Saving Seafood

Lobstering group wants to raise $500,000 for legal defense fund

May 7, 2020 — The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has launched a campaign to raise $500,000 to fund its legal efforts to protect the state’s most valuable fishery from the consequences of a recent federal court ruling that calls for more government protections for the endangered right whale.

Last month, a federal judge found the National Marine Fisheries Service had violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act by its authorization of the U.S. lobster industry – including Maine’s $485 million-a-year fishery – because it failed to report the fishery’s harmful impacts on the endangered right whale.

“This case could lead to closure of the world’s most sustainable fishery,” said executive director Patrice McCarron, whose association is the oldest and biggest lobstering group in Maine. “We cannot let that happen. Right whales are not dying in Maine lobster gear.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Observer Waiver Expires for Southeast, Gulf of Mexico Fisheries

May 7, 2020 — The National Marine Fisheries Service notified permit holders and the public Tuesday that a waiver for observer coverage in some fisheries expired at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2020. As of 12 a.m. Tuesday, May 5, observer coverage was reinstated for those fisheries.

Those permitted fisheries include:

  • South Atlantic Penaeid Shrimp;
  • South Atlantic Rock Shrimp;
  • South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper;
  • Southeast Gillnet;
  • Gulf of Mexico Commercial Reef Fish;
  • Gulf of Mexico Shrimp;
  • Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Pelagic Longline
  • Shark Bottom Longline (Atlantic HMS); and
  • Shark Gillnet (Atlantic HMS)

Read the full story at Seafood News

In another significant ruling for right whales, a federal judge rules that Massachusetts is violating the Endangered Species Act

May 4, 2020 — In another shot across the bow of the lobster industry, a federal judge ruled Thursday that state regulators have violated the Endangered Species Act by licensing lobstermen to use fishing gear that entangles North Atlantic right whales.

The ruling requires Massachusetts officials to obtain a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service to license vertical buoy lines, the ropes that connect lobster traps on the seafloor to buoys at the surface.

Those lines are vital to the fishery but have been the leading cause of death of right whales over the past decade, accounting for more than half of all known causes. In the past three years, 30 right whales have died, reducing their population to around 400.

In her ruling, Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court in Boston said the continued use of buoy lines was likely to cause further harm to right whales, which scientists say could become functionally extinct within the next 20 years.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

West Coast Salmon, Sardine Fisheries to Receive $18 million in NMFS Disaster Funding

May 4, 2020 — At long last, some disaster relief funding is headed to the West Coast for state and tribal salmon industries and the commercial sardine industry.

NMFS notified Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., this week of a more than $18 million award, which was appropriated in 2018. It is now up to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to distribute the funds according to state spending plans and in accordance with NMFS guidance and terms of the awards, NMFS said when notifying congressional staff.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to Redfish Exemption for Sector Vessels

April 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of the 2020 Interim Final Sector Rule (published today), NOAA Fisheries is announcing changes to the Redfish Exemption Area and gear stowage requirements for sector vessels fishing under the redfish exemption in fishing year 2020.

Vessels were previously required to stow redfish codends below deck prior to fishing under the exemption. Vessels may now stow their redfish codends consistent with existing gear stowage regulations. Also, NMFS is changing the Redfish Exemption Area  to minimize catch of non-redfish stocks under the exemption, while still allowing vessels to fish in areas where redfish are abundant and bycatch of other stocks is minimal. The coordinates and a map of the new Redfish Exemption Area are below. All changes will take effect beginning May 1, 2020.

Read the full release here

Observer Waivers Extended for Some HMS, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico Fisheries

April 23, 2020 — Shelter-in-place requirements in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic areas are making it difficult to deploy observers, the National Marine Fisheries Service said today in a notice to industry. Therefore, observer requirements will be waived through May 4.

Providing seafood to the country remains an essential function even in these extraordinary times. Adequately monitoring U.S. fisheries remains an essential part of that process. However, in recognition of numerous travel or social distancing restrictions or guidance, NMFS continues to temporarily waive the requirement for federally-permitted vessels participating in the following federal fisheries to carry a fishery observer, the notice said:

  • South Atlantic Penaeid Shrimp
  • South Atlantic Rock Shrimp
  • South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper
  • Southeast Gillnet

Read the full story at Seafood News

New England panel asks for emergency action to aid scallop fishermen

April 22, 2020 — A regulatory panel that oversees East Coast fishing is requesting the federal government take some emergency actions to benefit the scallop fishery.

Scallops are one of the most valuable seafood items in the U.S. The New England Fishery Management Council has voted to ask the National Marine Fisheries Service to take a series of steps because of the stress the outbreak of coronavirus has caused the scallop fishery.

The recommended changes are technical in nature and concern issues such as how fishing quota can be carried from one year into the next.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

With US ban on Mexican seafood imports in place, vaquita court case dismissed

April 22, 2020 — A lawsuit against the U.S. government aiming to require it to enforce the Marine Mammal Protect Act in regard to the critically endangered vaquita porpoise has been dismissed after the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service expanded a ban on imports of seafood products caught in the vaquita’s habitat.

U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Gary S. Katzmann dismissed the suit at the request of the plaintiffs, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Animal Welfare Institute, on 22 March.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

COVID-19 Is Hurting Texas Fisheries, But Eating Local Seafood Helps

April 20, 2020 — Typically, spring is a high-demand season for commercial fisheries, and many in the industry rely on these peak months to carry their income throughout the year. But, this year the widespread disruption from COVID-19 has caused seafood demand to come to a screeching halt.

Fortunately, there are ways to support these fisheries, and that means consuming more locally sourced seafood.

“One of the best ways to support local economies is to know where your food comes from and support local sources,” said Laura Picariello, fisheries specialist at the Texas Sea Grant program at Texas A&M University.  “Restaurant managers should be able to tell you where they source their seafood. You can call the restaurant in advance, or ask your server to check with the kitchen if it’s not printed on the menu.”

Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, like shrimp and oysters, are Texas cuisine classics. These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals, low in sodium and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Gulf seafood is healthier and more sustainable because of the highly regulated practices implemented by American fisheries, including using safer handling practices and fewer antibiotics.

Read the full story at Texas A&M Today

NMFS suspends West Coast observer requirements

April 17, 2020 — Most requirements for observers aboard West Coast fishing vessels have been temporarily suspended through April, following the lead of NMFS’ decision to do the same earlier for Northeast fisheries in the face of coronavirus outbreaks.

The agency announced the decision Wednesday, April 15, hours after a recommendation from the Pacific Fishery Management Council, and also cited new policies of monitoring service providers to address health and safety concerns for their observers and fishing crews.

A NMFS notice to industry issued by the office of Ryan Wulff, the assistant Pacific regional administrator for sustainable fisheries, said the two-week hiatus was requested by contractors who provide observer services, and are now implementing health guidelines to address concerns raised by fishermen and plant operators.

Read the full story at National Fisherman