NOAA Fisheries Archives - Saving Seafood

NOAA announces historic funding for fish habitats across U.S.

December 14, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announced nearly $105 million in funding for 36 new fish passage projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including significant funding to implement fish passage projects that meet tribal priorities and build tribal organizational capacity to support their role as stewards of tribal resources. This historic level of funding will reopen migratory pathways and restore access to habitat for fish and other species across the country.

Through this funding, NOAA prioritized projects that demonstrate a broad base of stakeholder and community support and were developed with inclusive practices to engage a diverse range of community groups. Selected projects will span the full range of fish passage types, including dam removals, fish ladders, culvert improvements and in-stream fish passage improvements.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance our investment in our nation’s fisheries, protected resources and coastal communities — and ensure that tribes and underserved communities see the results,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Not only will these projects assist in supporting sustainable fisheries and recovering endangered fish species, they will also provide community and economic benefits, such as jobs, recreational opportunities and climate resilience.”

Fifteen of the projects — encompassing more than $26.3 million in funding — will be led by tribal applicants for fish passage. Many of the remaining projects are aligned with tribal priorities, with tribes playing key roles in decision-making, building capacity to help recover tribally-important migratory fish, and providing community and economic benefits such as jobs and training opportunities.

“Investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support fish passage and sustainable commercial, recreational and tribal fisheries are critical to building a Climate-Ready Nation,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “The projects supported by this funding will help communities adapt to a changing climate by supporting healthy ecosystems and infrastructure that works for people and fish.”

At this point in the selection process, the application approval and obligation of funds are not final. Each application is being “recommended” for funding. This announcement is not an authorization to start the project and is not a guarantee of funding.

“From Alaska to North Carolina, this unprecedented investment will create new opportunities for migratory fish to thrive, bringing a host of benefits to tribes and communities across the nation,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, and deputy NOAA administrator. “I can’t say enough about the quality and importance of these fish passage projects. NOAA staff are rolling up their sleeves and continuing to work with a broad spectrum of partners to see these federal funds put into action.”

Fish passage is about improving access for fish to the habitat(s) they need or reconnecting access to historic habitat blocked by humans. Migratory fish like salmon require access to high quality rearing and spawning habitats, and unimpeded migratory corridors, to be successful and resilient. When fish cannot access their habitat, they cannot rear, reproduce and grow their populations, resulting in population declines. NOAA works to reopen these migratory pathways, restoring access to healthy habitat for fish. For many tribes, fish passage and access remains a major limiting factor towards rebuilding fish populations. This funding will help reopen migratory pathways and reconnect fish with their historic habitat, which is a critical step towards rebuilding fisheries back to healthy levels.

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation has a long history of conducting habitat restoration efforts, including fish passage, by executing large-scale competitive funding opportunities and providing expert technical assistance through NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program.

NOAA and BOEM announce draft offshore wind, North Atlantic right whale strategy

October 22, 2022 — The following was release by NOAA Fisheries:

Today NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the release of a draft joint strategy to protect and promote the recovery of North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy. The draft strategy identifies the agencies’ goals and objectives to better understand the effects of offshore wind development on the whales and their habitat. The public is invited to review and comment on the draft strategy by December 4, 2022.

The draft strategy identifies areas where the agencies will work together to improve upon the necessary science, information and Indigenous knowledge to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use. It provides a clear path forward to expand upon existing efforts to understand, mitigate and monitor potential impacts. Additionally, the draft strategy provides a long-term approach to adaptive management, by integrating new information as it becomes available.

“BOEM is deeply committed to ensuring responsible offshore wind energy development while protecting and promoting the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale. Working with NOAA Fisheries on this draft strategy leverages the resources and expertise of both agencies to collect and apply the best available scientific information to inform our decisions,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton. “We’re seeking open and honest feedback from the public to help us evaluate and improve this effort.”

“As we face the ongoing challenges of climate change, this strategy provides a strong foundation to help us advance renewable energy while also working to protect and recover North Atlantic right whales, and the ecosystem they depend on,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA. “Responsible development of renewable energy sources and protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales are priorities both agencies share.”

The draft strategy identifies three main goals: 1) mitigation and decision-support tools, 2) research and monitoring, and 3) collaboration, communication and outreach. It focuses on improving the body of science and integrating past, present and future efforts related to North Atlantic right whales and offshore wind development. The strategy also establishes the agencies’ plans to engage stakeholders, partners and other ocean users on these issues. Following review of public comments, the strategy will be regularly evaluated and updated as new information becomes available.

Today’s announcement initiates a 45-day public review and comment period on the draft joint strategy, which will close on December 4, 2022. For more information about the draft strategy and how to submit comments, visit BOEM’s website.

NOAA Fisheries and BOEM share a commitment to protect and promote the recovery of North Atlantic right whales and other marine life while responsibly developing offshore wind energy. The agencies signed an interagency memorandum outlining the intent to responsibly advance offshore wind energy development in January 2022.

NOAA Fisheries, Partners Publish Timeline to Support Federal Use of Gulf State Data

October 19, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A collaborative team of state, regional, and federal partners have developed a multi-year transition plan to support the use of Gulf state recreational fishing data in the federal stock assessment and management process. It was developed in accordance with NOAA Fisheries policies and procedures. The transition plan is an essential step in ensuring all of the information Gulf recreational anglers submit is available to inform NOAA Fisheries’ work. This includes information submitted to:

Alabama’s Snapper Check
Florida’s State Reef Fish Survey
Louisiana’s LA Creel
Mississippi’s Tails n’ Scales
Texas’ Coastal Creel Survey

“Ultimately, the plan will ensure scientists and managers follow a coordinated and consistent approach in the use of state fisheries statistics. It will provide NOAA Fisheries with a more complete picture of recreational fishing activity in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Evan Howell, Director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology.

The Transition Plan for Gulf State Recreational Fishing Surveys includes two paths. It was developed by a Gulf of Mexico Subgroup of the MRIP Transition Team. The team includes representatives from NOAA Fisheries, the Gulf Fisheries Information Network, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the five Gulf states.

“Progress is being made to fully utilize state surveys in the scientific process for managing our region’s marine fisheries through the collaborative efforts of our state and federal partners,” said Gregg Bray, Gulf Fisheries Information Network Program Coordinator. “The transition team is working as quickly as possible to develop and execute the transition plan, recognizing the desire and need to utilize the data being collected by state partners.”

Research Path

The data collection programs in the Gulf of Mexico use different statistical methods to meet different data needs. As a result, their data series differ from one another. The drivers of these differences are currently unknown. This transition plan includes a research path that will improve our shared understanding of the potential sources of error affecting all of the region’s recreational fishing surveys. Findings will inform survey improvements, increase the accuracy of state and federal recreational fisheries statistics, and minimize differences between these data series.

Transition Path

Because the data collection programs in the Gulf of Mexico use different survey designs, it’s not possible to directly compare their estimates of recreational catch. Nor can we use state data immediately “as-is” in the federal stock assessment and management process. Instead, we must use statistical methods such as calibration to ensure estimates are in the same scale, or integration to create a consistent, composite time series. In the near-term, this plan’s transition path will implement case-specific calibration approaches for incorporating state data into upcoming assessments for gag grouper, red snapper, and other Gulf of Mexico stocks. Over the long-term, it will lead to the use of a more sophisticated approach for calibrating different data series in the same scale or integrating them into one composite estimate. Calibration methods are expected to improve over time as we explore the drivers of differences between data collection programs and implement changes to all survey designs.

“There are no “quick fix” or “off-the-shelf” solutions for the challenge of incorporating data from six different survey designs into stock assessment and management,” said Dr. Richard Cody, chief of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology’s Fisheries Statistics Division. “Researching potential sources of survey error, testing survey improvements, and exploring model-based methods of placing estimates in the same scale is a time- and resource-intensive process. Without the results of this research, it is not possible to make an informed decision regarding the long-term use of calibrated or composite estimates.”

The transition path will also develop a publicly accessible state survey database. It will store state survey data, statistical values, and information that explains how state surveys are designed and implemented, and how statistical analyses are performed.

Transition Goals

The full execution of the transition plan is expected to last through 2026. When fully executed, this plan will:

Improve our shared understanding of the sources of error affecting all of the region’s recreational data collection programs
Implement survey improvements to increase the accuracy of and minimize differences between these data collection programs
Incorporate state data into the federal stock assessment and management process while maintaining a consistent, long-term time series of regional recreational fisheries statistics
Develop a publicly accessible state survey database to store state survey metadata, microdata, and estimates
Ensure Regional Offices, Science Centers, and Councils follow a consistent approach in the treatment and evaluation of all available data through their adherence to NOAA Fisheries’ regional framework for determinations of best scientific information available
Comprehensively address congressional directives related to recreational data collection in the Gulf of Mexico
Maintain clear and open lines of communication between partners and stakeholders regarding progress toward these goals

“On behalf of NOAA Fisheries I’d like to thank our state and regional partners for their invaluable contributions to this plan, we could not have completed it without their efforts,” said Dr. Cody. “We hope to continue building on this collaboration to carry out the needed survey research and facilitate the use of state data in the sustainable management of Gulf of Mexico fisheries.”

Next Steps

Increased communications is an important part of this transition process. All participating agencies have committed to keeping stakeholders informed of progress toward transition milestones. When appropriate, status updates will also be provided at Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meetings.

To learn more, read the Transition Plan for Gulf State Recreational Fishing Surveys.

NOAA awards $18.9M for harmful algal bloom research, monitoring

October 19, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

HABs can produce toxins or cause other harmful effects that can damage ecosystems, disrupt our seafood supply, impact economies and threaten human health. Marine and fresh waters of the U.S. are increasingly impacted by HABs, with blooms reported in every state. They cost the U.S. economy millions of dollars each year, and costs from a single major HAB event can reach tens of millions of dollars.

Investments in these projects represent a coordinated effort between NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Office within NOAA’s National Ocean Service to advance our nation’s ability to observe, monitor, forecast and manage blooms. NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, has also partnered with NCCOS to advance understanding of interactions between acidification and HABs in coastal waters and the Great Lakes.

NCCOS has allocated $16.1 million to fund harmful algal bloom research in fiscal year 2022, including $3.3 million for six new research awards, $10.4 million for 23 continuing awards and $2.4 million for two Community-Directed Spending projects. Four of the new competitive research awards are funded in partnership with NOAA’s OAP. Funded projects will determine interactions between HABs and ocean acidification; establish a U.S. Harmful Algal Bloom Control Technology Incubator; enhance detection of toxins and improve forecasts; and investigate the social and economic impacts of harmful algae.

“Harmful algal blooms and ocean acidification are two issues that impact coastal resources and we need to understand how they interact,” said David Kidwell, director of NOAA’s NCCOS Competitive Research Program. “In addition to better detection methods, we want to continue the development of technologies for controlling HABs, and enhance and improve our forecasting and monitoring abilities. These grants will help with those goals.”

A full list of the new NOAA NCCOS grant awards is available online.

The U.S. IOOS Office has allocated $2.8 million in fiscal year 2022 for pilot projects for the nascent National Harmful Algal Bloom Observing Network and a related Ocean Technology Transition project. Those funds will be distributed across all 11 IOOS Regional Associations for three new and eight continuing projects to enhance the nation’s capacity for monitoring and detection of harmful algal blooms.

The new IOOS HAB projects will focus on expanding and improving HAB observations and testing capabilities; community coordination and service delivery for stakeholders; improving and optimizing HAB forecasts; testing new technology for the detection of HABs; and funding ongoing operation and maintenance of the HAB testbed and existing infrastructure.

“We will continue to enhance our network’s capacity to monitor and detect these blooms using our expertise across regions,” said Carl Gouldman, director of the U.S. IOOS Office. “ We want to push out even further and provide complete end-to-end HAB detection and monitoring systems. These efforts provide critical decision support nationwide using the best data available.”

A full list of the IOOS new grant awards can be found online.

Maine Lobstering Union drops part of lawsuit against NOAA Fisheries

August 25, 2022 — The Maine Lobstering Union is agreeing to drop part of its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Services, where the federal agency is closing a 960-square-mile section of the Gulf of Maine to lobster fishers.

Federal regulators said this section of ocean is prime habitat for North Atlantic right whales and argued blocking that part of the ocean off from buoy lines from Oct. 18 to Jan. 31, 2023, would help reduce the risk posed to entanglements between lobster gear and whales.

Alfred C Frawley with McCloskey, Mina, Cunniff, and Frawley, LLC, said in an email the move was made as federal agencies add more regulations against the lobster industry.

“The MLU has taken the procedural step of agreeing to dismiss its case in Maine, which was largely mooted by the DC Court’s recent decision, in order to focus its resources on the ongoing litigation in DC and on ensuring that NMFS issues a new rule that both protects the North Atlantic right whale and ensures the sustainability of Maine’s lobster fishery,” Frawley said in an email to NEWS CENTER Maine.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

Louisiana AG Jeff Landry looks to intervene in lawsuit over red grouper fish quotas

August 24, 2022 — Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is getting involved in a legal battle over recreational fishing in the state.

He has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a National Marine Fisheries Service rule that deals with quotas for Gulf of Mexico red grouper fish.

Read the full story at WAFB

Milford laboratory working to make sure CT’s shellfish industry survives

August 23, 2022 — Thousands of people came to Milford this weekend for the Milford Oysterfest. They served up some 30,000 oysters, all grown in the water off Connecticut’s coast. As they enjoy those tasty shellfish, they may not know that, right nearby, scientists are constantly studying those oysters.

Just across the harbor is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory. The scientists working there try to make the shellfish industry thrive.

“Among our main projects are to improve the hatchery techniques so that it’s more effective and dependable to have shellfish seed to plant,” explained Dr. Gary Wikfors, Aquaculture Sustainability Branch Chief of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Shellfishing is a $30 million industry in Connecticut, and Connecticut’s senior senator wants to see more funding to study it.

Read the full story at WTNH

NOAA broke law by not protecting right whales, judge rules

July 12, 2022 — NOAA violated federal law by not doing enough to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglements caused by lobster fishing gear, a federal judge said Friday.

In his ruling, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the agency broke both the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) when it issued a biological opinion and a final rule that changed fishing gear requirements last year.

Boasberg declared both the biological opinion and the rule “invalid” and said more needs to be done to protect the whales.

The judge acknowledged that “this may seem a severe result” for both NOAA Fisheries and the lobster industry but added that “no actor here … operates free from the strict requirements imposed by the MMPA and ESA.”

NOAA declined to comment.

The ruling marked a win for the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife, groups that first sued NOAA in early 2018 over a prior biological opinion.

“The court’s decision recognizes what NOAA Fisheries has ignored for decades — that Congress clearly intended to protect right whales from the lobster gear entanglements that are driving the species toward extinction just as surely as whaling nearly did,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife.

Davenport said the opinion represented “the course correction the agency needs to put both the species and the fishery on a path towards sustainability and co-existence.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Federal court rules fisheries officials didn’t do enough to protect right whales from lobster gear

July 8, 2022 — A federal court on Friday ruled in favor of environmental groups that had filed a lawsuit against the government and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association claiming federal fisheries officials had failed to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from potentially fatal entanglements in lobster fishing gear, records show.

A judge ruled that NOAA Fisheries had violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act when it issued a May 2021 biological opinion and a September 2021 final rule because officials had not done enough to reduce the lobster fishery’s threat to right whales, the plaintiffs in the suit said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Captains and vessel owners are climbing the learning curve of electronic vessel trip reporting

July 7, 2022 — Among the biggest problems with effective fisheries management has always been lack of relevant data and the time lag between information retrieval and action.

One tool the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hopes to use to close those gaps is electronic vessel trip reporting or eVTR.

Using the carrot and the stick approach, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has begun requiring many fishermen to submit vessel trip reports electronically. NMFS’s carrot is that the results may eventually benefit all, and in some fisheries recreational fishermen’s data is being added to the mix, but for small-scale fishermen, the stick of punishment for non-compliance can feel too much, especially when the failure is generated by new technologies.

While the eVTR learning curve and buggy apps create problems for some fishermen, the bigger and broader data picture that eVTR offers resource managers means that eVTR is likely here to stay. But it would appear from Facebook comments that NOAA, app developers, and fishermen need to have a conversation.

Read the full story at National Fisherman