Saving Seafood

Women’s History Month: Talking with Katey Marancik

March 11, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

My interest in a marine science career really started when I was 9 years old. My siblings and I were playing in the waves at our favorite place in the world—Island Beach State Park, New Jersey. The lifeguards started whistling, making everyone get out of the water. It turned out garbage, including syringes, was washing up on beaches nearby. I was furious! No one messes with my ocean, and no one makes me get out of the water except hunger or my mom. This seemingly small event inspired my fascination with how people use the sea and how things move around in it. Whether it’s garbage washing up on beaches from a barge offshore, or it’s fish larvae moving from a spawning site to juvenile habitat.

I went to college and grad school, working with some amazing men and women in the vast marine biology field. I earned my Bachelor of Science in marine biology from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. While there, I narrowed my interests while participating in undergraduate honors research studying the movement of fish larvae through Beaufort Inlet in North Carolina. Fish larvae are so diverse in how they look and how they function in their environment. I was hooked—enjoy the pun!

After college, I earned a Master of Science at East Carolina University studying larval fish communities in and around Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Georgia. I then took on a series of research positions, including my current position where I’ve learned more about the amazing early life history of fish.

Now, I’m a contractor working with the talented and dedicated researchers of the science center’s Oceans and Climate Branch. We collect and analyze plankton and hydrographic data to inform how we understand and manage fisheries and protected species. All these years later, I’m still connecting my long-held fascinations with how people use the ocean and how fish larvae move through it.

Read the full release here

Second lawsuit filed in at-sea monitoring dispute

March 10, 2020 — A second lawsuit has been filed in a U.S. federal courthouse against a rule, scheduled to take effect Monday, 9 March, that would require Atlantic herring fishermen to pay for independent monitors aboard their vessels.

Seafreeze Fleet LLC and two vessels it owns filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NOAA Fisheries in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island last week. It comes a couple of weeks after New Jersey fishermen filed a similar lawsuit over the rule.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Atlantic Chub Mackerel Measures

March 9, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries proposes measures adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council as part of Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan to manage chub mackerel.

Because a directed fishery for Atlantic chub mackerel recently emerged in the Mid-Atlantic, in 2018 the Mid-Atlantic Council implemented initial measures to maintain existing catch levels while it developed a long-term management approach. In the intervening three years, the Council has collected more detailed information on chub mackerel and has developed management measures to help achieve and maintain the sustainability of the chub mackerel resource.

This action would designate essential fish habitat; set catch limits for 2020-2022; and implement an annual catch limit, accountability measures, possession limits, permitting and reporting requirements, and other administrative measures for Atlantic chub mackerel caught from Maine through North Carolina.

For more details, please read the rule as published in the Federal Register.  Supporting analysis for this rule is available on the Council’s website.

The comments due date is April 8, 2020. To submit comments, please use the Federal e-rulemaking portal, or send comments by regular mail to Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930. Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Comments on Chub Mackerel Proposed Rule.”

Read the full release here

West Coast Waters Shift Toward Productive Conditions, But Lingering Heat May “Tilt” Marine Ecosystem

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Burgeoning populations of anchovy and a healthy crop of California sea lion pups reflected improved productivity off parts of the West Coast in 2019. However, lingering offshore heat worked against recovery of salmon stocks and reduced fishing success, a new analysis reports.

The California Current Ecosystem Status Report explains that ocean conditions off the West Coast remain unusually variable. This has been the case since the arrival of a major marine heatwave in 2014 known as “The Blob.” NOAA Fisheries’ two West Coast laboratories, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center, issue the report each year to the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“There is not a real clear picture here,” said Chris Harvey, co-editor of the report developed by the two laboratories’ Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach. The approach integrates physical, biological, economic, and importantly social conditions of the California Current marine ecosystem into the decision-making process. “On the one hand, we have a lot of anchovy out there. On the other hand, we also have a lot of warm water. That is not usually a sign of improved productivity.”

Read the full release here

Wideye iFleetONE Vessel Monitoring System Approved for Use

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On February 28, 2020, AddValue Innovation’s “Wideye iFleetONE” vessel monitoring system (VMS) was approved for use by commercial fishing vessels with federal permits requiring the use of VMS in the Greater Atlantic Region.

The Wideye iFleetONE is a broadband VMS unit which meets all NOAA VMS requirements, and supports other data, voice and text services. The unit operates on the Inmarsat satellite network. For more information, refer to the AddValue Innovation brochure.

A complete list of approved VMS units in the Greater Atlantic Region, is available online.

Read the full release here

Reopening Comment Period for Coonamessett Farm Foundation Exempted Fishing Permit

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

At the request of the public, we are reopening the comment period for an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the Coonamesset Farm Foundation. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to use dredge fishing gear with a forward facing camera within the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area to characterize habitat substrate types where dredge fishing occurs, and conduct compensation fishing that would support research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.

You may submit written comments by any of the following methods:

Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line “CFF Great South Channel HMA Clam EFP.”

Mail: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope “Comments on CFF Great South Channel HMA EFP.”

Comments are due by March 23. Please see the notice as published in the Federal Register for more information.

West Coast Dungeness Crab Stable or Increasing Even With Intensive Harvest, Research Shows

March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The West Coast Dungeness crab fishery doesn’t just support the most valuable annual harvest of seafood on the West Coast. It’s a fishery that just keeps on giving.

Fishermen from California to Washington caught almost all the available legal-size male Dungeness crab each year in the last few decades. However, the crab population has either remained stable or continued to increase, according to the first thorough population estimate of the West Coast Dungeness stocks.

“The catches and abundance in Central California especially are increasing, which is pretty remarkable to see year after year,” said Kate Richerson, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. Richerson is the lead author of the new study published in the journal Fisheries Research. “There’s reason to be optimistic that this fishery will continue to be one of the most productive and on the West Coast.”

Other recent research has suggested that the West Coast’s signature shellfish could suffer in the future from ocean acidification and other effects related to climate change. That remains a concern, Richerson said, but the study did not detect obvious signs of population-level impacts yet.

Read the full release here

NOAA’s Drone Use Makes a Huge Splash at Recent Demo in Hawai‘i

March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

At an unmanned aerial system (UAS) workshop held on December 11, 2019, NOAA demonstrastrated how it uses UAS technology in coral-related marine applications. The workshop brought together various agencies and NGOs who conduct geographical surveys for a technology show-and-tell. The gathering may lead to new collaborative projects between NOAA and partners.

“Everybody was super excited about our demonstration,” said Robert O’Conner, fishery information specialist with the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office. “The workshop was a really nice way to build collaboration between groups,” added Dr. Matthew Parry, a fishery biologist with the NOAA Restoration Center and the Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program.

The workshop was organized by the Hawai‘i Geographic Information Coordinating Council, a nonprofit that brings together members of Hawai‘i’s geospatial community. Members include, among others:

  • NOAA
  • U.S. Geological Survey
  • U.S. Forest Service
  • University of Hawai‘i
  • Hawai‘i Statewide GIS Program
  • Women in Technology

The event was held at the Kawainui R/C Air Model Field in Kailua, O‘ahu. There were UAS demonstrations from NOAA, the environmental consulting agency Dudek, and the surveying company Frontier Precision.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Approves Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Specifications for 2020

March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is finalizing and implementing the Atlantic spiny dogfish commercial quota for the 2020 fishing year, which was originally announced on May 14, 2019. These specifications are unchanged from what was projected in the multi-year specifications for 2019-2021, and represent a 13-percent increase in coastwide commercial quota. These limits will be in place until April 30, 2021.

All other management measures and requirements, including the 6,000-lb Federal trip limit, remain unchanged.

For more details read the rule as filed in the Federal Register or the bulletin posted on our website.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Approves New Gear Under Small-Mesh Fisheries Accountability Measures

March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today we filed the final rule approving a new selective gear, the large mesh belly panel. This rule adds the large-mesh belly panel to the list of selective gears approved for use in the Georges Bank yellowtail accountability measure area. Gears currently approved for use in this area are the haddock separator trawl, Ruhle trawl, and rope separator trawl.

Use of the large-mesh belly panel is already allowed during normal fishing operations.

Approval of the large mesh belly panel, for the Georges Bank yellowtail area, as an additional selective trawl gear will provide the fishing industry with more flexibility in the use of trawl gear under the accountability measure, while minimizing bycatch of stocks of concern.

We denied the request to approve this gear for use in the southern windowpane accountability measure area because it did not meet the required standards for this area, and fisheries. To be approved selective gear must reduce bycatch of all species of concern, compared to the standard gear, by at least 50 percent. In the large-mesh fishery, within the windowpane accountability measure areas, the gear did not sufficiently reduce bycatch of two species of concern.

For more details please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, and the bulletin.