Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Quotas for the 2020 Fishing Year

December 17, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The proposed action would:

  • Rollover the 2019 Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) level (29,184 mt) to 2020 for Atlantic mackerel;
  • Update the Atlantic mackerel recreational deduction to include updated catch accounting methodology from 1,209 mt to 1,270 mt for 2020 to help avoid an ABC overage;
  • Maintain the 129 mt river herring and shad catch cap and eliminate the initial 89-mt trigger provision that would close the fishery if 89 mt of river herring and shad were observed to be caught before 10,000 lb of mackerel has been caught; and
  • Maintain the previously approved 2020 specifications for Illex squid (26,000 mt ABC), longfin squid (23,400 mt ABC) and butterfish (32,063 mt ABC), including the 3,884 mt butterfish catch cap in the longfin squid fishery.

Read the proposed rule as published today in the Federal Register. Supporting documents for this rule are available on the MAFMC website.

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 Proposed Rule for 2020 Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Specifications.”

Comments are due by 5 pm January 16, 2020.

Beginning January 2, You Can Renew Your Permits Online

December 17, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Beginning January 2, 2020, commercial and recreational fishermen will be able to renew their current federal fishing permits online using our web-based system in Fish Online. In the online system, you will not have to include/upload copies of your Coast Guard documentation or your state registrations. Also, gear codes are no longer required. Submissions via mail and fax will remain options, but we recommend fishermen take advantage of the speed and ease of renewing their permits online.

To access the online renewal and application systems, create or sign-in to your Fish Online account and click on Application Forms in the left margin. For assistance with Fish Online, call our Help Desk at 978-281-9188.

NOAA Fisheries Closes Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Closure Areas to Gillnet Gear

December 16, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In compliance with a recent Federal District Court Order, NOAA Fisheries is implementing a closure of the Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Groundfish Closure Areas for gillnet gear only.

This rule is effective tomorrow. All gillnetters must remove their gillnet gear from these areas as soon as possible, consistent with safe vessel operations.

Background

The October 28, 2019, Court Order prohibits NOAA Fisheries from allowing gillnet fishing in the former Nantucket Lightship Groundfish Closure Area and the Closed Area I Groundfish Closure Areas (see map below) until NOAA Fisheries has fully complied with requirements of the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, consistent with the Opinion.

After the Order was issued, we notified gillnetters in these areas on November 1 that all gillnet gear needed to be removed from these two areas and that we would be issuing a formal rule closing these areas. That formal rule has now been issued.

Read the full release here

Effective Today: Closure of the Regular B Days-at-Sea Program

December 16, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective at 0845 hours on December 16, 2019, the Regular B Days-at-Sea (DAS) program is closed for the remainder of fishing year 2019, through April 30, 2020.  During this closure, Northeast multispecies vessels may not declare or use regular B days-at-sea.  We have closed the Regular B DAS program because 77 percent of the 242.5 lb Incidental Catch Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Gulf of Maine cod is projected to have been caught.

The Regional Administrator is authorized to close the Regular B Days-at-Sea Program if it is projected that catch in the Regular B DAS Program cannot be constrained to the Gulf of Maine Cod Incidental Catch TAC.  With only two trip limits of catch available before the fishery meets or exceeds the Gulf of Maine Cod Incidental Catch TAC, we project that this criteria for closure has been met.

If you have crossed the vessel monitoring system demarcation line and are currently at sea on a groundfish trip declared under a regular B day-at-sea, you may complete your trip.

For more information see the rule as filed in the Federal Register today or our bulletin.

Reminder: Longfin Squid Incidental Catch Permit Application

December 12, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We approved Amendment 20 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan on October 22, 2018. This action created a new Tier 3 longfin squid incidental moratorium permit.

How Do I Qualify for a Longfin Squid Moratorium Tier 3 Permit (SMB1C)?

To qualify for an SMB1C longfin squid permit, a vessel must have been issued an open access SMB3 permit and landed at least 5,000 lb of longfin squid in any year during 1997-2013. We will use available dealer landings data to determine whether a vessel qualifies for a SMB1C permit. To be issued the new Tier 3 longfin squid incidental permit, vessel owners must apply for this new permit by February 29, 2020.

Where Do I Get an Application?

The application form is available online and will also be mailed to you. For more information see our bulletin.

Endangered Winter-run Chinook Salmon Increase with Millions of Offspring Headed to Sea

December 9, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Biologists have estimated that almost 3.8 million juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon headed down the Sacramento River toward the ocean this year. This is the most offspring in a decade for the highly endangered population.

Typically about 80 percent of the outgoing juveniles have headed for the ocean by this time of year. This year’s total thus far is the most since 2009, when about 5 million juveniles traveled downriver.

The rebounding numbers of winter-run Chinook salmon reflect the critical help of a conservation fish hatchery and balanced water management. More favorable ocean conditions also benefited the parents of this year’s surging crop of juveniles, biologists say. About 8,000 adult fish returned to the Sacramento River to spawn earlier this year, the most since 2006.

“These fish continue to impress us with their resilience and their ability to survive if given the opportunity,” said Maria Rea, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ California Central Valley Office. “By working cooperatively, we can make the best use of our suite of tools to protect and recover these endangered fish.”

Read the full release here

Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery coming under more permanent state control

December 9, 2019 — A pilot program that gave five U.S. states bordering the Gulf of Mexico greater control over their quotas for the Gulf red snapper fishery is in the process of being made permanent, signaling a willingness from NOAA Fisheries to embrace more flexible, decentralized management programs for U.S. fisheries.

In April 2019, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council unanimously adopted Amendment 50, which would extend state regulations for recreational red snapper harvest in the Gulf of Mexico into adjacent federal waters for 2020 and beyond. Draft rules are now being considered by the individual states, which include Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. As that happens, NOAA Fisheries is conducting an evaluation of input received during a recently-concluded public comment period, and will soon publish a final rule, cementing Amendment 50 in place. That will likely happen in the early part of 2020, according to Roy Crabtree, the regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Regional Office.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Atlantic Halibut Subject of NOAA Research

December 9, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen across Cape Cod to see if the Atlantic halibut is showing signs of recovery in the Gulf of Maine as well as the New England region.

A three-part study is currently underway to see if the halibut population is rebuilding after the size of the fish shrunk over centuries.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is working with local fishermen to understand the life history, stock structure, and movement patterns of the Atlantic halibut.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Conservation Partners to Restore Nearshore Habitat in Virginia

December 5, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Chesapeake Bay is full of special places–including Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. Much of this area, which is bounded to the north by the Rappahannock River and to the south by the York River, is rural. Many residents make their livelihood from farming or fishing, thanks to the region’s vibrant ecosystem.

The waters surrounding Middle Peninsula are also treasured by people and wildlife alike, but like many parts of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, development, pollution, and runoff from upstream areas threaten their health. To ensure a healthy future for the habitat found here, NOAA and partners are working to restore nearshore habitat for fish and other Bay species.

NOAA and the Virginia Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve recently convened partners from around the Middle Peninsula to discuss the future for nearshore habitat restoration projects that support resilient coastal communities and economies. At the workshop, participants learned more about each others’ efforts, highlighting where they can work together most effectively.

The workshop also included presentations by experts on the importance of habitat to coastal communities in the area, how to use science throughout restoration projects, restoration project ideas that partners could team on, as well as opportunities for participants to make other plans for future work together.

As a result of enthusiasm for work in this geographic area, the Chesapeake Research Consortium is holding a competition (PDF, 5 pages) to help one or two organizations design a nearshore habitat restoration project in the watersheds of the York and Piankatank rivers and Mobjack Bay. The projects that receive funding will design a “shovel-ready” habitat restoration project to help reduce wave energy and erosion while providing nearshore habitat and coastal resiliency. Funding will go toward development of a project design and monitoring plan, making it easier for the project to receive funds for implementation down the road.

Read the full release here

NOAA, Coast Guard: More regs needed in wake of Rafael ’s fraud

December 4, 2019 — Representatives from NOAA and the US Coast Guard are using Carlos Rafael’s case as evidence that more regulations and oversight are necessary in the groundfishing industry.

NOAA Special Agent Troy Audyatis explained to a crowd gathered at the New England Fishery Management Council Meeting on Tuesday how NOAA worked with other agencies to catch the so-called Codfather and said, “We need to prevent something like this from ever repeating itself down the road.”

Rafael was sentenced to 46-months in federal prison for falsifying fishing quota, cash smuggling, and tax evasion in a criminal case, and was ordered to pay a $3 million penalty to address the federal government’s civil claims against him which included counts of misreporting and underreporting his groundfish catch.

Audyatis said if there wasn’t an observer, who collects data from U.S. commercial fishing and processing vessels for NOAA, on Rafael’s vessels or a dock-side officer “thousands upon thousands of fish would simply disappear” without being reported.

One of the reasons Audyatis gave for Rafael being able to misreport and underreport was the vertical integration of Rafael’s business.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times