Saving Seafood

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

Will Old Bones Tell Tales?

November 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Northeast Fisheries Science Center researchers are engaged in a multi-year effort to create the information needed to maintain viable fisheries in a warming world ocean. Projects are underway to improve stock assessments, modeling, and surveys, and to understand the vulnerabilities of coastal communities to climate change.

One of these projects looks at today’s cod in a warming Gulf of Maine through the lens of a similar time more than 300 years ago, when there was rapid ocean warming after the “little ice age” of the 1500s. Researchers are using fish parts gathered from a recent archaeological excavation of the Smuttynose Island fish station.

The fish parts date from 1640 to 1708, when the Smuttynose fish station was most active. The best-represented years are about 1640 to 1660. This was a time of intense harvest in the developing fishery during rapid ocean warming that is similar to what is happening in the Gulf of Maine today.

Examining these old fish parts may reveal how cod responded to intense fishing and warming in the 17th century. It will help us better project outcomes for Atlantic cod in the future.

Read the full release here

Rebound in Groundfish Leads to New Flexibility for Fishermen, Protection for Deep-Sea Corals

November 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Sweeping changes in West Coast groundfish fisheries adopted this week will reopen access for fishermen to productive fishing grounds where fish populations have rebounded. These changes will also protect sensitive deep-water habitat and deep-sea corals from bottom fishing.

The changes come in the form of an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish off the West Coast. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended the amendment to NOAA Fisheries, which finalized it this week. The new provisions take effect January 1, 2020, and are widely supported by fishermen and other stakeholders.

The changes affect what is known as Essential Fish Habitat, or EFH, the habitat necessary to support sustainable fisheries. By law, the Council must minimize effects on EFH, and in 2005 did so for groundfish habitat. It established area closures that limited bottom trawling and other types of gear that contact the sea floor.

A review of the latest science and fishing results led the Council to increase protections for EFH in some places. It also reopened some important fishing areas that had been closed.

Read the full release here

Flood Prediction Helps People and Fish

November 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the last 50 years, as the northeast has gotten significantly rainier, flood prediction has become increasingly important. In addition to helping the public, town planners, and emergency responders, understanding flooding is also important for fishway operators and fisheries managers. Floods can affect the timing of fish migrations. For example, as spring rains swell rivers, some sea-run fish swim upstream—sometimes for many miles—to spawn. American eels are known to migrate to the ocean during fall floods. Knowing what’s coming can help biologists and dam operators work together to create the best conditions for migration at dams and fishways.

While some watersheds flood quickly when it rains, others have natural or human-built storage. Reservoirs behind dams, as well as naturally occurring ponds and wetlands, can reduce flooding by delaying runoff into streams and rivers. Knowing which kinds of rain events will lead to flooding in particular river systems is key for communities in the watershed.

A Tale of Two Rivers: The Mystic and the Charles

The Mystic River watershed is a relatively small urbanized basin north of Boston, home to more than 20 communities. The Charles River drains an area approximately four times larger than the Mystic River watershed. It contains 23 Boston-area communities, including some to the west and southwest of the city.

In a recent study, researchers found that almost 90 percent of Mystic River flooding is immediately preceded by one to two days of large rainfall. In contrast, only about half the flooding events for the Charles are preceded by large rainfalls.

The researchers considered whether other factors besides large rainfalls could be associated with Charles River flooding. They found that flooding tends to happen when the watershed is “primed” for maximum streamflow. For example, if rainfall, soil moisture, and snowmelt increase for a month, the Charles watershed is more likely to flood. Since the Charles watershed contains more upstream storage, it is less likely than the Mystic to flood because of large rainfalls alone.

Read the rest of the story on our website or read the paper on which the story is based.

New Vessel Monitoring System Software Required for Vessel Owners

November 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The VMS unit installed on your vessel requires a software update to comply with recent regulatory changes and prepare for potential measures that still must be approved before going into effect.

Depending on your vendor, the new software will be released and available on November 25, 2019 (SkyMate and Woods Hole Group), or will update automatically on November 25, 2019 (McMurdo). Begin using this new software for trips after December 6, 2019.

Bulletins with additional information have been mailed and are also available on our website.

New Jersey Beach Walkers – Please Keep an Eye Out for Sea Turtles!

November 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The recent cold snap has caused a sudden uptick in the number of cold-stunned sea turtles washing up on beaches in northern, NJ – particularly Sandy Hook and Long Beach Island. We are asking all individuals walking these beaches, and beaches throughout the northeast, to report stranded turtles immediately to our stranding hotline at 866-755-6622. Responders from our Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network are standing by to help!

Please keep pets away from these turtles since they are in a severely distressed state. If possible, please move them above the high tide line and cover lightly with seaweed and stand by the animal until a trained responder arrives. We greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us save these endangered animals.