Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

October 10, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries proposes establishing an Atlantic herring acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule and prohibiting the use of midwater trawl gear in inshore waters from Canada to Connecticut.

Acceptable Biological Catch

The proposed ABC control rule is intended to ensure sustainable harvest of the Atlantic herring resource and account for Atlantic herring’s role as forage in the ecosystem. The control rule would limit fishing mortality to 80 percent of the fishing mortality rate to support maximum sustainable yield when Atlantic herring biomass is high and restrict fishing even further when biomass is low. The control rule would set Atlantic herring ABC for three years but would allow ABC to vary year-to-year with projected estimates of biomass.

Prohibiting Midwater Trawl Gear Inshore

This amendment would prohibit the use of midwater trawl gear inshore of the 12-nautical mile territorial sea boundary from Canada to Connecticut and inshore of 20 nautical miles off the east coast of Cape Cod (see below).

The proposed inshore midwater trawl restricted area is intended to minimize user group conflict as midwater trawl vessels overlap with other user groups (i.e., commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, ecotourism) that rely on herring as forage. Moving midwater trawl effort offshore is intended to mitigate potential negative socioeconomic impacts on other user groups resulting from short duration, high volume herring removals by midwater trawl vessels and help ensure herring is available inshore for other users groups and predators of herring.

The proposed inshore restricted area may also have biological benefits if it minimizes catch of river herring and shad, reduces fishing pressure on the inshore component of the herring stock, and helps ensure herring are available to predators.

Read the full release here

West Coast Fisheries “Comeback of the Century”

October 8, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

With help from rebounding West Coast rockfish, Giuseppe “Joe” Pennisi has put the fisherman back in San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf.

Pennisi is the first fisherman to sell freshly caught fish off his boat at Fisherman’s Wharf in many years. He has reintroduced locals to the flaky white fish that was once a mainstay of West Coast seafood. Most weekends when the fishing is good, crowds form early at the dock next to his boat, the Pioneer, and continue all day. Some wait for hours to buy chilipepper rockfish, rose fish, boccacio and other deep-water species Pennisi brings up in his nets.

“You can’t help but be excited when you get to the dock and all these people are waiting for their fish,” he said.

The reemerging demand for rockfish reflects what may be the West Coast fisheries comeback of the century. Rapidly rebuilding stocks are reviving opportunities for determined fishermen such as Pennisi and customers of his Pioneer Seafoods. From Washington to California, a fishing fleet that sacrificed heavily while groundfish stocks rebuilt are now beginning to harvest the results.

“It really does seem like we’re turning an important corner,” said Shems Jud, who has long tracked the groundfish fishery for the Environmental Defense Fund. The rebuilding of groundfish represents a rarity among environmental issues. Fishermen, environmental groups, fisheries managers, and others replaced contention and controversy with lasting collaboration.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries report identifies IUU in Ecuador, Mexico, South Korea

October 8, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries has released its 2019 report to the U.S. Congress, identifying the organization’s efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing internationally while also rebuking three countries for lack of sufficient enforcement against IUU.

The biennial report on improving international fisheries management – made to Congress as part of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act – identified Ecuador, Mexico, and the Republic of Korea has three countries that failed to sufficiently comply with agreed-upon regulations related to IUU. The report also credited Ecuador, Mexico, and the Russian Federation for earlier work to react to IUU allegations made in NOAA’s 2017 report to congress.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2020-2021 Summer Flounder Specifications and Interim 2020 Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Specification

October 8, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are implementing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended 2020-2021 summer flounder specifications and initial 2020 specifications for the scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The initial 2020 specifications for scup, black sea bass, and bluefish will be re-evaluated early in the fishing year to address the results of an operational assessment for all three species.

Read the final rule as published in the Federal Register, and our permit holder bulletin.

NOAA Fisheries Evaluates Role of Opt-in Angler Reporting Apps in Recreational Fisheries

October 11, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In a new report, NOAA Fisheries describes how electronic technologies, including web and app-based data collection programs, may improve the agency’s estimates of marine recreational catch. The report finds “opt-in,” or non-mandatory, angler reporting apps to be appropriate for collecting qualitative data that support citizen science-based studies. But for these apps to produce population-level estimates of recreational catch, a large proportion of anglers would have to consistently use them to report accurate information about their fishing trips, and a statistically valid probability-based sampling survey would have to validate self-reported data, monitor the extent of reporting, and account for unreported trips.

The report (PDF, 12 pages) is part of the MRIP Action Plan on Implementing Electronic Reporting. Its recommendations are based on an external review of electronic reporting options for recreational fishing surveys, as well as our own assessment of two projects that evaluate the use of iAngler and iSnapper to collect recreational fisheries data.

Electronic reporting is a method of data collection that can include smartphones, tablets, and other technologies used to record, send, and store data. When electronic reporting is part of a probability-based sampling survey design, it has the potential to reduce data collection costs and improve the quality of reported information. But when recreational catch estimates are produced with only those data collected through an opt-in website or mobile app, the estimates are likely to be biased.

Read the full release here

West Coast Rockfish Boom with the Blob

October 4, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The high temperatures that came with the marine heatwave known as the Blob led to unprecedented mixing of local and subtropical species. There were, often with new and unpredictable outcomes. Out of that mix came one unexpected winner: West Coast rockfish. These bottom-dwelling species, which that had previously collapsed in the face of overfishing during the 2000s, thrived under the new conditions.

Scientists from Oregon State University and NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center recount the boom in young rockfish in a new research paper in the journal Fisheries. It examines the effects of the Blob as documented by NOAA Fisheries offshore surveys. Scientists have been conducting the surveys for more than 20 years. The Blob years brought some of the most dramatic changes in marine life off the West Coast they’ve ever seen.

Unexpected interactions may have also altered the abundance of some species, from plankton that support the food web to fish that depend on them, the researchers wrote.

In the waning months of the Blob in 2016, juvenile rockfish increased over a large area from California to Alaska. Since juvenile rockfish are very difficult to distinguish from one another, scientists could not tell which species benefited. They could not tell what specifically drove the boom in their numbers and or whether they will support fisheries in future years.

Read the full release here

New Online Course for Spotting and Reporting Entangled Whales in Alaska Waters

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

The foundation of responding to entangled whales is the on-water community. NOAA’s Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network depends on recreational and commercial boaters and other ocean users for spotting and reporting entangled whales off Alaska’s coast. That’s one reason NOAA Fisheries has teamed up with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to develop a new online training course to help them report entanglements.

Most often, fishermen, tour boat operators, and whale researchers are the ones to first report entanglements. The course will prepare them, and others, to report entanglements in Alaska.

Responding to whale entanglements can be dangerous. Only highly trained and experienced teams with the proper equipment should attempt to disentangle whales.

Boaters who come across entangled whales can still help in the response without getting too close. They can collect information and monitor the whale until trained teams arrive. By knowing what information to collect, and taking and sharing photos with the disentanglement team, boaters can help marine mammal responders. These teams have advanced training to understand the extent of the entanglement before mounting a response. This enables them to respond with the right gear.

“Fishermen and other boaters are our eyes on the water,” said Jon Kurland, head of the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Protected Resources Division. “Countless times the information they have provided about a whale entanglement has been the key factor in our response network’s ability to locate the animal, assess its condition, and attempt to disentangle it if the conditions are right.”

Read the full release here

Voicing the Stories of Women in Alaska Fisheries

October 2, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Alaska women’s experience and knowledge are fundamental to the social, cultural, economic, and ecological sustainability of Bristol Bay salmon fisheries, a new NOAA Fisheries study finds.

This study used oral history and visual ethnography methods to provide a means for women to voice their stories about the importance of fishery resources in their communities. We used this approach to capture their knowledge to inform fisheries management, preserve cultural diversity, and share with communities. The interview audio and video shorts are available on NOAA’s new Voices from the Fisheries website.

The study, a collaboration with the Bristol Bay Native Association (BBNA), is focused on the daily life and fishing practices of Alaska Native fisherwomen in the Bristol Bay area.

“Bristol Bay is an ideal place to explore women’s roles in fisheries because women are highly engaged in its salmon fisheries,” said Anna Lavoie, a scientist with NOAA Fisheries who led the research. “Women own over 30% of commercial set net permits there. In Alaska women are very proactive in promoting conservation and sustainability. There should be avenues for incorporating women’s knowledge into resource management. They are actively engaged in fisheries but there is very little information available about their experience and contributions.”

Read the full release here

NOAA Offers Reward for Information Regarding Unreported/Misreported Landings of Summer Flounder

October 2, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The NOAA Office of Law Enforcement is offering a reward of up to $20,000 in exchange for information leading to the successful prosecution of individuals suspected of being involved in significant unreported or misreported landings of summer flounder (fluke) in New York and New Jersey.

NOAA officials seek information from anyone who may have details of these incidents.

Anyone with information is asked to please call OLE’s Northeast Division at 908-339-1148, or the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964.

Tips may be anonymous, however anyone providing information must leave their name and contact information to be eligible for the reward.

Effective today, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has a new website

October 1, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are very pleased to announce that as of today, we are formally launching a new website for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, and our old website is offline.

What about my bookmarks to your website?

Everyone will be automatically redirected to our new homepage or associated topic page. We looked at our website analytics and created automatic redirects from frequently visited pages on our old website to the corresponding pages of our new website. For example, if you have our Atlantic spiny dogfish page bookmarked, you will automatically be sent to the Atlantic spiny dogfish species profile on our new site. However, be sure to update your bookmarks and links as you navigate through the new site.

Why are we making this transition?

NOAA Fisheries launched a new and improved website two years ago that was developed based upon feedback from our customers and taking a hard look at our website analytics. The goals of the new site are to captivate our visitors, make it easier for users to search for information and navigate through our website, make our website mobile friendly, and improve the quality of our content.

Not sure where to start? Check out this video tutorial.

Although the bulk of the work is done, we are still transitioning some lesser viewed pages. So please be patient with us! We appreciate continued feedback, and want to know if you have suggestions for improvement, find broken links, or simply can’t find something you’re looking for.

Comments or questions?

Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175