Saving Seafood

NOAA hires directors of offices of science and technology, sustainable fisheries

July 20, 2020 — NOAA has hired a new director of its Office of Science and Technology and director of its Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

Evan Howell, previously the deputy director for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, has been hired to head the Office of Science and Technology, where he will “advocate and ensure a sound scientific basis for NOAA Fisheries science programs and resource conservation and management decisions,” according to the agency. In his role, Howell will coordinate the work being done at six NOAA Fisheries science centers in the U.S. Northeast, Northwest, Pacific Islands, Southeast, Southwest, and Alaska.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Reminder: Complete the COVID-19 Economic Survey

July 20, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

If you received a survey in the mail from NOAA Fisheries and our partner, the University of Florida, please complete it. The results will help us assess  the impact of COVID-19 on commercial/for-hire fishing operations and on seafood dealers and processors.

Survey participants were selected as part of a carefully designed random sample. If you received a letter, your response is very important to the success of this survey. It will take less than 6 minutes, and the information you provide is strictly confidential.

We are using this multi-region survey to inform NOAA Fisheries, the Department of Commerce, Congress, fishery management councils, state fishery managers, and stakeholders about the economic and social impacts that the recent economic downturn has had on the fishing industry.

NOAA Fisheries will draft reports for the public detailing the revenue losses and recovery of fishing-dependent businesses over the past few months.

If you have further questions regarding the survey please contact Eric Thunberg.

Commercial Closure in Federal Waters for Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Northern Zone on July 22, 2020

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone in federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 22, 2020 and will re-open on March 1, 2021. The northern zone for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel includes federal waters from North Carolina through New York. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of Spanish mackerel in or from the northern zone federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational sector is open, but those fish may not be sold.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial quota for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the quota from being exceeded.

DURING THE CLOSURE:

  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for Spanish mackerel does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, July 22, 2020, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • During the closure, a person on board a vessel that has been issued a valid federal commercial permit for coastal migratory pelagic fish may continue to retain Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the northern zone under the recreational bag and possession limits, as long as the recreational sector for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel is open.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations.  Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=38b00fbc079181f330b3d8428a1d8fea&mc=true&n=pt50.12.622&r=PART&ty=HTML#sp50.12.622.q.

Commercial Closure of the Golden Tilefish Hook-and-Line Component in South Atlantic Federal Waters on July 23, 2020

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:
The commercial hook-and-line component for golden tilefish in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 23, 2020.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:
The 2020 commercial catch limit for the golden tilefish hook-and-line component is 82,935 pounds gutted weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit and harvest must close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

DURING AND AFTER THE CLOSURE:

  • The closure prohibitions for the commercial hook-and-line component apply in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper permit.
  • The South Atlantic golden tilefish commercial longline component already closed on March 23, 2020, for the remainder of the fishing year. Therefore, all commercial harvest and sale of South Atlantic golden tilefish will be prohibited effective at 12:01 a.m., local time, July 23, 2020.  Harvest or possession is limited to the golden tilefish recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational sector is open, without regard to where the golden tilefish was harvested (i.e. in state or federal waters).
  • Golden tilefish bag and possession limits and the prohibition on sale/purchase apply in the South Atlantic on board a vessel for which a valid federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper has been issued, without regard to where such species were harvested, i.e., in state or federal waters.
  • The prohibitions on harvest or possession and sale or purchase during the closure do not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 23, 2020, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • The 2020 fishing season for golden tilefish commercial hook-and-line component in the South Atlantic will open on January 1, 2021, with a commercial catch limit of 82,935 pounds gutted weight.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations.  The complete list of regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=383bc195ccbeab4fd6bec1c24905df34&node=sp50.12.622.i&rgn=div6.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area for the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota Fleet

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to all federally permitted limited access general category individual fishing quota (LAGC IFQ) scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on July 19, 2020.

As of July 19, 2020, no scallop vessel fishing under LAGC IFQ regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that the LAGC fleet has fished all of the 1,142 trips allocated for this area.

Vessels that  have declared a trip into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, July 19, 2020, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.

For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Baleen Whales Have Changed Their Distribution in the Western North Atlantic

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Researchers have been using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements. They have found that four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean — humpback, sei, fin and blue whales — have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade. The recordings were made over 10 years by devices moored to the seafloor at nearly 300 locations from the Caribbean Sea to western Greenland.

“All four whale species were present in waters from the southeast U.S. to Greenland, with humpbacks also present in the Caribbean Sea,” said Genevieve Davis, a senior acoustician at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and lead author of the study. “These four species were detected throughout all the regions in the winter, suggesting that baleen whales are widely distributed during these months. Humpback, sei, fin, and blue whales also showed significant changes in where they were detected between the two time periods considered in this study: before and after 2010.”

A large group of federal, state and academic researchers from the United States and Canada conducted the study, published in Global Change Biology. It is the first to show the occurrence of these four species across the western North Atlantic Ocean over long time spans and at a large spatial scale. The study also demonstrates how whale distributions have changed over time, and in particular since 2010.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting for Commercial and For-Hire Vessels

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing a recommendation from both the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils to require federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip.

Upon request of the New England Council, we are also proposing to extend this requirement to vessels issued for-hire (charter/party) permits for New England Council-managed fisheries (i.e., Northeast multispecies).  Vessels issued a Mid-Atlantic Council for-hire permit have been required to submit vessel trip reports electronically since March 2019.  Note, reporting requirements for vessels issued only a federal lobster permit are being addressed in a separate rulemaking.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register.  Comments must be submitted by August 17, 2020 through our online e-rulemaking portal.

Pollock Survey Begins in Eastern Bering Sea

July 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For the past four decades, a team of scientists have conducted an acoustic trawl survey from a NOAA research vessel in the eastern Bering Sea. They collect acoustic measurements of fish abundance and distribution. They also sample fish by capturing them with trawl nets to groundtruth the acoustic signals to confirm the species. They also are able to learn more about the fish themselves—for example, their age, length, weight, and reproductive state.

Scientists believe using acoustic technology on saildrones to survey in the eastern Bering Sea will provide a reliable estimate of pollock abundance, based on past experience comparing the technology to ship-based surveys. It also helps that pollock are the dominant fish species in this area, minimizing the need to further sample with a trawl net to confirm species.

Since the standard surveys were cancelled this year due to COVID-19, data collected by the saildrones will fill a gap in the survey time series. Scientists use these survey data along with other data to assess pollock population abundance and trends (whether the stock is increasing or decreasing in size). The saildrone survey is expected to take two months to complete.

In late June, after some 40 days at sea, the three saildrones arrived at Unimak Pass, a 20-nautical-mile gap between Unimak Island and Ugamak Island that separates the North Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea. At this point the saildrones separated. Each saildrone will cover a third of the 600-nautical-mile-wide survey area, which is bordered by Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the south and the edge of the eastern Bering Sea shelf to the west.

The saildrones will complete a series of north-south transects moving from east to west; the mission is designed to mimic a typical ship survey as closely as possible in the amount of time available. Each vehicle is equipped with a Simrad EK80 high-precision split-beam echo sounder to map fish abundance.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Chief Chris Oliver on Observers and Monitors

July 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

Observers and monitors, at-sea and shoreside, are an essential component of commercial fishing operations and provide critical information that is necessary to keep fisheries open and to provide sustainable seafood to our nation during this time. We recognize the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and as such, it has required us to adapt to changing circumstances. Our adaptation is multi-faceted. Across the Pacific and Western Pacific, the majority of fisheries require full observer coverage; on the East Coast, the majority of fisheries require partial coverage. The differences in the requirements are an important reason that we have used our ability to waive observer coverage in some regions and fisheries, and not in others.

In addition, how fisheries operate varies regionally and even within a region, including factors such as whether crew or observers need to cross state lines. Some of these operational aspects have allowed the agency and observer service providers to more quickly adapt processes and procedures for deployment. In other cases, we’ve needed more time. For example, in the Northeast, because of the number of different jurisdictions, additional time was needed to finalize our observer redeployment protocols. Consequently, we delayed observer coverage for an additional month. Throughout most regions though, individual trips and vessels in partial-coverage fleets continue to be released from coverage on a case-by-case basis. Overall, our approach to observer coverage and monitoring allows us to be as adaptable as possible given all of the variability across our regions and fisheries.

Finally, the contractual relationships between industry and NOAA Fisheries and observer service providers vary by region and sometimes within a region, affecting what ability, if any, the agency has to make changes to protocols and processes.

In general, observers create no more risk than a crew member, although we do have allowances for vessel by vessel waivers in situations where that may not be the case, and observer provider companies are generally able to match precautionary measures that vessels impose on crew members. Ultimately, within our limited authority, our goal is to have observers and monitors following the same safety protocols that fishermen are following.

Providing seafood to the country remains an essential function even in these extraordinary times and adequately monitoring United States fisheries remains an essential part of that process. We will continue to monitor all local public health notifications, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for updates, and adjust our processes as needed. We are committed to the health and safety of fishermen, observers, and others while fulfilling our mission to maintain our nation’s seafood supply and conserving marine life.

Below is an update as of the situation in each of our regions as it pertains to observer coverage:

Regional Snapshot of Current Observer Waivers

  • Alaska Region – NOAA Fisheries is in the process of positioning observers at select ports throughout Alaska to meet monitoring objectives for vessels in the Partial Coverage Category of the North Pacific groundfish and Pacific Halibut fisheries. NOAA Fisheries has identified ports in Alaska where current travel and lodging conditions allow observers to meet and maintain applicable national, state, and local health mandates for deployment into the commercial fisheries. The region may release trips from observer coverage on a case-by-case basis for vessels in the Partial Coverage Category, as needed, in consideration of national, state, and local travel and safety requirements. No deviation has been made from the 2020 Annual Deployment Plan for vessels using electronic monitoring or to the requirement that vessels continue to log trips in Observer Declare and Deploy System (ODDS). Observer coverage continues for vessels in the Full Coverage Category of regional fisheries.
  • West Coast Region – Beginning at 12:00 am on May 1, 2020, fishery observer and catch monitor coverage was again required per existing regulations for all commercial fishing vessels and first receivers in required West Coast fisheries. Waivers of partial, scientific observer coverage are being issued on a vessel-by-vessel basis, including for the portion of the fleet using electronic monitoring. Waivers of observer coverage will continue on a vessel-by-vessel basis, as needed, in consideration of national, state, and local travel and safety requirements. The region is also ready to provide waivers for large purse seine vessels unable to get an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)-approved observer for tuna fisheries in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
  • Pacific Island Region – Observer coverage requirements continue in all required fisheries. Although contracted observers are being placed on most Hawaii pelagic longline trips in Hawaii, waivers of observer coverage on a vessel-by-vessel basis will continue, as needed, in consideration of evolving national, state, territory, and local travel and safety requirements. International observer requirements for tuna purse seine vessels have been waived by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission until July 31, 2020.
  • Southeast Region – Beginning at 12:00 a.m. on May 5, 2020, observer coverage was again required per existing regulations for the following fisheries: 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), Shark Gillnet (Atlantic HMS). Waivers of observer coverage on a vessel-by-vessel basis will continue, as needed, in consideration of national, state, and local travel and safety requirements. The region continues to work with the regional observer provider to finalize their observer redeployment plans to support the safe and effective redeployment of observers in the region.
  • Greater Atlantic Region – The region has extended the existing observer waiver exempting all vessels issued Greater Atlantic Region permits from the requirements to carry an observer or at-sea monitor. This waiver is in effect through July 31. When deployment resumes, we will include allowances for vessel by vessel waivers in situations for which there are medical or other issues where the observer may pose an additional risk beyond that posed by a normal crew member (i.e., small vessel with isolated crew for example). We will continue to work with the regional observer provider to finalize their observer redeployment plans to support the safe and effective redeployment of observers in the region.

Read the message here

Final Rule Increases Annual Catch Limits for South Atlantic Blueline Tilefish

July 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • NOAA Fisheries announces a final rule for Abbreviated Framework Amendment 3 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, which increases the annual catch limits for South Atlantic blueline tilefish in response to the results of the latest population assessment.
  • The annual catch limits are based on acceptable biological catch recommendations from the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee.

WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

The Rule will be effective on August 17, 2020 .

SUMMARY OF CHANGES:

  • The final rule will increase the total and sector annual catch limits for blueline tilefish in the South Atlantic, as follows (in pounds whole weight).

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: 85 FR 43145, published July 16, 2020.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

Where can I find more information on Abbreviated Framework Amendment 3?

  • Contact NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office

By Mail:

Mary Vara
NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office
Sustainable Fisheries Division
263 13th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505

By FAX: (727) 824-5308

By Phone: (727) 824-5305