is led by Catalina Offshore Products and scientists at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, with partners including the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, the Port of San Diego, Iceland’s Ocean Cluster, and Oregon State University’s Seafood Research & Education Center.

“The only way we can succeed is by doing this together,” said Sarah Mesnick, from NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, who is a scientific advisor in the effort. “All partners in the seafood and product supply chain bring their own expertise and experience to the project, so that together we look at these valuable species in a new, holistic, and more sustainable way.”

Inquiries are welcome from parties interested in joining this effort toward a Fishful Future. Learn more by visiting fishfulfuture.com and following along on Instagram @fishfulfuture.

Oceana, Earthjustice File Suit Again Over NMFS Anchovy Rules on West Coast

February 4, 2021 — Call it a vicious circle. Maybe a vortex from which it seems there is no escape. Maybe it’s quicksand.

Regardless, Earthjustice and Oceana are, for the third time, suing NMFS over the central subpopulation of northern anchovy on the West Coast. NMFS published new anchovy catch limit regulations on Dec. 31, 2020; the conservation groups said those regulations, again, were insufficient.

Read the full story at Seafood News

PFMC: Pre-Assessment Workshop for Lingcod and Vermilion/Sunset Rockfishes March 29, 2021

February 4, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) and the National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers will hold an online workshop to review data and analyses proposed to inform new assessments for lingcod and vermilion/sunset rockfishes scheduled to be conducted this year.  The workshop is open to the public. The pre-assessment workshop will be held Monday, March 29, 2021 beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time and continuing until business for the day has been completed, no later than 4 p.m.

Please see the workshop notice on the Pacific Council’s website for additional details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer John DeVore at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

As Warming Oceans Bring Tough Times to California Crab Fishers, Scientists Say Diversifying is Key to Survival

February 1, 2021 — California’s Dungeness crab fishermen have had a rough year. Poor meat quality, endangered whales migrating too close to shore and price disputes with wholesalers kept crab pots on boats for nearly two months. The delays left families without their cherished holiday centerpiece and fisherman without the funds that normally pay their bills the rest of the year.

But as rising ocean temperatures threaten to make fishery closures routine, it will be even harder to count on crab for holiday meals—or livelihoods. Over the past decade, warming sea waters have produced harmful algal blooms that contaminate crab meat with domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can cause seizures, memory loss and other serious symptoms and has been blamed for poisoning and stranding scores of sea lions in California every year. State officials delayed three out of the last six crab seasons to protect public health after an unprecedented multiyear marine heat wave, dubbed “the blob,” hit the north Pacific Ocean in 2013.

The blob precipitated a series of extraordinary events: it caused a massive harmful algal bloom that led to record-breaking domoic acid concentrations, which in turn caused first-of-its-kind closures of the West Coast’s most valuable fishery, from southern California to Washington state. But in doing so, it also set up a natural experiment that researchers harnessed to reveal strategies that could help food-producing communities recover from climate-driven disturbances.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News

MASSACHUSETTS: Statewide Ban on Lobstering Approved, With Exemption for Vineyard

February 1, 2021 — State fishing regulators overwhelmingly approved a first-of-its-kind seasonal lobstering ban to protect the North Atlantic right whale on Thursday — but exempted Vineyard and south shore waters from the restrictions after local fishermen expressed concerns about the proposal.

The new regulations, which ban commercial lobstering from Feb. 1 through May 15 in all state waters north and east of Cape Cod — but not the Island — were approved in a 6-1 vote with one abstention by the state Marine Advisory Commission during a dramatic hearing Thursday morning. The new rules differ substantially from an initial Department of Marine Fisheries recommendation that would have banned lobstering statewide.

Regulators also rejected a measure that would have barred lobstering vessels over 29 feet from using single pot lines, partially at the urging of Vineyard representative on the commission Dr. Shelley Edmundson, who asked to form a committee on the proposal. Other approved regulations include weaker rope and a recreational ban in all state waters from Nov. 1 through May 15.

The new seasonal commercial ban comes as a flurry of lawsuits and right whale deaths from entanglement have forced federal and state regulators to act fast in an effort to preserve the species and fall in line with the Environmental Protection Act. State regulators hope to use the new conservation measures to obtain an Incidental Take Permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is required for the continued operation of the lobster fishery.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Black sea bass more abundant in Long Island Sound as water warms

January 29, 2021 — Scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Milford Laboratory in Connecticut documented a distinct shift in Long Island Sound fish abundance, with black sea bass showing up in increasing numbers while winter flounder declined.

The findings recently published in Fishery Bulletin are another confirmation of the steady spread northward of black sea bass – now extending into the Gulf of Maine – as waters warm off the Northeast coast.

According to a narrative issued Thursday by the National Marine Fisheries Service, two warm-adapted species: black sea bass, a commercially and recreationally important fish, and oyster toadfish became more abundant in recent samples.

Oyster toadfish prefer rocky habitats and are not often captured by trawl surveys. Meanwhile, cold-adapted species, including cunner and grubby, declined in numbers over the course of the study.

Winter flounder, also a commercial species, and rock gunnel were notably absent in more recent years. Long-term trawl data collected by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection suggests winter flounder abundance has been declining in the Sound for 20 years. The scientists found no consistent trend in the abundance of tautog and scup, two temperate residents of Long Island Sound. The species are often captured on video by our GoPro Aquaculture Project.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Outgoing NOAA leaders see ‘solid progress that helps commercial and recreational fishing industries’

January 28, 2021 — As our tenure in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ends, we want to share the progress our agency team has accomplished. Working with the National Marine Fisheries Service leadership, we sought to increase fishing opportunities, reduce unnecessary burdens, expand market access, and continue to improve the status of fish stocks. As NOAA transitions to a new political leadership team, it is important to build upon the achievements of these past four years, and continue to support the commercial and recreational fishing sectors:

Advance fisheries conservation.

NOAA continued to make significant progress working with fishermen to improve the status of U.S. fish stocks. Two additional fish stocks were rebuilt last year, making a total of 47 fish stocks rebuilt since 2000. The overfishing list dropped to 22 stocks, setting an all-time low. Ninety-three percent of the stocks managed by NOAA are not subject to overfishing and 81 percent are not overfished.

Cooperate with the regional fishery management councils to reduce regulatory burden.

A total of 62 deregulatory actions were finalized between fiscal years 2017 and 2020, saving fishermen over $50 million per year. More importantly, there are approximately 30 deregulatory actions currently in the pipeline within NOAA fisheries. Further, under section 4 of Executive Order 13921, Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, NOAA fisheries is required to review and add new deregulatory actions to its agenda that are recommended by the councils, and report annually for the next 3 years on their status.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Halibut Area 2A License Applications Open for Submission for 2021

January 27, 2021 — The International Pacific Halibut Commission has opened the license application period for fishermen in Area 2A, Washington, Oregon and California.

While the IPHC sets the overall total fishery removals (mortality limit) for the area, the Pacific Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service adopts a catch-sharing plan for all three states to further allocate the amount of fishery removals between sectors.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NEFMC Signs Off on Scallop Framework 33 with Fishing Year 2021 Allocations and Defaults

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has selected final measures for Framework Adjustment 33 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan and voted to send the framework to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) for review and implementation.

The framework includes: (1) specifications for the 2021 scallop fishing year; (2) default specifications for the 2022 fishing year; and (3) measures to minimize impacts on Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder.

For 2021, full-time limited access vessels will be allocated:

  • 1 trip to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area;
  • 1.5 trips to Nantucket Lightship South;
  • 1.5 trips to Closed Area II (Southwest and Extension) with a seasonal closure from August 15 through November 30 to reduce flatfish impacts;
  • and 24 open area days-at-sea.

Read the full release here