July 5, 2017 — Last night, to celebrate the fourth of July, the air over the U.S. filled with fireworks. The noise they created was extremely loud and, mercifully, brief. But imagine having to listen to even louder explosions once every ten seconds, for days or weeks on end. Starting this fall, that may be the new reality for whales, fish, and other marine life off the eastern seaboard, if the Trump administration’s plans go ahead.
WESPAC’s Work To ‘Define Cultural Fishing’ Could Impact American Samoa
June 29, 2017 — An attorney with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has hinted to a federally established group that its work to define cultural fishing will have an impact on future issues pertaining to fisheries in American Samoa.
One of the main issues on the agenda at last week’s three-day meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, held in Honolulu, dealt with defining cultural fishing in American Samoa, following a Honolulu federal judge’s decision in March, that the US National Marine Fisheries Services failed to consider the Deeds of Cession, when implementing the 2016 amendment to the Large Vessel Prohibited Area in territorial waters.
US District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi said the NMFS’ 2016 LVPA Rule disregards its obligations under the Deeds of Cession to “protect and preserve cultural fishing rights in American Samoa.” (The Deeds for Tutuila and Aunu’u were signed in 1900, and 1904 for Manu’a — with the US.)
There were several discussions during the Council’s three-day meeting on ways to define cultural fishing and what is considered cultural fishing, as well as protecting and preserving cultural fishing in the territory.
What was clear from the speakers and answers from NOAA officials as well as others, is that ASG, the local fishing community, and others in the territory need to be consulted for a final definition.
Among the many questions raised, were those from American Samoa Council member, Christinna Lutu-Sanchez, who wanted to know if once the cultural fishing definition is finalized, would that cultural fishing definition apply to anyone fishing within the LVPA, and not necessarily just the US longline fleet based in American Samoa.
‘Fishal recognition’ for better fisheries management
June 29, 2017 — To monitor fish stocks in about 3 million square miles of ocean including the North Pacific Ocean and East Bering Sea, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center turned to facial recognition technology — or more accurately, “fishal recognition.”
Part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the center is working to get more accurate counts of marine life by applying the same facial recognition techniques that identify people to recognize fish according to their facial features underwater.
The agency began experimenting with this technology several years ago and is now on its second generation of camera-based trawl, or CAM-Trawl. It has worked with ADL Embedded Solutions on hardware improvements, such as small form factor embedded Vision Boxes — the image acquisition computers — a Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor to enable real-time processing of image data and waterproof enclosures and connectors.
Before using CAM-Trawl, the traditional method of measuring fish stocks had been to use trawlers to scoop up all the fish in a particular region of the ocean, bring them on deck, count them and then multiply that number out, according to said JC Ramirez, director of engineering at ADL. “If you did 10 square miles, multiply that by 10 for 100,” for example, he said.
But that method had several shortcomings, including extrapolation errors, high costs and ecological impacts on fish populations.
“They were looking for not only a more benign way to do that, but also perhaps a way that would allow them to cover more regions and get a little bit more specificity on the variations in the data from area to area,” Ramirez said.
Now researchers can pull a rig outfitted with the cameras that are linked back to ADL’s control computer, which typically resides in the wheelhouse. It monitors external sensors such as location, time, pressure sensors and radio frequency identification tag readings. It then, based on sensor input, communicates with one or more Vision Boxes to do the image capture, managing the remote on/off power, clock syncing, and starting and stopping of image collection.
Is the Cook Inlet beluga population stable or in danger? Depends on whom you ask.
June 29, 2017 — Alaska’s most urban whales have yet to show any meaningful increase in numbers, evidence that recovery remains elusive for the endangered population despite numerous protective measures imposed in recent years. On the plus side, the Cook Inlet beluga population has not declined notably in the past two years, scientists say.
The latest survey of the small and endangered white whales estimates the population at 328 animals, within a range of 279 and 386, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports.
That represents barely any change from the previous estimate of 340 animals, from 2014, but far below the 1,300 belugas that scientists say were swimming three decades ago in the silty, salty water between Anchorage and the Gulf of Alaska.
“Cook Inlet belugas are still in danger of extinction because the population is so small,” said Paul Wade, head of Cook Inlet beluga research at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. “The population trend over the last 10 years has been relatively stable compared to the steep decline seen in the 1990s, but there is some evidence the population has continued to decline slightly. We are concerned that the population is not yet increasing towards its former abundance level,” Wade said in a prepared statement.
The newest population estimate comes from the latest in a series of regular aerial counts conducted by NMFS. The estimate is based on thousands of photographs taken from the air a year ago; analysis of those images is a laborious process, so the count that emerged required a full year of work and review, officials said.
Fishing Report: NOAA seeks input on sanctuaries and monuments
June 29, 2017 — In a media advisory last week, NOAA said it’s soliciting public comment on National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments designated or expanded since 2007 to determine if they should exist.
President Donald Trump’s Offshore Energy Strategy, outlined in his May executive order, has ordered the Secretary of Commerce through NOAA to review whether national monuments and sanctuaries present “lost opportunity” with regard to potential energy and mineral exploration and production.
Many in the fishing community are split about National Monuments. Some believe, as the president does, that profits and jobs should come first. However, a large part of the fishing and conservation communities believe it should be the environment and fish that should be first. Many believe that National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine Monuments serve as a sanctuary and spawning grounds for a variety of sea life and fish and should be left untouched.
For information on National Marine Monuments and Sanctuaries visit NOAA Fisheries website at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
Seven Species of Giant Clam on Deck for Federal Protection
June 28, 2017 — The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that seven of ten giant clam species petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act need further study. The 90-day review process found that the petition provided enough scientific evidence to move seven of the species to the second stage of the ESA listing process, known as the 12-month status review.
The petition was filed by “private citizen” Dwayne W. Meadows Ph.D., formerly the Coordinator for the NMFS’ Species of Concern Program, who is a conservation biologist and educator, with additional background in SCUBA diving and underwater photography.
Giant clams live along shallow shorelines and reefs in the tropical Indo-West Pacific region. The largest of the giant clam species, Tridacna gigas, grows up to 4.5 feet wide and can weigh up to 440 pounds. “The petition points out that the giant clam (T. gigas) is preferentially targeted for international trade due to its large size and because it is considered a desirable luxury item in China thought to confer supernatural powers and improve health,” the action notes. “A pair of high quality shells (from one individual) can fetch up to US $150,000.”
A United Nations tribunal arbitrated a dispute between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China last year regarding maritime rights in the South China Sea, including the matter of China’s poaching of giant clams.
“The Tribunal is particularly troubled by the evidence with respect to giant clams, tons of which were harvested by Chinese fishing vessels from Scarborough Shoal, and in recent years, elsewhere in the Spratly Islands. Giant clams (Tridacnidae)… play a significant role in the overall growth and maintenance of the reef structure…Excavation is highly destructive, with early reports showing a drop in coral cover by 95 percent from its original value. More recently, fishermen in the South China Sea are reported to utilize the propellers of their boats to excavate shells from reef flats in the Spratly Islands on an industrial scale, leading to near-complete destruction of the affected reef areas,” the report stated.
Seafood Traceability Rule to Remain in Place, Says Court
June 28, 2017 — As reported previously on this blog, concerns about illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) seafood fraud, led to a proposed rule to establish a traceability program for certain seafood species. The final rule establishing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Department of Commerce, in the December 9, 2016 Federal Register.
The Program established permitting, data reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the importation of certain priority fish and fish products—including abalone, several types of cod and tuna, red snapper, shrimp and swordfish—that were identified as being especially vulnerable to seafood fraud. The rule requires seafood importers to trace the origin of the fish they import to either the specific boat that caught the full fish or a “single collection point,” to the day the fish was caught, and to the sector of the specific ocean where the fish was caught.
On January 6, 2017, the National Fisheries Institute, Alfa International Seafood, Inc. and others filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging what they called a “Midnight Final Rule.” In the suit, the plaintiffs questioned whether the Department of Commerce cut corners by, among other things, refusing to disclose for public comment the data that it relied on to identify the seafood species subject to the rule and by allowing “a low-level bureaucrat to issue a binding final rule absent a valid delegation of authority from the Secretary.”
In a June 22, 2017 ruling, Judge Amit P. Mehta did not overturn the final rule establishing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Rather, Judge Mehta wrote: “The proper course at this juncture—just months before the rule goes into effect—is to defer ruling on Plaintiffs’ broader challenge to the agency’s authority to engage in rule-making and, instead, afford the federal defendants an opportunity to submit a signed statement from a principal officer within the Department of Commerce that ratifies the rule.”
Marine scientists use drifters to explore regional currents
June 27, 2017 — We know Clint Eastwood was the High Plains Drifter. And we’ve heard Bob Dylan’s tale of the Drifter’s Escape. But now the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole is employing drifters not on the plains but on the waves around Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine.
“I’m excited about our latest drifter project,” proclaimed NMFS Oceanographer Jim Manning. “It’s one of many we’ve had and it seems like a real application for drifters. We’ve used them for a lot of fun educational purposes but our recent project in the Bay of Fundy has real purpose.”
They’ve been used with purpose in Cape Cod Bay as well. But, you might ask, what exactly is a drifter? It’s not a shiftless character begging at the kitchen door for scraps.
“It looks like an underwater kite, like a box kite,” Manning explained. “It’s a meter by a meter of cloth sails and they only thing that sticks out is a satellite transmitter. It provides us an estimate of the surface current.”
Its function is similar to that of a glass bottle with a note in it. You toss it in the ocean, it drifts somewhere, and you find out where it went.
With the old bottle you had to wait months or years until someone wrote back but a transmitter can tell you where it is today. It reveals where the surface currents are headed and can tell you where anything drifting along, like a cold-stunned sea turtle in Cape Cod Bay, or a swath of toxic algae in Maine, might wind up.
The current project Manning is excited about focuses on Alexandrium fundyense, the plankton that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning in anyone that eats a shellfish, usually a clam, that has filter fed on it. It’s the same algae that lives in the Nauset Marsh between Orleans and Eastham, and causes annual shutdowns of shellfishing harvests.
The plankton has a resting stage where it sits as cysts in the mud. When conditions are right and the water warms the cysts germinate, it swims up towards the surface and the currents carry it away. In Nauset Marsh it doesn’t go far and stays in the marsh but in the Bay of Fundy it’s carried down the coast.
“The main objective is to help numerical modelers try to simulate the ocean,” Manning said. “A couple of universities have big computer models. These models are used for a variety of things. We’ve deployed the drifters north of Grand Manan Island up in the Bay of Fundy to demonstrate how complicated the currents are. Every time we put one out it goes in a different direction.”
DON DeMARIA: Fair is fair: Everyone should get a monitor
June 26, 2017 — Effective fisheries management requires cooperation between managers and fishermen. Cooperation involves a certain amount of trust. Managers must be able trust that data being provided by fishermen is correct, and fishermen must trust that managers are analyzing those data properly. It is a two-way street.
The councils and NMFS appear not to trust fishermen when they propose requiring vessel monitoring systems and electronic video monitoring to be installed on commercial fishing vessels. Basically, they are telling the fishermen we really don’t trust you telling us where you were fishing and what you caught and discarded, so we are putting an ankle monitor on you and will have a video camera watching your every move.
I get the fish are a public resource deal — those harvesting a public resource need to do it in an acceptable manner, and accurate data are required to manage the resource properly argument. Likewise, tax dollars are a public resource of sorts and should be monitored and managed properly. If NMFS and the councils really want to start down the path of distrust, then fishermen may want to consider doing the same. After all, we have a right to know how our tax dollars are being spent, and it is tax dollars that pay the salaries of NMFS staff and council members.
So, I am proposing that all NMFS personnel and council members wear a radio collar — similar to what wildlife biologists use on bears, wolves, etc., so we know where they are 24 hours a day, just like a VMS does on a commercial fishing vessel. Let’s call the radio collar something nice, like a Federal Employee Monitoring System. I know the radio collars will be a little awkward at first, but so is a VMS unit on a small open outboard vessel fishing the southern Gulf of Mexico with a reef fish permit, but it is required.
NEFMC Approves Framework 4 to Adjust Skate Bait Fishery
June 21, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council today approved Framework Adjustment 4 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The framework revises the threshold trigger and possession limits in the skate bait fishery. The measures are expected to help keep the bait fishery open throughout the fishing year while minimizing the risk of fishermen exceeding their annual total allowable landings (TAL) limit. The framework also effectively eliminates the link between the skate wing fishery and the skate bait fishery regarding incidental possession limits. This move was requested by industry since the two fisheries operate very differently.
During the 2016 fishing year, the bait fishery was subject to an essential closure when the incidental possession limit was implemented in Season 3 and then was further reduced to 1,135 pounds to match the whole weight equivalent of the 500-pound limit imposed on the skate wing. This made it uneconomical to pursue the bait fishery. Once approved and implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service, Framework 4 will:
- Give the bait fishery its own incidental limits;
- • Keep the commercial bait per-trip possession limit at 25,000 pounds for Seasons 1 and 2 with a 90% trigger, meaning when 90% of the seasonal TAL is projected to be reached, the bait fishery will be subject to an 8,000-pound incidental limit unless the annual TAC is not expected to be achieved;
- Reduce the possession limit in Season 3 to 12,000 pounds and impose an 80% TAL trigger unless the annual TAL is not expected to be achieved; and
- As a hard backstop, close the fishery when 100% of the annual TAL is projected to be reached.
The Council approved Framework 4 based on a recommendation from its Skate Committee, which considered input from industry members in developing the new measures. Skate bait fishermen proposed the 12,000-pound Season 3 possession limit as a compromise to enhance the likelihood of keeping the fishery open at a lower but still functional level during the final portion of the fishing year. Committee members considered the provision to close the fishery when 100% of the TAL is reached to be an important safeguard against the TAL being exceeded.
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