Saving Seafood

Scientists blast Maine lobstermen’s whale safety stance

September 24, 2019 — Eighteen scientists who work in North Atlantic right whale research and rescue have said the Maine lobster industry is “significantly underestimating” the harm their equipment causes.

The scientists have called on the state of Maine to support the National Marine Fisheries Service in developing new rules to protect the whales from lobster gear injuries.

“Reducing entanglement in East Coast waters of the United States is a critical part of a comprehensive strategy for right whale survival and recovery,” Scott Kraus, chief scientist for marine mammals at New England Aquarium’s Anderson Center for Ocean Life, and Mark Baumgartner, associate scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and chairman of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, said in a letter Tuesday to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

In addition to Kraus and Baumgartner, other scientists at WHOI and the Anderson Center for Ocean Life in Boston signed the letter, as well as leaders from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which has an operations center in Yarmouth Port.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Something killed 121 gray whales this summer. Scientists are scrambling to find out what

September 19, 2019 — Something killed 121 gray whales this spring and summer, and scientists are struggling to find out what it was.

The dead giants of the ocean washed up on West Coast beaches as they finished their annual epic migration to their winter feeding grounds between Alaska and Russia. Many were emaciated and appeared to be starving.

The near-final death count, tallied this week, makes this the second-worst year on record for gray whales, which were hunted almost to extinction in the late 1800s. It could represent as much as 10% of the species’ total population.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if our team comes across other carcasses,” said Megan Ferguson, a fisheries biologist with the Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at USA Today

Dead right whale off New York raises toll — and pressure on NOAA

September 18, 2019 — A dead North Atlantic right whale found floating off New York’s Long Island Monday afternoon could raise the official death toll of the endangered species to 29 in the last two years, jacking up pressure on the U.S. and Canadian governments to slow those losses.

The latest find comes less than a week after Chris Oliver, NMFS administrator, said the agency will move ahead with rulemaking to reduce the risk of whale entanglements in fishing gear — despite a withdrawal of support for proposed measure by the Maine lobster industry.

“We intend to address the threats posed by gillnets and to humpback whales at future (Atlantic Large Whale) Take Reduction Team meetings,” Oliver said in a statement issued Sept. 11.

NMFS officials said the carcass was discovered 4 miles south of Fire Island Inlet, and was so decomposed that its age, sex and cause of death could not be determined immediately.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA moves ahead with whale-safety rules

September 16, 2019 — The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced it is reviewing claims by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association that a goal to reduce the industry’s risks of harming North Atlantic right whales by 60% is too high. But the federal agency said it will move ahead with crafting federal rules to reduce the risk to the whales of vertical fishing rope associated with trap and pot fishing.

“In the coming months, we will proceed with rule-making as planned,” Chris Oliver, the agency’s assistant administrator, said in the statement Wednesday.

The fisheries service is in the midst of preparing a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed rule changes, based on a pact approved nearly unanimously in April by the 60 members of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, including the Maine association.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

West Coast whale entanglements reduced by half this season, but reason why is debated

September 13, 2019 — Whale entanglements involving fishing gear along the West Coast have dropped by more than 50% so far this year compared to 2018.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as of Aug. 23, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported 17 confirmed whale entanglements in 2019, compared to 40 for the same period a year prior.

In both years, entanglements involved commercial Dungeness crab gear and drift gillnets.

“Year to date, it’s lower and is encouraging,” said Justin Viezbicke, NOAA’s West Coast Stranding coordinator. “We’ve seen spikes where we’ve seen seven or eight in a month and with three months left this year, things could still change.”

Read the full story at The Orange County Register

Whale entanglements along West Coast drop by nearly half

September 9, 2019 — A conservation group says the number of whales entangled in crab fishing gear along the West Coast dropped by nearly half this year after a lawsuit settlement ended California’s commercial Dungeness crab season early.

The Center for Biological Diversity says preliminary data released by the National Marine Fisheries Service shows 18 whale entanglements were reported in the first eight months of this year, down from 42 reports during that same period in 2018. The majority of entangled whales were spotted off California.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Comments Wanted: NMFS To Open Pacific Cod in BSAI After January Closure

September 4, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — After closing the fishery January 12, 2019, NMFS proposes a short opening to clean up the remaining 2,650 metric tons of Pacific cod remaining in the 2019 apportionment for less than 60 feet vessles using hook-and-line or pot gear.

The agency is asking for comments online or by mail. NMFS is terminating the previous closure and is opening directed fishing based on the current catch of Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI and the harvest capacity and stated intent on future harvesting patterns of vessels in participating in this fishery.

The change would be effective noon Alaska local time, September 1, 2019, through midnight December 31, 2019. Comments must be received at the following address no later than 4:30 p.m., A.l.t., September 18, 2019.

* Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0089, click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

* Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: Records Office. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.

In today’s Federal Register notice, the agency said “The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds good cause to waive the requirement to provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) as such requirement is impracticable and contrary to the public interest. This requirement is impracticable and contrary to the public interest as it would prevent NMFS from responding to the most recent fisheries data in a timely fashion and would delay the opening of directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI. Immediate notification is necessary to allow for the orderly conduct and efficient operation of this fishery, to allow the industry to plan for the fishing season, and to avoid potential disruption to the fishing fleet and processors. NMFS was unable to publish a notice providing time for public comment because the most recent, relevant data only became available as of August 27, 2019.

The AA also finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in the effective date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). This finding is based upon the reasons provided above for waiver of prior notice and opportunity for public comment.

Without this inseason adjustment, NMFS could not allow the fishery for Pacific cod by catcher vessels less than 60 feet LOA using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI to be harvested in an expedient manner and in accordance with the regulatory schedule. Under SEC 679.25(c)(2), interested persons are invited to submit written comments on this action to the above address until September 18, 2019.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

California Whale Entanglements Halved with Shorter Crab Season

September 4, 2019 — According to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the rate of whale entanglements in fishing gear along the U.S. West Coast has fallen by half this year, from about 40 incidents January-August last year to 18 incidents for the same period this year. The environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity connected the improvement to a legal settlement shortening the California crab fishing season.

A lawsuit filed by the center in 2017 ultimately led to a settlement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, and the terms included ending the California crab season on April 15 instead of June 30 as scheduled.

The settlement also includes additional measures to mitigate entanglement risks. It promotes the use of ropeless gear and creates a system for assessing risks to whales and triggering area closures when necessary.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

NMFS, SSA Report Poor Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Landings in July

August 29, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico have been some of the worst in recent history, according to the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center and the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

NMFS reported shrimp landings in the Gulf for July were only 7 million pounds, well below the 7.9 million pounds in July 2018 and the 8 million pounds in July 2017. The July commercial shrimp landings were 37.8 percent below the prior 17-year historic average of 11.3 million pounds for July.

Only 1.6 million pounds of shrimp were reported as landed in Louisiana — the third lowest volume for the state for a July in the last 18 years. All told, Louisiana landings were 62.1 percent below the prior 17-year historic average of 4.2 million pounds in July.

In Mississippi, only 415,000 pounds of shrimp were reported as landed, the second lowest total reported for any July from that state in the last 18 years, according to a Southern Shrimp Alliance press release.

For the year, landings of shrimp in Louisiana and the west coast of Florida are at the lowest levels they have ever been through the first seven months. Outside of 2010, the landings reported in Mississippi for the year are the lowest they have been in the past 18 years.

Shrimp harvests at historical levels in Texas and significantly above historical levels in Alabama have somewhat offset the low numbers from the rest of the Gulf, but landings in the region, at 35.6 million pounds, are the second lowest volume reported in the last 18 years.

Last month, NMFS reported ex-vessel prices for four of six count sizes of shrimp landed in the eastern Gulf (west coast of Florida) and five of six count sizes of shrimp landed in the northern Gulf (Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi). In the northern Gulf and western Gulf, the ex-vessel prices showed a large divergence between prices for large shrimp, U15, and all other shrimp. In the western Gulf, prices for U15 size shrimp were the highest reported for any July (not adjusting for inflation) in the 19-year database maintained by the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

PFMC: Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup to hold meeting October 8-9, 2019

August 28, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Workgroup (Workgroup) will hold a two-day meeting that is open to the public.  The meeting will begin Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and recess at 5:00 p.m.  It will continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 9, and will end at 2 p.m. The meeting times are an estimate; the meetings will adjourn when business for the day is complete.

Please see the SRKW Workgroup October 8-9, 2019 in-person meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information: