Saving Seafood

NOAA Concludes 2019 Northeast Fall Ecosystem Monitoring

December 5, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries has wrapped up its 2019 Northeast fall ecosystem monitoring survey.

Researchers aboard the NOAA vessel Gordon Gunter sampled 117 stations along the U.S. East Coast.

Data collected during the cruise helps researchers understand and predict seasonal and yearly changes in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean ecosystem and its fisheries.

Due to weather conditions about 75 percent of the cruise objectives were accomplished, including complete coverage of the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England regions, and 97 percent of Georges Bank.

There was reduced coverage in the northern survey area, including just 22 percent in the Gulf of Maine and no coverage of the Scotian Shelf.

Long-term sampling on the cruise includes the use of “bongo” net tows. The fine-mesh nets are attached to side-by-side aluminum rings. The nets get their name for resembling bongo drums when deployed.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

F/V Darana R Hosts NOAA Fisheries Scientists During Fall Survey

December 3, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A dozen scientists and staff members from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center visited the 90-foot F/V Darana R in Point Judith, Rhode Island on October 3. The stop was a port call in the midst of the fall NorthEast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) survey off the coast of Rhode Island.

Science Center staff learned about the vessel, its equipment, and the survey.  After some discussions in port, most stayed aboard as the vessel headed out to sea to sort fish from two tows made during an afternoon demonstration.

This was a great opportunity for staff from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center to get out to sea for a few hours to see how they conduct the NEAMAP survey, and have a chance for Virginia Institute for Marine Science (VIMS) and Northeast Fisheries Science Center researchers to talk with each other and with the captain and crew about their operation. They are proud of it, and we appreciate their willingness to have us aboard,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the science center’s Cooperative Research Branch.

Each fall since 2006 the NEAMAP inshore trawl survey team has worked southward from Rhode Island toward Cape Hatteras, sampling juvenile and adult fish from dawn until dusk during four legs.

Read the full release here

Sustainable Management Means We Can Have Our Tuna and Eat It Too

December 3, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Bluefin tuna is often used as a poster species for the impacts of overfishing. But we have good news for seafood lovers eyeing bluefin sashimi at their local sushi restaurant: U.S.-caught Atlantic bluefin tuna is a sustainable food choice.

Bluefin tuna are some of the most valuable fish in the Atlantic. In 2017 alone, U.S. commercial fishermen generated an estimated $9.6 million in revenue from harvesting bluefin. That year, fishermen earned an estimated $6.45 for every pound of bluefin they harvested–more than any other Atlantic tuna.

That value may sound low to those who’ve read about bluefin selling for millions or watched popular fishing shows touting higher prices for this species. As with any product, the value of bluefin will fluctuate with demand, quantity, and quality. Commercial marketing and traditions like celebrating the first bluefin purchased each year can also drive up prices in limited situations. But the million-dollar price tags occasionally reported are far from the norm. In fact, the median value a bluefin tuna in 2018 was just over $2,000.

Atlantic bluefin tuna are also a coveted recreational species that support millions of dollars in economic value each year. A 2015 study conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences analyzed recreational anglers’ willingness to pay for bluefin tuna trips. The results showed that the private boat bluefin tuna fishery had an estimated value of $14 million that year.

Read the full release here

Researchers to explore pre-permitting approach to aquaculture in New England

December 2, 2019 — The labyrinthine process of obtaining the proper permits to establish fish farms in federal waters has been frequently cited as a major obstacle to the advancement of the U.S. aquaculture sector.

Currently, an application to start an aquaculture operation in federal waters is reviewed by a plethora of federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA Fisheries, and the Environmental Protection Agency, along with a collection of state agencies if the proposed site is located near state waters. The long review process is often cited as being too complex and costly, according to Hauke Kite-Powell, a research specialist at the Marine Policy Center of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ASMFC Seeks Proposals for Regional Pilot Projects in Support of Sustainable Aquaculture: Proposals Due January 15, 2020

December 2, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), in partnership with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture, is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP), seeking marine aquaculture pilot projects focused on sustainable aquatic farming techniques and regional business practices to grow U.S. domestic seafood. The geographic scope of the proposed projects is the U.S. East Coast states from Maine to Florida. The primary location of the proposed projects must be in the marine/estuarine environment. Examples of the types of pilot projects being sought through the RFP follow:

  • Research and development related to the production and distribution of shellfish seed stock.
  • Finfish, shellfish (other than oyster*), and seaweed farming systems, especially for those species new to aquaculture in the region or that use novel production systems.
  • Identification and development of Aquaculture Development Zones with pre-planning and pre-permitting for a range of aquaculture activities.
  • Resolution of issues (e.g., enforcement, water quality, public trust concerns or impacts) related to open water finfish farming in state waters.
  • Business incubators
  • Regional market and economic impact studies

NOAA Fisheries, through the Commission, is making available $625,000 for the funding period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Individual proposals should not exceed $200,000 or be less than $50,000. It is anticipated that approximately 4-6 projects will be funded. Eligible applicants include researchers at U.S. academic institutions, research laboratories, forprofit companies/firms, nonprofits, and state agencies. Applicants seeking to apply to the RFP must submit, as a single file, an electronic proposal by email no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on January 15, 2020. Please see the RFP for complete proposal details, qualifying requirements, and submission instructions. The RFP is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/RFPs/ASMFC2020PilotAquacultureRFP_Nov2019.pdf.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Warmer Bering Sea may benefit an Alaskan flatfish

November 27, 2019 — While the repercussions of climate change are complex and many impacts are unknown, newly published research suggests that one winner in a shifting environment is Alaska’s Northern rock sole.

The Northern rock sole is a flatfish that is commercially harvested, although it is fished significantly less than Pollock and Pacific cod.

Females grow up to 27 inches, while makes grow up to around 19 inches. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council set the acceptable biological catch for the fish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands at 143,000 metric tons for 2020, yet in 2018 only 60% of the total allowable catch was harvested.

Research by NOAA Fisheries biologists suggest that the fish have higher reproductive success in warmer years, meaning that a higher percentage of eggs laid will grow to become part of the catch-able population.

The investigation started after surveys of juvenile showed dramatically different results in the same location.

“One year we went in this area between Nunivak Island and Cape Newenham offshore and we found very high densities of the animals. We estimated that there were billions and that was in 2003 – a warm year,” said Dan Cooper, a research fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

He said it’s the opposite in cold years.

Read the full story at KTUU

Council to set quota for groundfish stocks

November 27, 2019 — The nadir for fishing for Gulf of Maine cod arrived in 2014, when NOAA Fisheries slashed quota by 77% and implemented emergency area closures that particularly singed the Gloucester small-boat, day fleet.

Nine days later, the New England Fishery Management Council cut cod quota by another 75 percent for the 2015 fishing season and the decline and fall of Gulf of Maine cod was on.

The closures and withering cuts added fuel to the debate over the precision of the science federal fishery regulators use to count fish and highlighted the cavernous divide between what National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries scientists say their science reflects and what fishermen say they see on the water.

In some ways, those battles still are being fought. Groundfishermen continue to say they see far more cod in their time on the water than is remotely represented in NOAA Fisheries’ science and modeling — both of which they still find suspect.

And, said longtime fisherman Joe Orlando, cod remains the most important linchpin stock in the groundfishery.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries Approves Framework Adjustment 14 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan

November 27, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is implementing the following adjustments to commercial and recreational summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries:

  • Including conservation equivalency as an annual management consideration for the black sea bass recreational fishery, which allows federal measures to be waived in lieu of appropriate state measures;
  • Creating a federal waters transit zone for non-federally permitted vessels fishing in state waters around Block Island Sound; and
  • Incorporating a maximum recreational size limit in the list of potential specification measures for summer flounder and black sea bass.

These adjustments are intended to provide additional flexibility in the management of these species.

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

NOAA Fisheries Announces Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A Sub-ACL Harvested

November 26, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are implementing a 2,000-lb herring possession limit per trip or calendar day as of 00:01 hours on November 27, 2019. This possession limit will be in effect through December 31, 2019. Under the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, when 92 percent of the Herring Management Area 1A catch limit is projected to be harvested, no person may, or attempt to, fish for, possess, transfer, receive, land, or sell more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip or per calendar day in or from Area 1A for the remainder of the fishing year from a vessel issued and holding a valid federal herring permit.

This action also prohibits federally permitted dealers from purchasing, possessing, receiving, selling, bartering, trading or transferring, or attempting to purchase, possess, receive, sell, barter, trade, or transfer more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip or calendar day from Management Area 1A through 24:00 hr local time, December 31, 2019, unless it is from a vessel that enters port before 00:01 local time on November 27, 2019.

For the seasonal period from January 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, there is no Area 1A allocation available, and no vessel may fish for herring in Area 1A under current regulations. Vessels are expected to be able to resume herring fishing in Area 1A on June 1, 2020.

For more information read the rule filed today in the Federal Register or the bulletin.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Northern Bering Sea trawl survey shows fisheries in flux

November 19, 2019 — Norton Sound red king crab are moving, Arctic cod numbers have dropped significantly and Pacific cod are continuing to increase as the Northern Bering Sea ecosystem undergoes drastic change. That’s all according to preliminary results from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration trawl survey this summer in the Northern Bering Sea (NBS).

Before Lyle Britt even began leading the NOAA Fisheries’ study of the NBS in September, he anticipated seeing more warm water fish in a region that stretches from Nunivak Island north to the Bering Strait.

“We can tell that the ecosystem is very much in flux up here,” Britt said. “We’re seeing expansion of ranges of some fish and invertebrates, and we’re seeing the retraction of others. Now how permanent or ephemeral those are, I think is still in question.”

As an example of a species that’s expanding its range based on what was discovered in the 2010 baseline survey of the Northern Bering Sea, Britt points to Pacific cod.

“Between 2010 and 2017 there was about a 900% increase in the amount of Pacific cod we saw in the Northern Bering Sea region, based on that biomass or total weight estimate,” he said. “That number sounds really dramatic in part because there were so few in 2010 and now there are some. That number increased between 2017 and 2019 by about 30%, so it’s continued to go up.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media