Saving Seafood

South Atlantic Council Seeks Input on Proposed Changes for Atlantic Cobia Management

Public hearings scheduled via webinar with listening stations; written comment period open

January 10, 2018 — North Charleston, S.C. — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council are soliciting public input on proposed management changes for Atlantic cobia as they consider revising the current management system. Public hearings will be held via webinar with public listening stations beginning January 22, 2018. Information on the proposed changes is now available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. Written comments are also being solicited using the online comment form available from the website page.

Atlantic cobia are managed in federal waters along the Atlantic coast from Georgia through New York in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; two voting seats are provided to the Mid-Atlantic Council on the South Atlantic Council’s Mackerel Cobia Committee. This arrangement provides an opportunity to include the views of constituents from Virginia northwards. Cobia in federal waters off the east coast of Florida are considered part of the Gulf of Mexico migratory stock. The management boundary for the two stocks was modified following a 2013 stock assessment and annual catch limits for each stock were set. NOAA Fisheries determined the recreational catch limit for Atlantic cobia was exceeded in 2015, leading to a shortened season in 2016. Cobia harvested in both state and federal waters count toward the annual catch limit. Subsequent overages occurred during 2016 and the recreational fishery was closed in federal waters on January 24, 2017.

In order to provide for effective management and fair and equitable access to the Atlantic cobia fishery without reducing protection to the stock, the Council is considering a range of alternatives for managing Atlantic cobia, from complementary management with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to removal of Atlantic cobia from the federal management unit. The ASMFC recently approved an Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Cobia that will be implemented in April 2018. Should the Council choose to remove Atlantic cobia from the current federal management unit, the ASMFC Interstate Plan would be applied to both state and federal waters, allowing for additional management flexibility.

Public Hearings for Atlantic Cobia Management 

(Amendment 31 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery Management Plan)

Public hearings will be conducted via webinar with listening stations as noted below. Attendance at the listening stations is encouraged but not required. During the public hearings, Council staff will present an overview of the amendment and will be available to answer questions via webinar. Area Council members or state agency representatives will be present at each of the listening stations. Members of the public will have an opportunity to go on record via webinar or at the listening stations to record their comments for consideration by the Council.

January 22, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Stations:

  1. Port Royal Sound Maritime Center:310 Okatie Hwy, Okatie, SC29909
  2. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ Central District Office: 5285

Highway 70 West, Morehead City, NC 28557

  1. Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Division: One

Conservation Way, Brunswick, GA 31523

January 23, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Station:

Hatteras Community Center; 57689 NC Highway12, Hatteras, NC 27943

January 24, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Stations:

  1. Haddrell’s Point Tackle: 885 Ben Sawyer Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC29464
  2. Virginia Marine Resources Commission (The Maritime Building); 2500

Washington Ave., 4th Floor, Newport News, VA 23607 *Note: The VA location is a state-organized listening station and was arranged to provide the public in Virginia the opportunity to attend and provide comments in-person.

Registration for each webinar is required. Registration information, along with public hearing documents, video presentations, and other materials is now available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. An online public comment form for written comments is also available. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. February 9, 2018 to be included in the briefing book materials for the Council’s March 5-9, 2018 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.

The Council is also asking for public input on the timing of measures proposed in Amendment 31. A Stock Identification Workshop for Cobia is scheduled to begin in April 2018 as part of a benchmark stock assessment Atlantic cobia. For additional information, contact Christina Wiegand, Fishery Social Scientist at Christina.Wiegand@safmc.net or contact the Council office at 843/571-4366.

 

Recreational and Commercial Harvest of Atlantic Cobia (Georgia through New York) to Open in Federal Waters in 2018

December 18, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGE:

Recreational and commercial harvest of Atlantic migratory group cobia (from Georgia through New York) will open at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2018, in federal waters.

For recreational fishermen:

  • The recreational bag limit is one cobia per person per day, or six cobia per vessel per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • The recreational minimum size limit is 36 inches fork length.

For commercial fishermen:

  • The commercial trip limit is two cobia per person per day, or six cobia per vessel per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • The commercial minimum size limit is 33 inches fork length.

WHY THIS OPENING IS HAPPENING:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently approved an Interstate Fishery Management Plan that includes changes to commercial and recreational regulations for Atlantic cobia in state waters. The states expect to implement this plan by April 2018. More information on the changes to cobia harvest in state waters may be found at www.asmfc.org

If the recreational and total catch limits are exceeded in 2017, NOAA Fisheries may take action to reduce the recreational vessel limit and, if necessary, the length of the recreational fishing season, by the amount necessary to ensure recreational landings do not exceed the 2018 recreational catch limit. The recreational vessel limit and the length of the recreational fishing season will not be reduced if NOAA Fisheries determines, based on the best scientific information available, that a recreational vessel limit and fishing season reduction are unnecessary.

Access this and other Fishery Bulletins from NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office by clicking here.

 

Odds are tiny for a winter shrimp fishing season

November 28, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — With fisheries regulators slated to gather in Portland on Wednesday, a shrimp fishing season in the Gulf of Maine this winter seemed as likely as bipartisan tax legislation in Congress.

The schedule called for members of the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section to meet in the afternoon to establish dates and landings limits for the 2018 season. All evidence suggested that, except for a tiny “research” fishery, the limit, or total allowable catch, will be zero and there will be no season at all.

According to the commission’s recently released “2017 Stock Status Report for Gulf of Maine, Northern Shrimp,” the resource is in terrible shape. For the past five years (2012 through 2017) the shrimp stock has been at its lowest, both in terms of number and total biomass, over the 34 years that the shrimp population has been surveyed.

Prospects for the shrimp resource to rebound in the Gulf of Maine are grim.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American 

 

Read the latest South Atlantic Update Newsletter – Now Available!

November 27, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Inside this issue:

Council Requests Changes to Red Snapper Annual Catch Limits for 2018

The Council approved an amendment to modify the catch limit for 2018 with the intent to allow a limited harvest next year as the red snapper stock continues to rebuild…

NOTE: As this issue of the SA Update Newsletter was sent to press – NOAA Fisheries announced the opening of an additional weekend for the recreational harvest of red snapper – December 8-10, 2017. Read more by clicking here.

Chair’s Column

Newly elected Council Chair Charlie Phillips shares his insight…

Cobia Management Update

Read the latest on proposed management changes for Atlantic cobia…

MyFishCount.com

Recreational anglers have the opportunity to report their red snapper fishing activities during 2017. See the results and how this pilot project may be used in the future….

And more!

Read the full newsletter here

Feds Seeking Comments on Future Lobster Regulations

November 27, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is seeking comments on possible revisions for the lobster industry.

They include changes to lobster trap gear requirements and allowing substitute vessels to fish lobster traps for those that are federally permitted but inoperable.

The poor condition of the of the Southern New England lobster stock is part of the reason for this action.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NOAA site aims to help fishing communities bounce back

November 24, 2017 — NOAA Fisheries has introduced a new website designed to help fishing communities be more resilient in the face of climate change, fluctuating fish stocks and even declines in waterfront infrastructure and economy.

The new website endeavor, introduced this week after almost three years of planning, is called Community Resilience in the Greater Atlantic Region.

“It really came out of the strategic plan we developed here in the regional office, which was the first one anywhere,” said Peter Burns of NOAA Fisheries in Gloucester. “One of the goals of that plan centered on building community resilience to help strengthen fishing communities.”

Working with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, the community resilience working group — which included NOAA staffers from the West Coast, as well — began exploring ways to assist fishing communities in coping with regulatory, environmental and economic changes that challenge the very sustainability of fishing communities.

According to NOAA Fisheries’ own description of the endeavor, the resiliency strategy would provide information on “solutions to improve groundfish business practices and economic vitality,” as well as incorporating climate change, ocean acidification and ecosystem analysis into NOAA Fisheries’ activities.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

How Many Red Snapper Are in the Gulf of Mexico?

November 22, 2017 — Several stakeholder groups have expressed concerns that there are more red snapper in the Gulf than currently accounted for in the stock assessment.

In 2016, Congress directed the National Sea Grant College Program and NOAA Fisheries to fund independent red snapper data collections, surveys and assessments, including the use of tagging and advanced sampling technologies. Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries worked collaboratively to transfer federal funds to Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant offsite link to administer the competitive research grant process and manage this independent abundance estimate.

To conduct the independent study, a research team of 21 scientists from 12 institutions of higher learning, a state agency and a federal agency was selected by an expert review panel convened by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. The team secured $9.5 million in federal funds for the project through a competitive research grant process, and together with matching funds from the universities, the project will total $12 million.

Read the full story at Marine Technology News

 

NOAA Fisheries head: Trump administration values regulatory flexibility, regional approach

November 21, 2017 — SEATTLE — The head of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) fisheries management arm, Chris Oliver, offered a crowd of Alaska fishermen some insight into the Donald Trump administration’s approach toward fisheries management.

Generally speaking, the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries said at Seattle’s Pacific Marine Expo on Nov. 17, the administration values flexibility and a regional approach toward regulating commercial fishing of federally managed stocks, an approach that meshes with his own background and views.

“You’re looking at an administration that recognizes that fisheries by nature require a lot of regulation, but I also think they’re looking at councils to take a step back and look at ways to not have a tendency toward micromanagement but to look at the big picture,” Oliver, who took up the job in June, said.

Learning curve

Prior to that, Oliver served as executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during at a 16-year run that also included stints as a fisheries biologist and its deputy director. That council, one of eight regional bodies created under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), which regulates US commercial and recreational fishing, is arguably the country’s busiest, as it covers Alaska, home to half of all US seafood production.

His experience, he said, left him as a supporter of the council system. His new national-level job — he’s received over 200 briefings to date on the issues facing NOAA Fisheries — affords him a wider perspective.

“It’s been an incredible learning experience and an incredible learning curve. It’s been hectic at times, frenetic at times, and a bit overwhelming at times, but it’s been extremely exciting all the time and never boring,” he said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Cod numbers in the Gulf of Alaska fall dramatically

November 7, 2017 — JUNEAU, Alaska — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which regulates groundfish in Alaska and other federal fisheries, received some shocking news last month.

Pacific cod stocks in the Gulf of Alaska may have declined as much as 70 percent over the past two years.

The estimate is a preliminary figure, but it leaves plenty of questions about the future of cod fishing in Gulf of Alaska.

The first question that comes to mind when you hear the number of Pacific cod in the Gulf dropped by about two-thirds is what happened?

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division’s Steven Barbeaux has been trying to answer that question. Barbeaux said the issue likely started with warmer water moving into the Gulf in 2014 and sticking around for the next three years.

“We had what the oceanographers and the news media have been calling the blob, which is this warm water that was sitting in the Gulf for those three years,” Barbeaux said. “It was different from other years in that it went really deep, but it also lasted throughout the winter.”

Read the full story at KTOO

NOAA: American fisheries remain a strong economic driver

November 1, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Commercial and recreational fisheries remain a strong contributor to the United States economy, according to the annual Fisheries of the United States report released today by NOAA.

Saltwater recreational fishing remains one of America’s favorite pastimes and a key contributor to the national economy—with 9.6 million anglers making nearly 63 million trips in 2016, catching more than 371 million fish (61 percent of which are released alive), and in 2015, contributing $36 billion to the national economy. By weight, striped bass remains the top harvested catch among saltwater anglers, followed by dolphinfish, bluefish, yellowfin tuna, spotted seatrout, and summer flounder.

Also in 2016, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of seafood (down 1.5 percent from 2015) valued at $5.3 billion (up 2.1 percent from 2015). The highest value commercial species were lobster ($723 million), crabs ($704 million), scallops ($488 million), shrimp ($483 million), salmon ($420 million), and Alaska walleye pollock ($417 million). By volume, the nation’s largest commercial fishery remains Alaska walleye pollock, which showed near record landings of 3.4 billion pounds (up 3 percent from 2015), representing 35 percent of total U.S. commercial and recreational seafood landings.

In 2016, the U.S. imported 5.8 billion pounds of seafood (up 1 percent compared to 2015) worth $19.5 billion (up 3.5 percent). However, a significant portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing, and then reimported to the United States. Shrimp and salmon are two of the top three imported species and much of that is farm-raised. The U.S. ranks 16th in total aquaculture production around the world—far behind China, Indonesia and India. In 2015, 1.4 billion pounds of aquaculture production was reported in the U.S.

“With the United States importing billions of pounds of seafood annually, and with so much of that seafood foreign farm-raised, the numbers in this report underscore the untapped potential of aquaculture here at home,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “Expanding our nation’s aquaculture capacity presents an opportunity to reduce America’s reliance on imports while creating thousands of new jobs.”

The report also shows that the average American ate 14.9 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2016, a decrease from 15.5 pounds the year before. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend 8-12 ounces of a variety of seafood species per week, or 26 to 39 pounds per person per year.

For the 20th consecutive year, the Alaskan port of Dutch Harbor led the nation in 2016 with the highest amount of seafood landed—770 million pounds, valued at $198 million. Walleye pollock accounted for 89 percent of that volume. Likewise, for the 17th year in a row, New Bedford, Massachusetts, claimed the highest value catch from one port—107 million pounds, valued at $327 million. Sea scallops accounted for 77 percent of that value.

NOAA Fisheries will release a detailed look at economic impact of recreational and commercial fisheries on the U.S. economy in the upcoming Fisheries Economics of the United States report.

View more facts and figures or read the report.